Report by Duncan Wallis
This year’s staging of More Sparks finally dodged any of the poor weather that had dogged previous stagings and attracted a mammoth entry of Bangers for the Old Skool Smash Up. They were supported by the ORC Championship for Ministox, with further involvement from the BriSCA Micro F2s.
Bangers
124 bangers assembled in the pits including lots of material and smart cars, with the 37 Ford Fiesta variants making up a sizeable chunk of the field.
Ten Oldest/Rarest Awards went to:
113 Aaron Brown - Mark 2 Cavalier
127 Thomas Berry - Austin Maxi
142 Tyler Brownless - Ford Capri Mark 3
156 Howard Cross- Mitsubishi Space Star
233 Liam Parkin - Mitsubishi Lancer Mark 8.
247 Richard Sparks - Riley RME
360 Jack Reynolds - Nissan Bluebird U11 Estate
421 Braydon Hawkins - Lada Riva
662 Jared Roe - Humber Sceptre
991 Ben Hale - Nissan 100NXB13
Best Presented Awards went to:
31 Alfie Rogers - Ford Escort Mark 6
31 Liam Shipway - Ford Sierra Sapphire
78 Max Weare - Ford Sierra Mark 2
104 Matt Horwell - Rover 214 R8
177 Ryan Miles - Nissan Micra K11 Limo
311 Simon Rogers - Ford Escort Mark 7 Panel Van
459 Mitch Brooks - Ford Fiesta Mark 6
687 Mark Cross - Nissan Bluebird T72
788 Darren Morgan - Nissan Bluebird T12
841 Tom Perkins - Nissan Serena
Plenty of other drivers made the effort to bring smart cars and splendidly there were some truly odd choices. The Worst Car Award went to 101 Matt Irish in a Chevy Matiz though 252 Dylan Belfield in a Suzuki Wagon R had a right to feel aggrieved! Perhaps the Matiz being painted swung it. The Just Right Award went to 693 Sam Powell in a Seat Arossa, it looked like it was a bit soft, and it certainly was to prove so.
After a delayed start due to scrutineering such a vast number of cars, and a deluge of late arrivals, the first set of designated nudge and spin heats began with a 12 car Pre-90 RWD race. Note that this report would be a novel if it attempted to list all the action. So, 246 Ryan Sparks in a BMW 318 fittingly won the first race from the back spinning out Roe on route. Shipway led for a long time but span out, although he still managed to get back to second ahead of 18 Steve Soper in a Volvo 340 which also held the lead at one point.
40 cars for a Pre-90 FWD heat which included a big home straight pile up with half the field involved and 707 Alfie Nottingham eventually catching fire on the infield. 743 Jake Bond was on a charge from the back in his Nissan Bluebird to catch front row starter 311 Lewis Allen in a Nissan Almera. 113 Aaron Brown was third,
Heat three included a trademark air bag inflation for 902 Leon Barrell, and an attempted burial of 315 Jack Holmes by 823 Tyler Phillips. There then followed a brutal back straight jacking train as 756 Troy Hooper, 938 Ashley Rice, 771 Michael Jones and 138 Dan Rice were all involved. 22 Chris Mugford went in flat out near the pit gate ending his day with his Fiesta a real mess. Other shots included 842 Jack Perkins on Holmes with Perkins getting blasted by 282 James Rowe. 300 Jon Ayles sped to the front, with his spin of 111 Ray Rowe tipping the Cornish driver over on the home straight. After the stoppage, 241 Alfie Tiddy lost the whole of his back axle late on, as Ayles won from 242 Alfie Ellacott and 26 Archie Hughes.
Heat four was the quietest race of the day with 303 Josh Jobes managing a flag to flag win but there was still plenty of action with Irish a magnet in the Matiz which was as slow as it looked!
