A sign of the strength of Standlake’s F2 scene is the fact that a 30-car turnout for the annual Open Championship would be considering slightly disappointing and lower than expected. The country-wide fuel issues and upcoming packed fixtures from the northern Outlaws left the record attendance safe from being broken just yet.
Amongst the entry 92 John Hogg made his 3rd Standlake visit of the season from Berwick, while 132 Dean Mawson was the sole representative from the Outlaws and made his track debut.
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| TRACK DEBUT FOR 132 DEAN MAWSON |
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| 92 JOHN HOGG'S 3RD VISIT OF THE YEAR |
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| PROD A RACER 101 ZAK MOORES' FIRST STANDLAKE F2 MEETING |
101 Zak Moores made his first appearance on home soil following several outings at Grimley, while the Swaffham pairing of 254 Harry Heffer and 346 Anthony Warne were also making their first visit. Finally, frequent Grimley visitors 42 Ash Greening and 299 Will Jackson were also in attendance.
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| SWAFFHAM PAIRING 254 HARRY HEFFER & 346 ANTHONY WARNE |
Heat 1 saw 15 cars on track, with 109 Stuart Biddle joined by 521 Phil Trigg on the front row. It was the former who took the lead into turn 1 as 856 Paul Webb jumped from 4th to 2nd as he passed 38 Gavin Busby and Trigg. Warne moved up into 3rd as he passed Busby on the back straight, while there was a change of leader as Webb took over from Biddle on turn 4. Further back 88 Ross Innocent tangled with Busby and was spun on turn 4, leaving Heffer with nowhere to go as he hit the stricken 88 car.
Mawson now inherited 4th as Greening moved through the traffic and found himself up to 5th. A lap later and Moores tangled with Trigg, with the latter rattling hard into the fence and ending his race. 105 Louis Willams had started dead last but now moved up to 5th as he gained on Jackson and then Greening within the same lap, with 535 Ryan Stoodley repeating the feat a short while later to claim 6th.
534 Tom Stoodley was a spinner on turn 1 as he clashed with Busby and Moores, while Ryan Stoodley came under attack from Greening on turn 4 and he too spun out of the action. Williams moved Mawson wide for 4th and then gained on Warne down the back straight for 3rd as the 132 car dropped back to 7th. Busby was yet another spinner as he went round on turn 2 and Tom Stoodley retired as a result of his earlier crash. Warne lost 4th to Greening and almost immediately came under attack from Jackson and lost that battle for 5th, with Mawson also gaining on the 346 car half a lap later. Moores spun on turn 3 with damage to his steering, bringing out the red flags.
10 cars remained for the restart and Warne made the biggest gain as the green flag dropped, passing Mawson and Jackson on the back straight to move back up into 5th as Williams snatched 2nd from Biddle, with the latter under attack from Greening as he slipped into 4th. A couple of laps later and Williams moved underneath Webb into turn 1 to take the lead as Warne spun on turn 3.
3rd placed Greening put the bumper into Webb on turn 3, with the momentum into Williams sending him rattling into the fence and out of the race. Webb held the lead as Mawson moved by Biddle to climb up into 3rd and the race was then red flagged for the stricken 105 car, which saw the result declared and gave Paul Webb his 3rd win of the season ahead of Greening and Mawson.
Result: 856, 42, 132, 109, 535, 299, 254, 2, 346, NOF
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| HEAT 1 WIN FOR DEFENDING OPEN CHAMPION 856 PAUL WEBB |
Heat 2 saw the remaining 15 cars on track, with 82 Keith Richens getting the break on fellow front row starter 352 Andy Webb to hold the early lead, as 716 Jim Muckian passed 210 Patrick Somerton to sit 3rd, while right at the back of the field 563 Keith Walding gained on 185 Jess Webb and 26 Steve Turner on the opening lap, as the latter pair were also passed by 155 Carl Lewis.
47 Jake Perry passed 669 Lee Hall into turn 3 for 5th as the latter then came under attack from 776 James Trigg to end up 7th after the opening lap as 623 Rob Dobie got stuck on the outside line and slipped from 6th down to 10th. Dobie and 421 Gary Webb then tangled on turn 2 in their battle for 9th which sent the 421 car to the infield and out of the race while Dobie dropped to the rear of the pack.
Hogg passed Hall for 7th as Lewis gained on Walding for 9th. Somerton then lost several places in quick succession as he slipped back to 10th, as Muckian retired with running issues. This promoted Perry to 3rd as Hogg picked off Trigg for 4th and Lewis moved by Hall for 6th. Perry then went wide allowing Hogg up into 3rd as Jess Webb passed Walding on turn 2 which slowed the latter enough to allow 509 Jordan Butcher to also gain down the back straight, although Walding was back ahead of Butcher into turn 1 on the very next lap.
