Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 23rd October 2022

The final meeting of the national Stock Car season in the south west featured a packed programme of events to entertain those in attendance.

Saloon Stock Cars

The meeting commenced with presentations to each of the National Series drivers in attendance followed by the formal presentation of the Saloon Stock Car World Championship trophies to the top three in that race.  Once the presentations were completed, the White and Yellow grade final took place with 2021 winner 28 Ian Govier an early spinner on the back straight.  27 Jason Kingwell led all the way to the last lap, but a well-timed hit going into the final bend from 177 Chris Masters saw him dislodge Kingwell to win by the narrowest of margins with 720 Archie Brown third.  Heat one proper saw 677 Warren Darby move quickly up through the field to first place with 349 Michael Allard speeding through the filed from the rear of the grid to reach third by the time the race went under caution after some infield marker tyres were scattered on to the track in the pits bend.  On the restart second place 84 Carl Boswell was sent into a spin by Allard on turn two with Darby also going around, and that allowed the World Champion through to win.  Heat two saw an early caution when 10 Frank Little ran aground at the end of the home straight.  Boswell led the field off on the restart but became embroiled in a fine battle with 319 Richard Regan with the two trading places and bumper blows lap after lap, often circulating glued side by side in a tremendous scrap.  Regan was demoted to second with two laps to go which allowed him to put in the telling blow on turn one of the final lap to shift Boswell and edge home the winner.  Allard was spun at the start of the Final as the group of National Series drivers scrambled for position on the back straight, whilst Boswell swiftly moved into the lead.  561 Aaron Totham, 399 Cole Atkins and Reagan found themselves in a heap on the Honiton Bend.  At the front, Brown started to close the gap on Boswell as the lap boards come out and as the leaders enter the final lap, Brown moved within striking distance.  Boswell anticipated the last bend hit and went deep into the pit bend.  That took him into some of the back marking traffic and Brown was still able to make contact.  However, his dive also took him offline, and Boswell managed to dash home for the win, with 902 Junior Buster third.  The Allcomers race stated with 33 Peter Hollett taking a hard trip into the plating and that required a yellow flag.  When the race restarted, Allard and 277 Jack Grandon spun around as Regan, Brown and a lap down Atkins traded bumper blows for a period, whilst 199 Phil Powell sped off to victory.  The win brought Powell a new tyre for his efforts, and Regan was similarly rewarded as the first National Series entrant across the line.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The 32 car entry led to a full format event.  The opening heat saw 194 Luke Johnson into an early lead which he held to the flag.  Behind him, 184 Aaron Vaight closed in on second placed 418 Ben Borthwick but in his attempt to get past at the end of the race the two tangled, allowing 302 Dale Moon to sweep through for second with Vaight recovering for third.  Heat two began with 528 Shane Hector and 970 Archie Farrell tangling and that sent the chasing pack scattering in all directions.  At the front, 475 Leah Sealy demoted 762 Mike Cocks from the lead, and the teenager preceded to the chequered flag.  Further back, 605 Richie Andrews, 736 Josh Weare and 35 Charlie Fisher contested the final qualifying spot, with Weare the unlucky one to miss out.  The consolation took place in heavy rain making conditions tricky.  464 Matt Linfield seemed to master the track quicker than most, and then 979 Paul Moss got to grips with the soaking wet surface and he moved quickly up to second.  Moss then made the decisive move entering turn one on the final lap to speed past Linfield for the win.  24 of the 26 qualifiers took to the grid for the Final for the annual staging of The Ladies Trophy.  126 Jamie Avery and Weare became hooked together part way down the home straight resulting in an early caution period with 303 Kurt Selway leading.  It was evident that the quickest driver on track was 689 Joe Marquand, and on the resumption he hit the front of the field and despite encountering plenty of back marking traffic managed to extend his lead over his nearest rivals Vaight and defending holder of the Ladies trophy 890 Paul Rice. That was the way it finished, whilst Johnson and Moon fiercely competed for eighth place, with Johnson’s challenge ending in the Honiton Bend fence.  There then followed the presentation ceremony, with many members of the Farrell family on hand to present the trophies, as Vaight, Rice and fourth placed 542 Steven Gilbert joined in the customary champagne soaking of the race winner.  The Grand National was brought to a halt on lap one after a pile-up on the Honiton Bend claimed more than half the field.  418 Ben Borthwick made it through to win after the complete re-run, with Marquand doing well to finish seventh from the lap handicap.  Thus, the curtain fell on the final F2 action of the year at Smeatharpe, another stellar season for the class.

ORCi Ministox

Heading into the afternoon’s events the destination of the Autospeed Points and Track Championship titles remained in the balance.  290 Alfie Tomkins led 917 Troy Hemmins in the former and Hemmins held an advantage over 202 Cody Bradford in the latter.  At the start of heat one, Hemmins was spun around by Tomkins as BriSCA Micro F2 graduate 475 Mason Sealy got his Ministox career off to a storming start by progressing up to eleventh from the rear of the field after just a few laps.  The race was brought under caution after 770 Austin Farrell bounced off the home straight wall awkwardly.  On the restart the rain had begun to fall and lead duo of 928 Jessica Coombes and 922 Kaydi Butcher ended up in a heap on the Honiton Bend which promoted 907 Cadan Davies to first place which he retained to the flag.  Hemmins recovered from his earlier spin to come home in second, helped further by the stoppage, and 617 Christina Sillifant rounded out the top three.  Heat two saw 242 Amy Williams build up a strong lead of a third of a lap on her closest competitors.  She looked set for a first ever victory until a yellow flag was called for 911 Alex Thomas who was sideways stationary across the back straight.  Williams lost out on the restart with Hemmins into the lead which he maintained to the flag despite a further stoppage for 870 Bertie Farrell who was unavoidably collected on the home straight by Sillifant.  This resulted in a last lap dash which saw Hemmins hold on to secure the Track Championship and keep his siler roof aspirations alive.  The Final featured a tremendous battle between Davies and Bertie Farrell for the lead as the two swapped places and bumper blows for a large part of the race until Farrell was able to strike the telling blow to break free in the latter stages.  Some way down the field, Tomkins had managed to relegate Hemmins early on whilst Hemmins lost further time mid-race to end his Points title hopes.  Tomkins meanwhile enjoyed his best race of the afternoon finishing second ahead of Bradford in third.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

A decent showing of 24 Back 2 Basics Bangers contested their final fixture of the season.  The opening heat had barely begun before 562 Jayden James rolled over on the back straight and that necessitated a re-run.  Out front it was 738 Barry Stroud and then 733 Ricky Stroud, who led the race until the midway point when 91 Matty Solf sped by.  He stayed clear of the rest in the second half of the race to land a first win, with debutant 788 Darren Morgan second.  Heat two was another lively affair, especially for 118 Dan Cook and 86 Louis Searle who each spun multiple times but was dominated by 200 Jai Simmons who got into the lead early on, from where he powered to a comprehensive win.  There was a similar story in the final, as 258 Ryan Hughes grabbed first place in the early stages.  Despite a strong charge by Simmons in the second part of the race, he could only get as high as third behind Morgan, with Hughes a comfortable winner.  Some heavy crashing ensued in the Destruction Derby, with 211 Adrian Coles very much on the receiving end in the pits bend, after a combination of Simmons and James buried him at the start.  Morgan weighed in on 31 Nathan Nichols, and Simmons destroyed the Coles car.  Eventually, 462 Nico James saw off Searle to take the win.