Report by Duncan Wallis

On a dry and increasingly clear and warm day, the United Downs Raceway hosted the first F2 British Championship to be held in Cornwall since 1984.  On that occasion, Mike James won at St Austell, and it was a joy that ‘The Music Man' was in attendance and didn't look a year older than when this writer last saw him race about twenty years. He helped with the preparation for the big race and clearly greatly enjoyed being involved.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

46 F2s made it and raced in a three from six format.  Unfortunately, the requirement for all of them to attend the drivers’ briefing and draw for qualifying groups meant a late start to the meeting in front of a crowd that steadily built up into an excellent attendance.  A few more cars would have been welcome with some surprising non-attendees, but plenty travelled a lot of miles, particularly the quartet of Scottish drivers.
23 cars for heat one led off by lone white grader 267 Robbie Batten who was passed by 844 Jack Prosser a few laps in.  Defending champion 667 Tommy Farrell had already clashed with 468 Sam Weston spinning both on the back straight as 647 Chris Burgoyne put the bumper in further back in an attempt to make progress.  Batten clashed with 676 Neil Hooper as 27 Kieren Bradford worked to reel Prosser in and was right on his bumper as the lap boards came out.  A nudge from Bradford at the turnstile end got him ahead and delayed Prosser enough to allow 926 Josh Wilson through for second.  Further back 418 Ben Borthwick sent 213 Tom Bennett very wide on the last bend, Bennett glancing the fence and crossing the line out of the places and with smoke billowing from his car.  127 Matt Stoneman impressed from the reds and got through to fourth with 674 Steven Burgoyne beating brother Chris for seventh. 
22 cars for heat two which saw an early turn two pile up in which 24 Jon Palmer climbed over 186 Kasey Jones.  8 Jimi Marshall and 606 Andrew Palmer were also involved with only Jon Palmer able to salvage any qualifying points in fifteenth. 454 Ryan Gardiner led for most of the way before the quick 931 Rebecca Smith got past with the lap boards out.  She was swiftly followed by sister 390 Jessica Smith with Gardiner surviving for an impressive fifth.  Slim pickings for the higher graders in this one as they chased some quick lower graders.  155 Archie Grindey was the first of them in eighth.
Batten once more led heat three away but 315 Charlie Fisher was soon past to build a big lead which was never seriously threatened.  Stoneman used the bumper well to get to second passing 288 Paul Ford and Wilson in the second half of the race.  Chris Burgoyne clashed with 578 Mark Gibbs on the home straight losing a decent place and Wilson just got past Ford with a last bend lunge for second.
Heat four was led by Gardiner once more.  770 Austin Farrell had a back straight tank slapper which collected Weston as the former careered towards the infield.  Weston got airtime landing near the pit gate on top of the unfortunate 890 Paul Rice.  After a delay to clear the heavily damaged Weston and Rice cars, Gardiner led them away as 355 Aidan Grindey, Bennett and 183 Charlie Guinchard had a great battle lower down the places.  Guinchard eventually gave Bennett a hard hit and began to make progress as did 7 Gordon Moodie.  Another stoppage ensued with the lap boards not yet out as 605 Richie Andrews caught the back tyre of 12 Craig Driscoll and flipped over giving the starter and the home straight patrons a close view as he landed upside down with lots of damage.  Andrews was quickly out and, typically, in good spirits.  Amazingly the car was repaired for the big race.  Guinchard took his chance to take over just before the lap boards came out and he beat Moodie and the speedy 992 Harley Burns who shadowed Moodie and seemed just as quick. 
Austin Farrell led them away in heat five before Fisher got past with Bradford in tow.  A well timed turn three lunge saw Bradford through to lead and he wasn't challenged despite a misfire.  Jessica Smith did half of the home straight sideways in a pack of cars and was later involved with Ford leading to both spinning out late on.  Burns and Guinchard got through for podium spots behind Bradford in a fast race. 
Heat six was the quietest one of the heats but still had plenty to watch.  Batten led for the first couple of laps before 578 Mark Gibbs led a few laps.  980 Charlie Lobb got past before halfway and reeled off the laps for a comfortable win.  935 Nathan Maidment had a spin with the inside rear tyre coming off the rim.  155 Archie Grindey had a good battle with Tommy Farrell, but bad luck befell Steven Burgoyne as he broke down with two to go whilst well placed.  Rebecca Smith followed Lobb home with Marshall and Jon Palmer having their best runs of the day behind her.
Former Champion Mike James paraded the British Championship trophy through the 31-car grid ahead of the title race, with Paul Rice the only qualifier unable to repair.  After an excellent and restrained build up the pack thundered into the pits bend.  Around when gold top Moodie, and as the pack swept by, Chris Burgoyne was squeezed up the plating on the home straight and he ended up rolling over after running out of track room entering the home straight.  Chris was quickly out and was ruing his bad luck.  A complete re-run once again saw the pack thunder in with a big pile up.  Pole sitter Bradford spun, and there were early problems for Stoneman, Wilson, Moodie and Rebecca Smith.  As the pack sped down the home straight, 220 Freddie Hunter-Johnson was upended, and he came to a halt in turn one.  The explosive first lap had brought wholesale changes at the front, with Burns, Jon Palmer and defending Champion Farrell emerging as the lead trio.  Eventually a yellow flag caution had to be called with Hunter-Johnson seeking assistance, and Andrews stranded against the back straight wall.  Burns, Palmer, Farrell, Bennett and Lobb were the top five for the single file restart which saw swift changes to the order when racing resumed, as Farrell shoved Palmer aside and did likewise to Burns to hit the front.  Astonishingly, having started as the last car on the first attempt at running the race, Steven Burgoyne had climbed to third.  Yet, as the leaders approached the end of another lap, they encountered Gardiner, broadside across the track on the exit of turn four.  Farrell dived to the outside, Burns went inside the static 454 car, and by the end of the home straight, Burns had wrestled the lead back.  With Gardiner having no forward or rearward motion, another race suspension was unavoidable.  Burns, Farrell, Palmer and Burgoyne occupied the top four places, but at the drop of the green flag, Burgoyne cruised to a halt, and within a lap, Palmer had leapt forward to second.   Little happened during the next segment of the race, with many laps ticking by without notable incident.  A clash involving 736 Josh Weare, Bennett and 355 Aidan Grindey saw them momentarily tangle going in to turn one, with Kasey Jones helping to rid them from his path as he advanced three places.  Bennett was the unlucky one, as he went no further, and was to remain there for the rest of the race, but having given the thumbs up, the race continued.  Having established himself in fourth, Archie Grindey hunted down and got past Farrell by the midway point.  However, he was still some way adrift of those ahead, with Burns enjoying a comfortable gap back to the chasing Palmer in second.  That gap remained fairly constant until the final third of the race when Palmer visibly started to close.  With backmarkers ahead, Palmer managed to keep Burns just about in range, raising hopes of a potential grandstand finish.  Burns caught Brimble and was slightly delayed.  Palmer closed, but then he had to edge past Brimble.  Burns took the two laps to go board with Rebecca Smith directly in front of him.  Half a lap later, Burns swept by.  As he took the last lap board, it looked for a brief moment that Palmer might try to cannon Smith into Burns, but instead, Palmer dived inside Smith heading into turn one.  Palmer clipped the kerb and then tangled wheels with Smith.  The pair slowed and ran wide.  Burns was away and gone, and once Palmer looked to regain momentum, Archie Grindey was ready to pounce and snatch second on the last bend.  Lobb led Farrell and Jones home to complete the top six ending a dramatic and memorable race.  Burns was clearly overjoyed at landing his first major title and got an excellent reception from the appreciative crowd which recognised a great drive from the young charger.  An excellent day’s racing from a formula which showed how well suited they are to the track.

