Standlake 13^th April 2003 - Under 1800cc

Just one shy of forty in this class, numbers being swelled today by visitors from Paices Hill & Roosecote plus a sextet from Grimley’s team Smith, all of whom were in Bluebirds including a rare & rust free 180B from 142 Bad Boy. Rooster 116 D.J. Coops campaigned a rear wheel drive Donald whilst other motors of note include a Corolla from 364 Flumpy & an amazing outbreak of Dolomites, three in total. None came close however to 313 Mayhem’s classic sill-less A55 fintailed Cambridge which stole the show.

Heat 1 – (32 cars) - Mayhem was indeed first to show in the opener when he put the infamous 246 Jason Smith in, the latter keeping the throttle wide open to blast 580 Dippy Dave’s Sierra. Bad Boy took 316 Big Ears’ Sierra estate in & then promptly launched 139 Grampy Fox (Maestro) over a tractor tyre. 815 Ian Castle (Astra estate) removed 104 Lee Gumm (Sunny) & 251 Buster Driffiths (Dolomite) in one heave as 141 James Ludlow, who was driving possibly the first ever Fiat Tipo banger, exacted revenge for his grandfather when he steamed Bad Boy, Driffiths also being caught out in this move. 250 Neil Mullender (mk3 Escort estate) steamed Ludlow, making quite a mess of the Fiat & rolling himself in the process as the Roosecote man 262 Richard Ellison (Capri) embedded himself in the back of Grimley’s 211 Ashley Edwards before the reds emerged to extract Mullender, whose car was in a dangerous place. He exited perfectly OK & the race was soon restarted. Castle was ahead at the time of the stoppage but a storming restart by Gumm saw the latter instantly overtake & a cracking battle for the lead ensued between these two. Castle humped 142 Colin Lacey (Bluebird) out of the way just as the latter was about to exact the big one on Grampy Fox & then forced Gumm wide but the Mendips man held it well & soon avenged by rolling 815 & ending the day for the Jackpot. Mayhem was going well but Driffiths tossed him onto the infield as Gumm went on to collect the first chequered of the day, 54 Winnie (mk3 Cav) & 275 Ozzie (Sunny) behind him.

Result: 104 Lee Gumm, 54 Alan Cartwright, 275 Ozzie Summerhill, 140 Derek Ludlow, 106 Paul Gumm, 364 Colin Carpenter

Heat 2 (34 cars) - heat one had set the standard for the day. Big Ears removed Driffiths from the off in the next as 2 Jon Bricknell (Cherry) laid siege to 86 Naily Smith. Paices Hill racer, 385 Porky (mk3 Cav) performed a good shot on 102 Mr Fudge’s mk2 Escort whilst 7 Kier Spiers (Sunny estate) attacked 12 Tom Smith but paid for it when Bad Boy picked him up & launched him into 34 Tyson Mitchell’s diminutive Nova. The latter then copped a t-bone off Bricknell as 179 Darren Harker (Bluebird) gave 33 Paul Norgrove’s mk5 estate the accepted rear end revamp. 77 Bass in another of the Toledos zeroed in on Harker as Porky put 106 Paul Gumm (Mazda 323) away. Plucky lady racer 622 Daisy Starrs (Corolla) hit Naily Smith as Bass lined Bad Boy up but the blow was softened thanks to 816 Brian Hands (Vole 340) timely intervention. Hands you see was on a mission & he fired the similarly mounted 600 Jason Emery in but copped a shot off Ozzie in return. Bricknell continued on his crusade, this time inflicting damage on Mullender whilst as Winnie was cruising to victory, Lee Gumm was once again involved in a superb dice this time for 2^nd with arch rival 578 Bert (Bluey). The latter it was to got the better, leaning Gumm in on the final bend, 104 picking up a flat, but holding onto 3^rd behind Winnie & Bert.

