The summer heat wave certainly hit Cornwall on World Championship qualifying round day for the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars, as racegoers sweltered in the sultry weather.  In time honoured fashion, proceedings began with the Grand Parade, and Neil Truran, sponsor of the World qualifier for the F2s found himself very busy.  First he handed out participation mementoes to all the F2 drivers; then he dashed off to join the tail end of the parade with the BriSCA Heritage Junior Stock Car he was about to race for the first time.  At that point, a surprise presentation was conducted, as former four times F2 World Champion Bill Batten handed Truran a special award, to mark his 40 years of short oval racing; Truran having first raced in 1977.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The F2s numbered 36 cars, which included newcomers 342 Nigel Thomas, 536 John Ferguson and 222 Adrian Watts, and 75 Steve Clark on a Temp licence.  The entry was plenty enough for a lively meeting at St Day, and so it proved, with the meeting final in particular, serving up a plethora of incidents.  The first heat was led off by Thomas and then 299 Steve Smith, although Smith then spun away the lead.  As the race progressed, it looked to be heading the way of 468 Sam Weston, but he was reeled in late on by west Midlands star 700 Adam Rubery.  When Weston was inadvertently held up by backmarker Smith, Rubery swept past.  Heat two started dreadfully for 979 Paul Moss, as he ran around the plating in the pits bend.  That brought the first caution period, with 418 Ben Borthwick out front.  He was still there some laps later, but chased by 828 Julian Coombes.  With three to run, Clark clobbered the turnstile bend fence and that brought out the yellows again.  As Borthwick and Coombes disputed the lead, Coombes suffered a puncture, and 315 Justin Fisher edged past to win.  The consolation saw 488 Liam Bentham continue to show his liking for St Day, as he took the win, but only after he nudged his way past Smith.  The final was led off by Borthwick, and it would have been interesting to know if he would have been caught had the race not been suspended, three times.  The first caution period came when Thomas ground to a halt on the exit of turn four, whilst a host of stars, including 38 Dave Polley and 618 Ben Lockwood also got into a muddle and dropped down the order.  Two laps into the restart, Fisher tangled with 460 Matt Weston, and as they slid to a halt in turn four, Fisher was inadvertently collected by 245 Nigel Fordham.  A lengthy delay followed, as Fisher received attention from the medical team.  As the race neared the final quarter, Rubery had just got ahead of Borthwick, but the race was brought to a halt once more when Steve Smith performed a huge rollover on the home straight.  Rubery, Borthwick and Polley were the lead trio, but Rubery made a complete hash of the restart.  Borthwick was baulked by Rubery’s dawdling, and Polley leapt from third to first.  Despite 302 Dale Moon hunting after him, Polley saw out the remaining laps to clinch an impressive win, in a very rough race.  Borthwick made up for his slight disappointment in the GN, as he stormed to a flag to flag victory, leaving 126 Jamie Avery to win the battle for second, from 890 Paul Rice and 111 Lewis Geach.

BriSCA Heritage Junior Stock Cars

A fine showing of 17 drivers contested this year’s Cornish Open for the Heritage Stock Cars.  728 Graham Bunter took the honours in the opening race, and 533 Andy Kaye was the winner of the second event.  The Kat Kabin sponsored final was a compelling contest.  Kaye got clear, but his lead was significantly reduced when the race was suspended, after 271 Dave Helliwell bounced heavily into the fence when faced with 253 Alan Humphrey and 213 Mike Richardson sat facing the wrong way in the turnstile bend.  When the race resumed, Kaye came under fire from 306 Neil Truran.  Yet, as they battled and briefly tangled in turn two, 763 Andy Bateman was able to pounce, and he nipped by into the lead.  Truran got past Kaye, but Kaye charged back at him, and their duel saw both drivers lose time.  Bateman eased further clear, and although Truran got free from Kaye, he was unable to close on Bateman sufficiently before the chequered flag fell on a Cornish winner of the Cornish Open.

Ministox

Even though a trio of drivers – 870 Stella Farrell, 914 Callum Faulconbridge and 919 Harvie Paramore – made their debut appearance, there was a slight shortfall in numbers of youngsters, but what a day it proved to be for the lady racers.  Buoyed by some fine recent performances on her travels, 983 Jamie-Lee Thomson scored her first ‘home’ win in the opening heat.  917 Gemma Robbins and 654 Harley Soper tangled, which helped create a chicane effect in the pits bend.  The clash unfortunately ended Soper’s day.  Heat two saw Robbins chase down Thomson, and that’s how they finished, which saw the two girls excitedly embrace one another in victory lane.  The final was quite a bruising race, and was suspended early on when 901 Jacob Hale hit the fence backwards in the pits bend.  Robbins won the restarted race, to clinch a heat and final double.  911 Harrison Bryant was the runner-up and 667 Tommy Farrell completed the top three.

2 Litre Old Skool Bangers

Another reasonable showing of 2 Litre Old Skool Bangers, led to plenty of action.  The first heat brought a convincing win for 185 Richard Coaker, and a whole load of crashing in the turnstile bend.  There was local success in heat two, as 862 Darryl Cock sped from the front row of the grid, into the lead, and into the distance.  Another local winner followed that in the final, with 452 Anthony Sleeman victorious, but only after a fragmented race which saw 150 Ben Elliott have a rough ride around the turnstile bend plating.  Drivers were given the option of an Allcomers race to National rules, but with insufficient numbers, the race did not go ahead.