Standlake 23^rd October 2005 small hatchbacks          Report By Bill

The metro/fiesta formula has come a long way in the space of just one season; Two door Sunnys have now progressed to include four, and even fast hatches are deemed within the boundaries with the sport’s first Hyundai Accent plus a rated 120Y & one can but wonder about next year’s corresponding fixtures. To put things into prospective however I should point out that of the 49 cars, the above “exceptions” could be counted on one hand and over 1/3^rd were good old Metros.

Heat 1 (22 cars) - 167 Donut & 425 Tucker (Polo) both found the wall before reaching the start line in the opener thanks to 42 Jason Teakel, the latter one of ½ a dozen Bristol racers on a raid. 529 Daz (Nova) tangled with 5 Herbie & caught a shot off 850 Ritchie Howell’s cool Sunny coupe, Herbie in turn seeking attentions from pacesetter 225 Little Bear’s smart Astra. Herbie however quickly bounced back to dump Donut on the infield & then removed 312 Roger Taylor’s Fiesta with a psycho lunge whilst unseen 311 the Beer Monster’s long-time stationery Metro progressed from turn two to three even if somewhat shorter for the experience! Welcome returnee 69 Head Case ended the race with a shot on Teakel, resulting with the former on the infield & the latter in the fence as Little Bear completed a flag to flag win ahead of 104 Scrapper’s Sunny & 427 Tommer’s Polo coupe.

Result: 225 Charlie Barrett, 104 Lee Gumm, 427 Mark Tombs, 105 Chris Gumm, 312 Roger Taylor, 718 Mark Ricketts

Heat 2 (26 cars) - The sport’s first Corsa set the early pace in the second, 920 Mad Tez at the helm until 576 Simon Hadland (Mazda 323) took over whilst 606 Boomer (Colt) applied the bumper to remove both Herbie & 81 Farm Boy’s hardcore mk1 Fiesta. The latter then took a suicidal lunge at the leading Hadland, putting himself away & ending his brief racing debut, this confirmed when 76 Bam Bam (Fiesta) buried Herbie into him moments later. 720 Kenny Blake surprisingly in the only Micra then caught Bam Bam whilst Herbie continued his busy day burying Taylor before copping shots off 414 James Ellerker’s Cherry & 103 Keef’s AX though Herbie scored a retaliatory blast on the latter. With Ian Castle on holiday & Yoyo Man needing a miracle to overhaul 575 Tritt (Colt) in the points, the latter indeed confirmed the title with a win, Scrapper once again runner up with Hadland recovering well for 3^rd.

Result: 575 Paul Tritton, 104 Lee Gumm, 576 Simon Hadland, 225 Charlie Barrett, 920 Terry Church, 5 James Herbert

Heat 3 (23 cars) - The third began with 252 Wild Willy in the Hyundai pinning 9 Roger Morris to the Armco whilst Head Case spun 3 Mark Morris in the 120Y allowing returnee 12 kevin Brock to home in on the Datty’s front end. 82 Nathan Grant took a pop at Brock as a reversing Tritt caught a shot off 73 Nik Wheeler before 2 Jon Bricknell (auto Mazda 323) clouted the latter. Daz & 85 Tricky (Mazda 323) both attacked Brock who then took further punishment from Bricknell though in fairness Jon had no way of avoiding him. 110 Yo Yo Man was making fine progress & in full aggro fashion too clouting Daz into 105 Lurch’s late Sunny, the latter then fenced Teakel but came under fire himself from Herbie allowing Teakel a revenge head-on. Little Bear heaved Bricknell aside on the finish line as Yoyo Man steamed Brock whose Metro was by now well twisted & crabbing badly, 79 Jeremy Hayden (Fiesta) breathing all over Yoyo Man at the time. However the experienced Yoyo Man would not be pressurised into making a mistake & held on for a well-earned win, Wild Willy bringing the Hyundai home next with 152 Chris Sargent’s Kia Pride a welcome sight in 3^rd.

