Another day of awful weather blighted the Spring Bank Holiday Sunday meeting at St Day, although a sizeable crowd did brave the elements to be part of the last Bus & Coach racing event.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The rain was simply lashing it down as the first F2 heat assembled, and if anything, it got even heavier during the course of the race, leaving drivers to struggle manfully against heavy spray in particular.  The soaking wet conditions did contribute to a lack of overtaking, as drivers fought the visibility problems.  Out front, 891 Darren Wade led much of the way, and the clear track in front of him helped his progress considerably.  The rain had significantly lessened by the second heat, which proved to be an absorbing contest.  The leader for much of the race was 528 Shane Hector, chased by 740 Neil Langworthy.  In the closing stages, a pack of blue and red grade drivers descended on the lead pair.  Whilst Langworthy was relegated down the order, Hector held on at the front, and punched the air in delight as he won from 254 Richard Beere.  Wade got away well again in heat three, but National Points Champion 7 Gordon Moodie got the better of a battle with World Champion 783 James Rygor and English Open Champion 38 Dave Polley to lead the pursuit of the runaway white top.  By the midway point, Moodie had reeled him in, and edged past to record his first St Day win since 2007.  The final started off with a messy entanglement on the start finish line; as Wade hooked up with 572 James Lindsay.  For the re-run, only three laps had elapsed when the race went to caution, with 438 Mike Rice stranded, and a couple of laps later, chaos reigned on the exit of turn four, and with 575 Tom Clark going nowhere, the race was yellow flagged once more.  By now, the star men of 676 Neil Hooper, Rygor and Moodie were now right up behind the leader, Langworthy.  When the green flag flew, it was Moodie who ruthlessly edged Rygor and Hooper deep into the turnstile bend, and that moved opened the door for Moodie to hit the front.  Rygor gave gallant chase, but it was a forlorn hope to keep with the Scot, who duly added another chapter to his impressive CV, by winning a St Day final for the first time, and capturing the monumental Tyrone Snell Trailers trophy.  The Grand National was punctuated by a fractious exchange involving 206 Matt Brewer, 302 Dale Moon and 254 Richard Beere.  Once that incident was tidied up, Rygor charged on to claim his third St Day Grand National win in a row, whilst Moodie benefitted greatly from the yellow flag period for Moon’s indiscretion, and returned to fourth place from his one lap handicap.

Bangers

Just under 50 Bangers contested the Cornish Championship, racing to a two from three format which saw large grids of cars all afternoon, and some boisterous racing.  Notables amongst the entry were local star 28 Steve Linly on his first appearance of the season, an assortment of first meeting debutants, and a deluge of brightly painted cars in Lightning Recovery colours.  There was also a worthy outbreak of smart cars, including defending Cornish Champion 70 Jamie Thomas, with another first rate showing.  The first heat was won by 938 Ashley Rice, but thereafter, it became the 612 Lee Pink show.  He won heat two, and then took the chequered in heat three to double his victory count.  The Cornish Championship final featured a packed grid, with 41 Sam Hollins the early leader.  Whilst many of the white grade dithered, Pink shot from the back of the grade to the front, edging past Hollins to take over first place.  The race was halted on lap five, after a rollover by newcomer 8 Paul Bray, who then got clobbered by the wayward 576 Daniel Paterson.  Pink already had a huge lead, and he continued to keep a long way clear of any chasers.  That was just as well, because a couple of laps from home, Pink was troubled by backmarker 247 Richard Sparks.  Pink was delayed, but such was his lead, that when he got going again, he was still in the lead.  Pink even had time on the last bend to blast Sparks aside, before claiming the Cornish title, with 929 Sam Baker the runner-up and 246 Ryan Sparks in third.

Ministox

There were 14 youngsters present for the meeting that concluded their second grading period.  The first heat had an atrocious start, which was aborted, although the second attempt was little better, with a ragged grid in untidy order as the green flag flew.  The lead fluctuated between 943 Hannah Esau, 931 Jack Manhire and 922 Joe Parker, until 986 Sophie Fasey came storming through in the final third of the race, to clinch a convincing win.  Heat two was far more orderly when the race began, although white tops Esau and 912 Sam Rees were soon submerged by the yellow graders, as Parker got to the front on lap three.  Whilst Fasey again made strong progress from the stars, she was unable to get the lead this time, and Parker held on for his first win of the season.  A splendid contest for second place in the final was the feature of the main race for the youngsters, as Rees kept clear of the chasing group.  Parker, Manhire and 987 Ethan Pope swapped places in their pursuit of the leader, and were then joined by 910 Tom Cadby and 667 Tommy Farrell in a thrilling encounter.  Fasey then added to the numbers, but she swiftly cut a way through them, to chase after Rees, grabbing the lead with three to run.  Rees held on for second – his first trophy position, and Cadby completed the top three.

Buses & Coaches

A mixture of four minibuses and one large coach made for a thrilling spectacle in the last Bus & Coach racing event.  Each race followed a similar pattern, as 16 Simon Ferris and 289 Jamie Cocks took turns to nibble away at the coach of 998 Martin Knowles.  141 Toby Tiddy, who was making a tenth consecutive appearance in the Buses & Coaches, repeatedly parked up on the straight, to reverse into the passing coach.  210 Mike Johns had a trying day, as his minibus failed to run in the first race, but he put it to very good use in the next race, mounting several attacks on the other vehicles.  The big coach of Knowles went sideways in the closing event, the DD, but eventually he finished off Cocks to take the last chequered flag of an entertaining display by all five drivers.