The second bank holiday meeting of the season saw the second consecutive 17 car turn out, which included several on their second or third meeting of the weekend. The attendance was boosted by a first appearance of the season for 269 Will Brown, an F2 debut for H1 James Cooke in the Butcher hire car as well as regular Grimley visitor 115 Ben Farebrother.
A full grid for heat 1 featured 38 Gavin Busby and 185 Jess Webb on pole and it was the former who got the better start and grabbed the lead into turn 1, followed through into second by 521 Phil Trigg. Further back in the reds, 516 Andrew Cornock struggled to get going and eventually came to a halt without making the start line.
Triple winner at the previous meeting 155 Carl Lewis made the best start from the large pack of reds and set about chasing down the early impressive pace of the lower graders. Yellow top 269 Will Brown worked his way up into second place on lap 2 behind 38 Busby as 563 Keith Walding took 623 Rob Dobie for fourth with the flying 155 Lewis now up into fifth. 269 Brown was reeled in by first 563 Walding and then 155 Lewis almost immediately after.
By lap 4, the 155 car was right behind Busby in second and took the lead on the exit of turn 2, having got past Walding on the previous lap. Busby was quickly dropped further down the order as both Walding and 115 Farebrother nipped inside the early leader. Into turn 4, Farebrother put the bumper in on Walding and moved him wide for second place. Not far behind, both 352 Andy and 421 Gary Webb were making progress through the field and had also overtaken Busby, finding themselves in fourth and fifth respectively while 185 Jess Webb clipped a tyre on turn 2 and dropped back.
As Farebrother was gaining on Lewis in the battle up front, 105 Louis Williams seemed to get into his stride and was now in a 3-way scrap for fourth with Andy and Gary Webb. 269 Brown’s battle for the lower places was thwarted when his wing came unbolted and tipped backwards acting as a large air brake, forcing him out of the top 10. With 3 laps to go, 105 Williams hit the back of Gary Webb who in turn clipped 623 Dobie, causing both Dobie and 521 Trigg to spin out and the 421 car to end up beached on the infield. This mayhem allowed 856 Paul Webb and 261 Roger Mountney through and as 352 Andy Webb was slowed with car problem, 261 Roger Mountney took his chance and moved Webb wide on the last bend for sixth place, but upfront Farebrother had not been able to get close enough to Carl Lewis and it was the latter who came through for his 4th win of the season.
Result: 155, 115, 563, 105, 856, 261, 352, 38, 509, 623
16 cars made it back out for heat 2, with Andy Webb unfortunately side-lined for the rest of the meeting with engine problems. 185 Jess Webb and 521 Phil Trigg took off from pole and Trigg got the lead into turn 1, while 269 Will Brown made a good start from yellow, quickly making his way up into 2nd place as Jess Webb spun. 623 Rob Dobie got the better of 509 Jordan Butcher for third, with 261 Roger Mountney and 563 Keith Walding behind them.
563 Walding took both Mountney and Butcher on the next lap as early leader Trigg spun on turn 4, leaving 269 Brown to inherit the lead, with Dobie in 2nd but almost a full straight behind. Walding moved Dobie wide to take 3rd on turn 3, which also allowed 421 Gary Webb, 516 Cornock and 155 Lewis through. Brown’s lead was not to last however as he retired a lap later for unknown reasons. This gave Walding the lead, from Gary Webb and Carl Lewis. A fantastic battle was developing between the group of red tops with bumpers going in every lap and positions changing all the time. 155 Lewis moved Gary Webb wide and 115 Farebrother hit 856 Paul Webb, allowing the 115 car to overtake both Webbs in one corner.
Lewis had now caught Walding and as the 563 car drifted slightly wide around turn 3, Lewis tried to squeeze up the inside. However, there wasn’t room for both cars and 155 clipped the Butcher Tyre and dropped back to 4th as Farebrother and Paul Webb both went around the outside.
With 2 laps to go the leading pair of 563 and 115 were a way clear of the rest of the pack and making their way through lapped traffic when on entry to turn 1, Walding went slightly wide when diving underneath 185 Jess Webb and 623 Dobie and this allowed Farebrother through on the exit of turn 2 for a lead he would hold for the final lap and a half, ahead of Walding and Paul Webb in 3rd.
Result: 115, 563, 856, 155, 421, 105, 516, 261, 509, 521
All 16 cars were back out for the final and pole sitter 521 Phil Trigg beat fellow front-rower 38 Busby to turn 1, as 155 Lewis made a good start from the front of the reds and looked likely to be in strong contention for another win. 623 Dobie was looking quick from yellow and got past both 509 Butcher and 38 Busby to claim 3rd place before 563 Walding also did the same. The latter then clipped the back of 185 Jess Webb around turn 3 and as the 185 car lost grip it was hit by 261 Roger Mountney who was unable to react in time and avoid the incident, leaving Webb stuck on the edge of the infield.
Walding’s early pace continued as he overtook Dobie for 2nd and was followed through by 261 Mountney and 516 Cornock. 155 Lewis’ race was over as he pulled on to the middle and this now left a bit of a gap back to the main pack of reds, with Gary and Paul Webb the head of these in 7th and 8th respectively.
Phil Trigg was eventually reeled in on lap 6 as Walding took the lead and then a lap later Mountney also went through for 2nd as further back H1 James Cooke was proving difficult for the chasing pack to overtake. This allowed Farebrother up to 5th where he disposed with Gary Webb, putting a shot in that knocked the 421 car out of gear and dropped the latter back slightly as 105 Louis Williams, Cornock and Paul Webb all snuck by; the group getting the better of Trigg and dropping the white top down to 8th.
As the lap boards came out, the 563 car now led by around half a straight, with a similar gap back from Mountney in 2nd to Farebrother in third. The last laps passed without real event and Walding came through for his first win of the season from 261 and 115.
Result: 563, 261, 115, 105, 856, 421, 516
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