The third Standlake meeting of the season saw a restricted
entry of 24 cars and as a result the use of a 2/3rds format for the first time
in several seasons.
After 2 meetings and with 6 different winners from 7 races, the points were as follows:
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| 13 GAVIN WARD |
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| 486 JEZZ WATT'S FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE LATE 2018 |
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| A SMART RCE FOR THE DEBUTING 534 TOM STOODLEY |
16 cars were out on track for heat 1 and it was 38 Gavin
Busby who got the better of fellow front row starter 321 Maisie Emms to lead
into the first turn. Casey passed 533
Stuart Pitson to grab 3rd as Greening made early progress ahead of 563
Keith Walding and 421 Gary Webb. Emms
made a move for the lead on lap 2 with the yellow graders of 2 Craig Passey and
535 Ryan Stoodley now bearing down on Busby.
Greening passed 155 Carl Lewis to become the lead red grader,
as Walding got the better of Gary Webb and 105 Louis Williams on turn 3, before
also moving ahead of Lewis on the next corner. Stoodley made a move on Passey
for 3rd, the latter then finding he had Ward for company, dropping
him another place to 5th.
Further back Greening was gradually making his way through the mid pack,
taking 6th from 82 Keith Richens after a fast couple of laps.
Stoodley then made a challenge for the lead, passing both
Busby and Emms in one corner, while Greening came flying through and managed to
get up into 2nd quickly moving through the traffic, with Busby
dropping back into the clutches of those behind. Passey passed Emms for 3rd as
Richens came through for 4th.
The battle behind this was heating up as Williams fired
Walding into Ward on turn 1, sending the 13 car sideways. As the former pair tried to squeeze through,
Williams clipped a marker tyre and ended up delayed as Walding got the
break. Behind, Ward’s car was collected
by Busby, 716 Jim Muckian and Biddle which caused the red flag to be shown.
The stoppage saw Stoodley leading ahead of Greening and
Passey, although the latter was slow away on the restart and lost out to
Richens and Walding. Greening quickly
snatched the lead from Stoodley, while Walding moved Richens wide on turn 3 for
3rd, however the 563 car then went wide on the next bend, allowing
several cars to dive underneath. Richens
was spun round by Passey on turn 4, as Walding struggled on with brake failure
and dropped back behind Gary Webb and Lewis.
Lewis passed Webb for 4th as Walding got by
Passey, while up front Greening was now well clear of the chasing pack. With 3 laps to go Biddle drifted wide and
rattled the pit gate, as Muckian gained a place on Passey. Webb put the bumper in on Williams and sent
him wide, allowing him, Lewis and Walding to all gain. No one could get near Greening however, as he
took victory by nearly half a lap.
Result: 42, 535, 421, 155, 563, 105, 2, 509, 109, 321
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| DIFF CHANGE FOR 533 STUART PITSON AFTER HEAT 1 |
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| FRONT END REPAIRS FOR 13 GAVIN WARD |
Heat 2 again saw 16 cars on track with 26 Steve Turner
joining Emms on the front row. The
former got the better start and led into turn 1, but Emms snuck through on the
exit and took the lead with Watts moving up into 2nd while Ward and
Passey tripped over each other further back, slowing them both.
The following lap 185 Jess Webb took 2nd from
Watts while 623 Rob Dobie had made a good start from blue grade and got the
better of Turner and Ward to move up into 6th. 509 Jordan Butcher was next to catch Watts
and put himself up into 3rd as Greening was starting to make a move
from the back of the grid, snatching a place from 856 Paul Webb as the pair
were working their way up the field.
Greening got up to 7th and challenged Dobie for 6th
as they came around turn 4, however Dobie shut the door and Greening ended up
catching a marker tyre, leading to his retirement. Passey grabbed 4th from Biddle,
which left the latter in the clutches of Paul Webb and the pair came together
on turn 4 and this allowed the chasing pack of Gary and 352 Andy Webb along
with Williams to gain a place. Butcher
moved Jess Webb wide to take 2nd, before Passey showed a good turn
of speed and got the better of both to sit 2nd behind Emms, who had
built up a good lead by this point.
Gary Webb and Williams dived past Butcher into turn 1, with
Ward also coming through after gaining a place on Andy Webb. Gary then managed to reel in Passey as Andy
Webb dropped Butcher back another spot.
As the 5-lap board came out Emms’ lead was now under threat as Gary Webb
was able to knock the 321 car wide into turn 1.
Williams was now 3rd ahead of Passey and Ward and the former
pair got ahead of Emms, who ended up spinning on turn 2. Williams seemed to slow and dropped back a
couple of places as Andy and Paul Webb came through behind Passey.
The last couple of laps settled down and allowed Gary Webb
to come through for his first Standlake win of the season ahead of Passey and
Paul Webb, who snatched 3rd on the final lap. Long-time leader Emms was able to re-join and
snatch the final points finish in 10th.
Result: 421, 2, 856, 352, 13, 509, 105, 508, 185, 321
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| 38 GAVIN BUSBY & 185 JESS WEBB HEAD HEAT 3'S ENTRANTS |
The final heat again saw the full allocation of 16 cars out
on track with Jess Webb and Pitson on the front row. Webb took the lead into turn 1. Casey passed Pitson for 2nd as
Ryan Stoodley got the better of Turner and Busby to sit 3rd after
the opening lap. Muckian hit Dobie wide
on turn 2, which allowed Paul and Andy Webb through along with Walding.
