United Downs Raceway - Sunday 10th February 2013

Report by John Wyatt

To say the weather wasn't kind to the hardy racegoers that made the trip to United Downs for the season opener was somewhat of an understatement - more 'Winter Wetter' than 'Winter Warmer' - but those that did brave the elements were treated to some decent racing - and top marks to everyone who attended. Although down on the numbers booked a still respectable 18 National Bangers, 19 Stock Rods, 15 Ministox and 51 Autospeed Bangers occupied the pit area - the total of cars almost outnumbering the specatators.  

2 Litre National Bangers

With valuable World Championship Qualifying points at stake the emphasis was always going to be more on the racing than crashing, for the majority anyway, but when you have drivers of the calibre of 648 Jamie Smith in attendance there is always a better than evens chance that there will at least be some of the latter!  All 18 cars came out for heat 1 but 642 Nigel Thomas failed to make the start. Several drivers were using cars left from last month’s 'Winter Open', including 162 Brett Ellacott in his title winning Cougar which he used to devastating effect burying race leader 11 Lee Donnelly hard into turn 3 after a lively start. Such was the force of the impact the Ellacott machine made heavy contact with the fence too but before the battered Cougar could rejoin, 648 Smith arrived in his Mondeo at speed and almost ripped the back axle out of the Bad Boy's car, and in the excitement for a moment we all forgot about the dismal weather. After this it all went a little quiet and 239 Steven Carter cruised to an easy win in his fresh Mondeo, from 452 Anthony Sleeman and 133 Terry Hill.  Just 13 made it out for heat 2 but they did include 162 Ellacott and the rough sounding Mondeo of 648 Smith (top marks to both) so at least some action was promised. 452 Sleeman caught and spun the limping 648 Smith at the end of the main straight early on and as expected 162 Ellacott gave him a stonking hit on turn 3 which ended the St Mabyn man's day. Ellacott went on to spin 99 David Spooner before losing a wheel on turn 4 and with that the prospect of any further action finished with 239 Steven Carter going on take his second win of the afternoon in his indecently quick Mondeo, with 2nd and 3rd places going the way of 452 'Lurch' and 133 Hill - the same as heat 1. Only 10 cars ventured out for the afternoon's final including Ellacott in the Cougar, his pit crew kept busy all day and doing stirling work, but with no obvious entertainers among the starters it was always going to be a bit of a 'roddy' event. 239 'Nemesis' made it three-out-of-three, taking an easy win and a bucket-full of World Qualifying points, with 452 'Lurch' picking up a hat-trick of runner-up finishes. 162 'Bad Boy' brought his severely battered Cougar that had served him so well home in 3rd with 133 Terry Hill having to be content with 4th this time around. It was a World Qualifier so it was not entirely unexpected the action might be a little tame, though there was some concern about a small scratch on the front of the 239 Mondeo after the final - but I expect with a bit of a T-Cut it will probably polish out.

Stock Rods

The Stock Rods had several new drivers, a handful of smart new cars and an ex-Cornish Banger Champion among their entry but it was established star and regular United Downs visitor 364 Nathan Olden that stole the show in the non-contact class. With the track conditions poor, to say the least, a rolling start was adopted instead of the usual clutch start - giving the drivers at least a lap to get used to the conditions. 825 Josh Davey, on his Stock Rod debut, was the long time leader of heat 1, showing excellent skill and almost taking a maiden win but 2 laps from the end he was caught and passed by the battle between 286 Rich Crowther and 364 Olden. Young Crowther almost stole it but on the last lap he shut the door on a passing Olden a little bit premature, the two cars making unavoidable contact with 364 Olden recovering to snatch the win, leaving the unfortunate Crowther to collide with the turn 4 fence, a non-finisher. 181 Lindsey Jones took 2nd from Points Champion 92 Adam Daniels - with 825 Josh Davey an encouraging 4th.  Davey was again the early leader in a drier heat 2 after the rain had stopped but 286 Richard Crowther was keen to make amends for his earlier mistake and was soon up into the lead, persued by ex Banger star 675 Martin Nash in his smart Glenn Sanders built Nova. Once again 364 Nathan Olden was showing his class and was soon sniffing at the leaders but after a keen fought battle 2nd place was as good as it got for the Romsey man as 286 Crowther took a worthy win. The 'Winter Supreme Final' was the last event for the non-contact cars with the 17 drivers lining up according to how many points scored in the earlier heats. This meant that 364 Nathan Olden was on 'pole', with 49 Kev Lock on his outside, and on earlier form it was no surprise to see Romsey man Olden hit the front in his super-smart late model Corsa as the green flag waved. As the race progressed 92 Adam Daniels definitely seemed to be catching the leader and after Olden got amongst the back markers closed within striking distance, almost passing the black and orange Corsa at one point but then Olden got into his groove and began putting some space between himself and Daniels who was now coming under pressure from 181 Lindsey Jones. 364 Olden went on to take the deserved win and the 'Winter Supreme' title but 92 Daniels and 181 Jones battled to the flag.  In the run to the line, Daniels was adjudged to have forced a third lane of racing, which sent Jones wide, glancing him off the fence.  This resulted in 92 Adam Daniels being black flagged, disqualified and removed from the results, with Jones the runner-up.  9 Chris Drake was promoted to 3rd, much to his surprise, but just reward for a spirited drive in his new Corsa.  A slightly controversial finish, then, from the Stock Rods - but promising to see the influx of new drivers and cars.

