STANDLAKE ARENA
F2 Stox Open Championship
22 September 2019 |
The summer had
to end sometime, but it was a shame that it had to be on the day of
Standlake Arena’s Open Championship for the F2 Stox.
A “yellow warning” of rain covered much of southern England for
Sunday, with heavy downpours forecast for the late morning and early
afternoon. Right on cue, the rain arrived just as the F2 cars took to
the track for their first practice session, and it didn’t ease off until
after the first qualifying heat was completed.
After that it
dried out and warned up a bit – in fact it warmed up much too quickly
for us and other photographers as camera lenses filled up with
condensation on the inside, something that normally only happens if we
go from a cold track into an overheated race control. So, apologies for
some of the “foggy” photos in our galleries. The F2s ended up
experiencing a wide variety of track conditions, with the second heat
run on a rapidly drying surface while the final and Grand National
enjoyed a dry track with the odd damp patch.
With car
turnouts for the F2s at Standlake having ranged from 15 to 22 cars this
year, there were hopes of getting up to 30 for the Open, but in the
event 20 drivers booked in. Two had to drop out but two late entries
made up the number and, although it would have been nice to see some
visitors from other “outlaw” tracks, 20 cars was ideal for the
closed-grid format of the races. Joining the Standlake regulars was more
occasional visitor Paul Quick, maybe the furthest travelled from
Cornwall, while Liam Cornish made his first 2019 appearance and Steve
Turner was in at the deep end for his first ever F2 outing.
Rob Dobie drew
pole position for the first heat, but alongside him on the front row was
Andy Webb, who immediately left everyone else in his spray in the
pouring rain. Making the fastest progress from his fourth row start was
Andrew Cornock, who closed right up on Andy Webb, but a quick 360 spin
in the closing stages meant the Cheltenham driver had to settle for
second, as Andy Webb took the win. Louis Williams held onto third from
Gary Webb, with Terry Butcher, Paul Webb, James Trigg, Ben Farebrother,
Jordan Butcher and Stuart Biddle completing the top ten. Other finishers
were Keith Richens, Roger Mountney, James Muckian, Paul Quick, Jess
Webb, Rob Dobie, Will Adams, Kev Goldup and, after a well controlled
debut, Steve Turner. Despite several spinners, Liam Cornish was the only
retirement.
The reversed
grid for the second heat put Gary Webb on pole, but Ben Farebrother shot
through from the second row to lead, with Gary then repassing Ben just
before the reds came out, after a tangle between Will Adams and Andrew
Cornock. On the restart Gary and Ben again swapped the lead a couple of
times before another stoppage, as Paul Quick was stranded mid-track with
his bumper embedded in a front tyre. Gary led the next restart away, but
Ben hit the front and pulled away to win, chased by the three Webbs as
Paul took second from Gary, with Andy coming from the back to take
fourth. Louis Williams pulled clear of a battle for fifth with Terry
Butcher and Keith Richens; Terry eventually took sixth from Roger
Mountney, Jordan Butcher, James Trigg and Keith Richens, with Kev Goldup,
Stuart Biddle, Rob Dobie and Steve Turner completing the finishers.
The Open
Championship, with everyone but Liam Cornish able to make the start, was
gridded in points order:
|
Inside
|
Outside
|
Row 1
|
352 Andy Webb
|
421 Gary Webb
|
Row 2
|
856 Paul Webb
|
105 Louis Williams
|
Row 3
|
115 Ben Farebrother
|
508 Terry Butcher
|
Row 4
|
776 James Trigg
|
516 Andrew Cornock
|
Row 5
|
261 Roger Mountney
|
509 Jordan Butcher
|
Row 6
|
82 Keith Richens
|
138 Kev Goldup
|
Row 7
|
623 Rob Dobie
|
109 Stuart Biddle
|
Row 8
|
761 James Muckian
|
185 Jess Webb
|
Row 9
|
422 Paul Quick
|
(7 Liam Cornish)
|
Row 10
|
45 Will Adams
|
26 Steve Turner
|
The action
started straight away with James Trigg and Jordan Butcher spinning as
they passed the green flag. Andy Webb led away but on the second lap Ben
Farebrother surged through on the back straight, with Louis Williams in
tow, while Andrew Cornock went three abreast with Andy and Gary Webb.
