Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 2nd October 2022

Autospeed’s round of the revamped BriSCA Formula Two National Points Series took place on a sunny Sunday afternoon, alongside the Stock Rods’ Grand National Championship and silver roof decider as well as an outing for the Bangers. After the BriSCA F2 drivers’ parade, all drivers and officials gathered for an immaculately observed minute’s silence for long-serving official Duncan Pike who had very sadly passed away during the week.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Thirty-six cars were in attendance, including six National Points Series contenders, who were each rewarded with a hamper of Cornish goodies, a cap and a personalised licence plate. The action began with Total Whiteout, a race for nine White-graded drivers. From the drawn grid, the bumpers immediately went flying in, with front-row men 87 Paul Weekes and 382 Joe Bamford bearing the brunt, and 762 Mike Cocks also delayed. After a caution period to assist Weekes, seasonal debutant 222 Adrian Watts held the lead from 454 Ryan Gardiner and 970 Archie Farrell. Gardiner took the lead as Watts ran wide and streaked away to win from Cocks, who worked his way back through the field, and 303 Kurt Selway, as Farrell spun. Cocks led the opening laps of heat one proper, but 194 Luke Johnson took over before half-distance and led until the closing laps. 127 Matt Stoneman continued his fine form by rapidly carving through the field. He caught Johnson and pushed him wide with three laps to go. That also brought 605 Richard Andrews and 183 Charlie Guinchard onto Johnson’s tail, and both were soon past. National Points Series leader Guinchard had nudged fellow NPS runner 184 Aaron Vaight wide just before half-distance en route through the pack after Vaight had been running well. Once into second with two laps to go, Guinchard set about closing the gap to the leader, but Stoneman remained out of reach. Andrews and Johnson held third and fourth ahead of Vaight. Gardiner led the opening laps of heat two until a mistake let 464 Matt Linfield ahead. But the pacy 251 Craig Driscoll – fresh from winning the final at Buxton’s NPS round a week earlier – nipped inside both, followed by 35 Charlie Fisher. The man on the move was NPS contender 992 Harley Burns who had pushed 542 Steven Gilbert wide on his charge up to fourth. But when Linfield spun on the Honiton bend just before half-distance, Burns was forced wide, and Gilbert got back ahead. Burns soon reversed the positions once more but the delay hindered his chances of catching the leading duo. Fisher passed Driscoll for the lead with three laps to go and withstood the latter’s last-bend lunge, which only made light contact, to take the win. Driscoll’s attempt left him running wide and allowed Burns to snatch second. Gilbert held fourth under pressure from 475 Leah Sealy. The consolation brought a comfortable win for 979 Paul Moss after seeing off Selway’s brief fightback when he took the lead. In second, third and fourth, 828 Julian Coombes, 700 Adam Rubery and 27 Kieren Bradford ran line astern to the flag, with none wishing to risk their qualifying place by pushing for more.

The 30-car final, for the Ray Tyldesley Trophy, required two complete restarts. In the first, 203 Dean Hawkins lost a wheel after a crash also involving 53 Phil Mann and 895 Ben Goddard, which then launched both 460 Adam Pearce and 700 Adam Rubery into the air. In the second, 935 Nathan Maidment spun violently after colliding with a marker tyre and was collected, leaving Stoneman with very heavy front-end damage and Coombes requiring some medical treatment. At the third attempt, Johnson passed the White tops to lead but was then spun out by the pack, which let Selway back in front. It wasn’t long before Linfield took over, with 988 Charlie Lobb – back down to Blue – making rapid progress to third. Further back, Guinchard was flying through the pack, tracked all the way by Burns. They passed Bradford and had reached third and fourth by the time Lobb hit the front before the halfway flag was out, as Selway spun. Guinchard worked an opening past Linfield for second, with Burns again following through. Burns appeared to have pace in hand and began nibbling at Guinchard’s rear bumper before making his move, nudging the British champion wide with five laps to go. Lobb was clear out front, but Burns’s great run came to a sudden end a lap later when he hooked up with Gardiner as he tried to lap him. Both suffered front end damage and while Burns dragged his car home he was outside the top 10 and received no reward for a fine drive. Lobb therefore streaked to his third feature final at the track this year, with Guinchard gifted second and Vaight coming through to third ahead of Linfield, Rubery and NPS men Gilbert and 606 Andrew Palmer. Stoneman made up for his early exit from the final with another impressive display in the grand national. He carved through to pass the frontrunning duo of Gardiner and Selway just before half-distance and was untroubled by a caution period to assist Farrell who entered to a frank exchange of views with Guinchard. Gardiner lost a chance at a strong result when he thundered into the Honiton bend wall, while Guinchard’s luck also ran out with a puncture. Burns picked his way through into second but could make no impression on Stoneman’s healthy lead. Driscoll and Sealy ran well to third and fourth, while Lobb made it to eighth from the full-lap handicap.

