Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 20th July 2014

A bright sunny, summer’s day greeted racegoers at Smeatharpe for the first Westcountry Wreckfest for 2 Litre National Bangers, which shared the bill with the British Championship for the Stock Rods and the first appearance at the circuit for four years, for the Reliant Robins.

2 Litre National Bangers

Just under 30 National Bangers contested the first Westcountry Wreckfest.  The entry included five drivers from south Wales, and produced some of the roughest racing and heaviest crashing seen at Smeatharpe this season.
With the largest number of cars on the grid, heat one was always likely to be amongst the best of the day, and so it proved, with some enormous hits and follow-ins taking place at the pits end of the circuit.  From the 26 starters, just four cars went the distance, as 131 Sam Hill took his first National Bangers victory.
Heat two saw 922 Andrew Tew in need of assistance, after he was smeared around the pits bend plating early on.  452 Anthony Sleeman eventually ran out the winner.
741 Alex Waterman was the early leader of the Westcountry Wreckfest final, which began with 190 Steve Bailey earning applause for getting his mangled car back out on track.  Waterman threw away his lead to trash 637 Dan Smith on the exit of turn four.  47 Marcus A’Lee took up the running for a couple of laps, and then 239 Steve Carter hit the front.  That is where he stayed, and Carter duly went on to win from Sam Hill and Sleeman.
Some incredibly work in the pit area resulted in ten cars appearing for the DD, including Bailey, who received rapturous applause when he limped his beaten up wreck on track, now with a hastily replaced rear axle configuration that had been liberated from one of the spare caravans in the pit area.  The DD proved to be brutal with some storming hits.  At the finish, Bailey, 74 Adam Hitchcock and Carter were the last three running, and it was Carter who landed the telling last blow to claim the win.

Stock Rods

The largest car count of Stock Rods in the UK this year, assembled for their British Championship, with the 32-car entry subsequently divided into five groups.  Each group then raced in three of the five heats, to score points which would determine the grid for the title race.
Each of the five heats had a different winner.  First to take the chequered was 12 Kev Hockings, whilst Cornish stars 306 Neil Truran and 354 Mark Sear lightly clashed, which left Truran with a puncture.  In heat two, 909 Justin Washer showed the rest a clean pair of heels, as he charged to victory.  Washer made it through to second in heat three, behind pole starter Truran.  However, the race had to be brought to a premature end, when 441 Tom Major’s car went on fire, and was well ablaze as he pulled to the infield, just two laps from the end.  Fortunately, Major escaped unhurt, and marshalls instantly extinguished the flames.  The fourth heat was led off by 315 Trevor Ashworth, but mechanical ills robbed him of what could have been a first win of the season.  49 Kev Lock benefitted, and took the victory.  The fifth heat went the way of 776 Simon Jones.
When the points were tallied, 148 Wayne Shackleford had earned pole, by two points, from 9 Chris Drake.  They thus shared the front row, with Lock and 7 Aaron Charles behind them, and Jones and Washer completed the front block of six.
After an aborted first attempt at starting the race, Shackleford won the drag through turns one and two, to lead Drake in the early stages.  Backmarkers 26 Alan Furse and 740 Nigel Stuart tangled in the west bend, and Shackleford swerved to avoid them, going the long way around the outside, as Drake, dived to the kerb and took the lead.  No sooner had Drake hit the front, then the race was halted, as 68 Levi Robinson and Northern Ireland entrant 89 Gareth Bevan joined the west bend car park, with Robinson ending up perched atop the overseas racer.  Drake led off the restart, and opened up a small gap, but then Shackleford closed right on the leader, and looked to pass on the outside line.  His move did not stick, and that allowed Charles to close in third.  For a couple of laps, Simon Jones looked to mount a telling move around the outside.  He passed Charles to go third, and then got alongside Shackleford to run second momentarily.  However, their battled allowed Drake the chance to edge away again, and as the race moved into the second half, Jones fell back, and Drake stretched his lead.  As the lap boards appeared, Drake looked to be in command.  Shackleford was clear in second, but Charles made a hash of the pits bend and dropped to fifth, allowing Washer to take fourth, and then he snatched third from Jones right at the close.  Drake duly took the flag, and the British title, for his finest hour, with Shackleford and Washer filling the podium positions.
The top three cars then successfully passed the post-race scrutineering checks.

Reliant Robins

There were thrills and spills galore from the three wheelers, with an assortment of rollovers and upsets during the day.  Amidst the chaos and mayhem, 504 Brad Worthington stormed his way to a hat-trick of race wins, with 445 Niki Loader the runner-up in each of the three races.  304 Tim Weare completed the top three, in a race which, regrettably, saw a heavy crash for 01 ‘Nippy’ Neil Martin, whose Robin stood on its nose.  Martin was taken to hospital for a check up.
To complete their day, the Robins were involved in a Caravan Chaos event.  Two caravans were strategically placed on the track, whilst 267 Luke Baber had a caravan in tow.  The aim of the game was to destroy all caravans!  This was done in style.  First in on the home straight was 444 Mark Loader, whilst 144 Wayne Thomson wasted no time in trashing the back straight caravan.  Baber and caravan were rolled in the west bend, as the destruction continued.  After  a brief respite, more rollovers ensued, before the chequered fell on 26 Russell Gillingham to end a terrific day of action.