Standlake F2 - 1/03/20

A strong start to the 2020 season saw 22 cars in the pits and even the sun was shining!  There were several new drivers; 2 Craig Passey, 7 Josh Cornish, 47 Jake Perry and 535 Ryan Stoodley were making their F2 debuts, while 96 Don Pugh made his full debut having raced a hire car last season.  A trio from Grimley of 252 Izzy & 299 Will Jackson and 321 Maisie Emms joined long distance traveller 797 Dan Moss and the returning 212 Neil Soule in completing the lineup.

21 cars were on a damp track for heat 1, with Pugh having running issues in the pits.  38 Gavin Busby and 185 Jess Webb led the field away with the latter getting the early lead into turn 1.  She was shortly passed by 138 Kev Goldup before he was spun on turn 4, allowing 137 Steve Goldup through into the lead.

716 Jim Muckian had made a strong start from blue and was quickly up to 2^nd behind Goldup, passing 623 Rob Dobie and Busby in the process.  Passey and Will Jackson both spun a lap later as Muckian moved Goldup wide and took the lead around turn 4.  105 Louis Williams had made the best start from the red grade and claimed 4^th from Dobie as Goldup retired from 2^nd to leave Muckian with a length-of-the-straight lead.

Williams took 2^nd from Busby as 797 Dan Moss came through to 4^th, with Dobie dropping back behind Webb and 563 Keith Walding.  Moss then took 3^rd from Busby before moving past Williams on turn 3.  Further back 856 Paul Webb got by Izzy Jackson and Dobie to break into the top 6, while Emms spun on the home straight and Walding passed Busby into turn 1.

Webb then passed Busby a lap later, the latter then reeled in by 421 Gary and 352 Andy Webb as both Jacksons spun on turns 3 and 4 with Jess Webb also involved.  As the 3 lap board came out, Gary was spun by brother Andy, allowing Soule through for 8^th.   The 421 car was able to rejoin and recovered back to 9^th, but up front no one could catch Muckian as he took the win from Moss and Williams.

Result: 716, 797, 105, 563, 856, 299, 352, 212, 421, 82

All cars were out for heat 2 with Kev Goldup getting the jump on Jess Webb into turn 1 with Busby coming through into 2^nd.  Webb dropped back a further couple of places on the opening lap as Dobie and Steve Goldup came through, with the former of the pair moving into 3^rd.  Busby then took the lead on lap 2, moving Goldup wide on turn 3.

Moss had made the best start from red grade but was reeled in after a few laps by Gary Webb and Williams as Dobie took 2^nd from Goldup.  Muckian and 82 Keith Richens then tangled on turn 2, the pack managing to avoid them apart from Walding who was forced to retire with a puncture after clipping the 82 car.  This all allowed the leading red tops to catch Dobie, relegating him to 5^th as Paul Webb took 2^nd.

Stoodley was spun into the turn 4 tyres by Jess Webb, which also caused Izzy Jackson to rattle hard into the pit gate in avoidance.  The following lap Paul Webb moved Busby wide for the lead, with Gary Webb and Williams following him through shortly afterwards, although the 38 car retired at this point which left the top 3 with a sizeable lead.

Stoodley spun again on turn 3 as Soule retired, leaving just 5 cars on the lead lap in the final 3 laps.  Andy Webb passed Moss late on, but the top 3 remained unchallenged as Paul Webb began the defence of his points championship with his first win of the season.

Result: 856, 421, 105, 352, 797, 138, 623, 185, 137, 321

Down to 20 cars for the final and it was Jess Webb who took the early lead from Kev Goldup and Emms.  Andy Webb led the reds away as Gary Webb passed Walding at the start, before Dobie moved by Emms and Goldup for 2^nd.  Richens spun on turn 2 while Muckian picked off a few in quick succession to now sit 2^nd behind Webb with Williams coming through suddenly into 3^rd ahead of Andy Webb and Moss, as Walding dropped further back in the pack to 9^th.

Williams caught Muckian for 2^nd on turn 4, then moving Webb wide into turn 1 to snatch the lead.  The latter dropped back at this point as a train of 6 red tops came through, although Soule and Paul Webb went wide into the turn 2 fence which allowed Walding to pass both Paul and Andy Webb.  Muckian was next to be reeled in; Moss snatching 2^nd with Gary Webb 3^rd.  However, the 797 car didn’t hold this position long as Webb moved him wide which allowed Walding through for 3^rd as the former lost several places in the battle for 2^nd.

By this point Williams had built up a length-of-the-straight lead as the chasing pack continued to battle amongst themselves.  Paul Webb passed Soule for 4^th and then with 3 laps to go hit Walding into turn 1, although this caused the 856 car to clip a tyre and end his podium chances as Soule reclaimed 4^th with Moss now back into 5^th.  Walding pounced on Gary Webb on the penultimate lap and then was able to survive a late challenge as the leaders avoided the spun 138 car on turn 4, but no one could touch Williams who took a commanding final win.

Result: 105, 563, 421, 212, 797, 856, 299, 716, 82, 38

The 20 car grand national saw pole sitter Stoodley get off to a good start ahead of Busby and Kev Goldup.  Moss was away quickly from red and passed Richens and Steve Goldup in the opening couple of laps to already find himself in 5^th.  Dobie inherited 3^rd with the 138 car dropping out as Jess Webb and Will Jackson both spun on turn 3.

This allowed Moss into 4^th ahead of Pugh - the latter caught and passed by the group of reds – before reeling in Dobie into turn 1.  Stoodley had quickly developed a bit of a gap up front and as Passey retired, Moss and Paul Webb came through on Busby to claim 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.  Pugh then tangled with Cornish on turn 4, sending the latter into the fence while the 856 car retired, promoting Gary Webb up into 3^rd place from the lap handicap.

With only a couple of laps remaining Stoodley was denied a race win on debut as he tangled with the backmarking Williams, giving the lead to Moss.  The race was almost immediately brought to a premature conclusion as the red flags came out for Izzy Jackson who had gone hard into the turn 3 fence.  The result was called and with 535 removed from the result, Moss took his 4^th win of the season ahead of Gary Webb and Dobie – who benefited most from the action of the last couple of laps.

Result: 797, 421, 623, 563, 352, 38, 137, 299, 185, 96