Richens had made a good start from the head of the blue
grade and quickly moved up into 4th behind Stoodley as Busby dropped
back to 5th. Walding got the
break on Andy Webb before the latter also lost out to Lewis. Stoodley out-dragged Casey for 2nd
on the back straight before the 418 car was swallowed up by the chasing pack,
finding himself relegated to 9th.
The 4 reds were now closing in on the front of the field and Stoodley
was the next to find himself under attack as he was moved down to 6th,
although he was to retire a lap later.
508 Terry Butcher worked his way past Richens and Muckian to
take up 6th place in Stoodley’s absence, while Jess Webb’s lead was
finally snatched with 6 laps remaining as Paul Webb made the move on the exit
of turn 2. Lewis then seized his
opportunity and took 2nd a lap later. With no further changes up front before the
end, this was how it was to finish as Paul Webb was victorious for the 6th
time this season ahead of Lewis and Jess Webb who held Walding off in the
closing stages for 3rd.
The following result is as was read out on the day – it
differs from my reading of the race but is the result I have gone with.
Result: 856, 155, 185, 563, 352, 623, 534, 82, 508, 716
Surprisingly only 17 cars made it back out for the final,
with 26, 418, 486 and 508 out for the day and others choosing to sit the race
out. Jess Webb and Emms made up the
front row and it was the former who took the early lead. Williams came under an early attack in the
red grade as Lewis moved him wide which also allowed Walding to gain a
place. Jordan Butcher and Passey tangled
on the exit of turn 4, sending the 509 car spinning to the infield. Webb’s lead was taken only 3 laps in as Emms
dived under to take up the running, as Ward and Biddle also came through. The lead was to be a brief one however as the
leading trio tangled into the next corner, forcing Ward to limp round turn 4
before retiring with damage and leaving the 109 and 321 cars stuck together on
turn 3.
As those behind scrabbled to avoid the crash it was Walding
who benefited the most, having got the better of everyone to take up the
lead. He was almost immediately under
attack from Paul Webb, the latter snatching the lead around turn 3 the
following lap with Passey, Jess and Gary Webb now completing the top 5.
Greening retired a few laps in as Lewis passed the pair of
Gary and Jess Webb on the back straight to claim 4th. Passey was then reeled in shortly after by
Lewis and then by the pairing of Williams and Gary Webb. Andy Webb was forced to retire with a
puncture, before Gary Webb went a bit too wide on turn 3 and caught the patch
of oil, sending him into the fence and ending his race.
Richens spun on the back straight as the lapboards came out
before Walding lost 2nd to Lewis while Emms temporarily ended up on
the infield, although she did re-join.
Paul Webb had managed to build a decent lead ahead of all this and he
remained unchallenged in the closing stages to take his 2nd win of
the day ahead of Lewis and Walding.
Result: 856, 155, 563, 105, 2, 716, 623, 185, 38, 109
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| SEVERAL DRIVERS ASSISTING THE REPAIR OF 421 GARY WEBB |
After a long day and some hard racing, it was probably not
too surprising when only 16 cars repaired for the Grand National. Pole sitter Pitson lost out to Jess Webb and
Emms into turn 1. Passey and Ryan
Stoodley came through quickly from yellow grade, snatching 2nd and 3rd
respectively from Emms within the first lap.
Greening made a rapid start from the back of the field and
was quickly through the blue grade and into the yellows, passing Jordan Butcher
and Biddle into turn 1 as Emms retired.
Stoodley snatched 2nd from Passey, who was to also loose 3rd
a lap later as the flying Greening came through on turn 1. He then took 2nd on the very next
bend and would in fact be in the lead by the end of the lap. Webb clipped a marker tyre on the exit of
turn 4 and this gave Greening his opportunity and dropped Webb back as far as 6th
behind Biddle.
Paul Webb’s charge from the lap handicap was ended when he
retired a few laps in, while Lewis and Walding managed to break into the top 10
after catching Dobie and Butcher. Passey
pulled off shortly afterwards as Jess Webb lost out to Gary and Andy just
before the lap boards. With 5 remaining,
Stoodley spun into turn 1, slowing the progress of a few and allowing Lewis to move
by Biddle and Gary Webb on the back straight.
Stoodley’s spin had given 2nd to Williams with
Lewis now 3rd from the handicap.
Walding had not made similar progress from his handicap start, but as
the last couple of laps started, he got the better of Jess Webb and Biddle for
6th. Passey had re-joined the
race at this point, but was to spin on the final corner, forcing Williams wide
into the oil and this allowed Lewis along with Gary and Andy Webb to dive
underneath right at the flag to drop the 105 car to 5th just ahead
of Walding. It was to be a comfortable 2nd
win of the day for Greening however ahead of Lewis in an impressive 2nd
place and Gary Webb 3rd.
Result: 42, 155, 421, 352, 105, 563, 185, 109,
509, 82
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| 2 WINS FOR GRIMLEY CHAMPION 42 ASH GREENING |
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