The run of four consecutive Monday nights’ racing for the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars drew to a close with an excellent turnout for the Roy Goodman Perpetual Challenge Trophy, while ORC Stock Rods contested the European Championship, their second major event in two days. The programme was completed by Saloon Stock Cars.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A terrific turnout of 39 cars (plus one in pre-meeting practice only) included a track debut for 931 Rebecca Smith, who travelled from Essex to race alongside sister Jessica (390). From the yellow grade, it wasn’t long before Jessica Smith passed early leader 762 Mike Cocks in heat one. She stayed there until the closing stages when 676 Neil Hooper took advantage of traffic to nudge her wide, with 127 Matt Stoneman following through on the next bend. Hooper stayed just out of reach of Stoneman to take the win, with Smith holding onto third. Some destructive opening laps led to two complete re-runs of heat two, with almost half the field lost to the early clashes. They included 529 Luke Trewin and 890 Paul Rice thundering into the Honiton bend wall, 970 Archie Farrell spinning and getting collected by 35 Charlie Fisher, and 736 Josh Weare, 915 Jamie Jones, 895 Ben Goddard, 928 Lauren Stack and 398 Ian England all ending in a heap – and that was just the first attempt! The second set of red flags were required when 325 Ryan Sheahan and 320 Matt Hatch clashed on the home straight before Sheahan was collected and clipped at high speed by 24 Jon Palmer. When the race got going at the third attempt, Rebecca Smith and 128 Jack Bunter had spells in front before Charlie Fisher moved ahead, and he went on to take a comfortable win from 418 Ben Borthwick and 184 Aaron Vaight. 605 Richard Andrews led the consolation until Sheahan took over and went on to win from Rice and Palmer. In the final, 881 Jamie Ward-Scott was the early leader before 903 Ben Spence moved ahead, but Spence’s fellow yellow-grader Weare was setting a strong pace and moved past both into the lead. Spence initially stayed with him and had Jessica Smith following in his wake, as Stoneman led the star grade challenge. Stoneman passed Smith and finally pushed Spence wide on the Honiton bend to take second with a lap to go, but Weare was out of reach in his ex-Luke Wrench car. The Cheddar driver took a maiden final win from Stoneman and Spence, with Jessica Smith holding onto fourth ahead of Palmer. The Grand National, for the Ash Sampson Memorial Trophy, was led out by Ash’s grandfathers Roy Goodman and Mick Whittle in his latest magnificent recreation from yesteryear. Spence’s start in the race was deemed too good, and he was shown a black cross, but it helped propel him into the lead early on and from there he never looked back as he went on to take the chequered flag first. Behind him, Vaight, 667 Tommy Farrell, Stoneman and Palmer enjoyed a great scrap as they fought through the field. They finished in that order in positions two to five, but Vaight inherited victory when Spence was docked two places.

Stock Rods

The 27-car turnout was bolstered by several Scottish drivers who were attracted by the double-header of championships. Each driver was allocated two from three heats with drawn grids reversed for each driver’s second outing. From the outside of the front row, 32 James Horwell jumped into the lead of heat one and managed to hold it throughout. 441 Tom Major and 216 Cameron Doak also moved into second and third early on before holding station, while 944 Callum Hosie worked his way from near the back to fourth. Polesitter 227 Jody Hawkins led heat two with 909 Justin Washer, 41 Stuart McKinnon, 437 Lewis Trickey and 77 Tom Larcombe following in a train until the closing stages. Encountering traffic helped Washer past Hawkins with three laps to go, with Trickey following through. Then, entering the last lap, as Hawkins tried to get back in line, contact with McKinnon spun her out. The top two broke clear and McKinnon came home third but was docked two places for an accumulation of contact. 728 Kris Woods was promoted to third after squeezing past the chaos, with Horwell making fourth. 103 Chris Horwell led heat three from 426 Keith Channon, with the pair opening a margin to their pursuers until closed down by Hosie. As Channon tried the outside line, it allowed Hosie into second, and Hosie then tried a cutback to pass Horwell, only to spin the leader out on the penultimate lap. Hosie crossed the line first but was docked two places for the contact, allowing Channon to inherit the win from 351 Stuart Wedderburn. The heat results left James Horwell on pole for the European Championship race, with Trickey alongside and Washer and Hosie on row two. Horwell converted pole into the lead from Washer, Doak and Hosie before a few early spills led to yellow flags. On the resumption, the leading four formed a train until Washer managed to squeeze past Horwell into the lead and was swiftly followed by Doak and Hosie. With none of the challengers willing to risk an outside move, that was how it stayed. Washer eked out a small advantage amidst traffic in the closing stages and added another title to his CV, with Doak and Hosie completing the trophy placings.

Saloon Stock Cars

A heavy World Championship weekend at Mildenhall no doubt contributed to a lack of visitors and only 13 Saloon Stock Cars in action, with 199 Phil Powell, 277 Jack Grandon and 902 Junior Buster to be commended for managing to race for the third day running. Sole white-top 281 Marc Chenery broke clear in heat one as the six yellow graded drivers battled, while Grandon and Junior Buster traded blows with 677 Warren Darby at the back of the field. Yellow flags were required after 314 Bryn Finch went head on into the Honiton bend wall, which brought Powell onto Chenery’s tail. Powell used the bumper to take the lead and drove to a comfortable win as Junior Buster worked his way into second and 28 Ian Govier shifted Chenery for third on the final bend. Heat two began in similar fashion but ended spectacularly for Powell when a tangle and spin on the home straight left him open to being collected very heavily by Darby. Hefty rear-end damaged ended Powell’s night, but he was able to extricate himself from the wreckage. Govier had pushed Chenery wide to take the lead before the stoppage and went on to win. Junior Buster worked his way into second but was docked two places for a jumped restart, putting Chenery back into second and Grandon third. Just 10 cars survived for the final in which Chenery was able to build a huge gap, which this time couldn’t be overhauled as he went on to take a second consecutive final at the track. A move up the grades beckons. Behind Chenery there was action all around, despite the low numbers, from which 276 Ben King emerged in second before being demoted by 33 Pete Hollett and Junior Buster.