Ministox

There were 20 Ministox in attendance, but unfortunately 27 Leo Rabone didn't make it past practice.  Heat one saw 17 cars make it out, led away by 235 Kaitlin Harris with 117 Max Starr in close contention. 182 Mickey James sent 476 Jack Wadling wide on the top bend with the latter sliding along the wall on his side for a stoppage.  114 Charlie Lomas was quickly through to lead as Starr glanced the back straight fence leading to a front suspension failure.  Lomas cruised to the win as James gave 511 Lexi Crosbie a hard shot exiting the last bend allowing 257 Kieran Hibberd to sneak past for second.  Harris impressed with a fine sixth.  Heat two was stopped early for 990 Billy Rice on his side on turn four, after he had ridden too tight over the inner kerb.  Harris led away and was then involved in a battle with the impressive 218 Rory Pearce which allowed Lomas to close in and pass both with Harris unfortunate to spin out in the pack.  522 Jacob Mikulla made decent progress until he hit the back straight wall and coasted to a stop on turn three, necessitating a stoppage.  Lomas once again drove away for a convincing win, whilst a last bend clash between Hibberd and 313 Charlie Weston sent both very wide and allowed Crosbie to sail past on the inside for second.  The final saw 770 Delilah Farrell spin out early as Mikulla had problems on the back straight involving Weston.  Farrell had led early on, tracked by Starr and Pearce but the impressive Lomas was soon by them to complete his hat-trick.  Pearce held on for an impressive second as James and Hibberd had a great battle for third.  Hibberd got that with Weston pipping the lively James for fifth.  Starr held on for a decent seventh place finish with Harris eighth.  Both of them will be climbing the grades before long as will Pearce who is too quick for yellow grade.  A decent day from a formula blessed with a fine crop of drivers.  The enforced absence of 475 Mason Sealy has certainly opened up the formula, Lomas will no doubt be back up to red top and won't find it easy to catch the lower graders.

