United Downs Raceway - Sunday 13th October 2013

Report by Jon Wyatt

Although light rain was falling on the good people of Cornwall early morning as I watched Sebastian Vettel win yet another Grand Prix, by the time I had walked around a local car-boot sale (with the biggest Scalextric set I'd ever seen bought for £8.00 under my arm) the rain had ceased, and by the time I arrived at the United Downs Raceway the sun had come out and an excellent day's racing looked in prospect. Sadly this was the final BriSCA F2 meeting at the Cornish track for the 2013 season, so traditionally that meant is was 'Old Motorcycle Club Trophy' time again - and with that came the biggest prize fund for the F2s of the year. Also on the programme were the Autospeed Bangers, who as usual arrived in good numbers, and the youngsters in the Ministox who didn't.......

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Even though there was enhanced prize money on offer only a quite disappointing 28 BriSCA F2s arrived at the Cornish track to make a claim for a share. Among the 'no-shows' were several local drivers - which is always difficult to understand at a prestigious meeting as this - but despite that the racing was still fast, furious and at times spectacular during the afternoon. Also to be decided on the day was the White and Yellow Grade Final, the 'All Saints Series' and the winner of the St Day Track Points Championship - so there really was everything to play for and track conditions were nigh on perfect. The first race of the day was the aforementioned White and Yellow Grade Final, sponsored by that dedicated group of supporters 'Club 21', which was also heat 1 for the BriSCA F2s, and after an initial early stoppage for 996 Phil Chapman who had come to a stop on the main straight at the start a complete re-run eventually got under way. 526 Marc Rowe was the early leader but on lap 4 got it all wrong coming out of turn 4, half-spun across the track clipping 302 Dale Moon as he did so, sending the 'Ladies' Favourite' onto the centre with a bent back axle. 430 Simon Edwards, in an effort to miss the accident, takes avoiding action but ends up launching himself off the inner kerb at the end of the start/finish straight where he is collected by 627 Gary Sillifant and 979 Paul Moss among others and out come the yellow flags. After the dust had settled it was 991 Ryan Hoskin who led away the remaining 8 cars for the re-start from 954 Jamie Beere and rising star Hoskin, who had been holding 6th place going into lap 4, took full advantage of his piece of luck and went on to take a thoroughly deserved win, the White and Yellow Grade Trophy and 4 brand new Yokohama tyres, some consolation for a pretty miserable season at United Downs thus far. 954 Jamie Beere came home in 2nd with 797 Dan Moss claiming 3rd - both picking up new Yokohama tyres too for their efforts.
Heat 2 saw 19 cars out on track, including debut driver 83 Sy Harraway in the super-smart ex' Chris Mikulla RCE, but more impressively 302 Dale Moon whose crew had somehow managed to repair the heavy damage caused to the car in the earlier heat and it was indeed the Penwithick  youngster who was the long time leader in this one even surviving a race stoppage for the 156 Pat Lines car that had come to a stop in a dangerous position by the pit-gate which closed the pack up. On the final lap though local favourite 605 Liam Rowe managed to find a way past the 302 car to snatch the win, with Mooner hanging on for an excellent 2nd, just ahead of fastest man in pre-race practise World Champion 783 James Rygor. These finishing positions meant that 605 Rowe was now 2 points ahead of 783 Rygor in the battle for the Track Points Championship.
18 cars lined up for heat 3 which was stopped almost before it had started when 991 Ryan Hoskin's car stopped at the end of the main straight bringing about a complete re-run. At the green 526 Marc Rowe was again the early leader but further back down the field 676 Neil Hooper was really on a charge, shadowed by World Champion Rygor, and these two made quick progress through the pack. 605 Liam Rowe took over at the front after passing 575 Tom Clark and 526 Marc Rowe who had survived an early assault from 83 Harraway but before long had 676 Hooper closing on his rear end - with 116 Ashley Rundle now holding 3rd in front of the gold roofed Rygor. Just as it seemed 605 Rowe had the win sewn up he got it all wrong coming out of turn 4 as the last-lap board came out, clipped a retiring 542 Steven Gilbert who was heading for the infield which allowed 676 Hooper through, followed by 116 Rundle and 783 Rygor - and this is how they finished. So as regards the Track Championship it was now advantage Rygor.
The prestigious 'Old Motorcycle Club Trophy' Final was the next race up and with a £25 bonus for the leader of each lap this event seemed a far better prospect than buying Post Office shares for the 24 starters that lined up in grade order. A draw among the white graders at the front seemed the fairest option and saw 156 Pat Lines line up next to 734 Glenn Sanders but it was 526 Marc Rowe who crossed the line in the lead at the end of the first lap and laying claim to the £25 bounty. For a while this looked a nice little earner for the Plymouth man but a race stoppage on lap 3 for a problem for the 686 car of Jay Scott on the exit of turn two threatened to spoil things. He need not have worried too much though as he made an excellent Vettel-esque start as the race resumed and was able to pocket a few quid more as the race progressed but someone else had their eyes on the prize too as 783 Rygor was up to 3rd before we had reached half-distance. By the time the Union flag came out the World Champion had stormed into 2nd, followed closely by defending 'Old Motorcycle Club Trophy' Champion 676 Neil Hooper.  Rowe eventually collected 11 lots of £25, to total £275 for the day, before 785 Rygor took over at the front. There was a further stoppage, when the 828 car of 'temp' licence holder Julian Coombes came to a stop on the exit of turn 2, but at the re-start Rygor looked comfortable, going on to take the flag, the last of the cash (£225), the Track Championship, the splendid 'Old Motorcycle Club Trophy' - and his first win since lifting the World Crown. 676 Hooper drove superbly for 2nd but to the victor the spoils and the Exmouth man failed to pick up a shilling of the bonus pot unfortunately. 126 Jamie Avery came through in 3rd, making it a clean-sweep for the star men - but the biggest winner was 526 Rowe, picking up a sizeable chunk of the folding stuff. 116 Ashley Rundle was declared the winner of the 'All Saints' shield for most final laps led throughout the season at St Day - just reward for some brilliant performances.
13 cars lined up for the last BriSCA F2 race of the season at United Downs the Grand National, with World Champion Rygor on the obligatory lap handicap. 156 Pat Lines made good use of his front row start to lead the early couple of laps but before long 302 Dale Moon had got up to speed and took the lead cleanly through turns 1 and 2 on lap 3, while further back 676 Hooper had once again made an excellent start from the rear of the grid. Try as he might though the Exmouth man had no answer to the young love-struck (!) Moon and the 'Ladies' Favourite' went on to comfortably win his second GN in as many St Day meetings - and the yellow grade award - with 676 Hooper taking another 2nd to add to his earlier in the final, 605 Liam Rowe finishing 3rd and World Champion James Rygor achieving 7th.

