Report by Duncan Wallis

You can have not known it was November as a sunny and warm day greeted the decent crowd that assembled at the United Downs Raceway for this year’s Judgement Day and Hallowe’en fixture.  Whilst it turned a bit chilly as the afternoon wore on, it certainly was not winter weather, and we were spared the fog that affected a number of other meetings over the weekend.  Despite a few delays, 15 races were run in just over four hours with plenty of talking points.

National Bangers

It cannot be described as anything other than disappointing that only four unlimited National Bangers arrived for racing.  As a race fan I find it sad that the few unlimited dates in Cornwall are so poorly supported.  Admittedly we had a driver break down on route, a couple not able to race as their cars weren’t suitable and one who ran out of time.  But a number of south west drivers seemed happy enough to travel to Mildenhall for their Firecracker meeting rather than support their (far more) local promotion.  I’m aware it’s up to drivers where they race but the effort made to save the track a couple of years ago deserved a bit more support today.  Nevertheless 189 Ry Beardwell brought a raw Rover P4 and 458 Layton Mush a fresh Mercedes estate.  The field was completed by the used cars of 648 Jamie Smith and 59 Mike Hamley.  The first race was Judgement Day with Hamley retiring early with engine issues ending his day.  Smith in his Jaguar was too quick for Mush with Beardwell trundling round for third with a couple of spins to keep him awake!  The second race was for the Captain Birdseye trophy in memory of Autospeed stalwart photographer Dave Westcott.  His widow Heather was on hand to present the trophies and enjoy an emotional reunion with many of the Autospeed staff.  Mush led the three cars away, but Smith quickly nudged him wide on the top bend and got enough of a lead to avoid retaliation at the other end.  Beardwell continued his meandering with a spin exiting the last bend on the last lap and for a few seconds it looked like he was stranded.  To a cheer from the crowd, he fired up and tootled across the line.  The Allcomers showed why you can never assume a race will follow an obvious pattern.  Smith once again nudged past Mush only for the latter to run him in flat out on the top bend.  Beardwell then weighed in on Mush, which triggered the start of an impromptu DD.  Beardwell did a lap on oppo to hit the dead Smith car near the pit gate.  Mush then hit the P4 but put a wheel back doing so and was left with no steering.  Eventually Mush scraped round the plating for two head-ons with Beardwell on the back straight.  Both cars were silent after the second before the latter backed off for an unlikely victory as last car running.  The crowd were certainly appreciative with the drivers getting lots of cheers and applause.  I can only thank the four drivers who did attend and admire the three who wrecked their cars to put a show on for the crowd.  They certainly deserved their impressive haul of Entertainer points as the road to qualification for the Ipswich world final in October 2027 began.  Certainly, it made me glad I’d done the 390 miles overnight from Scunthorpe to attend.

Stock Rods

A slightly modest showing of 20 Stock Rods assembled as 914 Callum Faulconbridge sought to defend his Grand National Championship. With a handful of drivers who had no Grand National points, the two from three format was deployed, to begin the day with the Championship race.  Frustratingly, car weighing overran past the scheduled start time but eventually 14 car assembled for the race in points order.  Faulconbridge was quick away from pole position and absorbed some early pressure from fellow front row starter 77 Tom Larcombe before gradually pulling away for an untroubled win.  835 Matt Westaway and 944 Callum Hosie had a great battle until Hosie knocked Westaway wide to pass him.  Having received the black cross, Hosie moved over on the last lap to give the place back and avoid any further action.  275 Jeremy Hatch worked very hard to defend fifth from 728 Kris Woods allowing the rest to catch up.   Woods tangled briefly with 220 Richard Short allowing Hatch to get away.  Further back 913 Ben Faulconbridge and 278 Andrew Bressington had a great battle for eighth in a race that I thought was excellent.  The six drivers not eligible for the championship were out in heat two which raised 13 cars.  Newcomer 575 Sarah Boughen kept plugging away and 775 Callum Congdon swapped his usual Banger for a non-contact day.  Congdon looked useful until mechanical issues sidelined him.  Another driver who was in his first race of the day, 415 Sean Gillett, took advantage of his generous yellow grading to pass early leader 778 Connor Sweetland and he built up a big lead which 617 Christina Sillifant could do nothing about with 231 Simon Bassett a distant third.  Just seven finished with 306 Neil Truran, Sweetland, Boughen and a limping 285 Martin Walker the other finishers.  320 Matt Hatch and 779 Ross Sweetland had a scare as they tried to lap Boughen who didn’t see them.  Both Hatch and Ross Sweetland had a time on two wheels, with the latter very close to rolling.  They each incurred damage that led to both retiring from this one.  Heat three included a big crash as Callum Faulconbridge tried to dive up the inside of Westaway on the back straight and hit the infield tyre opposite the pit gate.  He bounced back and got incredible air-time for the rear of the car. Upfront Gillett got past Connor Sweetland after halfway to speed away with Short following him through.  Sweetland did record an excellent third place after 913 Ben Faulconbridge was docked two places to fifth for a push on 320 Matt Hatch that was a perfect Stock Car move.  Further back Hosie and Woods tried the outside line with minimal success.  18 cars made a fast but pretty clean final with Short getting away early as Gillett lost time in a skirmish.  320 Matt Hatch had a good run for second with Jeremy Hatch third.  Westaway led the red grade charge but couldn’t get any higher than fifth.  Another excellent day’s action on a track that shouldn’t work for non contact racing but somehow does with a fast and competitive group of racers.