As the lap boards came out Lewis moved up to 4th as he passed Trigg and then Perry in quick succession, with the latter also losing out to the 776 car. Hogg moved Andy Webb wide on turn 3 to dive underneath for 2nd, as Lewis then managed the same move a lap later as Webb dropped to 4th. Hall gained on Perry into turn 1, with the 47 car spinning on the exit of turn 2. Walding and Jess Webb tangled on turn 4, leaving the latter open to also being passed by Butcher as the trio ended up 7th, 8th and 9th respectively.
On the final lap Hogg reduced the gap to Richens right down, but just wasn’t close enough to make a last bend move, leaving Richens to come through for his first win of the season ahead of Hogg and Lewis.
Result: 82, 92, 155, 352, 776, 669, 563, 509, 185, 210
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| FIRST WIN SINCE 2018 FOR 82 KEITH RICHENS |
Lewis and Walding made up the front row of the 13-car heat 3 and it was the former who got the lead as the green flag dropped. Perry and Turner tangled on the home straight which dropped both towards the back of the field as Walding lost 2nd to Ryan Stoodley after clipping a marker tyre on turn 2, leading to steering damage that forced the 563 car into retirement.
Tom Stoodley moved into 3rd as a result but came under attack almost immediately as Jackson gained. A lap later the 534 car was down to 5th as Muckian moved underneath on turn 2, before Paul Webb also bested Stoodley on turn 3. Perry managed to work his way back up into 8th after his earlier incident as he passed Butcher and Warne within the same lap. Muckian then out-paced Jackson down the back straight for 3rd as Andy Webb then passed Paul Webb in the same place in their battle for 5th.
Warne and Perry then clashed on turn 3 with the 346 car spinning into the fence in the process. Jackson retook 3rd from Muckian on turn 4, with Andy Webb then gaining on the latter half a lap later. Jackson then found himself up into 2nd as he moved by Ryan Stoodley on turn 3 with 5 laps remaining. Stoodley then spun out on the exit of turn 4 as Jackson reeled in the leading Lewis and was now right on his bumper. Over the final 2 laps Lewis managed to pull just enough of a gap to hold off Jackson and come through for his 9th win of the season from Jackson and Andy Webb.
Result: 155, 299, 352, 716, 856, 534, 509, 38, 47, 26
A full contingent of 15 cars gridded for the final heat and Williams took advantage of pole position to race off into the lead as Jess Webb was moved wide on turn 1, allowing Hogg and Greening through for 2nd and 3rd respectively while Mawson got the biggest gain as he moved from 11th on the grid to sit 4th at the end of lap one.
Webb dropped further back as she was reeled in by James Trigg and Gary Webb on the back straight, with the pair then passing 2 Craig Passey around turns 3 and 4 respectively. Further down the grid Somerton and Moores tangled on turn 3 as Richens moved up into the top 10 passing Heffer and Hall before the red flag was shown for a loose wheel guard.
Dobie was forced into retirement just before the green with running issues and as the flag dropped Richens made a good start and re-passed Hall into turn 1 as Heffer spun onto the infield and into a marker tyre. The following lap Greening hit Hogg wide for 2nd into turn 1, before Hogg retook the position with the same move on the same corner the next lap. Greening then went in with the bumper again on turn 3 and retook 2nd place as Passey passed Hall for 9th further down the field.
Richens and Passey then briefly slowed and both dropped outside the top 10 as Somerton and Phil Trigg inherited their places. Gary Webb challenged Mawson for 4th and managed to make the move stick, with the 132 car then under attack from James Trigg who was able to claim 5th. The final couple of laps then passed without further change to the positions, as Williams came through for what his first Standlake win and 15th overall of the season ahead of Greening and Hogg.
Result: 105, 42, 92, 421, 776, 132, 185, 669, 210, 2
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| 105 LOUIS WILLIAMS' VICTORY MEANS WINS TO HIS NAME AT ALL 4 TRACKS |
Following the 4 heats, 26 drivers had qualified for the final. The points order, closed grid was as follows:
155 42
92 856
352 299
132 776
82 105
669 109
421 716
509 535
185 2
534 254
563 38
346 47
210 26
Greening got the better start and led Lewis into turn 1 with Hogg slotting in behind for 3rd. Williams gained on James Trigg before Paul Webb snatched 3rd from Hogg into turn 3 towards the end of the opening lap. The 92 car came under further attack as Andy Webb and then Jackson passed on successive corners.
Andy passed Paul Webb for 3rd around turn 4, before Jackson dropped the 856 car into 5th shortly afterwards. Ryan Stoodley made the biggest gain in the early stages as he climbed ahead of Mawson into 10th from his 18th place grid position. Walding was spun out by Jess Webb on turn 4 and collided with the infield tyres while Andy Webb moved Lewis wide for 2nd.