Result: 110 Derek Tyler, 252 Will Bignell, 152 Chris Sargent, 606 Liam Weedon, 2 Jon Bricknell, 225 Charlie Barrett

Heat 4 (27 cars) - The penultimate heat was arguably race of the day with plenty of damage, Little Bear & 290 Armco Andy in this instance bearing the brunt of it. 799 Jez Dodge in a mk1 Polo kicked things off when he clipped Little Bear ending his own day as his wheel fell off but the move allowed Bricknell (now Sunny mounted) to blitz the Astra, 111 Posh Boy (Fiesta) making sure with a further blast on Little Bear. Scrapper picked 118 Kevin Thompson’s Fiesta up & ran him into Dodge though Donut was quick to steam Scrapper. All this caused quite a pile up on the Witney bend & Ellerker used the cause to launch Herbie into Armco Andy which trashed the latter, the passenger door all but being ripped off as the Metro snapped impressively. Tucker buried himself into Ellerker as Posh Boy planted 580 Dippy Dave’s Nova into the pile up. Scrapper removed Head Case & Keef in one heave as 74 Scooby notched up a rare race win ahead of Hadland who really is ending the season on a high, Tommer once again 3^rd.

Result: 74 Stephen Ledbury, 576 Simon Hadland, 427 Mark Tombs, 606 Liam Weedon, 718 Mark Ricketts, 2 Jon Bricknell

Heat 5 (27 cars) - At the start of the meeting 77 Bass confessed to not being a fan of Metros & after three “steady” races decided it was time to finish his off! He commenced his heat five one man crusade by chasing the Micra (now being driven by Joe Bates) onto the infield before taking team Bedrock on; Hayden & Scooby both coming under fire as did Herbie & Head Case – but try as he might the Metro kept going! Others in the action included Keef who had Tommer round with 248 Dave Stopps meeting the latter on the nose before Taylor too landed on the Cotswold Flyer. Boomer heaved aside Posh Boy & 5x Neil Teakel in one push, 34 Matt Brock doing the same to Ellerker & Beer Monster, the latter then caught by Dippy Dave who in turn came under fire from Yoyo Man. Boomer steamed Taylor with Neil Teakel also blasting the latter whilst Boomer then put Sargent in a big spin, Teakel still in Boomer’s slipstream taking a kamikaze run at the Kia. Boomer then found Taylor next time round & planted him into the vacant Dippy Dave machine as team-mates Hadland & Tritt took 1^st & 2^nd respectively, Sargent accredited with his second 3^rd whilst Boomer notched up a hat trick of 4ths.

Result: 576 Simon Hadland, 575 Paul Tritton, 152 Chris Sargent, 606 Liam Weedon, 312 Roger Taylor, 718 Mark Ricketts

Final (21 cars) - A fine drizzle greeted the takers in the final, turning the track notoriously greasy. Bam Bam nailed the 120Y whilst Hadland thundered Bricknell in & Boomer executed a slow follow-in on 718 Mark Ricketts’ Pujo 205. Herbie then arrived with a shot on the latter as Bass turned Mark Morris inside out. Bricknell easily brushed Roger Morris aside; Yoyo Man bounced the Kia in, Bass doing likewise to Neil Teakel. Ellerker thumped Posh Boy as Hadland once again made a beeline for Bricknell but progress was halted when Stopps came across his bows enabling Bricknell a retaliatory blast on the Devil who soon retired whilst Bricknell came under siege from Wild Willy. Tommer blasted Ricketts but was removed on the line by Tritt, cue Posh Boy with a blast on the VW coupe. Boomer for some reason then turned it round to steam the Cotswold Flyer as Lurch collected the first of no doubt many final wins, the consistent pairing of Tritt & Boomer next.

Result: 105 Chris Gumm, 575 Paul Tritton, 606 Liam Weedon, 414 James Ellerker, 152 Chris Sargent, 77 Steve Beasley

Demolition Derby - The DD raised a healthy total of 17; Wild Willy flattened Kevin Brock as a pile up ensued involving Boomer, Hayden, Scrapper, Donut & Bricknell, the latter then biffing Herbie. Scrapper executed a hard follow-in on Ellerker but felt the force of Tritt as Brock came under heavy fire from Lurch & Beer Monster. Ricketts missed his intended Tritt & put himself in whilst Roger Morris clattered into Lurch. Bricknell twisted Boomer’s rear wheel with Donut arriving to do likewise to the opposite one, Boomer then missing an attempted assault on Bricknell & left himself a sitting duck whereupon Roger Morris flattened him. Final winner Lurch steamed Donut who stalled leaving crash-happy Bricknell the winner.

Result: 2 Jon Bricknell

I admit to not usually get turned on by this formula but I waive my right to alter my opinion as this session really was quite outstanding. I know you’ll join me in wishing Bode all the very best at the Firecracker – the rest of you I look forward to seeing bright & early at the Standlake Big Bang Bonfire meeting.

Bill