Autospeed Bangers

It was British Championship Qualifying time for the 'nudge-and-spin' Banger brigade and being the first meeting of the year there were plenty of smart, fresh cars in attendance. On the unusual front a pair of very tidy Ford Pumas, from 87 'Shakey' Paul Lawer and 654 Mark Pope were looking mean, while 862 Darryl Cock debuted a late Mk3 Mondeo and 455 Shane Kennard a Peugeot 406 Estate. 24 cars lined up on a very wet track for heat 1 which went the way of front row starter 907 Ben Sillifant, the young Ministox graduate really showing his class in his first ever Banger event in a well used Nissan Almera, leading from start to finish. 372 Jay Matthews came home in 2nd in a fairly tame race. Both the smart Pumas were among the 26 cars for heat 2 and with the track still very, very wet it was going to be interesting to see if they went as well as they looked. They did. 654 Mark Pope swept all aside in his as he cruised to a convincing win in what was a lively race, even surviving a re-start after the yellow flags came out for a problem on the main straight. 26 made it out for the consolation and although the rain had ceased it was still wet underfoot. 426 Chris Gill was a real live wire in this one and at one point was leading but 247 Richard Sparks was soon on his case and after a couple of attempts managed to take over at the front, where he remained to the chequered flag - as 426 Gill continued to entertain before being sidelined with a puncture in what was a pretty lively race with plenty to keep the drying crowd on their toes. Another 26 car line-up for the final and once again it was the little Ford Puma of 654 Mark Pope that looked the car to beat, weaving his way through the field and up into 3rd by lap 3 - that was until he came upon the 45 car of Mike Reed, the Plymouth driver spinning the racey Ford into a pile-up on the exit of turn 4. To be honest this was the only way to stop the flying machine. At the front it was again the young 907 Ben Sillifant who had taken it up but he came to grief on turn 1 courtesy of 132 Barry McAleer, and then took an unintentional heavy hit in the driver's door from 60 Andy Bulled which brought out the yellow flags. The re-start saw an excellent battle for the honours between 916 Luke Thomas and veteran star 186 Leon Fasey which went right down to the wire, the two Mondeo drivers leaving the rest of the field to sort out the minor placings as they barged each other around the raceway. Last lap and with Fasey just ahead 916 Thomas gave the 186 car a little help into turn 3, bouncing it off the fence and leaving just enough room to slip through on the inside to take the win, with uncle Leon recovering well to wrestle his now ill-steering car across the line in 2nd. A really lively race then and what this formula is all about, with hand shakes and smiles exchanged by the winner and runner-up after the presentation of the trophies. 247 Richard Sparks finished 3rd. The last event of the afternoon was the 28-car Allcomers, traditionally a good tear up but with two lengthy yellow flag incidents it rather took the edge off the race and the delays did curb many a drivers’ enthusiasm I think. That said, the Puma mounted 87 Paul Lawer drove superbly to take the win, the now dry track well suited to the sporty little Ford and with Autospeed's decision to eliminate the Mondeo from this class in 2014 could this be the tool of choice for the future ? We'll see.

Ministox

Among the early season Ministox entry were welcome visitors Spedeworth Points Champion 236 Ryan Polley and long haul traveller 629 Euan Miller from Scotland - son of ex Banger racer 'Mad Max' Miller, famed for being on the receiving end of one of the biggest ever follow-ins at a Wimbledon World Final back in the 1980s at the wheel of a wedge-shape BL Princess - though thankfully young Euan's day at United Downs was not quite so destructive!!  All available cars made it out on a very wet track for heat 1, and with the rain still falling it was 916 Keiran Bodie that made the initial running, whilst at the back of the pack it was always going to be a race-long - indeed an afternoon long - battle between the Silver roofed cars of Spedeworth's 236 Polley and Autospeed favourite 942 Steven Gilbert.  Bodie's unconventional wide lines through turn 4 eventually allowed the persuing pack to catch up and it was 987 Ethan Pope that took the honours of winning the first race of the 2013 season at the Cornish track in his immaculate 'SRP' built car – a maiden win no less. It was first blood to Polley in the Silver stakes, the Cambridge driver finishing 3rd, just in front of Flying Cornishman Gilbert.  945 Charlie Porter took the runner-up spot.  The rain had actually stopped by the time the cars came out for heat 2 but after 3 Banger races the track was still very slippery. As in the earlier race 916 Keiran Bodie hit the front at the start but this time the Truro youngster managed to keep it all together and put enough space between himself and the chasing 236 Ryan Polley to take a thoroughly deserved win – his first ever.  945 Charlie Porter recorded his second top-three finish of the afternoon coming home in 3rd.  The final was run on a lot drier track but was marred by a big crash after 946 Emily Hector hit the fence head-on very hard after taking avoiding action to miss the spinning car of Scotsman 629 Euan Miller.  Thankfully the talented young lady driver eventually emerged none the worse for wear, to appaluase from the crowd, and it was visiting super-star 236 Ryan Polley that went on to take the victory after the re-start from the ever improving 989 Joe Marquand and multi-champion 942 Steven Gilbert.  Polley celebrated by climbing on to the bonnet of his car, after pulling up at the line.  A fine display from all the youngsters in, what were, at times, truly appalling conditions.