United Downs Raceway - Sunday 12th August 2018

The annual Cornish Caravan Chaos fixture could hardly boast a summer time feel, but the gloomy weather that had been forecasted was pleasingly sparse, and much of the afternoon’s fun and action occurred in dry conditions.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Having been very close to 40 cars in the week leading up to the meeting, it was a noted disappointment that the final count on the day fell to 28 cars, after so many drivers had encountered problems the night previous at Smeatharpe.  First up was Total White Out, which fielded 10 drivers.  From the random draw, 517 Harley Cornock landed on pole position, and having made a reasonable start, he established himself in the lead.  However, 572 James Lindsay, back racing for the first time in nearly two months, looked especially determined to reel him in, and when the two collided in the pits bend, Cornock came off worst.  He half spun, and was tagged by 762 Mike Cocks, whilst Lindsay sped free to open up a useful advantage that he held until the finish.  The win netted Lindsay the Ermington MOT Centre trophy, and a 191 piece socked set from race sponsor J P Tools.  948 John Brereton gave gallant chase for second, whilst Cocks came home third.  The first heat of the meeting proper, shaped up into a battle involving 689 Joe Marquand, 315 Justin Fisher and 302 Dale Moon.  Eventually the two blue tops relegated Marquand down the order, and entering the last lap, Moon clobbered Fisher wide to secure a fine victory.  Brereton held a good lead until halfway in heat two, with Marquand chasing.  On his F2 debut, 944 Callum Hosie spun in the pits bend, and was collected by 528 Shane Hector.  That brought out the yellow flags, and for the restart, Moon charged through to win for a second time, with Fisher his runner-up once more.  667 Tommy Farrell and 979 Paul Moss got in a tangle at the start of heat three, which saw Brereton as the runaway leader once again.  Under pressure from 438 Mike Rice, Brereton spun away the lead, and it was Rice who took a rare, yet very deserved, win.  The Silverline Trophy proved to be an explosive and damaging race, with scores of incidents.  The traditional clutch start ensured the formative laps had drivers racing for position within their grade, and in amongst the blue tops, Moon spun Fisher on the back straight.  Fisher attempted to scramble to the infield, but beached himself on the kerb, which left him awkwardly placed.  Nonetheless, the rest of the drivers had sped by a number of times, before the focus of the race shifted to a raging battle between 542 Steven Gilbert and 418 Ben Borthwick.  Clearly angered, Borthwick slammed Gilbert into the turn two plating, and the two drivers then ambled through the next lap of the race at slow speed, Borthwick right on the Gilbert rear bumper.  Entering turn two the next time, Borthwick ran both cars up the fence again, and attacked Gilbert for a third time as they bounced back in front of the traffic.  As other drivers tried to avoid the feuding pair, Moss careered into the stranded Fisher in a hugely unfortunate crash.  The race went under caution, and whilst Borthwick and Gilbert had a frank exchange of views on the infield, the irate Fisher furiously exited his car.  Dragged back into single file, Marquand looked to have lost his chance, but when the race restarted, he again got clear at the front.  468 Sam Weston spun 828 Julian Coombes, who was then collected by 460 Matt Weston, whilst Moon edged past 24 Jon Palmer to move into second place.  Cornock and Cocks crashed out together late on, but the race belonged to Marquand who was not to be denied, as he scored a maiden final win, and became the 71st different driver to land a feature final at St Day.  Moon was the runner-up and Sam Weston was third.  In damp conditions, 111 Lewis Geach and Sam Weston contested the Grand National.  Weston looked to have made the race his, only for 241 Ginge Crook to cause mayhem.  Crook spun, and in his efforts to rejoin, he duly spun again, right in front of Weston, who had to take evasive action.  With Weston delayed, Geach pounced to grab the lead back, and Geach duly saw out the remaining laps.

Stock Rods

There were fourteen Stock Rods on the day of their final chance to score points before the World Championship cut-off.  206 Max Truran, racing a Stock Rod at St Day for the first time, got into an early lead, and despite 105 Ross Rowe in pursuit, it was Truran that took the win.  The final will be remembered for an incredible rollover on the home straight by 14 Ross Montgomery.  He clipped the kerb on the exit of turn four and produced a spectacular inversion.  81 Rob Johns gallantly parked across him, to protect him.  To add insult, having exited the upturned car, Montgomery then saw his car go on fire when it was righted.  Once the incident was tidied up, Truran went on to turn his lead into a second victory for the day, netting an instant rise to the blue grade.  25 Luke Plain and Rowe joined him in the trophy places.  Rowe and Plain then filled the top two positions in the Grand National, with third for 45 Jordan Wainwright being about as good as it got all afternoon for any of the star grade drivers.

Bangers

Several of the drivers in the Bangers opted not to take part in any races, to ensure they could contest the Caravan race at the end of the meeting.  Thus, with just over 20 drivers available, the format was revised to start the day with the Cornish Championship.  409 Joey Collins wasted little time in charging to the front, and in a dull race, he was able to rack up an emphatic win, from 929 Sam Baker and 898 Jack Semmonds.  In the first Allcomers race, 288 Billy Collins won the proverbial country mile.  Late on, Baker found himself turned inside out by 59 Mike Clement; a not particularly sporting move for sure, but certainly not so bad as to the fuss which visibly annoyed Baker made after the race, when he grumpily remonstrated with Clement.  23 Barry Staples and 53 Chris James indulged in some playful activity in the second Allcomers, which was another runaway success for Billy Collins.

Caravans

A good showing of approximately a dozen caravans gridded, and the typical mayhem ensued.  427 Ryan Tamblin ran aground on the home straight, and 246 Ryan Sparks shot right through the back of the caravan; and that is where they two of them stayed.  79 Brian Edmond hit the front, and at one point, he was the only driver circulating, as many others had become entangled in the turnstile bend.  Edmond ticked off the laps, and was encouraged to smash up some more caravans along the way.  Those who did free themselves from the turnstile bend, barely did another lap before crashing back into the heap, and thus Edmond was relatively unchallenged as he recorded back-to-back wins in the event, to retain the Marshall Janson shield for another year.