Easter began on a chilly Good Friday at the United Downs Raceway, where a busy Bank Holiday crowd was in attendance, eager to see Caravan Chaos devastation at the end of the afternoon.  World Championship points were on offer for the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars, the Saloon Stock Cars contested their Western Championship and a huge entry of Bangers raced for the first time this year.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A disappointing number of withdrawals from the original entry list left numbers in the low 30s, but still sufficient for a full format meeting.  In the opening heat, 206 Matt Brewer reeled in lone white grader 770 Austin Farrell, and won comfortably from 654 Harley Soper, with former double World Champion 647 Chris Burgoyne making good progress to third.  Heat two saw debutant 710 Louie Stuckey lead early on, before 390 Jessica Smith took over.  207 Alfie Flecken relieved her of the lead but was delayed when he spun Stuckey on the exit of turn four.  That opened the door for 674 Steven Burgoyne to close on Flecken.  Burgoyne won, with 183 Charlie Guinchard grabbing the runner-up slot late on.  A lively start to the consolation saw 95 Joe Willcock and 667 Tommy Farrell crash out together at the pit gate.  The race resumed after a caution period, with 235 Alfie Brimble leading all the way to the last lap.  He was being hunted down by 915 Jamie Jones and 542 Steven Gilbert.  In went the bumper from Gilbert, Brimble and Jones went wide, and Gilbert stole the win.  Ahead of the Voice of Autospeed Trophy final, an excerpt from Bill Dalley’s commentary was relayed over the loudspeaker system.  With no white grade qualifiers, Jessica Smith took full advantage of her grid position at the front of the yellows.  She built a strong lead, whilst 880 Jack Witts, 31 Lewis Geach and 315 Charlie Fisher tangled in turn one and lost time.  As the order settled, Smith was chased by 605 Richie Andrews and Jones, and that was still the positions of the lead trio by the midway stage.  Steven Burgoyne again made terrific progress, but second was as high as he climbed, with Jessica Smith untroubled at the front as she became the first lady racer to win a St Day final.  Andrews completed the top three.  A large entry of 27 drivers contested the Grand National, which had an untidy start.  Stuckey tangled with Smith at the front of the pack (Smith being on the compulsory one lap handicap), just as the green was about to be shown.  The race was instantly halted, and an unsatisfactory start declared.  Although Smith was given time to change a puncture, further damage precluded her taking any part in the second attempt at the race.  A strong charge by Guinchard in the second half of the race saw him storm to victory in a result dominated by red tops (ten of the top fifteen).

Saloon Stock Cars

The absence of more than half a dozen south west drivers was baffling, and contributed to a modest entry, but what stunning entertainment those present managed to conjure up.  A wonderful opening heat went all the way to the final bend.  870 Bert Farrell was the long-time leader, until challenged around the halfway stage by 111 Thomas Ruby, which led to both drivers spinning.  202 Cody Bradford inherited the lead, but he was reeled in by 902 Junior Buster and 577 Harry Darby.  A well timed nudge from Darby saw him edge the other pair from his path, but Buster returned the favour on the last bend, shoving Darby wide to steal a fine win.  Farrell led even longer in heat two, but was finally overhauled by Bradford, who benefitted from the star grade contingent battling entertainingly for the lower places.  759 Taylor Whitford stole second from Farrell, for a low grade lockout of the top three places.  Fittingly, the Western Championship was the race of the day and produced an explosive climax on the last lap.  Farrell had held sway until the latter stages, but 720 Archie Brown grabbed the lead at the start of the lap.  Buster followed him through into second and launched his attack on the final bend.  Brown ran wide, Buster tried in vain to spin him, but as Brown collided with the fence, it bounced Buster across the front of the onrushing 677 Warren Darby.  Brown held on to win, Warren Darby stole second just metres from the line and Buster was left to finish third.  Farrell spun in the confusion and dropped out of the result, which was scant reward for his fine efforts.

Bangers

More than 50 drivers were present for the first meeting for Bangers this season.  In heat one, a busy grid saw mayhem let loose on the second lap, which caught out race leader 249 Brandon Curtis.  54 Jake Moore duly snatched the lead, and he proceeded to win by a huge distance, with 196 Phil Chapman the best of the rest in second place.  From pole position, 632 Ryan Karkeek set a searing pace in heat two, and with plenty of chaos around the circuit, including 817 Michael Phillips being spun up the infield tyres.  Karkeek enjoyed a relatively trouble-free run at the front and won comfortably from 242 Alfie Ellacott.  If the heats had been chaotic, then the consolation turned up the wick even more, as just eight drivers went the distance.  823 Tyler Phillips won by a convincing distance.  Phillips and Karkeek set the pace in the final, with the latter still ahead as the race moved into the closing stages.  However, Karkeek was spun on the home straight just two laps from home and heavily clouted the fence.  Ellacott swept by and won from 78 Max Weare and 198 Owen Nichol.  The Allcomers began with Curtis following in 426 Kenanne Burt, which resulted in a red flag stoppage whilst Burt was attended to.  The re-run race was led by 18 Steve Soper and then Ellacott, but 196 Phil Chapman surged ahead to claim the win in the closing stages.

Easter Caravan Chaos

Some exceptional work by several students from Falmouth University helped produce an array of colourfully decorated caravans.  280 Jordan Fitzpatrick lost his caravan early on, which was then attacked by 989 Saul Campbell.  Fitzpatrick still continued and ploughed into the lone caravan that had been positioned on the back straight.  156 Howard Cross fired through a caravan in turn one, as Fitzpatrick and Campbell did likewise.  That left only 161 Anton Ferris circulating, but he wonderfully managed to flatten most of what was left in-tact, including a final blitz into the heap of caravans and Campbell’s Urban Fay decorated car, to much approval from the crowd.