Hall spun out on turn 3 as Walding retired with a puncture and Paul Webb was bested by Williams and Muckian around turn 4, although he did come immediately back at Muckian with a move into turn 1. Several quick changes of position saw Stoodley and Williams moving up the order as Muckian was then reeled back in by Jackson.
Lewis and Hogg managed to move back ahead of Andy Webb as he dropped back into 4th and Williams passed Stoodley for 6th, before catching the 352 car and spinning him out on turn 1 as Mawson rattled into the fence hard on turn 2 and Somerton caught a tyre on the same corner, with the red flags coming out at the half-way point in the race.
Greening got away on the restart while Lewis was slow away and found himself down to 4th behind Hogg and Paul Webb. Williams quickly picked up a couple of places and managed to get back ahead of Stoodley for 6th, with the latter also losing out to Jackson on the next corner. Muckian put the bumper in on Lewis into turn 1, sending him into Paul Webb, which sent both cars into the fence. Webb spun and was able to recover, but Lewis hit the fence head on and was out of the race. Webb rejoined but clipped Greening in the process which broke the steering on the 42 car and forced him out of the race as the red flags came out again.
The restart now saw Hogg in the lead from Muckian and Williams – the latter getting a better start and moving up into 2nd as the flag dropped while Jackson lost out to Ryan and Tom Stoodley for 4th and 5th. Muckian then slowed and was passed by Ryan Stoodley, Jackson and Jess Webb as Williams challenged for the lead and moved Hogg wide into turn 1. Following his spin earlier on, the stoppages and action around him allowed Andy Webb to move back up into 6th as he passed Richens and Gary Webb. Heffer spun out on the back straight before Richens also span on turn 3 with help from Trigg.
As he tried to negotiate the lapped traffic, Williams tangled with Turner on the back straight and ended up crashing out of the lead which gave the lead back to Hogg and took Williams out of the race. Stoodley was now 2nd and Jackson up into 3rd, although Stoodley quickly reeled in Hogg and took the lead on turn 3 as the lap boards were out, with Jackson and Andy Webb also passing the 92 car who had picked up a puncture which put pay to his chances of victory.
Trigg joined the list of retirements as he slowed to a halt on turn 1, while Webb was now 2nd as he passed Jackson and started the final lap right behind Stoodley. As the trio entered turn 1 Webb put the bumper in and moved Stoodley wide to take the lead. Jackson held the inside line down the back straight and managed to snatch 2nd from Stoodley right at the death but neither were close enough for a challenge on Webb, who took his first final win of the season and his second Open championship title.
Result: 352, 299, 535, 534, 185, 421, 109, 92, 2, 346
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| A 2ND OPEN TITLE FOR 352 ANDY WEBB FOLLOWING HIS 2017 VICTORY |
The Grand National would round out the day’s action and raised a field of 18 cars in a graded order start. Warne took the lead from the start ahead of Moores and Phil Trigg. Biddle dropped to 8th as he was passed by Jess Webb and Walding on the opening lap. Moores was passed by Phil and James Trigg, with the latter ending up 2nd. Mawson then gained on the 101 car for 4th as both Moores and Phil Trigg slipped down the field; Jess Webb and Walding making gains up into 4th and 5th respectively behind Mawson.
Williams and Paul Webb got the better of Biddle and Phil Trigg down the back straight as Jess Webb hit Mawson wide and took 3rd place on turn 4. Walding then made a move on the latter half a lap later but had to fend off a couple of big hits from Mawson before the 132 car spun into turn 1, allowing Williams to inherit 5th as a result. Warne lost the lead when he spun on the back straight, before rejoining in 3rd and immediately spinning again as he was knocked wide by Walding. Paul Webb was next to spin on turn 2 and he dropped out of the race; the top 5 now rounded out by Lewis with Gary Webb in 6th.
Jess Webb moved Trigg wide on turn 3 for the lead before Mawson, Tom Stoodley and Jackson ended up crashing together on the same corner just behind the leaders. The following lap saw Trigg drop to 4th behind Walding and Williams as the red flags came out for debris on the track.
On the restart Walding got a better start than Trigg and put the bumper in which spun the 776 car who was then collected by Williams who had nowhere to go. Lewis was unsighted and t-boned Williams’ car hard causing another stoppage. The second restart saw Walding gain on Jess Webb as the flag dropped, although Webb immediately came back at the 563 car into turn 1 as Andy Webb also passed Gary Webb on the opening turn.
Walding retook the lead from Jess Webb on turn 3 with 3 laps remaining as Tom Stoodley gained 4th from Gary Webb. Walding was able to just hold enough of a lead over Webb in the closing stages to come through unchallenged for his 3rd win of the season, with Andy Webb making it back to 3rd from the handicap, while everything behind settled down and the race ended without further incident.
Result: 563, 185, 352, 535, 421, 776, 109, 521, 346, 623
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| GN WINNER 563 KEITH WALDING |
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