Heat five saw full contact being officially allowed. One of the first on the receiving end was 974 Alistair Oxby. Upon getting spun out in a home straight pile-up, he took a big shot behind the door from 360 Jack Reynolds. Allen treated 832 Ryan Madge to a Honiton bend follow in which left the Escort Estate a mess. 286 Dan Couch got hit by 710 Jamie Waller-Jones with Reynolds arriving to blitz the Mendips Banger commentator, with Nottingham taking the opportunity to blast Jackstar. Tomkins piled into Nottingham with Tom Perkins taking the chance to clobber Tomkins. Allen completed a lively display by blasting 352 Carl Belfield on route to the win with Bond coming from the back for second ahead of 387 Jimmy Loveridge.
Heat six began with a comprehensive follow-in by Barrell on 493 Mark Powell. 354 Simon Phillips put the Citroen Xsara on its side early on, too, whilst Ayles deposited 552 Connor Figures in the west bend fence. A train formed when Hooper attacked the Wagon R of Belfield and was in turn blasted by 422 Kaylum Pitson. 797 Scott Clarke spun 198 Owen Nichol into Pitson and a melee formed on the back straight when Phillips bundled 323 Dean Kelly into Clarke. Phillips vacated the scene and Kelly dribbled further down the track, leaving room for 726 Lewis Senford to storm into Pitson. Next time around, Clarke blasted Senford and also ran into Kelly, with 369 Jayden Clifton arriving at speed to launch into Clarke. Pitson took further damage from 890 Leszek Malnowski. Ellacott slammed into Michael Jones, whilst 315 Jack Holmes spun Ayles to claim the lead. Clarke produced a gigantic foam hand to wave more cars into the pile-up, and Senford duly obliged, which left him exposed to a cracking shot by 842 Jack Perkins. Ellacott then fired into Clifton, and Hooper did likewise to Ellacott, only for 138 Dan Rice to arrive at blistering speed to smash into Hooper to conclude some truly explosive action. Holmes won by a distance from 938 Ash Rice and 95 Bobby Beere-Rees in a Suzuki Swift.
23 cars made heat seven, but it was superb. 260 Keith Reynolds began with a back straight rollover which 559 Tom Willy gallantly pulled up to shelter the upturned car. The restart began with 73 Sam Wilkinson and Willy being bludgeoned into the west bend plating by 405 Liam Curtis-Stevens. Elsewhere, 649 Adam Strudwick got an accidental door hit. 96 Harley Carr-Flamark dumped 693 Sam Powell in the turn one plating, and Powell waved the field in. Nobody took the bait until Carr-Flamank on the next lap absolutely blitzed the Seat Arossa getting up on one wheel whilst doing so. After a red to retrieve the dazed Powell, the action continued at the other end, with a rollover for 814 Max Barraclough. 333 Craig Partridge won from 816 Martin Gill and 366 Peter Warren.
The final had to be split into two as over eighty cars were wanting to compete. 37 cars did the first one with 363 Sam Trim swiftly despatching Hawkins. More pile-ups included 786 Grant Harris banjaxing 777 Oliver Livesey, whilst 474 Liam Cudlip gave the Belfield Wagon R a portion. Jack Reynolds caged Nottingham as their feud continued in the pits bend, before Jackstar took an awesome shot by 657 Colin Larman. Connor Figures parked in the back of Larman, only for 249 Darren Brock to arrive at a rate of knots, blasting Figures before 788 Darren Morgan arrived to blitz the Brock Bluebird. In turn, that sent Figures and Larman skywards, forming an impressive archway. When the race resumed, Berry dumped Cudlip into the pile, as Holmes claimed another win, this time from 890 Pavarotti and Beere.
The second final raised 49 cars and was stopped early as 746 DJ Tyler ended up on his side on the inside of the west bend. A brutal home straight jacking train included 270 Nathan Pinder catching fire in his Toyota Carina for another stoppage. We then had the biggest hit of the day as 988 Billy Dennison followed 311 Rogers in, comprehensively snapping the van off. Babsy got airtime in a crash reminiscent of the Swaffham Icebreakers of the late 1990s. 113 Chris Jeanes also rolled on the back straight after being hit head on by 70 Jamie Thomas. Thomas also blasted 323 Barry Phillips. The latter shrugged that off to give 31 Alfie Rogers a t-bone but the latter got going and did a lap before giving Phillips a head on. Thomas then blasted Phillips. Ayles won again from Bond and Ashley Rice.
