Standlake 11^th July 2004 Under 2000cc                            Report by Bill

Today saw the eagerly awaited return leg of the (S) Standlake v (T) Trackstar challenge with the home side fielding it’s allotted twenty whilst the visitors arrived three short. S537 Mitch turned up with a smart & rapid looking modern Subaru though T93 Paul Easter provided top motor with a pillarless Rapier. Backing the 37 above were a further 28 including 131 Elvis Burnett’s diminutive Yogo, a “hardcore” Mk1 Avenger for 851 Bode with 313 Mayhem’s 16/60 topping the bill.

Challenge – Heat 1 (20 cars) - Racing began with heat one of the S/A v TSR challenge, the visitors gaining an initial advantage when S110 Yo Yo Man pulled off before the start. S575 Tritt (estate) straight away introduced T775 Churchy’s Mk5 to the fence though T110 Maddog (Sierra estate) fired back by running S155 Mr Demolition’s Capri in. T830 Bobby Wilmer lunged at S815 Ian Castle but the local man survived as T602 Shaun Cooper attacked Tritt. The leading S112 Rusty (Sunny estate) removed T280 Slick’s Capri, the latter recovering quickly to attack S576 Simon Hadland’s Mazda 626 though the Devil easily shrugged the move off, Slick consoling with a shot on the already dead Tritt motor before Dem & S578 Bert (Monty) arrived to sort the visitor out. Cooper then removed Bert with T60 Darren Burkitt (Primera) & Slick both steaming the Devil before Bert turned it round meeting Cooper on the nose with Burkitt also going on oppo sandwiching Bert & snapping the Monty impressively. To quieten any protests from the away camp, Bert was quickly docked 10 points for being the first to turn it round though this didn’t affect the result too much as Rusty, S54 Winnie & S124 Orris (Primera) romped home for an easy 1-2-3, Standlake taking an early lead 30 – 15 (after Bert’s 10 point deduction).

Result: S112 Shaun Russell, S54 Alan Cartwright, S124 Carl Korszewski, S106 Paul Gumm, T388 Emmo Fairweather, S815 Ian Castle

Support – Heat 1 (23 cars) - Next up was a race for the “supporting” bangers, 317 Darren Chivers (Pujo 405) spinning & being hit by 69 Caney’s estate whilst 210 Phil Baldwin (smart Cav) removed first timer 538 Matt Beckley’s tidy Capri. 126 Casey (Suzuki Swift) spun Bode as 377 Mark Brennan (Cavalier estate) ran 248 Dave Stopp’s Cavalier in. 727 Smithy arrived to jack Brennan down whilst 728 Psycho Sam ended 600 Jason Emery’s day (smart Primera) early with a hefty blast. 275 Ozzie (Cavvy) threw a place away to fence Beckley, Casey copying the move on 417 Shelly’s tidy Pantry, shock horror the winner being 2 Jonathon Bricknell (Mk2 Cav) with 273 Erny (Sapphire) & 007 Matt Cox (Audi 80) his placemen.

Result: 2 Jon Bricknell, 273 Stuart Emery, 007 Matty Cox, 126 David Case, 110 Derek Tyler, 727 Pat Smith

Challenge – Heat 2 (20 cars) - Back to the challenge & the home side was prepared this time in case of a brake down before the off with YoYo Man belted up in the pit lane “just in case” & just aswell too as 722 Bodger pulled up on the middle. So a full grid of 20 cars battled it out with S91 Beech & Bricknell (Cavalier) setting about T533 John Scrupps’ Accord though T639 Paul Vines was soon on hand to blast Bricknell. S481 Bernie combined with S606 Boomer to lean T603 Jon Cooper on the infield as S104 Lee Gumm (Suzuki Swift) spun T233 Rob Aldridge’s Stellar, S143 Chicken Man doing likewise to the surprisingly quick vintage Rapier. Aldridge fired back for the visitors, running S378 Gipsy Boy in as T391 Wayne Shinn caught S153 Richard Martin (Mk4) a treat, the rapid Cortina collecting a puncture in the process. Mitch was on hand to remove Shinn with Beech brilliantly wasting the TSR man. The visitors then began to hit back with Vines delivering a wicked t-bone to Bernie & Boomer coming under fire from Aldridge though Boomer cleverly selected reverse to pin the passing 557 Paranoid Paul against the Armco only for Aldridge to deliver a telling blow to Boomer next time around. However Aldridge copped a blast off race winner Gipsy Boy as Martin & a recovered Boomer set about Paranoid Paul as Bricknell put the roof up on 603 Jon Cooper before being jacked in turn by Burkitt. Just three went the distance, Lee G netting 2^nd ahead of T701 Kevin Cooper’s Sierra. Points after this one now reading 59 – 23 in favour of the home side.

