Standlake 26^th May 2003 Under 2000cc

A fine 55 car turn out for the second May Bank Holiday, four drivers opting to bring a second car just for the end of day caravan DD. 47 cars competed in the races before said DD among them eight apiece for mk2s and big Volvos (all estates) including a brace of 7 series with Capris also showing well with six examples but two cars really stood out, 313 Mick Cotton’s pretty Magnette and 260 Keith Reynolds’ superb fintail Mercedes 190.

Heat 1 (30 cars) - 275 Ozzie (Orion) commenced the heat one activities attacking 110 YoYo Man’s trademark Vole estate but he copped a revenge blast from 410 Muppet’s Volvo estate whilst 706 the Goat (Bluebird estate) wound Mayhem out. 155 Mr Demolition (Donald) did likewise to 410 Muppet whilst 91 Dave Beauchamp fired his Bluebird up 576 Simon Hadland’s Sunny estate. The Merc was howling round at a fare lick until going in, taking hostages 248 Dave Stopps (Sapphire) & 71 Mr Tea (Capri) with him, 85 Mong (Mk5 estate) then homing in on Stopps. 366 the White Knight in his first outing for two years then befell victim to a thundering Demolition follow in ending his day early as Mayhem fired the Magnette up Muppet only to be attacked by YoYo team mate 124 Terry Marks in another of the Vole estates. Mong in turn fired up Marks but left the all too attractive 85 Cortina tailgate dangling invitingly, 177 Matt Whitehead (estate) unable to resist temptation, jacking 85 down. Hadland and Mr Mag then both attacked Whitehead before Demolition ended the lively opener on a high with a full chat steam on Whitehead. 244 Bunny (Volvo 740 estate) meanwhile drove off pole for a steady win ahead of 342 Potty (Capri) with 575 Paul Tritton (Bluebird) in 3^rd.

Result: 244 Michael Bunyan, 342 Stuart Phillips, 575 Paul Tritton, 110 Derek Tyler, 815 Ian Castle, 155 Craig Boyle

Heat 2 (25 cars) - The next heat was quieter, Tritton spinning 6 Gary Tomes’ Sierra whilst Beauchamp gnawed away at the bootlid of 54 Winnie’s modern Mazda 626 before spinning YoYo Man and meeting 559 Ug’s Donald on the nose. 143 Chicken Man (estate) fired up Beauchamp allowing YoYo Man a retallitory blast on 91 before he too dished out a head on to Ug. 77 Bass (Volvo 340) gave Muppet a bone as heat one winner was looking good for a repeat until pulling off allowing a grateful 440 Junior (Bluebird estate) to inherit the win, 112 Rusty (Vole estate) and Winnie his placemen.

Result: 440 Andy Cooper, 112 Shaun Russell, 54 Alan Cartwright, 110 Yo Yo, 260 Keith Reynolds, 143 Martin Wilkes

Heat 3 (27 cars) - Time well spent repairing the damage in the pits meant that heat three was another goody. 7 Kier Spiers spun it and copped a shot over the rear wheel from 302 Billy Kerry’s Volvo estate whilst staying with the Voles Rusty spun YoYo Man. Mr Mag then promptly picked up and ran the 112 Vole in with further grief coming for Rusty as 116 Coops (Capri) launched Chicken Man into him moments later. Coops stayed on the case & ran Winnie in, the latter recovering only to find the wall shortly after at the hands of a lively 714 Justin Wood (Capri), the latter also repeating the dosage to Muppet. Demolition t boned Tomes, momentum giving the former lift off and sidelining Muppet though Dem was then superbly jacked by a fierce steam from Bunny. Bass followed Goat in to end another action packed race, Tritton this time the winner ahead of Potty and Whitehead.

Result: 575 Tritton, 342 Potty, 177 Matthew Whitehead, 110 Yo Yo, 143 Chicken Man, 77 Steve Beasley

Heat 4 (15 cars) - Once again due to the damage the next race was calmer, Mayhem spinning first timer 417 Wayne Benson (Capri), Hadland and Bass both doing likewise to Reynolds. Long time leader and returnee 481 Bernie Spiers (estate) was looking good until spinning out & Potty promptly inherited the win ahead of the consistent Tritton with Whitehead once again 3^rd.