Result: 54 Winnie, 578 Bryan Tritton, 104 Lee Gumm, 106 Paul Gumm, 7 Kier Spiers, 275 Ozzie

Heat 3 (27 cars) - No let up in the last heat. From the off Mullender was punted sideways into Ozzie whilst Mitchell got Mr Fudge in. It wasn’t long before Bert & Lee Gumm were duelling again as Flumpy parked Bad Boy into Bert, folding the 578 Bluey somewhat & next time round Flumpy was instrumental in ensuring both Ozzie & Driffiths tasted Armco. Porky then punted Mitchell in as Mr Fudge foolishly tried to jack down Ellison’s Capri. Mayhem dished a t-bone to Dippy Dave, only to lose steering & met the wall whereupon Mr Fudge homed in, the move causing the 102 Escort to start to snap characteristically. Who says Winnie doesn’t crash? He fizzed Driffiths in, the latter reversing out into the path of Spiers who obliged with a passing blast as Starrs clashed with Coops. Paul Gumm it was first past the post this time, ahead of the ever-consistent Winnie & 140 James Ludlow (Audi 80).

Result: 106 Paul Gumm, 54 Winnie, 140 James Ludlow, 7 Spiers, 364 Carpenter, 816 Brian Hands

Final (17 cars) - The final began with Bricknell taking Driffiths to the wall & getting a big shot off Mr Fudge, snapping the latter impressively. Starrs & Ozzie hit seemingly invisible oil as they careered into the stricken 2 & 102 motors, though Starrs recovered to fire Bass in only cop a shot off Ozzie. Ellison’s Capri was missing badly but still managed to sweetly time Driffiths in as Lee Gumm motored to a fine win ahead of Winnie & bruv Paul.

Result: 104 Lee Gumm, 54 Winnie, 106 Paul Gumm, 7 Spiers, 622 Daisy Starrs, 816 Hands

Demolition Derby (15+ cars?) -The demo was as good as any you’re ever likely to see. Bert commenced things giving 310 Chris Bayliss (Montego) the bone & promptly followed this up by jacking Big Ears, lining the latter up for a superb blast from Coops. The lively Bert now turned attentions to Mayhem whilst Hands had a hairy two-wheeled moment when Spiers launched him into Mitchell, though the Jackpot recovered to blast 503 Tank’s prod rod. Things then moved up a gear with Bayliss too steaming Tank only to cop another shot off the superb Bert, but he received one in turn from Dippy Dave. Flumpy arrived on the scene & nailed Tank before Bert engaged the former head on, lining the ex Saint up nicely for Mayhem to fire up the Corolla. Flumpy merely shrugged this off & found Spiers on the nose with Bert arriving to give the New Sweeney man the bone. Dippy Dave came round the corner to nicely jack Flumpy as Bert tried to finish the Farina off with a shot to the front wheel. Dippy Dave arrived & picking his shot chose to give Mayhem a meaty t-bone, snapping & killing his own steed in the process, Bert finally finishing the fintail with a head on. Spiers meanwhile attacked Hands & plenty of head ons followed between the last three evenly matched runners until Spiers eventually died & Hands & Bert met in a monster head on after which amazingly saw both still mobile before one final encounter saw both expire together for a worthy joint decision, both pilots exiting to a well deserved standing ovation. Talk about leaving you wanting a little bit more…

Result: 816 hands = 578 Bert

Bill  

Standlake 13^th April 2003 - Over 1800cc

Just 19 in this formula but it was class all the way with a used mk1 coupe for 26 Stuart Aldeman amongst the Granadas. Three apiece for fresh Volvos & Jags with series 3s for 622 Ifor Evans &19 Dangerous (used) with a fresh series 2 from Joker teammate 708 Moo. The other Joker in the pack was 702 GT. He wielded a mk2 trummy but it was the yanks of 541 Nick Cross & 719 Mickey Bates that attracted all the attention. Whilst Cross was unsure what his mount actually was since it arrived stripped & debadged, at this stage we think it is a Ford Mercury, but no doubt about Bates’ beast – a Lincoln Town Car, complete with bullet holes from it’s last appearance which was in a film.