Bangers

Eventually 51 Bangers made the track during the afternoon, although 532 Brandon McKnight (in his Astra from Teamarama at Smeatharpe the previous week) was pushed off before heat one and not seen again.  The usual Fiesta, Focus and Astra mounts dominated the entry though 142 Tyler Brownless brought a smart BMW compact among half a dozen drivers who dared to be different.  Heat one was all about a back straight pile up.  96 Craig Cornelius hit the pit gate hard to bounce out and be collected by a group of cars including leaders 149 Dan Curtis and 27 Ciaran Barton.  The hapless Brownless t-boned Cornelius as 157 Aiden Barton got tangled up and his twin brother was left broadside across the track.  113 Aaron Brown picked his line perfectly to navigate a route on the inside going through for a fine win from 78 Max Weare and 551 Jack Belfield.  Curtis got going again for eighth behind 404 Jake Curtis-Stevens who despite being graded white started from the back and got through for seventh.  Heat two was more straightforward as 235 Sam Galliford flew round from the blue grade to take the lead at halfway with 451 Nigel Bellfield and 242 Alfie Ellacott getting the podium positions.  It might have been different had 105 Leo Horwell not broke down when holding a decent lead.  109 Woody Pascoe span on the bottom bend and got a light head-on from 862 Darryl Cock.  A stoppage for 426 Kenanne Burt who had harness issues allowed the reds a clear run to the places.  Just fifteen of a possible thirty one cars made it back for the Consi which began with 53 Chris James following in 816 Josh Taylor getting him the inevitable load up.  22 Zack Hancock then spun and was collected head-on by 268 Kerry Birch.  Horwell led throughout as the car didn’t let him down this time with 34 Cory Hall an excellent second.  823 Tyler Phillips was span out early and limped round for the ninth and last qualifying place, Hancock and Birch both rejoining ahead of him.  The Cornish title race included outgoing Champion Cock who hadn’t qualified but was allowed in to defend.  Curtis led early on and when 441 Dan Sutherland got past he put him away to regain the lead.  The two Belfields then decided to act as blockers for Curtis with 662 Jared Roe put away by Jack Belfield.  A stoppage for 118 Brook Ball with a seatbelt issue saw the Belfields permitted to unlap themselves as they weren’t in the top six.  However, when the race resumed, both elected to hang back and seek to remove any threats to Curtis, and during the next stoppage, they were disqualified for team racing/not racing to win.  Curtis continued to lead as the single file order headed into the last four laps.  817 Michael Phillips got up to second and having chased after the leader, he went for an insane last bend shot on Curtis.  By the slightest of margins, the move worked a treat as Phillips just connected with the rear quarter of Curtis, sending both into a half spin, and they started scrabbling for traction exiting the last corner.  Phillips just got there with Roe sneaking past the recovering Curtis for second.  A great end to a controversial and dramatic race.  31 for the Allcomers included the Spedeworth pair of 349 Tyler Millen and 768 Tyler Cock in their first outings.  An early stoppage was called when Pascoe thundered into the marker tyre opposite the starter’s rostrum sending his back wheels high into the air and leaving the driver feeling a bit second hand.  He eventually climbed out of the car and walked to the ambulance.  Sutherland was flying in this one and won easily with 73 Sam Wilkinson and Aiden Barton following him home at a distance.  The bottom bend turned into a parking lot with 10 Joel Alves going in hard at the front of the train.  Tyler Phillips continued to limp round after being involved in the pile-up but was generally left alone.  A decent day from the Bangers.