Standlake 3^rd May 2004 Metro/Fiestas.        Report By Bill

Drivers are bemoaning that these cars are hard to find though you wouldn’t have thought so as 67 drivers managed to locate one, indeed 275 Ozzie had two! 38 Metros including a solitary Rover 100 marginally outnumbered the Fords, whose ranks included six mk3s plus a lone mk1 for 417 Shelly. The persistent rain that had besieged the pits all morning fortunately let up in time for heat one.

Heat 1 (25 cars) - With drivers concentrating their efforts on negotiating the treacherous surface damage was down but began with 851 Bode copping a blast off 361 Bilge Bros’ Fiesta though he was wasted impressively by 555 James Crowder to become the day’s first casualty. 536 Kev Hardie (Fiesta) then collected Bilge Bros as 110 Yo Yo Man piled into Crowder. 151 Chris Lawrence in a smart Fiesta neatly jacked 360 Shane Horwood with 852 Jay tossing 18 Matt Brock aside as 283 Webby took the opener in a Fiesta ahead of the similarly mounted 600 Jason Emery with 127 Oliver Adams 3^rd.

Result: 283 Bryan Webb, 600 Jason Emery, 127 Oliver Adams, 007 Matty Cox, 852 Jamie Howell, 807 Chris Green

Heat 2 (27 cars) - 360 Bonkers (Fiesta) got heat two underway, leaning 102 Mr Fudge’s mk3 in though he copped a blast off 908 Michael Ede before taking one himself from 71 Mr Tea’s mk3. 504 Vicram punted 537 Mitch, the latter surviving only to be turned round by 503 Tank in the Rover with surprise racer 313 Mayhem (mk3) arriving with a gentle head-on to the luckless Mitch. Shelly teamed up with 481 Bernie Spiers to remove both 143 Chicken Man & 575 Paul Tritton (Fiesta) in a combined heave though the latter was later to avenge when he & 559 Ug assaulted the mk1. 581 Pokey (Fiesta) took this one ahead of 576 Simon Hadland & Yo Yo Man.

Result: 581Mark Pierce, 576 Simon Hadland, 110 Derek Tyler, 481 Bernie Spiers, 575 Paul Tritton, 573 Chris Brooks

Heat 3 (25 cars) - Ozzie put himself in at the start of the third & was collected by the Fiestas of 85 Mong & 128 Dean Moore whilst Emery got in a tangle with Adams. The leading 606 Boom leaned 169 Bean’s Fiesta in as 530 Mr Ass (Fiesta) beautifully fenced 113 the Reading Bug. Jay then collided with the latter as the well-placed Mayhem went missing when Bean hooked him out. Webby completed back to back wins & celebrated with a text book follow-in on the unfortunate Pokey, 155 Mr Dem & Brock next before Dem waved the latter past & promptly ran him in!

Result: 283 Webby, 155 Craig Boyle, 18 Matthew Brock, 807 Green, 85 Richard Aston, 24 Jason Cuddihy

Heat 4 (37 cars) - Ede was an early casualty in the fourth, Mr Tea putting him in before Crowder rolled, bringing about an early stoppage but not before 580 Dippy Dave had blasted Mr Tea. Horwood attacked 573 Chris Brooks’ Fiesta on the restart but paid for it when 575 Paul Tritton (Fiesta) sought revenge for the treatment to his Devil team mate. Another Devil, 578 Bert ran Bonkers in as Dippy Dave heaved Mitch aside whilst Chicken Man jacked Shelly. 007 Matt Cox arrived to jack the mk1 even further as Spiers spun Mayhem, repaying a similar move he had received earlier in the race. 73 Nik Wheeler (Fiesta) overdid a bend & connected with 807 Greeney as 69 Caney marked his welcome return to the bangers with the win, the consistent Webby next ahead of Hadland.

Result: 69 Marty Cane, 283 Webby, 576 Hadland, 578 Bryan Tritton, 143 Martin Wilkes, 481 Spiers

Heat 5 (26 cars) - T7 Tyto (Fiesta) leaned on Emery in the penultimate heat, the latter in turn breathing heavily on Shelly & the mk1 met the fence. Emery stayed in the action, firing 13 Woma’s mk3 in, 714 Jez Gardiner also connecting with Woma whilst Mr Fudge & Jay met in a meaty head-on. Still not done, the impressive Emery then launched Greeny into Mr Fudge, who was still exchanging head-ons with Jay as Caney fired Tritton in. Caney befell a similar fate at the hands of Mitch as 24 Jason Cuddihy steamed 506 Marc Stuckey, ripping a wheel off the latter in the process before Dem launched 18 Matt Brock into Stuckey. Gardiner heaved 728 Psycho Sam aside, Tritton doing likewise to Brock whilst Tank buried himself in the now vacant Emery motor. Dem it was who collected the chequered this time, Mitch next with Yo Yo Man filling 3^rd spot.

