Swaffham F2 - 23/05/21

 A slightly increased turnout of 9 cars for the second Swaffham meeting of the season.  The entry was largely made up of visiting Standlake drivers again, with 7 of the 9 based at the Oxfordshire track.  Amongst them, 82 Keith and 821 Linz Richens made their track debuts.  

TRACK DEBUT FOR 82 KEITH RICHENS

2ND APPEARANCE OF THE SEASON AND FIRST
EVER SWAFFHAM VISIT FOR 821 LINZ RICHENS

The final 2 were a first appearance since 2019 for 64 Richard Shearing and a return to Swaffham after several years on the BriSCA shale for 277 Billy Banwell.

A RETURN AFTER SEVERAL YEARS ON THE BRISCA
TRACKS FOR 277 BILLY BANWELL

FIRST APPEARENCE SINCE 2019 FOR 64 RICHARD SHEARING

Following a quick rain shower just before the start of heat 1, the conditions were tricky on a damp track.  Lone white-grader Linz Richens lead the field away as 352 Andy Webb was slow away from the front of the reds and lost out to Shearing and 105 Louis Williams as the cars went into turn 3.  Williams then gained on Shearing around turn 4, before moving to the front of the red grade pack as he moved 563 Keith Walding wide on the exit of turn 2. 

421 Gary Webb gained on 856 Paul Webb and then Shearing on consecutive corners, although the 421 car was back under attack at the start of the next lap, as Shearing retook the place into turn 1 and then Paul Webb came through down the back straight.  Up front Banwell had reeled in Linz Richens for the lead on turn 4 as Shearing gained on Walding for 5^th.  Linz Richens then dropped back as the chasing pack behind all gained ground.  Keith Richens and Williams came through for 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, with Shearing and then Walding also gaining on the 821 car later in the same lap.

The conditions then caught out Gary Webb who spun on turn 3, allowing Andy and Paul Webb to gain as the latter pairing also caught Linz Richens.  Williams moved up into 2^nd ahead of Keith Richens, who was then bested by Shearing and then Walding shortly afterwards to now sit 5^th.  As the lap boards came out the field had now spread out slightly and although Williams had closed Banwell’s lead, he was never close enough to challenge as the yellow grader came through to make a winning return to Outlaws, ahead of Williams and Shearing.

Result: 277, 105, 64, 563, 82, 856, 421, 352, 821

Heat 2 was thankfully able to take place on a dry track, although the field was reduced to 8 cars as Keith Richens was forced off before the start with a broken halfshaft.  Linz Richens was the early leader as Shearing passed Andy Webb at the start.  Banwell took the lead on the opening lap from Richens as the 6 red graders gave chase behind.  On lap 2 Walding moved underneath Richens for 2^nd, with Shearing following a corner later for 3^rd. 

Banwell’s lead out front had already stretched to the length of the straight when a few laps in, Shearing went to dive up the inside of Walding out of turn 4.  The pair then ran side-by-side down the home straight before further contact into turn 1 saw the 64 car spin out.  This allowed Andy Webb to move up and snatch 2^nd with Walding down to 3^rd and Shearing out of the race.

Williams then gained on Gary and Paul Webb for 4^th as Banwell’s big lead remained constant out front.  Walding picked up a puncture with 5 laps to go and slowly started to drop back from Andy Webb and lost 3^rd to Williams on turn 3.  With 2 laps to go the 563 car was reeled in by Paul and then Gary Webb to drop Walding to 6^th.  Banwell had enough of a lead up front to remain comfortable as he took his 2^nd win of the day ahead of Andy Webb and Williams.

Result: 277, 352, 105, 856, 421, 563, 821, NOF

After some repair work on the 82 car, all 9 were back out for the final.  Williams made a strong start and passed Andy Webb on the green flag, with Walding and Paul Webb also gaining on Andy on the opening lap, although the latter pair were to tangle on turn 3 and bring out the yellow flags, leading to Paul Webb retiring to the infield.  

The restart saw Banwell in the lead having already gained on Linz Richens, with Keith Richens 3^rd.  Keith snatched 2^nd from Linz on the first lap of the restart, with the 821 car then under attack from those behind as Shearing, Williams and Walding all gained a place.

Linz then dropped to the rear as Gary and Andy Webb gained into turn 3, while Shearing bested Keith Richens for 2^nd down the home straight into turn 1.  Williams then moved into 3^rd shortly afterwards as Richens dropped back on turn 4, with Walding also taking a place from the 82 car at the start of the next lap.  Shearing then spun on the exit of turn 4, allowing Williams into 2^nd as the former re-joined behind Linz Richens.

Banwell had again built up a lead which Williams was slowly setting about closing down, as Keith Richens dropped behind Gary and Andy Webb on turn 3.  The following lap Andy was spun by Richens on turn 2, which slowed the latter enough to allow Shearing to gain into turn 3.  Williams had now reduced Banwell’s lead to half-a-straight as Shearing moved back into 4^th passing Gary Webb.

Shearing then closed the gap to Walding in the next couple of laps, before attempting a follow-in on the 563 car into turn 1, sending the pair rattling into the fence on turn 2, with the former then hitting the side of Walding as he continued on in the race, with Walding coming to a halt on the back straight.  This brought out the yellow flags and saw Shearing disqualified from the restart, leaving just 5 cars as Andy Webb was another retirement.

An uneventful last couple of laps passed as Banwell was able to hold a gap over Williams and take a hat-trick of wins, with Gary Webb claiming 3^rd.

Result: 277, 105, 421, 82, 821, NOF