On a day which started dry but overcast, by mid-afternoon there was steady rain, but nevertheless 111 cars packed the pit area and a reasonable crowd braved the elements.

Stock Rods

Amongst an entry of 26 Stock Rods, seven drivers were on their first outing of the year.  The heats were run on a greasy track making outside passing difficult but not impossible.  They were followed by a wet final which was scrappy to say the least.  A two thirds split saw an early yellow in heat one as 231 Simon Bassett broke down on the back straight and was unable to move ending his day after a tough opening meeting last week as well.  285 Martin Walker stuck to the inside and got past 814 Max Barraclough for the win with 112 Richard James somehow getting third despite looking on the edge of adhesion throughout.  914 Callum Faulconbridge was fourth half a lap behind after passing cars round the outside including 204 Georgie Polley who was docked from tenth for contact.  Heat two saw 666 Jem Tidball get his first win on his return after thirty years away.  Tidball followed up a trio of second place finishes the week before, and somehow managed to hang on despite Barraclough getting alongside more than once with 78 Jason Legg close behind in third.  Faulconbridge again got through for fourth but was unable to make up ground on the three leaders over the second half of the race.  Heat three saw James cling on to win despite looking like he was about to crash on numerous occasions as the car was fast but clearly a handful.  Walker was second as no one could make the treacherous outside line work.  314 Jason Barraclough was third on the road but docked two places for contact.  The final was suspended early on when Walker executed a tank slapper on the back straight after a clash with 77 Tom Larcombe.  Legg ran out of room, and hit Walker, fairly gently, which did leave Legg requiring attention, and he gingerly stepped from his car.  When the race resumed, Max Barraclough hit the front.  Behind him, his father Jason Barraclough cleared a route past the erratic James for second.  911 Harrison Bryant kept trying the outside line and managed a well-deserved fourth place.  Walker retaliated on Larcombe, and in the final analysis, both were docked for contact.

Old Skool Bangers

A sizeable dollop of no-shows left the entry at 50 unlimited cc Old School Bangers, but still a fine turnout for the first round of the series put together by 300 Jon Ayles.  Travelling efforts were highlighted by 459 Blake Platts from Sheffield.  There was a wide variety of cars including Mk2 Granadas for 550 Nathan Emery and 788 Darren Morgan.  265 Stewart Foster returned a Mk1 Granada that had been lightly raced at Ringwood around five years ago. 146 Steve Voss brought a used Rolls Royce, and 240 Rob Setters a fresh Lexus 400.  Team Extreme turned up in numbers with a variety of BMWs, of which the smartest was the 519 John Scorse example.  838 Damien Tiley braved it in a used Mk 2 Cortina.  Two heats began the day for them with nudge and spin rules being adhered to.  220 Troy Cooper did well to get past 21 Dean Tompkins for a heat one win with 67 Ricki Beasley quick for third from the back.  Heat two went to the rapid Mercedes estate of 838 Jamie Peters after 290 Jay Tomkins had led for much of the race with 154 Joe Odhams in pursuit.  Odhams held on for second from a fast 186 Lewis Fasey from the back and Tomkins who bounced off the home straight Armco a few times as he struggled on for fourth.  26 of a possible 30 cars returned for a hectic consolation.  262 Rob Bugler gave a masterclass from the back to win from 362 Johnny James who followed him through the field. Early leader 18 Corey Karkeek held on for a fine sixth as 313 Tom Cattell blotted his copybook by following in 500 Scott Mullady.  The final saw Tompkins get a fine win, even passing Beasley to lap him, with 86 Leon Fasey getting up to second around halfway but not able to close the gap.  Peters again showed how quick he can be with a fine third from way back.  121 Ronnie Hawkins was an early leader until a spin, but he roared back for sixth.  Away from the contest at the front, 186 Lewis Fasey clashed with 739 Jason Moore in the pits bend.  The 42-car Allcomers was unsurprisingly the race of the day with an early turn four pile trapping the rear of the field.  That allowed Hawkins to build a decent lead until he got spun by a backmarker.  Setters was one of the first to get through the pile-up, and he duly sped past the unlucky Hawkins.  Setters won, and the impressive Cooper followed him home.  Lots of pile ups, spins and a turn four track blockage made for a chaotic race with everyone held up at some point.  The well-subscribed Allcomers produced a fine end to a decent day’s racing with driver feedback universally excellent.  The other Autospeed round is at St Day on August 24 and should be a belter in front of the Bank Holiday crowd.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