Ben pulled out a small lead, with Louis still chasing, but approaching
half distance the three Webb brothers were all closing in again. Andrew
Cornock briefly grabbed second, but launched himself over the front of
Paul Webb’s car, which didn’t concern Paul too much as a lap later he
took a run at the others and emerged in the lead – just as the red flags
came out, Paul Quick and Kev Goldup having bounced off the pit gate,
while Louis Williams was also out, with his bid for the lead having
ended in the armco.
Paul Webb
lined up in front for the single-file restart, with Andy Webb, Gary
Webb, Andrew Cornock, Ben Farebrother and Keith Richens behind, and when
the lights turned green these six set off into a fantastic high speed
battle for the lead. The inevitable big sort out saw Andy, Andrew, Ben
and Keith tangling, with Ben rejoining from the infield a lap down.
After that Paul Webb wasn’t headed again and came home to take his
second big win in six weeks, chased by Gary Webb with Terry Butcher
taking the third place trophy from James Trigg. Roger Mountney just held
off Jordan Butcher, James Muckian and Stuart Biddle for fifth, with a
good run for Rob Dobie bringing him home just behind this bunch and in
front of Andrew Cornock and Keith Richens. Jess Webb spun out in the
closing stages, leaving Will Adams, Ben Farebrother and Steve Turner as
the other finishers.
The day ended
with the Allcomers’ race, with Keith Richens, Stuart Biddle, Andy Webb,
Paul Quick and James Muckian missing, to bring the field down to 15 cars
with a slightly novel line-up; a closed grid, more or less in graded
order, with the top three from the Open occupying the first three
places, but of course a lap down. Terry Butcher and Gary Webb led the
pack away, but in the “official” order Jess Webb and Will Adams held
each other up a bit at the start and Rob Dobie led the first lap, before
he lost out to James Trigg and Andrew Curnock, both coming through
quickly from the fifth row. Andrew got past James after five laps or so
and then pulled away to win, with his luck finally holding after he’d
looked to have maybe the quickest car all day. James Trigg kept chasing,
but Andrew was uncatchable until the red flags came out to end the race
a lap early. Rob Dobie, after his good start, stayed in contention and,
although lapped at the end by Andrew, Rob took a very creditable third
ahead of Gary Webb, Paul Webb, and Jordan Butcher. Ben Farebrother at
one stage made it up to third, but ran very wide into the pits bend,
unfortunately when Jess Webb was on his outside, resulting in a heavy
shunt into the armco for Jess. Ben recovered to take seventh ahead of
Terry Butcher and a slowing Roger Mountney. Liam Cornish and Will Adams
tangled early on but made it to the finish ahead of Steve Turner, who’d
done well to score four finishes in his first day in the F2. Louis
Williams again retired when looking set for a good placing and Kev
Goldup also dropped out.
The JUNIORS
also had their annual Open event, sponsored by Essex Helmets. To be
fair, we didn’t think the drawn and reversed grid format suited them as
well as the F2s, with a wide range of experience through the 17 car
field (there were 18 altogether but Madie Oxlade only appeared in
practice). The first heat needed a restart after Ross Burton and Tyler
Rayner spun into the armco on the back straight, but with points leader
Louis Rayner having drawn a front row slot, there was never any doubt
about the winner, as he was chased in by brother Kyle, with Alfie Parker
holding on well for third ahead of Kacey Church, who just snatched
fourth from Jai-Dee Boland, with everyone else lapped. The second race
was led away by Josh Cornish, with Zak Moores soon taking over in front,
but from the back row it only took Louis Rayner seven laps or so to hit
the front. After a restart, caused by Jai-Dee Boland losing a wheel,
Louis went on to win while Zak Moores headed a battling bunch for
second, just beating Kacey Church, Callum Martindale, Alfie Parker,
Alfie Butler, Tyler Rayner and Jay Moores.