We still had 47 cars for the Allcomers which 552 Figures started in reverse as it was the only gear he had! The pit bend saw a track blockage with all-of the field involved, and to the delight of the crowd, the race was allowed to run as drivers freed themselves to come back round to hit someone at the back of the blockage. Another train formed, this time 404 Jake Curtis-Stevens, Jackstar, Pavarotti and then Tyler Phillips. Other hits of note included Morgan on Roe, 380 Lee Hopkins on 919 Oscar Berry and 247 Sparks. 260 Keefy was the only driver managing to do any laps and won as the only finisher with everyone else wrecked.
22 cars came back for the DD eight hours after the meeting started with 354 Phillips excluded after a couple of infield hits on 26 Archie Hughes. Cross brought his wrecked Bluebird out and somehow kept it mobile until 198 Owen Nichol silenced him for the win with 162 Harry Ellacott getting the Entertainer award after a number of big hits.
Nottingham won driver of the day having pulled his wrecked Bluebird three times. 718 Adie Brown got Hardest Trier for a rated day in his Honda Civic Aerodeck as he was well involved in all his races. 311 Rogers got best wreck though Brock could have just as easily been given that. All the feedback revealed that the drivers loved it and all three long distance travellers (Nottingham, The Ox and 886 Andrew Topham) are all saying they will be back next year. As will I after a truly stunning day out. My travelling partner said it was the best meeting since the 1998 Swaffham Icebreaker; it certainly will live long in the memory.
Ministox
The entry of 24 youngsters included impressive travelling efforts from a trio of Scots – 219 Oakley Grief, 618 Stuart Shevill Jnr Jnr and 874 Ben McLellan. Grief amazingly made it back for Crimond the following afternoon, which is well over 600 miles north of Smeatharpe.
The format was three from four heats followed by a points order championship. All day there was some great battles as the field was evenly matched particularly mid-pack. After some unfortunate faffing around to get the starting grid correct, heat one had two stoppages. The first for 24 Koben Jenks who broke down on the back straight and then for 770 Delilah Farrell who span on the home straight. Grief was quick and got past 550 Callum Herzig and 718 Alfie Brown near the end to grab the win. 114 Charlie Lomas and Herzig completed the top three. 313 Charlie Weston was a bit out of sorts in this one as he fought hard for a lowly reward of seventh. Heat two saw Lomas quick to win with 475 Mason Sealy getting up to second, whilst 218 Rory Pearce was impressive in third. 117 Max Starr went well in this one to finish a fine sixth after leading a number of laps. Heat three included a fine battle between 511 Lexi Crosbie and 522 Jacob Mikulla with Crosbie belting Mikulla wide on the last bend for the win, and that also opened the door for Sealy to sneak through for second. 990 Billy Rice had led for most of the race and finished a fine fourth. Additionally, there was some great action further back with 182 Mickey James catching the eye using the bumper regularly, despite only finishing with a lowly tenth place. Sealy dominated heat four with Crosbie and Grief having a great battle for second and Rice impressive again on route to fourth. James was tenth again despite another wholehearted performance with Weston once again quiet in eighth.
23 cars returned for the ORC championship with Sealy on pole. As often happens, the pole sitter drove away to win easily though his emotional celebrations afterwards showed how much it meant to him. Lomas came through for second with Shevill Junior Junior a fair way back in third, just beating Weston and 257 Kieran Hibberd who rounded out the top five. Some decent action once again for the places, the formula is in good health in England at the moment with an impressive crop of drivers in the south west. 77 Eddie Geach followed up his debut and looked very competitive and he will be another excellent addition to the formula.