United Downs Raceway - Sunday 26th July 2015

After heavy rain in the morning, the weather improved greatly to leave the United Downs Raceway, St Day dry for much of the race meeting.

Unlimited cc Old Skool Bangers

Numbers were very good in the Unlimited cc Old Skool Bangers, with the only no-show from the entry list being 775 Dave High – hardly a surprise, of course.  Thus, 22 drivers contested the day’s races for the big cars.  In heat one, 715 Chris Langmaid set off at speed from the front of the grid, and even though 74 Adam Hitchcock chased him down, it was Langmaid who scored his first win of the season.  Heat two began with spins on the first lap for 912 Simon Rees and 406 Chris Bridger.  The race developed into a duel between 492 Josh Hutchings and 278 Shaun Brokenshire.  For good measure, backmarker Langmaid got involved, too, but Hutchings was not to be denied, and he ran out the winner, despite a frantic last lap, when 120 Mark Ashley blew the rotary engine in his Mazda and coated the track in the pits bend in oil.  On a damp track for the final, 246 Ryan Sparks chased down 28 Steve Linly, and the two drivers enjoyed a close contest all the way to the closing stages.  However, Linly spun, Sparks edged clear and won from Brokenshire and Hitchcock, but in an explosive finish, 302 Dale Moon spun, and was blitzed by 383 Bradley Hutchings, who was then blasted by 272 Shaun Ross.

Bangers

Running to a two from three format, the first heat saw 331 Duncan Kennard lead until the final third of the race.  53 Chris James then took over, but he was spun by 242 Ben Ellacott.  That looked to have netted Ellacott the win, but exiting the final bend, he clipped the static car of 787 Mike Nelson and rolled over, leaving 84 Josh Byrd to swoop and claim a first ever win.  After he had seen off the early challenge of 43 Marcus Lean, it was 331 Duncan Kennard who made his mark in heat two, storming to the chequered flag, which was enough to set off some wild air punching celebrations.  There was another dramatic finish to heat three.  304 Marty Penhaligon had led much of the way, but he came under fire from 206 Matt Brewer.  As they contested the lead, they joined the growing pile of cars in turn two, which already included 347 Stacey Bradley and 163 Dean Lundy.  60 Andy Bulled picked up the pieces to take the win.  There were spins and incidents galore in the final, and when 194 Alistair Buchan spun on the exit of turn four, it delayed two thirds of the grid, and almost caused a complete track blockage.  45 Mike Reed had already swept past, and he went on to win by some distance, with Baker and 999 John Glover completing the top three.

Ministox

A welcome sprinkling of visiting drivers helped to swell the number of youngsters for the Cornish Championship to 19 in all.  Heat one began with an untidy skirmish in the pits bend, as 922 Joe Parker was carried sideways for several metres, and 982 Sophie Daughtrey was left parked in the fence.  After a caution period, 902 Buster Sage Jnr led the grid away, but it was 304 Tony Elbourn who swiftly cut through to the lead.  Elbourn took the chequered, and in a big scramble for second, 501 Josh Rayner crossed the line in the air, from 911 Harrison Bryant.  A chaotic start to heat two saw spins for 988 Harry Sheppard, 943 Hannah Esau and 980 Charlie Lobb in the pits bend.  677 Warren Darby then inadvertently collected the spun 943 car.  Yellow flags were introduced, but amidst the confusion, Darby was wrongly excluded as one of the causes of the stoppage.  Consequently, he was permitted to get back into his car, and rejoin, as he had only left the single file order under instruction.  248 Tom Grensinger led away the restart, only for another race suspension to follow when 369 Harry Sargent was spun wildly around in turn two.  The rain became more heavy as the race progressed, but Bryant was untroubled on his way to the win, from 931 Jack Manhire and 907 Cameron Lawrence.  The grid for the Cornish saw Bryant and Elbourn on the front row, but when the green flag flew, Bryant was very slow to get away, and the lead six shuffled their order significantly going into turn one.  The main benefactor was Lawrence, as he stormed through to take an early lead.  Further back, 987 Ethan Pope was the luckless faller from a quartet involving Manhire, Bryant and Elbourn.  As Lawrence eased ever further clear to become Cornish Champion, Manhire won the battle with Bryant for second.

Cornish Caravan Chaos

There was some unfortunate confusion at the start of the Cornish Caravan Chaos event, as two drivers looked to take part, using unlimited cc cars, which is not permissible under the ORC National Banger rules.  There were still a dozen competitors, but such was the action in the pits bend, that the track became blocked.  A stoppage was called, with 79 Brian Edmond leading from 847 Andy Whatley and 118 Steve Ball.  A few laps into the restart, almost the whole field had become entrenched in another blockage, and with Edmond the only car and caravan chassis still circulating, he finished the event off in style with one final blitzing of the demolished caravans in turn two.  In time honoured fashion, Marshall Janson was a guest at the meeting, to oversee the award of The Handstand Appeal shield, and on this occasion, it was Edmond who took the honours.

Minstox 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 304 501 911 931 268 677 902 987 922 980
Heat 2 911 931 907 304 980 987 922 917 902 268
Cornish 907 931 911 980 677 268 304 987 902 501
Old Skool National Bangers unlimited cc 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 715 74 252 278 120 479 492 362 165 383
Heat 2 492 278 28 121 74 302 83 246 383 272
Final 246 278 74 252 492 28 165 185 912 302
Bangers 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 84 622 847 999 194 835 320 53 785 768
Heat 2 331 43 60 847 320 28 929 999 804 91
Heat 3 60 929 28 997 622 131 718 97 768 366
Final 45 929 799 912 622 60 847 131 997 206
Caravan Chaos 79
Best Presented 320 799 768
Grade Awards W 84, 331, 43 Y 997, 194, 91 B 45, 847, 320 R 929, 60, 622
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