Result: 155 Boyle, 537 Mark Mitchell, 110 Yo Yo, 504 Victor Baker, 283 Webby, 7 Tim Millard

Heat 6 (28 cars) - The last heat commenced with 129 Dean Richards flicking Mr Ass aside, Mr Fudge attempting to come to the rescue only to miss his intended target & put himself away. Mr Ass was soon back in the fray but copped a biggie off Horwood with Lawrence arriving with a t-bone to add to the smiley one’s misery! Spiers meanwhile picked up 586 Karl Horwood’s Fiesta, the latter quickly latching onto Lawrence but it was not enough to save him & the latter from the advancing wall. 152 Chris Sargent accidentally caught Mr Fudge near the doors before Cox superbly rolled Brooks as Nelly driving his son’s motor (that’s 555 for the uninitiated) showed he still knows his way around the track by taking the win ahead of Spiers & Hadland.

Result: 555 Neil Crowder, 481 Spiers, 576 Hadland, 537 Mitch, 578 Bert, 007 Cox

A ramp rollover during the interval went the way of 504 Vic Baker with Boom the runner up before we moved onto the final.

Final (41 cars) - The heats had lacked that “je ne sais quios” but oh boy was the final good! Cox buried Brock to get the ball rolling whilst Webby jacked 76 Sean Enevoldsen before the fireworks really began as Adams blasted Ozzie (who was now in his second car, a Fiesta). Hadland zeroed in on Adams with Shane Horwood locating Hadland whilst 248 Foxy Dave dealt Tritton a biggie. As Horwood backed off, Crowder arrived to blast Hadland but he felt the force of Wheeler who in turn succumbed to a blow from 2 Jon Bricknell before the reds emerged to check on someone seemingly in trouble somewhere in the melee. On the restart, Hardie gave Bonkers a stiff one only to take one himself from Jay with both Trittons finding victims on the Standlake bend. Karl Horwood homed in on Bert as Mitch biffed Mong to clear a way through. Webby used the bumper, shoving 582 Steve Tustian’s mk3 aside to force a way through, 1 Steve Cox (also mk3 mounted) connecting with Tustian too. All the while Spiers had opened up a ½ lap lead as Caney, Yo Yo Man & Chicken Man all tangled scrapping for the minor places. Gardiner fired Bert into the Standlake bend blockage & Caney had nowhere to go & peddled it to give Gardiner the big “yee-ha” with the chasing Yo Yo Man steaming Caney. Bricknell found a gap & his eyes then lit up when he saw Bert as Steve Cox nailed a reversing Yo Yo Man. Somehow Spiers barged his way through despite Mong’s efforts to block the passage, Steve Cox hooking Adams out as Mitch jacked Tyto. Caney had long since given up any hope of a podium finish & now met Psycho Sam before Chicken Man uncharacteristically about turned & attacked Caney. Mitch jacked Mr Ass & then launched Webby across the infield as Spiers finally completed the laps to take a hard-earned win, Mitch 2^nd having put on a quality display & Adams a refreshing new name in 3^rd with just Chicken man & Yo Yo Man also going the distance. Phew!

Result: 481 Bernie Spiers, 537 Mitch, 127 Adams, 143 Wilkes, 110 Yo Yo

Demolition Derby (30 cars) - The DD started badly for Webby as he was caught by a reversing 559 Ug & then trashed by Dippy Dave. Jay buried himself in 75 Lee Jenkins but fell victim to Shelly who had Enevoldsen firmly attached to his bootlid at the time. Adams & Bean enjoyed a head-on, the former standing on it’s nose on impact, Crowder & Mr Tea doing likewise with the latter also getting both rear wheels off the ground. Bean then copped a biggie off 517 Dazzle (Fiesta) as Spiers ripped the back axle out of Adams. Enevoldsen gave Chicken Man a bone as Dippy Dave removed Spiers & Enevoldsen in one heave. Spiers recovered quickly to dish out a bone to Webby as Mr Ass spun Sargent before meeting Jay in a heavy head-on. Tustian gave Mitch a big heave as Foxy Dave connected with both Spiers & Sargent before falling prey to a stiff shot from Chicken Man. Spiers steamed Mr Ass before nailing Webby, leaving Chicken Man to finish Mr Ass & take the victory.

Result: 143 Chicken Man from 530 Mr Ass

Bill