Ministox

For one reason or another only 9 Ministox arrived to race at their penultimate meeting of the season - plus welcome new addition to the ranks 917 Warren Darby (I'm sure I've heard that surname before somewhere?) who although not quite old enough to race just yet was allowed to practise with the other youngsters and showed excellent potential for the future. The day though was about one driver, current points leader 907 Cameron Lawrence, who swept to victory not only in both the heats but in the 'Steve Hoskin Construction' sponsored final too. To say he was dominant would probably be an understatement as he was simply head and shoulders above the rest on the day - though not physically as young Cameron is possibly the smallest driver on the grid (!) so maybe that is what gives him such an advantage? This is a young man who has a great future in oval racing for sure. All 3 races were good though, with some close dicing for the runner-up positions with 989 Joe Marquand consistently finishing in the top 3 with a brace of 3rd places and a 2nd in the final. 922 Joe Parker finished an excellent 2nd in heat 2 whilst 986 Sophie Fasey was lively as always and was rewarded with a 2nd place in heat 1 but will no doubt be remembered more for a spectacular - if not freaky - display of two-wheel driving which saw the 986 car drive almost the whole length of turns 1 and 2 on the near-side wheels, before coming back down to earth near the pit-gate and continuing without hardly losing a place. Now that's the mark of a truly good driver! 910 Tom Cadby grabbed 3rd place in the final in what was an unusually quiet day for the Grampound youngster.

Autospeed Bangers

As usual there was an excellent turnout of cars in this ever popular formula, with some very smart paint-jobs among the entry. The 'Lightning Recovery' boys from Bodmin continued their quest to race more unusual cars - with a Toyota Celica for 422 Tristan Beresford among their ranks this week. Heat 1 fielded 21 starters and after a hectic start saw Stock Rod star 83 Adam Ignaczak take an early lead in the Ford Focus he recently used in the Team Championship at Smeatharpe but just as he got into his stride the waved yellow flags came out for 421 Chris Luke who had come to grief by the pit-gate in a dangerous position. Although 83 Ignaczak made good progress after the re-start he was soon caught a passed by the flying Honda of 247 Richard Sparks who had made short work of carving his way from the very back of the grid and it was the Newton Abbot star that went on to take the win - from the ever impressive Ford Puma of 87 Paul Lawer.  Another 21 cars for heat 2 which was a lively affair and saw an early race stoppage for debris on the raceway. At the re-start 912 Simon Rees quickly moved to the front after passing 447 Adam Hicks and never looked back, taking an easy win from 847 Andy Whatley and 45 Mike Reed. Just 15 cars lined up for the consolation which was led initially by the rapid Honda Civic of 320 Dan Abbott but after he pulled off with mechanical problems it was 910 Katie Dawe who took over at the front in her smart Mondeo and that is where she stayed, with the flying Puma of 654 Mark Pope coming home in 2nd after a spirited drive from the back of the field. 25 qualifiers took to the track for the 'Steve Hoskin Construction' sponsored final and with so many cars on track the action came thick and fast, with a big pile-up on turn 1 at the start, which left the Mondeo of 910 Katie Dawe perched on top of the inner curve banking with all four wheels off the ground. 447 Adam Hicks was the early leader but he was soon passed by 83 Adam Ignaczak in the Focus. As the cars swapped places behind him Ignaczak kept his head and was soon up among the back markers, 912 Simon Rees looked handy in 2nd for a while but then got hooked out on the start/finish straight which began a spectacular chain of events which ended with 45 Mike Reed clipping an infield marker tyre at the end of the straight, flipping over and finishing up on his roof up against the fence on turn 1 as the yellow flags came out! Thankfully the Plymouth driver emerged unscathed, exiting his car to sporting appaluse from the crowd and the remaining cars lined up for the re-start. The action continued after the green but 83 Ignaczak managed to steer clear of it all and take his maiden win in this formula - to add to his two wins in the Stock Rods. A good battle for 2nd went almost to the line between 131 Steven Cock and 929 Sam Baker - with the latter making several attempts to dislodge the Falmouth man's Mondeo - but Cocksey managed to hold on taking his best finish for many a day. The Allcomers was the last race of the day and saw 25 cars out on track and after an initial false start the race got under way with plenty of action. There was a race stoppage too but 910 Katie Dawe managed to avoid all the carnage, going on to take her second win of the afternoon in convincing style, whilst 930 Jordan Lobb managed to tip upside down in the turnstile bend right at the very end to bring to a close another entertaining display from the Autospeed Bangers.