Stock Rods

A two-from-three format was deployed for the 19 runners, with heat one doubling up as the 2022 Grand National Championship. Starting from pole position in his just-finished new car, running without a livery, 944 Callum Hosie led the way from 351 Rhys Langdown. As Langdown applied pressure, it didn’t take long for 909 Justin Washer to move into third, from sixth on the grid, and then close in on the lead pair. Hosie withstood the intense pressure, and a couple of moments as he rounded backmarking traffic, to eventually pull a small gap and take the win. Langdown was second and Washer crossed the line third but was docked two places for contact. Some way adrift, 415 Sean Gillett held off 9 Chris Drake for what became third. The field quickly formed almost a single pack in heat two, headed by debutant 375 Jonathan Salvage who held sway until beyond half-distance when he suddenly slowed. 84 Paul Faralewski emerged in front, ahead of a jostling pack, from which 14 Ross Montgomery was spat and then spun again as he rejoined. Montgomery took exception and targeted 982 Sophie Daughtrey for some retribution, with the spat then spilling onto the infield. Faralewski meanwhile held on to win ahead of 913 Ashley Bates and Washer, who couldn’t quite make his attempts on the outside line stick. Langdown was docked two places for contact, but still picked up useful points in sixth, extending his margin over Hosie at the top of the standings to seven. Heat three required a complete restart after 426 Keith Channon’s Vauxhall Tigra failed to get going. Salvage again led, this time lasting all the way until the penultimate lap when he ran wide and let Faralewski in. Salvage held second ahead of 101 Dave Horwell in a lower-grade lockout. Hosie could only manage seventh, cutting Langdown’s advantage to three ahead of the double-points final. Salvage spun out of the lead of the final, putting Horwell in front, as the pack jostled behind. Towards the back, Hosie made a crucial move past Langdown but then gave it away in a failed attempt to overtake Washer on the outside. He then struggled to follow the other stars past 285 Martin Walker on the outside line, losing crucial further ground. Once clear of Walker, Washer made rapid progress, and completed an outside pass on Horwell for the lead with one lap to go. Faralewksi and Bates spun from third and fourth on the back straight of the final lap, and Horwell was then pipped to second by Gillett. A comfortable fourth position clinched Langdown the Autospeed Points Championship, fifth not being enough for Hosie despite his quick pace in the closing stages.

Bangers

Nearly 30 Bangers ran all-in in their final fixture at the track before December’s Banger Bonanza. The early leader of heat one, 717 Donna Cottrell, was soon passed by 31 Liam Shipway and 595 Ben Wall, who then pushed past Shipway to take the lead. Shipway immediately hit back among backmarker traffic and avoided trouble thereafter to take the win from 621 Scott Kendall and 786 Grant Harris. 105 Leo Horwell had been facing the traffic entering the back straight for much of the race and was eventually collected in the closing stages, delaying several. 708 Julian Hellyer won heat two, dealing well with backmarkers as he headed a Ford Focus Mk1 1-2 with 786 Grant Harris. Hellyer came back down to earth in the final, requiring relatively early yellow flags after he was stranded on the back straight once 206 Matt Brewer had bounced him off the plating. By that point, 121 Ryan Buddle had relieved Cottrell of the lead, and the caution brought the rest of the pack into play. While Shipway was stuffed into the wall on the entrance of the home straight, Buddle pulled clear as Cottrell was shuffled back. But, from the back of the field, Devon champion 23 Barry Staples was picking his way through. He made it to second with three laps to go, then put Buddle wide at the start of the final lap to take the win. Buddle held on to second ahead of 144 Ash Worthington and 60 Andy Bulled. Buddle ran clear in the Allcomers to take a first ever win, and Kendall took the honours in the Destruction Derby section as he finished off 114 Luke Niles, 756 Troy Hooper and 154 Blazej Szczygiel.