Smeatharpe Stadium - Monday 27th May 2024

A very large bank holiday crowd at Smeatharpe Stadium were royally entertained by action packed racing from BriSCA Formula Two Stock Cars, National Bangers (unlimited cc) and Autospeed Bangers. The Spring Caravan Chaos offered a spectacular climax to round out the fun and send everyone home with smiles on their faces.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A 40-car turnout of BriSCA F2 stock cars was perfect for a two-heat format. 12 Craig Driscoll made his way to the front of the first after a handful of laps, but the men on the move were blue-top 468 Sam Weston and 127 Matt Stoneman from the reds. Stoneman nudged Weston wide for second just before half-distance and then did the same to Driscoll five laps from home. As Stoneman pulled clear for victory, 24 Jon Palmer got the better of Weston and then Driscoll for second. 510 Matt Stone led for more than half of heat two but was passed by 895 Ben Goddard and 302 Dale Moon with six laps remaining. Moon took over a lap later and went on to win from Goddard and 27 Kieren Bradford, as Stone spun out of fourth position on the final lap. While Stone only briefly led the consolation, he did at least make the finish and qualify for the final at the second time of asking. He lost the lead to 203 Dean Hawkins and when the pair tangled, yellow flags were required for Hawkins, with 315 Charlie Fisher taking the lead followed by 828 Julian Coombes. Those two then traded first position, allowing 979 Paul Moss to latch on to the battle. But Moss was unable to execute a move until the final bend, which proved unsuccessful, as Coombes held on to win from Fisher. The forecast rain showers largely held off until just before the meeting final for the fabulous Duncan Pike Trophy – From Five Star To Five Jobs. While it stopped before the race commenced, the cloudburst made track conditions treacherous, leaving many drivers to do their best impressions of Bambi on ice. A huge pile-up on the West bend ripped off half of 464 Matt Linfield’s wing as Kieren Bradford was almost tipped over. Ben Goddard had already taken the lead as the yellow flags flew and, upon the resumption, managed to maximise the grip available on a wide line as Fisher tried to challenge on the inside. The pair built a sizeable advantage as 259 Daz Purdy acted as a cork in the bottle to his pursuers. But 286 Kasey Jones was on an impressive run from the superstar grade and the pint-sized teenager climbed to fourth, then successfully dislodged Purdy as he became the quickest car on track. Jones then demoted Fisher and started closing on Goddard as the lap boards came out. He used his bumper to take the lead with four laps remaining, but now had Stoneman following in his wake. The duo then traded the lead in a terrific battle before Stoneman managed to assert his authority and claim his second win of the day. Jones was second, from Fisher, Goddard, 667 Tommy Farrell and Palmer. A lively Grand National began with Farrell dispatching 141 Harry Neath-Rogers into the fence, while 605 Richard Andrews was another to hit the wall hard – in his case, going in backwards on the pit bend, which triggered a caution period. 194 Luke Johnson led until passed by Driscoll, but Palmer was flying through the field. He and Weston had also passed Johnson by half-distance and Palmer then hit Driscoll wide for the lead which he would hold to the chequered flag. Meanwhile, Stoneman’s progress from the full-lap handicap was assisted by the earlier yellow flags but his drive through the field was nonetheless mighty impressive. In the closing stages, he put Moss wide to take fourth, when nudged Weston aside for third and dislodged Driscoll from second at the start of the final lap. But Palmer remained out of reach as Stoneman fell just short of a 50-point maximum score.

National Bangers

The unlimited cc National Bangers mustered 14 cars including 555 Harry Gelsthorp all the way from Lincolnshire. Top material came in the form of 842 Jack Perkins’s astounding Mercedes W111 hearse, which was well involved in heat one. When 360 Jack Reynolds spun his venerable Mk2 Granada, he was hit by 146 Dan Wigman, who Perkins blasted in turn. 838 Jamie Peters needed no second invitation to pile into the hearse and 133 Terry Hill did likewise. When 916 Luke Thomas got tangled up, 246 Ryan Sparks assumed the lead and went on to win from Gelsthorp and 739 Jason Moore. Gelsthorp was the early leader of heat two but, on an unfamiliar track, didn’t have the pace to stay there. While Thomas and Moore disputed victory, 341 Andrew Jones and 186 Lewis Fasey provided the sparks which included a couple of head-ons, while Peters joined his DWO team-mate in setting about Fasey’s Scorpio. Down to nine cars, the final was a quieter race won by Moore from Thomas, while Peters spun Reynolds for third on the final bend. A request for a destruction derby to be added to the programme was met with four starters, including Perkins whose hearse was dragged out to be finished off in time-honoured fashion. Peters and 842 Jack Perkins did the business, before 458 Layton Quinn set about the #842 Volvo, immobilising it with a head-on. But Quinn in turn was finished off with a big hit from Peters who was declared the winner.

Bangers

With just shy of 40 Bangers present, a two-thirds heat format was adopted. The first heat boiled down to a one-lap dash after 621 Scott Kendall hit a marker tyre and rolled. 67 Harry Pritchard had led from the start and managed to hold on for victory from 130 Chris Durrant and 451 Nigel Belfield. 919 Oscar Berry caused a stoppage in heat two when he shed a wheel, with the race further highlighted by hits exchanged between Supreme champion 60 Andy Bulled and livewire 890 Leszek Malinowski. Pritchard scored a second win from 786 Grant Harris and Durrant. There was lots of slipping and sliding on what had become a wet track for heat three which was stopped to assist 313 Oakley Hayes after he had been inadvertently collected in the pits bend. That wiped out 369 Daniel Thompson’s big lead and he lost out to Belfield after the restart. Thompson held onto second with 556 Pete Hollis third. In his bid for a hat-trick, Pritchard did not have the pace to keep Belfield behind him in the final before both were delayed in one of two big pile-ups on the pit bend. 991 Ben Hale had earlier taken a pounding from Malinowski and then found himself broadside on the home straight. With Pritchard and Belfield delayed, that left the door wide open for 70 Jamie Thomas who came through to victory ahead of 113 Chris Jeanes and Grant Harris.

Spring Caravan Chaos

The day’s action finished with a very entertaining race with six cars towing caravans which were blasted and splintered into submission. 919 Oscar Berry was first to grind to a halt, as 788 Darren Morgan and 31 Liam Shipway soon saw their caravans destroyed.  Whilst 166 Connor Charlton completed far more laps than any of his rivals, 18 Corey Karkeek performed the move of the race.  He launched up the trailing remains of 455 Shane Kennard’s caravan and flew over the top of Kennard’s Puma.  After a brief stoppage to clear some wreckage and give ensnared cars the chance to break free, Morgan rolled on to his side on the start/finish line, bringing proceedings to a dramatic close.