An unusually low entry of 16 Back 2 Basics Bangers produced a fine afternoon of crashing.  In amongst the usual Fiestas, 386 Ryan Wagstaffe brought a Honda Jazz, 328 Mike Parry a Vauxhall Aguila and 987 Craig Lapping a hardcore Toyota Yaris.  Heat one was a race won easily by 31 Liam Shipway who led every metre and won by half a lap in his Focus.  Heat two saw 241 Brayden Hawkins jack up the stalled 493 Mark Powell on the home straight.  756 Troy Hooper tried to spin most of the field out in an entertaining display.  Shipway looked odds on to win when he took the lead from 201 Sam Nichol late on, but Nichol made a perfect last bend lunge to half spin him and just beat him to the line.  The final saw the entertaining 393 Jessica Saunders go in at the end of the back straight where 852 Ryan Hughes jacked her up.  Lapping then used the Yaris to give Hughes a hard shot with the 13 Farmer Phil Saunders car accidentally going in as well.  13 Lee Radford in a Toyota Avensis then hit Lapping, silencing the Yaris.  Shipway, Parry and Nichol kept out of trouble to finish in that order, though the latter ran on a flat outside front tyre for the last few laps.  141 Toby Tiddy was second until the engine decided to lunch itself on the last lap.  He pulled straight off and was able to contest the DD.  Just 5 cars made it for that with 890 Pavarotti out early after hitting a back straight tyre putting a wheel back.  Tiddy got a big early shot in on Powell with the passenger side airbag going off as he hit him.  It came down to a battle between the Fiestas of Hooper and Hawkins which the former managed to just outlast the latter.  The meeting was a great example of what Back 2 Basics is about and the drivers certainly entertained.

Ministox

The youngsters in an entry of 19 Ministox were excellent.  Both heats went to 475 Mason Sealy along with a final third, but that does not tell the story of how hard he had to work to catch a number of quick lower graders.  Heat one saw 607 Bonnie Weston lead a number of laps before 476 Jack Wadling took over in a battle that also included 218 Rory Pearce and 182 Mickey James.  They eventually held each other up and allowed Sealy to catch them a couple of laps from home.  Sealy made the move and won with Pearce and Wadling filling the podium behind him.  Heat two saw Weston lead for the first few laps before a stoppage as Wadling went for the inside of 24 Koben Jenks entering the pits bend and collected him.  247 Thomas Sparks was collected in the crash and was turned left entering the home straight with 99 Jayden Roff and Pearce going in with him as they ran out of room.  After a stoppage for Sparks to be attended to, a scrappy restart saw 313 Charlie Weston hit the front until the last bend when he drifted wide under pressure from Sealy.  He was clearly expecting a hit, but Sealy sailed past on the inside and 257 Kieran Hibberd followed him through to leave Weston third.  The final included a stoppage for the spun 151 Ryan Hookway facing the traffic on the back straight.  It took three attempts to get the drivers to listen to instructions and not jump the start much to the race organisers’ frustration.  On a wet track 511 Lexi Crosbie was in a class of her own carving through the field for a fine win.  She was comfortably fastest in practice and clearly enjoyed the challenge of the wet track.  Charlie Weston and Sealy rounded out the podium with the ever-improving Bonnie Weston holding on well for seventh.  A decent day from a formula full of progressing drivers making it hard for the red graders to catch and pass them.

In all, the meeting proved to be decent with fifteen events done in just over four hours and that was more than welcome on a day which saw the weather worsen as it went on.  All of the formulas entertained with the Back 2 Basics Bangers particularly good.