The first Cornish meeting of the new national Stock Car racing season featured a first time winner in the BriSCA F2 Stock Car final at the United Downs Raceway, St Day.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

An eclectic entry of F2s included star grader 606 Andrew Palmer all the way from Peterborough and a career debut for 118 Josh Toll, who was one of half a dozen Cornish drivers in action.  There would have been two more, but 689 Joe Marquand encountered serious engine problems in pre-meeting practice, and 418 Ben Borthwick crashed heavily on the oil soaked track.  Neither Marquand nor Borthwick took any part in the meeting.  Heat one was led for a long time by 91 Harrison Bryant, but the teenager spun away his advantage in the second half of the race.  539 Stevie Hartnett took up the running, before 302 Dale Moon hit the front.  A light shower at the end of the race brought speeds right down, as drivers struggled for grip.  In heat two, Toll made a poor start at the rear of the grid, and proceeded on a wayward course in the opening laps.  460 Matt Weston spun, and that caused a multitude of problems for the pack as they looked to dodge past him.  Hartnett led, from 828 Julian Coombes and 111 Lewis Geach, but with four laps remaining, Coombes took over at the front.  However, he could not resist the challenge of 890 Paul Rice who managed to squeeze past at the start of the final lap.  Heat three was preceded by another light shower, but Bryant was undaunted as he built up a massive lead.  He went on to win by a comfortable distance from Palmer and Track Champion 542 Steven Gilbert.  The Voice of Autospeed Trophy final saw Hartnett swiftly establish himself in the lead.  As the laps ticked by Hartnett was still a long, long way clear.  Much further back, the jostling for position made for some good racing, but the telling moment of the race came when 196 Phil Chapman spun in the pits bend.  Those in the chasing pack were all delayed as they funnelled past Chapman, with 127 Matt Stoneman taking advantage to edge into second.  He then set about chasing down Hartnett, and in a pulsating finish, the two cars tore past the last lap board.  Hartnett was out of range in turn one, and held a good line on to the back straight, to keep sufficiently clear of any last bend charge by Stoneman.  As he exited turn four, Hartnett punched the air to signal his maiden race win, and what a race to be victorious in.  Moon completed the top three, and then rounded out the afternoon with another victory, in the Grand National; a race that began rather less fortunately for Hartnett.  Sat at the front of the grid on the one lap handicap, he tangled with father and son duo 663 Bryan Lindsay and 572 James Lindsay, and crashed out in the very early stages.

Stock Rods

There was another disappointing showing from the Stock Rods, with a number of drivers failing to honour their bookings.  The first heat was contested on a wet track, and 14 Ross Montgomery was in great form as he soared to a comprehensive win.  A much drier track greeted drivers for the final, which was led early on by 982 Sophie Daughtrey.  426 Keith Channon briefly took over, but he was then overhauled by early season sensation 81 Rob Johns.  As Johns was joined by Winter Supreme Challenge winner 909 Justin Washer, the two of them nearly became entangled with Daughtrey.  However, once they regained some order, Washer led from Johns, but in a clash entering turn three, Washer was nudged into a half spin towards the fence by Johns.  Although Johns took over the lead, he was shown the black cross, and subsequently found himself disqualified when the race ended.  That promoted 437 Lewis Trickey, who was duly declared the winner from 9 Chris Drake and 3 Matt Peters.  In the Grand National, Peters showed how to make an outside line move stick, as he worked his way past a number of drivers to claim a very fine win – good reward for his outside line persistence

Bangers

Improved numbers in the Bangers led to the return of a two from three heat format.  246 Ryan Sparks inherited heat one after 931 Jack Manhire failed post-race scrutineering.  Heat two had a stunning finish as 149 Dan Curtis came off best in a three-way duel featuring 281 Marc Chenery and 785 Nick Craddock.  After Curtis had scored his first win, 85 Jack Beaumont did likewise in heat three, as he cruised home by a lengthy margin.  The Final saw Manhire bounce back from the unfortunate first heat, to win the Taiya Densham Shield by a huge distance.  Manhire was the proverbial country mile clear of the rest, as he won from fellow white grader 891 Martyn Cleave and 853 David James.