2 Litre National Bangers

The entry of 17 2 Litre National Bangers suffered from late cancellations, and further issues with 225 Cody Blight not managing to start a race and brother 308 Nick Blight only managing to start the DD.  Nonetheless, there were quite a few fresh cars with 11 Grubby Frankson, 462 Nico James and 562 Jayden James winning Best Presented awards.  83 Garry Bugg and 512 Matt Armstrong made a decent journey from Suffolk to race.  Heat one was a belter.  97 Craig Deer started it off by giving 280 Jordan Fitzpatrick a follow in.  189 Ry Beardwell then gave Fitzpatrick a further shot leading to a stoppage to remove the shaken driver from his car.  Amazingly the Vectra was able to be repaired, Jordan nearly made it out for the final and gallantly did compete in the DD.  59 Mike Hamley span out 286 Sophie Fasey with the latter retreating to the centre green for a lap before rejoining.  512 Matt Armstrong was spun by Frankson with the latter putting on a lively display as Sophie Fasey span out 208 Kieran Barrett.  Until then, Barrett had led for most of the race with Frankson hitting him over the front wheel ending both of their races.  186 Leon Fasey had got to the front and was well clear when he broke down leaving a James podium lockout – 362 Johnny beating 462 Nico and 562 Jayden with Sophie Fasey and Armstrong completing the finishers.  Heat two was a bit quieter though 317 Macauley Haines may disagree.  53 Chris James gave him a shot before Nico James went through the Haines car flat out leaving the latter a bit dazed.  Chris James also gave Nico a decent shot in a lively display before Deer ended the action by blasting Nico who was certainly well involved.  Lewis Fasey won from Johnny James, 216 George Baker and Sophie Fasey who all had a decent battle for the places.  Just nine for the final as most of the wreckers were unable to repair.  Deer was spun aside by Jayden James at the start, just past the start-finish line, and Nico gave him a huge shot.  Nico careered into the plating and rolled when he was inadvertently collected by Armstrong.  The hit left Deer very shaken up, but under medical supervision he was able to climb out of the car.  The measured work of the medical team was such that this led to a lengthy delay in proceedings, but eventually the race resumed.  A fast race then ensued with Johnny James in his Astra just too quick to beat Lewis Fasey and Baker.   Five cars emerged for the DD, although just four actually started the contest.  Fitzpatrick and Nick Blight were finished off early on leaving Bugg and Armstrong to give the crowd some entertainment with the latter waving Bugg in a couple of times despite having a car that would have gone again.  Bugg took the win.  462 Nico James was a clear winner as Entertainer of the day with 53 Chris James Top Trier and 280 Jordan Fitzpatrick had the day’s Most Wrecked car.

Caravans

Although just three caravans were destroyed, there was the crazy sight of seeing one caravan towed by a Siamese Banger pair!  690 Tristan Clement on the bottom in a jag and 692 Dave Gardner steering from above in the remains of a Peugeot 205.  818 Terry Rowe started the event by shedding his caravan early on.  Experiencing gearing issues, 22 Zack Hancock was moving slowly down the home straight with Rowe taking the chance to embed himself in the trailer.  Both crawled round to the back straight where after a couple of drive-bys, the Siamese Banger Pair eventually went in and embedded themselves on the Rowe trailer leaving a fine auto sculpture that I haven't seen before in 46 years of racing.  The crowd certainly seemed impressed and will hopefully have enjoyed what I thought was an excellent day out.  Hopefully it won't be another 42 years before the BriSCA F2 British Championship returns to Cornwall.