Day three dawned dry but the forecast rainfall which had clearly already impacted attendance on both sides of the fence arrived with a vengeance at an earlier point in the racing programme owing to a delay in proceedings caused by an on-track incident, with the weather progressively deteriorating and making the afternoon a test of endurance for all concerned.
BriSCA F2 Stock Cars
54 drivers returned for the third day of racing. The opening heat saw a race of contrasts with 315 Charlie Fisher, 605 Richie Andrews and H79 Nigel Stegmeijer, who had impressed on his track debut, running clear at the front by the time the chequered flag dropped, but behind this trio there was a tremendous battle for the minor spots as 667 Tommy Farrell, 629 Euan Millar, 547 Lewis Burgoyne and NI998 Graham Fegan served up wonderful entertainment. Heat two saw 736 Josh Weare hit the front relatively early on where he remained till the end with 700 Adam Rubery and 126 Jamie Avery rounding out the top three ahead of a late charging 24 Jon Palmer. Prior to the third heat the announcement was made that 127 Matt Stoneman had regrettably been removed from the World Final result from the previous evening, his car having failed post-race scrutineering. During the course of the Sunday morning and lunchtime, the car of 560 Luke Wrench had been subjected to the same level of checks, and when it passed those tests, Wrench was elevated to the position of new World Champion. Having been loaned the car of 210 Tristan Claydon for the afternoon, the Wrench team hastily re-sprayed the 560 wing gold and sat it on to the Claydon car before being welcomed onto the track for a lap of honour. Regrettably, that moment of celebration was followed by a distressing incident when 460 Adam Pearce was forcefully followed in by 915 Jamie Jones. The race was instantly brought under caution with Pearce clearly in need of medical attention. The Autospeed track team and medics swung into immediate action, but it quickly became apparent that additional resources would be required to assist with Pearce’s treatment. The extraction was conducted with minimum fuss, and amidst a plethora of emergency vehicles (not to mention two air ambulances that were ultimately not required), Pearce was assisted to one of the waiting road ambulances before heading off to hospital. Whilst visually alarming, the situation was dealt with calmly and professionally as all personnel were trained to do, but nonetheless it was with a sense of some relief when an encouragingly positive update on Pearce’s condition was received post-meeting. Restarting the race following the lengthy was for most a necessary task, albeit not one approached with much enthusiasm following the incident. 161 Ben Bate continued his fine weekend with the win as he echoed the thoughts of everyone in sending Pearce his good wishes in the post-race interview. With the rain falling at pace just twelve drivers braved the consolation which saw 194 Luke Johnson in his element as he romped to victory ahead of youngster 8 Jimmi Marshall and European Champion 647 Chris Burgoyne. The final saw an early caution period when the stranded car of 605 Richie Andrews was collected by 629 Euan Millar. On the restart it was Johnson who again sped into an unassailable lead as Fisher overcame 121 Vinnie Neath-Rogers for second, with the star graders locked out of the top three places, Johnson delighted to pick up the win and the magnificent Roy Goodman Perpetual Trophy in what was his first feature final success. The Grand National was for the annual Ash Sampson Memorial Trophy, and in traditional fashion, the former Sampson car was paraded at the front of the field for an initial rolling lap with Roy Goodman at the wheel. The modest ten car field was regrettable given the significance of the race but ultimately understandable given the ongoing deterioration in the weather conditions with parts of the track, particularly the Honiton Bend, now with significant standing water. Marshall looked assured out in front and at one point looked like he may hang on for a flag-to-flag win but with the lap boards out he was overhauled by Fisher who was delighted to win the race with Johnson returning to seventh from the lap handicap.
Saloon Stock Cars
The day’s racing marked round 2 of the National Series and Autospeed continued their tradition of marking the driver’s commitment with each receiving a magnificent, framed picture of their car presented by Saloon Stock Car superfans Nikki Archer and Janet Hanson who had been invited by the promotion to undertake the honours out on track. 18 cars took to the track in the opening heat which by the time it had gridded was on a soaking wet track. 389 Ryan Santry’s National Series challenge was stunted with an early spin in the opening laps and then again a little further in the race which put him a couple of laps down. To add insult to injury he was then shown the technical exclusion flag by Race Control who had mistakenly identified him as being without a rear wheel guard, the only consolation being that with the earlier spins it was a less costly error than it otherwise might have been. 124 Andrew Mathieson headed the field but came under challenge by 341 Austin Freestone who at one point pulled alongside the Scotsman. Mathieson defiantly clung on for the win by utilising the wide outside line as behind there were multiple scraps for the minor positions with the front bumpers being used to good effect. The other half of the cars appeared for heat two with 111 Thomas Ruby the early leader but eventually was overhauled by 720 Archie Brown. Behind, 622 Garry Paterson and 577 Harry Derby enjoyed a fine battle for second, with the south west driver managing to eventually secure the runner-up spot. 760 Joey Reynolds took fifth place which was the best result amongst the National Series entrants. The consolation event saw 715 Kyle Hegg overhauled for the lead by 84 Carl Boswell just before half distance. Hegg kept in touch with the leader however but despite a last bend challenge Boswell was able to cling on by a narrow margin when the chequered flag dropped. Given the conditions a superb showing of 28 drivers (of the 30 who had qualified) took to the grid for the big money Chapel Garage Trophy final. Hegg was also the feature of the main battle in this race when this time it was Darby who once again embroiled in a battle with one of the Scottish visitors. With just a few laps to go it looked like Derby had secured the lead, but he came across the front of the Hegg machine which sent him spinning down the home straight and out of the race with Santry and Reynolds following Hegg home to complete the top three. The Allcomers race, for the Pat Hudson Trophy, saw a decent 14 cars enter, predominantly the batch of National Series entrants. Santry added to his haul of points with a win from Darby and 670 Ross Watters.
ORCi Stock Rods
A decent 24 car entry for the formula following the previous week’s exploits north of the border for their World Final gathered for the West of England Championship which boasted the splendid Ron Trickey Trophy. In customary fashion, the drivers received a welcome gift from Ron’s son Barry on the parade lap. The rain arrived as the cars had already gridded for the opening heat resulting in a slow motion race in treacherous conditions, 9 Chris Drake the first to encounter trouble on the pit bend. Justin Washer seemed to acclimatise to the conditions quickest and with that made his way through the field to the front as behind 314 jason Barraclough and 285 Martin Walker enjoyed a close battle with Barraclough mastering the outside line to secure second. 103 Chris Horwell hit the front early on in the second heat and was unchallenged to the flag as 944 Callum Hosie out in a borrowed car made rapid progress through to second as a number of others floundered in the worsening conditions. The third and final heat saw 351 Rhys Langdown speed through the field to take over from Horwell at the front, Horwell receiving a penalty for contact on 79 Brian Edmond when they scrapped for the lead before Langdown took over. Behind Langdown there was a great battle for second being fought over by up to six cars at one point despite the challenging conditions. The Final was gridded in points order and as such with the wet weather conditions it was little surprise that Hosie converted his front row start into a flag-to-flag win, leading by three quarters of a lap by the time the chequered flag fell, with 522 Chris Mikulla and Barraclough a distant second and third.