Standlake 21^st November 2004 under 1400cc Alan Barton memorial meeting     -       Report by Bill

A superb 51 car turn out for this affair & an impressive array of vintage tin too; all bar one being British I’m patriotically proud to say. 702 GT supplied the only Cortina, a mk5 which was originally destined to be raced in June whilst the top foreign auto belonged to 806 Chunky, whose Kadette was adorned with another typically stunning paint job. 71 Mr Tea campaigned a Toledo whilst 294 Trigger & 75 Cory both wielded Escorts, the former a mk2 whilst the Reading racer’s was a solid mk1! 537 Mad Mitch was at the helm of his ex “works Marina van” whilst 364 Flumpy chose to end his racing career as it began way back when with an Avenger, & very pretty it looked too. To mark the occasion 327 Mojo too had found an Avenger leaving three further cars more than worthy of a mention. 313 Mayhem having travelled far for an HA Viva whilst 851 Bode had the oldest & smallest car on show in the guise of an A30. How many of you have ever seen a Morris Minor Traveller on the track? Well that’s exactly what 155 Mr Demolition braved & I use that word aptly since the cuprinol treated timber looked arguably stronger than the rest of its tin-wormed body!

Heat 1 (21 cars) - with 510 Stuart Taylor (Astra) the first to find the fence thanks to 85 Aaron Rowlands (son of the legendary Micky) who then went on to remove Mojo. 152 Chris Sargent (Reno 19) began a good day tossing returnee 106 Paul Gumm’s Corolla aside as Mojo recovered to fire 611 Gavin Harris’ mk5 Escort in. 103 Charlie (Civic) set the early pace until wound out by 69 Caney (Metro), the former recovering quickly & set off in pursuit of his assailant but just when he was about to make his move he was set upon by a GT/790 Doris (yes he was back in a Volvo 340) combo. 606 Boomer (Proton) fenced Rowlands but paid for it with a shot from 84 John Green (Micra) which ended the Devil’s day. Flumpy buried Incarace visitor 303 Copey’s Civic as Doris reminded us of his talents by blasting 252 Will Bignell’s Sunny. Having removed Charlie, Caney maintained his lead to notch up the win ahead of 126 Chris Casemore’s Fiesta with Gumm 3^rd.

Result: 69 Martyn Cane, 126 Chris Casemore, 106 Paul Gumm, 152 Chris Sargent, 364 Colin Carpenter, 42 Ricky Pullen

Heat 2 (19 cars) - Birthday boy Trigger zoomed up 557 Christine Grant’s Polo as Mayhem got off to a flying start & must have been touching top speed until Harris wound him out. Mr Tea then latched onto the Viva but GT arrived to swat the Trummy though he went round & Sargent duly met him on the nose, Mr Tea then neatly jacked by the impressive Harris. The Moggy safely negotiated two laps before 151 Chris Baker (smart Polo) rode it round the wall, prompting a wheel to fall off ending Dem’s day & denying us the sight of someone shivering the timbers! Baker succumbed to a combined 573 Chris Brooks/575 Tritt double Devil Astra attack though he made them work hard to get him round as Mayhem’s mechanic, 787 the Rat-man (baby Vole) made his full debut with steady progress biffing Grant en route. 110 Yoyo Man (Escort) secured the win in this one ahead of Tritt with Mitch driving brilliantly to bring the van home in 3^rd.

Result: 110 Derek Tyler, 575 Paul Tritton, 537 Mark Mitchell, 860 Christian Doughty, 115 Simon Kerby, 151 Chris Baker

Heat 3 (26 cars) - A good field for the third with Flumpy giving Caney a tap only to be wound out by 115 Kerby (Cherry) whilst Baker avenged his treatment in the previous race when he thumped Brooks in. 103 copped a shot off 5 Neil Teaker as 600 Jason Emery (mk5 Escort) jacked Bode’s bubble. GT lost control & was met on the nose by Bignell a similar fate befalling Emery with Grant the one offering a head-on, Mitch also charging into 600. This though invited 103 a free blast to Grant only to be blown up impressively by GT. 716 Jamie (Sunny) in turn jacked the mk5 to complete the heavy stuff as 2 Jon Bricknell (Favorit) buried Teaker whilst Bode nibbled at Mitch. After trouble in the pits it was rewarding to see 417 Shelly guide his Rover 100 to the flag ahead of Bricknell with Gumm once again 3^rd.