Heat 1 (14 cars) - An all Jag affair commenced heat 1 when Dangerous spun Evans before Cross reeled Moo’s Jag in & promptly buried him. Bates was meanwhile bouncing all over the place & was forced with an early retirement. 301 Govesy (Vole 240 estate) ran Dangerous in whilst 302 Billy Kerry (Vole 240) attacked Moo & 155 Mr Demolition (Celica) hooked GT out. Dem. then promptly had Kerry out & next lap GT again whilst Govesy ran Evans in & spun Kerry. 143 Chicken Man won off pole ahead of 110 YoYo Man’s well tonka’d Volvo 740, with 383 Bulley (mk2 estate) 3^rd.

Result: 143 Martin Wilkes, 110 Derek Tyler, 383 Steve Bulley, 155 Craig Boyle, 301 Darren Goves, 541 Nick Cross

Heat 2 (18 cars) - A non-bouncing Bates was back for heat 2 & instantly wound 150 Jon Miles out, the latter promptly copping a t-bone off GT & a further one when Dem leaped at him, leaving the passenger doors of the once smart 150 mk2 over the tunnel! 007 Matt Cox tried with all his might to get Bates’ beast in but spun out – bad move! The rapid Cross was instantly on the scene & pounced with a head on. Someone took a tin opener to the boot of Alderman’s coupe whilst 291 Darren Mabbitt ran GT in. Dem. then got cheeky & ran Bates in as Kerry met Cross on the nose. This however left him wide open to a retaliatory blitzing from Bates, writing the vole off. Once again Chicken Man crossed the line first, Bulley jumping a place to 2^nd with 6 Gary Tomes 3^rd in a 4x4 Sierra estate 3rd.

Result: 143 Wilkes, 383 Bulley, 6 Gary Tomes, 110 YoYo, 301 Goves, 112 Shaun Russell

Heat 3 (14 cars) - Any chances of the hattrick soon disappeared for Chicken Man thanks to Evans giving him the turn around & Dem. really put the cat amongst the pigeons when he took the top three out when he launched 2^nd placed YoYo Man into the leading Tomes (Dem. himself currently lying 3^rd). Dangerous was parked all the while against the Armco & was finished off by Cross as Tomes recovered to biff Evans. YoYo Man was even quicker to rejoin & held on for the win, Bulley once again 2^nd with Govesy bringing the Vole home in 3^rd.

Result: 110 YoYo, 383 Bulley, 301 Goves, 112 Rusty, 719 Micky Bates, 291 Darren Mabbitt

Final (12 cars) - The final starred a well fired up Chicken Man. From the off he had Evans round before pinning YoYo Man against the wall ½ a lap later. Otherwise things were quiet until 291 Darren Mabbitt fired Cross in allowing Coops (who was opting to brave it with the big boys having missed his race) a free blast to the yank, though he rather wisely ejected before the advancing Bates could inflict damage! YoYo Man was once again sidelined by Chicken Man whilst a shock win for Coombes looked on the cards until Cross nailed him on the nose with Bates misinterpreting the scene & trashed the 4x4 thus promoted chums Govesy, Bulley & 112 Rusty (Volvo 240 estate) to the 1-2-3.

Result: 301 Goves, 383 Bulley, 112 Rusty, 291 Mabbitt, 143 Wilkes, 26 Stewart Alderman

Demolition Derby (4 cars) - Just four came out for the demo which was more like a hare & hounds, the huge Lincoln being the former chased by the mk2s of 143, 150 & 291. Three soon became two when 150 (driven by Dippy Dave) expired & it took a while but eventually Mabbitt caught & spun Bates, allowing Chicken Man to deliver a hefty t-bone to the beast. The action then moved to the grass before Bates assisted his opponent back onto the concrete. Mabbitt then did the right thing in twice connecting with the yank’s Achilles heel (or in this case wheels) before expiring leaving 719 not surprisingly the last car moving.

Result: 719 Bates

There may not have been many cars, but the action was superb in both classes.

Bill