Swaffham F2 - Andrew Warne Memorial - 15/03/20

A fantastic turnout of 19 cars for Swaffham’s first meeting under the new promotion, with this meeting running as the Andrew Warne Memorial.

There was a strong visiting entry from Standlake – including for the first time ever – all 5 members of the Webb family on track at the same time. 185 Jess, 352 Andy, 421 Gary and 856 Paul were joined by a rare outing for 280 Pete. 47 Jake Perry, 105 Louis Williams, 508 Terry & 509 Jordan Butcher, 563 Keith Walding and 623 Rob Dobie were the other Standlake attendees, while Ringwood points champion 72 Chris Langridge also made the trip up.

Amongst the local entry, 151 Craig Holland, 227 Nathan Potter and 246 Anthony Warne made their first F2 appearances.

The 246 Andrew Warne car in the hands of Anthony Warne (Peter Barber photo)

Heat 1 was prefaced by a minute’s silence with all cars on track. Fittingly it was Warne on pole and he took the lead into turn 1 ahead of Perry. The 246 car held the lead for the opening laps before going wide around turn 4, allowing Perry through into the lead with 185 Jess now in 2nd. A lap later Webb took the lead with 280 Pete making a strong charge from blue grade to take 2nd place by the half way stage with Terry Butcher in 3rd.

After a couple of attempts to move the 185 car wide, Pete Webb managed to take the lead into turn 3 as Butcher lost 3rd to Gary Webb. Jess then lost 2nd to Gary with 2 laps remaining and was to drop out of the race altogether on the final lap after tangling with Potter. This allowed Butcher back into 3rd, although he was not within striking distance of either Pete or Gary and this was how they crossed the line. However in the confusion of the awful wet conditions and with cars spinning out every lap, the result was actually given to 666 Sarah Rash ahead of Walding, with Pete Webb given 3rd.

Result: 666, 563, 280, 421, 508, 72, 856, 509, 206, 47

Despite the miserable track conditions, all 19 cars were back out for heat 2. Jess Webb again took up the running and eventually found Pete Webb behind in 2nd. After a few attempts with the bumper, Pete managed a way through with only 2 laps remaining. Terry Butcher had made a strong showing to take up the running in 3rd behind the Webb pairing, but in the closing laps he lost out to Paul Webb. This is how it was to finish, with Pete Webb coming through for the win to complete an all-Webb podium, with all 3 generations claiming a spot. (Likely the first time this has ever happened).

Result: 280, 185, 856, 508, 666, 421, 105, 874, 352, 509

18 cars made it out for the final, with Williams having loaded up after heat 2. It was to follow a similar pattern as heat 2, with Jess Webb again taking up the running and being chased down by Pete. Gary Webb made the strongest start from the busy red grade, which was plenty of bumper work going on, with Langridge, Walding and Paul Webb all involved.

With Jess eventually reeled in; it was a closing laps battle between Pete and Gary. The 2 cars were side-by-side down the back straight on the last lap, with Gary just getting the break in the end. Paul Webb managed to again ensure an all-Webb podium, with only Langridge in 4th being able to prevent the family closing out the top 5 spots!

Result: 421, 280, 856, 72, 352, 185, 666, 563, 206, 508