Standlake F2 - 19/07/20

A pleasing total of 20 cars were in the pits for the first meeting back, with some new faces among the usual suspects.  There were F2 debuts for 533 Stuart Pitson and 666 Liam Renney, a return with a stunning new car and number for 713 Liam Cornish, while 756 Ryan Mulley made a rare Standlake appearance and 710 Vince Stone was another surprising attendee.

All cars were out for heat 1 with 185 Jess Webb and 47 Jake Perry on pole.  It was the former who took the lead into turn 1 ahead of Perry and 2 Craig Passey.  623 Rob Dobie was quick away from the yellow grade and moved up into 4^th on the opening lap, before Perry lost out to both Passey and Dobie a lap later.  Further back 563 Keith Walding had made the best start from red grade and moved past 261 Roger Mountney and 509 Jordan Butcher into turn 3 to break into the top 10.

Passey then took the lead from Webb as Perry moved back into 3^rd ahead of Dobie and 38 Gavin Busby.  Shortly afterwards 321 Maisie Emms spun on turn 2 which slowed the progress of a few cars and allowed 82 Keith Richens to pick a few off and move up into 3^rd behind Passey and Perry, with Webb losing several places in the process.  Busby then retired on the back straight while 105 Louis Williams slowed briefly but did continue.

The pack of red graders were now on the charge and 352 Andy Webb tangled with 7 Josh Cornish on the back straight, with the latter spinning to the infield and the former retiring shortly after.  Walding passed Dobie for 4^th as Richens took 2^nd from Perry and then on the exit of turn 2 managed to dive underneath Passey to take the lead.  As the leading group went into turn 1, Richens went wide, allowing Passey to take the lead as both Walding and Perry also gained.  Walding then took the lead into turn 3 as Richens moved back into 3^rd and 421 Gary Webb moved past Perry and Dobie for 4^th.  The 82 car was then back in 2^nd following a strong exit of turn 4, with Gary Webb also moving up a place.

With 5 laps remaining Stone spun on turn 1 and Williams was now on the move, taking several cars within a lap to sit 5^th.  Under pressure from Gary Webb, Richens spun out in the closing stages which allowed Williams through all the way up to 2^nd.  Liam Cornish made a late charge and snuck 3^rd from Gary Webb on the penultimate lap, as Passey dropped back a couple of places in the closing laps to 6^th, with Mountney also gaining on the #2 car.  Up front however Walding had enough of a gap to hold on and secure his first win of the season from Williams and Cornish.

Result: 563, 105, 713, 421, 261, 2, 623, 47, 185, 756

Down to 18 cars for heat 2, with both the 666 and 756 cars loading up for the day.  Jess Webb was again on pole alongside Emms, but a fantastic start from the 2^nd row saw Perry take the lead into turn 1 with Passey 2^nd and Dobie in 3^rd having made a lightning start from the front of the yellow grade.  Richens passed Mountney and Busby on turn 3 and found himself as high as 4^th at the end of the opening lap, as Dobie snatched 2^nd from Passey and Butcher moved up to 5^th.

As the 47 car started to slowly edge away at the front Passey claimed 2^nd back from Dobie, while Mountney moved Richens wide for 4^th and Walding made another quick start to take up the running in 7^h.  A lap later and Butcher was sucked in by the red grade as first Walding and then Andy and Gary Webb came through in quick succession, although the latter lost out to Williams in the process.

Mountney moved by Dobie for 3^rd before Josh Cornish tangled with 26 Steve Turner on turn 1 and the latter was collected by Dobie as Emms also got caught out.  This aided Perry’s chances and he now had a length-of-the-straight lead.  Mountney took 2^nd from Passey with Richens also snatching a place from the latter, although the pair were both to lose out to Walding a lap later before Gary Webb spun out on the exit of turn 2 and dropped a way down the order.  Passey then lost out to Williams and Andy Webb, before spinning out on turn 4 as the lap boards came out.  

Perry’s lead was finally taken from him as Mountney moved to the head of the field, although the white grader was not giving up easily and snatched the lead back the very next bend.  This gave the chasing pack a chance and with 3 laps left Walding got by Richens for 3^rd but then lost out himself to Andy Webb who had picked off 3 cars within a lap.  Richens used this to move back through and briefly held the lead ahead of Perry, Webb and Walding as Mountney found himself squeezed out and dropped back into 6^th.

As the final lap started, Richens hit a puddle on the inside of turn 1 and spun out to put an unfortunate end to a fantastic drive.  This now put Andy Webb in the lead ahead of Walding, with Perry battling Williams and the late-charging Liam Cornish for 3^rd place.  Webb just held enough of a lead to avoid any attempt at a last bend attack and take the win from Walding, with Cornish having a strong last lap to eventually claim 3^rd.

Result: 352, 563, 713, 105, 47, 261, 509, 421, 38, 185 

Despite several cars picking up damage, the 18 surviving cars all made it back out for the final.  Jess Webb again converted pole into the early lead with Perry moving up into 2^nd after passing Passey on the opening lap.  The 47 car was again soon at the front of the pack as he took the lead from Webb on lap 2, with Passey relegating the latter down to 3^rd.  Butcher bettered Busby and Dobie to sit 4^th as Turner rattled hard into the pit gate which ended his race.

Williams was the quickest starter from red grade and was soon up into 6^th having moved Dobie wide on turn 1.  The latter was then swallowed by the remaining red grade pack as both Webb brothers followed Williams through, with Walding and Richens not far behind.  Shortly afterwards the charging 105 car was past both Butcher and Webb, although Butcher fought back to get the better of both and all three were slowed in the process, allowing Gary Webb and Walding through, while Andy Webb retired.

Williams fought back to pass Walding, who also lost out to Richens before Stone spun out on turn 1 and Butcher did the same on turn 3.  Gary Webb caught and passed Passey into turn 3, although the latter fought back and both cars tangled on the straight before coming to rest on turn 1 stuck together – causing a red flag.

The restart with 7 laps to go left the top 5 as follows: 47, 105, 82, 563, 713 and it was Walding who made the best start from the rolling lap to pass both Richens and Perry to sit 2^nd behind Williams.  Within 2 laps however he made his move for the lead as Williams left just enough space for the 563 car to dive under.  Liam Cornish retired which moved Richens up into the final podium place ahead of Jess Webb and long-time leader Perry.

Richens snatched 2^nd from Williams in the closing couple of laps while Mountney got by Perry and Dobie for 5^th, however Walding had got enough of a lead that he was able to hold on and take his 2^nd win of the afternoon from Richens and Williams.

Result: 563, 82, 105, 185, 261, 47, 623, 509, 7, 533