Result: 417 Sheldon Gardiner, 2 Jon Bricknell, 106 Paul Gumm, 575 Tritton, 115 Kerby, 5 Neil Teakel

Heat 4 (22 cars) - Rowlands got hold of 290 Andy George’s Rover 214 but copped a package from Harris who in turn took one from Emery. 111 Posh Boy (Sunny) lined Chunky up nicely but Trigger came to the rescue to swat the former before George raced Chunky to the wall, 806 then heaving 290 aside. Doris blasted Rat-man before the latter located the armco courtesy of Posh Boy, though Doris then steamed the latter. Gumm biffed Rat-man as Tritt pumped Rowlands in whilst Bricknell fired Kerby in & then spun George & splatted Doris. 580 Dippy Dave took this one in his trademark Nova ahead of the quick Kerby & Tritt.

Result: 580 Dave Tustian, 115 Kerby, 575 Tritton, 106 Paul Gumm, 2 Jon Bricknell, 806 Marc Doughty

Heat 5 (38 cars) - Best grid of the day as 38 emerged for the last heat with 820 Maggot (Escort estate) in his first eager to make up for lost time running Posh Boy in before hooking Mojo out. Mr Tea latched onto Kerby who in turn found Tritt, the latter locating Gumm who took the brunt on the impact with the advancing wall. Tritt went on to launch Chunky into Posh Boy whilst Mayhem found enough acceleration to spin both 42 Ricky Pullen (Fiesta) & Mr Tea. Caney also removed Mr Tea only to come under fire from the Viva whilst Teaker removed Mitch who took his revenge out on Yoyo Man who was innocently passing whilst Bignell followed Trigger in. GT spun Mojo, who cleverly reversed his man in whereby Jamie buried Trigger into the Cortina. Dippy Dave completed back-to-back wins, 104 Lee Gumm (Sunny) 2^nd with the consistent Tritt once again 3^rd.

Result: 580 Dippy Dave, 104 Lee Gumm, 575 Tritton, 5 Teakel, 110 Yo Yo, 115 Kerby

Final (28 cars) - with the impressive Harris taking Mr Tea to the wall & then spinning Jamie. Mayhem fenced Shelly before being totalled by Doris with Lee G burying 712 Judy’s Golf into 790. Tritt hooked Pullen out as Rowlands fenced debutant 581 David Gilkes (Nova) before Dippy Dave spun the former. Gilkes gamely plodded on before being jacked by Sargent as Jamie followed 860 Bonkers’ smart Corolla in. Jamie was clearly on a mission as he then cleverly leaned Yoyo Man in & then both Flumpy & Teakel in one heave. Caney was in front at this stage but Paul G hooked him out, 69 instantly recovering only to go round again thanks to Kerby, the latter then executing a storming jack on Lee G. Caney maybe witnessed this as he made a fatal error as Kerby loomed large in his mirror & caught Mitch (in the 557 Polo). Caney was then nudged by Jamie though Tritt arrived to have the latter out as Paul G landed a firm blow on Rowlands before Sargent took over to run the latter in. Dippy Dave inherited the win to complete the hat trick though Caney clung on for a hard-earned 2^nd, Mitch not far behind in 3^rd.

Result: 580 Dippy Dave, 69 Caney, 537 Mad Mitch, 106 Paul Gumm, 716 Jamie Lydon, 110 Yo Yo

Demolition Derby (21 cars) - Cory landing the first serious blow, jacking Flumpy as Paul G superbly blew Dippy Dave up though sadly his man was on the centre at the time. 582 Steve Tustian (Volvo 340) was in his first event & was spun by Mitch (now back in the van) which lined the former up for a decent shot from Harris. Flumpy engaged Green in a head-on before the latter picked Mitch up who merely applied the anchor allowing Muppet (in his dad’s Escort) a free hit. Caney landed a cracking shot on Mojo & then blasted his man again before Sargent stopped the 69 Metro with a shot on the front wheel. Muppet was clearly enjoying himself as he impressively followed Jamie in as Mitch attacked Dippy Dave’s twisted Nova. To his credit the latter replied with a head-on before both he & Muppet came to a halt on the centre. Jamie & Mitch now exchanged head-ons before the latter did likewise with Green. Not surprisingly the Marina was the stronger of the two & maybe it was fitting that Mitch should win the event in the same trusty steed that had given such loyal service to it’s owner on the road.