Result: 342 Potty, 575 Tritton, 177 Whitehead, 815 Castle, 260 Keefy, 77 Bass

Heat 5 (24 cars) - Beauchamp fired Potty in to commence the last heat whilst Mong latched onto Wood only to have the tailgate jacked down once more, 291 Darren Mabbitt the assailant in a Maestro van. Mong however soon retaliated and ran Mabbitt which allowed Wood a revenge blast to the 85 estate. Running mate 530 Mr Ass (Sierra) instantly zeroed in on Wood allowing Mong to drive off and promptly put Kerry in only to go round at the hands of 815 Ian Castle (Sapphire). Mayhem rolled the Farina as Kier hooked Ozzie out whilst Bernie was once more looking good until he tangled with Mr Ass. Kerry lunged at Winnie only to put himself away, the latter in fine full contact form, passing no one and dishing out a stiff blast to Demolition en route to 2^nd behind 124 Orris (Bluebird) with Tritton 3^rd. The action wasn’t over however as Kier executed a classic follow in on Kerry whilst Mr Ass put Ozzie in only to be blown up by Orris in return to end another classic race.

Result: 124 Carl Korzewski, 54 Alan Cartwright, 575 Tritton, 110 Yo Yo, 177 Whitehead, 481 Bernie Spiers

Final (23 cars) - YoYo Man got the final underway leaning Kier in as Bunny once again set the early pace. Tritton clearly saw Orris as the main threat and latched onto him, but the latter simply leaned on Winnie and soon nipped past Bunny for the lead. Bunny tried in vain to follow Orris in as YoYo Man impressively buried Mr Ass. Junior was making steady progress until spinning out whilst Reynolds fired Castle in as Mayhem steamed Rusty who recovered and eventually replied with a head on. Orris launched Whitehead but fortunately the latter cleverly avoided contact with Mr Mag’s driver door as Chicken Man buried Mr Tea into the empty Mr Ass Sierra. Orris completed his second final win on the trot ahead of Bernie and the impressive Tritton who tossed 364 Mad Mike’s Donald aside en route to 3^rd.

Result: 124 Korzewski, 481 Bernie, 575 Tritton, 54 Winnie, 143 Chicken Man, 342 Potty

5 lapper into DD - Next up was an allcomers for those who wanted another race but didn’t have a caravan. Bernie attacked Mr Mag but left himself wide open to a shot from Wood, the latter getting lift off in the process. Bernie bounced back quickly however and wound both Goat and Mr Mag out as Winnie cruised to an easy win ahead of Chicken Man and the recovered Bernie before their DD began. Mong turned it round to meet Goat in a stiff head on encounter whilst Bernie and Chicken Man retired their estates to the centre leaving just 54, 260 and 714 to do battle. Wood caught Reynolds to leave the Merc steeringless, Winnie finishing the 3Litre man with a couple of stiff blasts before meeting the advancing Wood on the nose. Winnie was the only survivor from this and duly took the win.

Result: 54 Winnie, 143 Chicken Man, 481 Bernie  -  Demolition Derby: 54 Winnie

Caravan Demolition Derby - Finally 19 rigs took to the Arena for what turned out to be both a hilarious and entertaining caravan DD. I can only apologise for not capturing everything as the action and caravans literally exploded at once all around the raceway. 141 James Ludlow rolled 817 Richard Hands rig allowing dad 140 Derek to plough through the 817 shell as YoYo Man followed Mr Fudge in. The pack then decimated YoYo Man’s van whilst 364 Flumpy caught 830 Windy allowing 67 the Idiot to drive into Flumpy’s van. Derek Ludlow then drove through the Idiot’s shell only for Coops to put the foot down and charge up and through the 140 combination. Flumpy then straddled YoYo Man’s hitch whereby Mr Fudge promptly garaged himself inside the 364 caravan where he remained for the remainder of the duration! 580 Dippy Dave now drove through the side of Castle whilst father 582 Steve was followed in by 362 Martin Faherty. The latter then turned it round and caught Castle near the door before destroying the last remaining intact shell which belonged to James Ludlow. Mabbitt (in the 77 Vole) emerged from inside some wreckage with one severely twisted Volvo and was promptly steamed by Hands, these two then exchanging head ons. The impressive Faherty then picked up both the Idiot and 139 Grampy Fox, running them into a couple of empty caravan carcasses before attacking Castle only to be finished off by Hands leaving the two Jackpots as the only ones still moving, Castle getting the verdict as Hands had by now lost his trailer. Whew! An exhilarating way to end another fine day’s racing.

Result: 815 Ian Castle

Bill