There was a 15
car grid for the final, with Taylor Brigden, in his fourth meeting, and
Chloe McQuillan missing. Louis Rayner completed his dominant day by
leading all the way, but he was chased hard by the battling Zak Moores
and Kacey Church. It was all change on the last lap as Kacey slowed with
a puncture and Jay Moores took a good run round the outside to grab
third behind his brother, just beating Kyle Rayner, Kacey, Josh Cornish
and Callum Martindale. Ross Burton came from the back after his earlier
problems to take eighth from Alfie Parker, Alfie Butler, Aiden Howell,
Tyler Rayner, Jai-Dee Boland, Riley Bricknell and Alexa Ives, with
Jai-Dee Boland winning an award for the best white grader.
The support
programme was headed as usual by the PRODUCTION As, with numbers
in the class on the up again, thanks in no small part to the number of
members of the Passey family who’ve joined the grid over the last few
meetings. It was Andy Passey’s Corsa that led the wet first heat most of
the way, winning from Craig Passey’s Nova and James Strickland’s Corsa,
while Chris Gregory’s Micra held off the next group. The second race saw
Craig Passey leading from flag to flag, holding on well under pressure
as he finished with Colin Passey, Kelvin Passey, Wayne Chapman, James
Strickland, Kyle Williams and Henry Strickland all right on his tail. In
the final it was Colin Passey’s turn to lead in his smart Nova, only to
spin it away, handing the lead to Kyle Williams, who’d made short work
of the rest of the field in his Micra. Kyle finished well clear of Andy
Passey, holding off Kelvin Passey, who just made it to the end as his
engine went sick, and Chris Gregory, with Meghan McQuillan’s Mini
holding on to a good fifth ahead of Colin Passey, Wayne Chapman, James
and Henry Strickland and Paul Hicks’ Corsa, while Craig Passey pulled
off.
The 1600
PRODUCTIONS also had an 11-car grid. Their wet heat saw points
leader Chris Wood bring his Civic through from the back to take the lead
from Micky Day’s Rover with three laps to spare. Second time out it was
John Nichols’ Fiesta that made most of the running but he eventually
spun out (possibly with help!) and it was Micky Day in the Rover 216 who
came home the winner, with Dale Hall’s Civic passing Brummie Aldridge’s
Focus for second, but getting dropped back behind the Focus again in the
results. The final brewed up to a close battle with more and more cars
joining the queue looking for a way past Brummie Aldridge in the Focus.
Eventually a move by David Clarke’s Rover broke the deadlock, but
unfortunately the Focus went spinning again and David Clarke found
himself black flagged after finishing second to Chris Wood. That
promoted the matching Rover of Robin Clarke to second, holding off Micky
Day, Ash Howard’s Saxo and Dan Powell’s Civic. Ryan Shelton’s Civic came
in sixth with John Nichols the only other finisher after Courtnie
Smith’s Saxo and Dale Hall dropped out.
Although the
“Super Drift” class has been dropped, the RWD DRIFT RODS
attracted one of their smaller fields, with just nine cars taking to the
track. Inevitably the first race in the wet was all about dodging
spinning cars, and Tom Evans did this best in his BMW to head home
Morgan Gardner’s Mazda RX8 and Gary Godsmark’s BMW. The next outing was
led all the way by Morgan Gardner, with a tidy drive in the RX8, while
Kev Hardie’s BMW just beat Tom Evans and Gary Godsmark for second. The
final was led away by Damian Light’s CLK, but he was soon passed by
Aaron Rowland’s BMW, which pulled away as the CLK held off the others
for a while. After the Merc spun out, Aaron was quickly caught by Gary
Godsmark and David Wilson, and in a super finish Dave Wilson went for
the outside in his Jag and just had his nose ahead over the line to beat
Aaron and Gary. Tom Evans was fourth, with Damian Light finishing a lap
down as the only other finisher. Kev Hardie pulled out in the closing
stages, Robbie Fujak retired after clouting the armco, and Chris
Deverick and Morgan Gardner also retired.
The supporting
BANGERS, as everat Standlake,
turned out in big numbers with 32 cars in the 1800cc Street
Banger class, and 17 in the Ladies’ class – both classes had three
straight races plus an allcomers “dash” and a mixed Destruction Derby at
the end. Final winners were Gemma Gardner in the Ladies and Lee Charles
in the Street Bangers, while Wayne Boland was the last one running in
the 11-car DD.
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