Result: S378 Aidan Parker, S104 Lee Gumm, T701 Kevin Cooper

Support - Heat 2 (25 cars) - Back to the supports with 87 Tapz (Mazda 323) picking up Casey as Shelly spun. Smithy spun debutant 691 Micky Jones (Orion), the latter racing for charity but receiving none himself as 210 Phil Baldwin (Cavalier) administered a terrific steam. Bricknell was well on the case & silenced the taunts of “rodder” after his race two result with a text book following on Tapz, following this up by jacking Chivers, giving Casey one on the nose, nearly rolling Mayhem & then blasting Stopp! He also aided a turn one blockage which cost 580 Dippy Dave (Cavalier) his lead when Cox removed him, the latter then putting himself in after missing a shot on Beckley. Caney superbly reversed Mayhem in, the crusty Farina jacking on impact whilst Psycho Sam ended the race by attempting to run Chivers in before Bruv Smithy showed him how it should be done, Beckley his victim. YoYo Man won this one in his reserve motor ahead of 252 Will Bignell (Maestro van) & 817 Rich Hands (Sierra).

Result: 110 Derek Tyler, 252 Will Bignell, 817 Richard Hands, 727 Pat Smith, 313 Mick Cotton, 275 Ozzie Summerhill

Challenge Final (31 cars) - The challenge final saw Standlake with a three car advantage, mustering 17 against TSR’s 14. Amazingly Aldridge was the only first bend casualty though Burkitt didn’t help his team’s cause when he put himself on the tyres. Beech tried to fence Churchy but the latter leaned on Paul G & softened the blow as Winnie set about the visitors, removing the quick Easter. Beech ran Wilmer into Emmo before a turn three blockage allowed Easter a free blast on Martin. He though went down to a heavy shot from Tritt whilst Beech removed Wilmer & then Paranoid Paul, the black cars dominance now starting to show. Bricknell got revenge from his last encounter with Jon Cooper by blowing him up whilst Martin putting the roof up on his brother Shaun. Respect to Burkitt who returned to the racing line, taking his medicine from Paul G who then attacked the only remaining red car of Shaun Cooper, Bodger also arriving with a steam as Lee Gumm led 14 black cars over the finish line before parking up to face the oncoming traffic whereby Cooper met him on the nose before Demolition superbly blew him up. Sadly Lee took exception to Cooper’s move & his response, completely out of character I might add, saw him stripped of his win, elevating Winnie, Rusty & Bodger to the podium positions, Standlake winning the event by 137 – 27.

Result: S54 Winnie, S112 Rusty, S722 Bob Ewins, S155 Craig Boyle, S153 Richard Martin, S91 Dave Beauchamp

Support – Heat 3 (25 cars) - All cars were mixed together for the last heat with Beech getting the action away, homing in on Jones before coming under fire from lone TSR representative 701 Kevin Cooper (Sierra). The latter then succumbed to a barrage of blows from Hands, Smithy, Tapz & even Elvis, though the latter in turn took one from Jones. The latter later copped a hefty portion off persons unseen whilst Martin buried Tritt hard. Smithy attacked both YoYo Man & 656 Fat Boy Fin (Capri), the latter then collected by Chivers, Paul Gumm (Accord) & Erny, the last shot head-on & snapped the 656 Capri impressively. Smithy in turn homed in on Erny as Orris ran Bricknell in. Martin fired YoYo Man into Cooper, who then copped a biggie off Erny as Paul G jacked Mayhem only to be brilliantly wasted by Orris. Black cars once more dominated proceedings, Winnie 1^st from Martin & YoYo Man.

Result: 54 Winnie, 153 Richard Martin, 110 Yo Yo, 124 Korszewski, 576 Simon Hadland, 69 Martyn Cane

Final (21 cars) - Not quite so many for the final which commenced with Casey hooking Boomer out & then burying Emmo as Ozzie rolled bringing about an early stoppage. Rusty zeroed in on Shinn on the restart whilst 316 Big Ears (Proton) began an impressive performance by fencing Shelly. Rusty now turned attentions to the other Shinn only to come under fire from his brother, though Big Ears was quickly on hand to blast Shinn, which opened the flood gates as Bodger & Boomer both landed hefty blows on the 391 Bluebird before Orris finished the plucky visitor with a screaming full-bore blitz. Orris then completed his work with a stonking t-bone on Shinny whilst Big Ears attacked Boomer only for his man to repay the shot with 815 Ian Castle too landing a blow on the Proton. Winnie scored more points with a fine win ahead of 536 Mr Munch, just rewards for spending a torrid afternoon trying to rewire his Prelude with Martin bringing the Cortina home in 3^rd.

Result: 54 Winnie, 536 Kevin Hardie, 153 Martin, 110 Yo Yo, 316 Steven Sykes, 126 Case

Demolition Derby (15 cars) - So to the demo & first action featured the two three-wheeled Donalds as Chicken Man landed a bone on Shinny before the former dished out another to Shelly. Shinny then came under attack from Dippy Dave with Caney in turn steaming the latter though Brennan superbly wasted 69. Winnie nailed Dippy Dave as Caney limped on to meet Mayhem before Boomer jacked Brennan. Chicken Man dished out another blast to Shinny as Winnie teamed up with Mayhem to steam Beech. Bodger then met Mayhem on the nose to leave Winnie to finish Chicken Man with several blasts & finally a telling t-bone to round off an excellent day for Standlake’s top man.

Result: 54 Winnie

As a foot-note, I’d like to thank the twenty for representing Standlake, especially those who did both legs.

Bill