United Downs Raceway - Easter Sunday 5th April 2015

There was bright sunshine and a good sized crowd at St Day for this year’s Boneshaker, where the 2 Litre National Bangers were supported by the Ministox, and a magnificent showing from the Saloon Stock Cars, who were in breathtaking form.

2 Litre National Bangers

Disappointingly, a raft of no shows from the original entry left numbers lower than anticipated for Boneshaker, but a first ever St Day visit from a quintet of Badgers from south Wales, and a nine-man showing of Gladiators, also making their track debut, helped to make for an interesting entry.  The first race was the Boneshaker final – an all-in event, which saw 26 drivers grid.  Absolute bedlam broke out at the drop of the green flag, with 206 Phil Milner rolling over at the pit gate.  The green flag was swiftly replaced by red, and even though there had only been a few seconds of racing, ten drivers had suffered damage which rendered them unable to join the re-run.  The early action this time saw a bundle of cars crash out on the exit of turn four.  Amongst others, that accounted for 170 Jamie Richardson, 714 Paul Smaldon, 650 Jamie Seery and 548 Jamie Avery.  Up front, 74 Adam Hitchcock made the early running, but he crashed out on the third lap, which left 131 Sam Hill in the lead.  His brother, 133 Terry Hill, gave chase, and the two of them swapped first place at around the midway point, all the while edging clear of 549 Phil Smith.  The Hill brothers looked almost to be chained together, as they circulated almost as one, but with just seven cars mobile, the race was rather processional.  Terry led the second half of the race; Sam failed to dislodge him from the lead; and Phil Smith completed the top three with outgoing Boneshaker Champion 45 Anthony Croshaw fourth.  All four cars were subjected to post-race scrutineering checks, and all passed, to confirm the result.  The first Allcomers race saw the action cranked up considerably.  Late arrival 422 Tristan Beresford lost a wheel in a back straight tangle, and 533 Richard Coe despatched 429 Sammy Trengove into the pits bend wall.  Coe was then spun aside on the back straight by Croshaw, before being collected.  At the same time, a jacking train in the pits bend began to form.  143 Paul Russell thundered into Trengove, and then Croshaw weighed in on the Gladiator.  However, as Croshaw backed out, 648 Jamie Smith arrived at speed to blast Lips, with Phil Smith then completing the train.  At the other end of the track, Coe had been shaken up, and red flags brought matters to a halt.  On the resumption, Terry Hill followed in 74 Russ Snell, and the race ended with Milner and then 403 Marcus Sprawling pummelling 99 Bam.  The win went to 97 Craig Deer.  In Allcomers 2, it was 532 Chris Walsh of the Gladiators who was on the receiving end, first from Beresford, and then from 47 Marcus A’Lee who bailed him into the pits bend wall.  Sam Hill’s car took a huge pounding in the turnstile bend, whilst Phil Smith spun aside 9 Kevin Mainprize to take the victory.  Eight cars made it on to the grid for the DD – all eight of them being Gladiators, who duly obliged with their own battle to submission.  A terrific display of showmanship and camaraderie ensued, with drivers pushing, shoving, crashing and most notably, laughing, as they enjoyed a great battle, that was ultimately won by 349 Lewis Price, although the crowd were winners too, having stayed on to see such an enjoyable conclusion to the day’s action from the National Bangers.

Saloon Stock Cars

Once again, the Saloon Stock Cars showed that, with enough cars on track, they have no equal at St Day.  Early yellow flags were called after 50 Keith Mitchell was almost upended in a clash with 698 Danny Colliver in the pits bend – the same incident also claiming 276 Ben King.  28 Ian Govier and 717 Richard James had led at that point, and James hit the front on the restart.  158 Shane Davies brilliantly used 70 Scott Mitchell to fire him across the front of 401 Steve Webster, duly delaying the ORC and National Champion.  891 Andrew Pridham clobbered the turnstile bend fence, and Scott Mitchell also came to grief at that end of the circuit, bringing another bout of yellow flags.  Davies overhauled James, but then left himself wide open to a trademark last bend attack by 677 Eddie Darby, who grabbed the win.  In the scramble for second, James spun to the infield, and dropped down to seventh.  Early in heat two, 344 Ross Fisher found himself beached on the pits bend inner banking, and 620 Aaryn Triggs was spun aside spectacularly at the pit gate.  Govier had a huge lead this time, but after Scott Mitchell and James spun, Mitchell’s attempt to rejoin saw him pull across the path of a charging star grade group.  Out came the yellows, and Govier’s lead was eradicated.  Back marker James was then caught up in a battle for the lead, and when Webster tried to send him wide, Webster was also delayed, and Darby again stole through for a second victory.  There was a slightly depleted look to the lower grade section of the grid for the Western Championship, but again, Govier built up a good lead.  460 Cliff Friend emerged as his main chaser.  This time, however, Webster was not to be denied, and he swept from the back of the grid to the front, to take the title his brother Shaun Webster had won twice before.  Friend was second, and Darby completed the top three to round off a fantastic display by the Saloon Stock Cars.

Ministox

The second St Day outing of the season for the youngsters saw yet more fine racing from the junior class, with the added bonus of Easter eggs for the top three in each race.  987 Ethan Pope and 677 Warren Darby tangled in the opening heat, and each lost time, whilst 907 Cameron Lawrence stormed from the back of the grid to the front for a convincing win.  There was a succession of crashing in heat two in the pits bend, as a result of an oil spill.  988 Harry Sheppard was the leader at the time, but with oil leaking from his car as he awaited the restart, he duly retired.  911 Harrison Bryant benefitted, and broke free when the race resumed to take a commanding victory.  The final was for the splendid Snell Family Trophy, and was also the last race before an age enforced retirement for 916 Keiran Bodie, who emerged as the early race leader.  As the race evolved, 922 Joe Parker moved through into the lead, and he took the chequered flag, whilst a fine last bend lunge by Darby saw him nudge 931 Jack Manhire wide and he scrambled over the line before him.  Subsequent issues at post-race scrutineering left the result suspended.
The matter was then passed to the Oval Racing Council, who duly excluded Joe Parker from the result, for failing post-race scrutineering.