An unseasonably cold and wet evening greeted racegoers to Smeatharpe with the consolation that each of the formulas on hand had gathered in good numbers to entertain.

Unlimited cc Old Skool Bangers

A much improved entry of the big cars gave a suggestion that there might yet be life in the class.  The opening race saw 907 Cameron Bradford streak away at the front of the field to take a comfortable victory.  2 Jack Hodges got spun out at the end of the back straight whilst towards the end of the race 891 Darren Wade was turned around on the pit bend, being collected by some of the chasing pack.  The start of the second heat began with a bang as 246 Ryan Sparks launched an attack on 458 Layton Quinn into the pit bend; Quinn then seeing out the rest of the race face the oncoming traffic.  912 Simon Rees found himself drawing unwanted attention from a number of drivers including an entertaining outing from 333 Craig Partridge, though Rees did manage to make it to the end, whilst up front 954 Jamie Beere eventually relinquished the lead to 133 Terry Hill who broke free to win.  The Final again saw Quinn in the thick of the action, this time with 278 Shaun Brokenshire in playful mode on the pit bend.  185 Richard Coaker avoided the melee as Quinn found himself in a heap with Hodges just past the pit gate.  In the west bend, 272 Shaun Ross was sent into the plating and out of the race, whilst Coaker led home 282 Steve Hunt and Beere to conclude a good outing for the large cars.

Ministox

A good entry of 21 Ministox faced increasingly difficult race conditions as the evening progressed.  The opening heat did not stay green for long as 055 Olivia Hezig found herself facing the wrong way on the home straight with 567 Mia Batten rattling off the plating a little further down the track as cars scattered in all directions.  970 Millie Farrell led on the restart but was quickly reeled in by 382 Corey Hunt who seemed to be very much at home in the conditions.  The other driver looking comfortable in the wet was 917 Troy Hemmins who passed the newly crowned English Open Champion 577 Harry Darby and Farrell to move into second on the back straight.  As Hunt progressed for a relatively comfortable win there was a scary moment for Darby who found his path blocked by a spun 919 Oscar Berry, the two colliding.  Berry was then collected by 870 Bertie Farrell, before he eventually managed to get his car to safety as Darby managed to just hold onto his third place despite the best efforts of Milie Farrell to get back into the podium spots.  928 Jess Coombes got off to a tremendous start in heat two, leading for some time until novice debutant 911 Jay Power and 942 Leon Williams came to grief in the west bend bringing about a caution period.  On the restart Millie Farrell’s lead was reduced by Darby but it was Hemmins who again excelled in the conditions.  Hemmins pulled away at the front to clinch the win amidst chaos in the west bend which began to resemble a car park with a half dozen cars strewn in that section of the track.  The Final saw the track at its wettest with areas of standing water making it even harder for the young chargers who responded brilliantly, producing an enthralling race with high levels of racecraft being exhibited.  It was a frantic start however as 290 Alfie Tomkins and 770 Austin Farrell tangled in the west bend and 202 Cody Bradford was sent spinning on the home straight.  A race suspension was called when Coombes joined a pile-up of cars in the west bend which nullified Millie Farrell’s length of straight lead over Darby.  On the restart Hunt pounced and moved into the lead with Farrell dropping to fourth.  The lead cars encountered the backmarking Power on the back straight, but were suitably respectful of the novice driver, moving off the racing line to make the pass without incident.  Nonetheless, the top four of Hunt, Darby, Hemmins and Farrell were tightly bunched up as the closing stages loomed.  With a lap to go Farrell had edged herself back up into second with a tenacious drive, but heading into the final bend Darby made his move with a well timed hit on the Farrell rear bumper sending the 970 car wide which allowed both Darby and Hemmins through to claim the final two podium spots in a thrilling climax to the race.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

With 30 cars in the pits there was plenty of action and entertainment.  The opening moments of heat one saw 360 Jack Reynolds despatch 240 Courtney Warr on the back straight, Warr‘s car ending up in a heap on the pit bend.  Meanwhile at the other end of the track 101 Caroline Warr had been collected by the pack which required a stoppage to help the driver out of the car.  On the restart 201 James Yeates found himself to be in the midst of much of the action being spun on the back straight before being run into by three other drivers.  Yeates rejoined only to find himself in the fence in almost exactly the same position, but this time on the home straight.  Yeates once again extracted himself from his precarious position and with just a couple of laps to go exacted revenge on 519 Jason Witney who was running in the top three, ending Witney’s chances as 760 Joey Reynolds ran out the race winner.  Heat two was an equally frenetic affair with Witney wasting no time to get back at Yeates, spinning the 201 car on the home straight.  Jack Reynolds led the opening stages before being caught and passed by 985 Sam Carter, the 2020 Ministox Points Champion making his debut in the formula.  The now back marking Yeates tried to remove Carter from the lead but was unsuccessful.  However, Carter found his path blocked ahead in the west bend which allowed 562 Jayden James to hit the front, briefly.  Yet Jack Reynolds regained the lead by the time the chequered flag was shown.  The Final was the quieter of the trio of races so far.  Witney was sent spinning at the start whilst 83 Ben Styles was bundled into the west bend plating, whilst the two Reynold’s brothers set about one another on the pit bend.  James took the win ahead of Carter and 200 Jai Simmons.  The Destruction Derby got off to a lively start but with flames underneath the bonnet of Joe Reynolds’ car, the event was brought to a halt.  However, with a number of drivers seemingly not responding to the lights or flag signals, the contest was abandoned in the interests of safety, a disappointing end to what had been an enjoyable session from the formula.