Monday 23rd August 2021

The summer series of Monday evening fixtures at Smeatharpe bowed out in spectacular style as the Caravan Chaos finale left its usual trail of destruction and devastation in front of a large crowd who lapped up the exciting action.

Caravan Chaos

Those who stayed to the end of the meeting to enjoy the Caravan Chaos event were royally entertained by a thrilling race that was full of fun, drama and, of course, destruction and devastation.  92 Martin Keywood and 777 Kai Freestone made the early running as a chained pair, whilst 519 Jason Witney and 556 Pete Hollis were amongst those who lost the bulk of their caravan early on.  Witney was clearly the fastest combination on track, and he took the lead, and he went on to build up a huge advantage, whilst 174 Harry Ford’s twin wheeled caravan stuttered to a halt on the back straight.  Eventually, all caravans were smashed off their chassis, with 104 Matt Horwell being the last to go.  Late on, Witney saw his lead all but evaporate when he got caught up at the pit gate but having lapped the rest of the field by that stage, he was able to extricate himself from the mayhem to charge home for victory, with 272 Shaun Ross the runner-up.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

The opening heat for the Back 2 Basics Bangers was full of spins, several of which were inflicted by 519 Jason Witney.  After 331 Duncan Kennard and 102 Tom Sandercock had led the way, 211 Adrian Coles took over and he looked set for victory until 104 Matt Horwell brilliantly sent backmarker 756 Tory Hooper into Coles, and that opened the door for Horwell to steal the win late on.  A bundle of drivers crashed out in the west bend at the start of heat two, including 22 Richard Simmons and Kennard.  Coles was not to be denied this time and he won from 562 Jayden James.  168 Adam Welsman seemed intent on halting Coles in the final, spinning him twice, before ploughing into Sandercock, which then left Welsman to be trashed by James.  838 Damien Tiley and Horwell duelled for the lead, with Tiley braking up Horwell on the final lap to hold on to win.  632 Arron Bennett completed the top three.

Ministox

A two from three format with a difference was deployed for the Ministox, whereby the opening heat was effectively an all-white top affair.  928 Jess Coombes set off into the lead, whilst 242 Amy Williams and 902 Reagan Davies were each early spinners.  567 Mia Batten chased down Coombes and the two duelled for the lead, before Batten edged clear.  920 Wayne Wadge Jnr completed the top three, with 992 Alfie Walsh in fourth.  The second heat began with 577 Harry Darby sending 985 Leah Sealy into a half spin.  Darby went on to charge up the order, and he spun Batten from the lead, and the yellow flags appeared with two laps to run when 911 Jay Power ran aground.  Darby saw out the restart to win from 382 Corey Hunt.  In heat three, Coombes led for absolutely ages, but once caught she fell down the places in the closing stages, as Darby and Hunt again filled the first two places.  The Ministox final had to be suspended when 870 Bert Farrell was collected on the infield after Batten was inadvertently spun into him by Darby.  Race leader Coombes was spun to the infield late on, as Darby stormed to victory, to complete his hat-trick in what was his last Ministox meeting with Autospeed.  917 Troy Hemmins was second and in a mad scramble to the line, 907 Cadan Davies took third.

 

Ministox 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 567 928 920 992 919 911 902 242 nof
Heat 2 577 382 917 290 970 525 907 55 617 207
Heat 3 577 382 942 970 290 055 917 525 902 928
Final 577 917 907 985 382 202 290 970 055 207
B2B Bangers 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 104 309 331 168 211 519 756 31 89 556
Heat 2 211 562 104 756 309 838 632 89 nof
Final 838 104 632 309 756 174 89 nof
Caravans 519