The final Standlake outing for the F2s in 2021 saw 26 cars in attendance, with the battle for the Gold Roof coming down to a 2-way duel between 155 Carl Lewis and 352 Andy Webb – the former holding a 27 point lead at the start of the meeting.
The remaining entry included a 2nd visit of the year from northern Outlaw 132 Dean Mawson, a debut for 6 Tyler Newman and a one-off return for former Standlake and BriSCA racer 710 Brett Townsend.
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| F2 DEBUTANT 6 TYLER NEWMAN IN AN EX 776 JAMES TRIGG CAR |
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| 710 BRETT TOWNSEND MADE A ONE-OFF RETURN OUT OF RETIREMENT |
17 cars took the track for heat 1 and despite his 2nd row start, 488 Owen Stringer led the field into turn 1 as he got the better start and gained on 26 Steve Turner and 821 Linz Richens in the process. 776 James Trigg made a strong start from the front of the blue grade and passed 109 Stuart Biddle on the opening lap as 535 Ryan Stoodley and 563 Keith Walding moved ahead of 185 Jess Webb.
On the 2nd lap 352 Andy Webb also reeled in Jess Webb, before 105 Louis Williams moved up on both down the back straight. Mawson then claimed 2nd from Newman as James Trigg passed 521 Phil Trigg for 4th. Walding moved by Turner for 7th into turn 1 as James Trigg took 3rd from Newman. Stoodley moved Phil Trigg wide into turn 1 to take up 5th place, with Walding also gaining on the 521 car later in the lap.
Stoodley and Walding then dropped Newman back to 6th as Stringer started to build up a sizeable lead out front. With 5 laps remaining James Trigg made a move on Mawson for 2nd on turn 1 before Walding half-spun on turn 3 as he tried to pass Stoodley and 88 Ross Innocent spun on the exit of turn 4. Walding rejoined in 8th, with Williams gaining several places as a result and now sitting 5th behind Stoodley.
Stringer continued to extend his lead and as the final lap began had lapped the entire field up to 6th place. Walding passed Newman to take 7th place, with the latter also dropping a place to Andy Webb on the final lap. No one could get near the flying 488 car however as Stringer came through for his first win ahead of James Trigg and Stoodley. Mawson slipped to 5th right in the closing stages as Williams was also able to gain on the 132 car.
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| FIRST WIN IN HEAT 1 FOR 488 OWEN STRINGER |
Heat 2 again raised 17 cars and 254 Harry Heffer made the best start from pole position to lead the field ahead of 210 Patrick Somerton and 38 Gavin Busby. Stringer quickly moved himself up into 3rd on the opening lap as he passed Newman and Busby around turns 1 and 2, while further back 534 Tom Stoodley gained on Jess Webb and 82 Keith Richens.
The 82 car was then under attack from the red grade as first Williams and then 856 Paul Webb and Ryan Stoodley all gained a place. 623 Rob Dobie moved by Newman for 5th, with the latter then spinning on turn 2 a lap later. Dobie reeled in Busby for 4th although 668 Alan Cornock made a move on turn 1 and was able to pass both to take up 4th place.
Jess Webb snatched 8th from Tom Stoodley, with Williams then managing to out-drag both down the back straight to take the position, although he was then outdone by Ryan Stoodley who managed to find a bit extra from somewhere and moved up on the trio within a single lap. The 535 car then continued to make progress as he gained 5th from Busby as Paul Webb and Lewis moved up the order ahead of Jess Webb and Tom Stoodley.
Busby then lost out to Paul Webb and Lewis into turn 1 to drop down the field as the red grade came through. Dobie dropped back down to 10th as he too was swallowed up by the pack of red tops that now included 421 Gary Webb. Somerton spun on turn 2 as Lewis passed Williams for 5th, with the latter also bested by Paul Webb on turn 2 and by Tom Stoodley down the back straight. Lewis then claimed 4th from Ryan Stoodley as Williams regained a place from Paul Webb on turn 4.
As the 3-lap board came out Williams moved back up into 6th passing Tom Stoodley and the leading trio of Heffer, Stringer and Cornock closed right up on each other. Into turn 1 for the final time Cornock put the bumper in on Stringer who in turn went in on Heffer; the 254 car was able to get the better exit on turn 2 and held enough of a gap to avoid the challenge on the final bend and come through for his first ever win ahead of Stringer and Cornock.
With his 4th place finish following Andy Webb only collecting 3 points in heat 1, Lewis had extended his lead at the top of the points chart to 31 with only 30 remaining and as a result, this left Lewis as the 2021 Standlake points champion earning him the right to the gold roof next season.
Result: 254, 488, 668, 155, 535, 105, 534, 856, 421, 185
A raised field of 19 cars made the track for heat 3 with Somerton taking the early lead ahead of Heffer and Busby. Dobie moved up into 4th on turn 1 ahead of Turner as towards the rear of the field Andy Webb got the jump on Walding at the front of the red grade. A lap later Busby moved by Heffer for 2nd and Keith Richens reeled in Biddle while Tom Stoodley passed James Trigg on turn 2.
Walding moved back ahead of Andy Webb and then passed Richens for 9th as Phil Trigg slipped back to 8th as Tom Stoodley and James Trigg passed him. Walding moved Phil Trigg wide on turn 3 with the 521 car collecting the fence as a result, while Mawson claimed 3rd from Busby into turn 1 and Walding then gained on James Trigg and Tom Stoodley for 7th.
Dobie spun on turn 2 and Richens was an early retirement as Walding passed Innocent for 5th and Paul Webb moved up on James Trigg. Lewis was another retiree with running issues while Mawson moved Heffer wide for 2nd on turn 3 and Walding claimed 4th from Busby on the same corner. Heffer retook 2nd on turn 2 half a lap later as Paul Webb bested Innocent on turn 3 and then Busby later in the lap to slot into 5th.
As the laps ticked down Walding hit Mawson wide for 3rd and then survived an immediate challenge back from the 132 car as Heffer snatched the lead from Somerton with just 2 laps remaining. Despite the best efforts of the latter, Heffer was able to make it around the final corner without any major challenge to his lead and come through for his 2nd win of the day ahead of Somerton and Walding, while Mawson held off a late challenge from Paul Webb to retain 4th.
Result: 254, 210, 563, 132, 856, 776, 352, 88, 109, 421
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| LIKE BUSES! 254 HARRY HEFFER FOLLOWED HIS HEAT 2 WIN WITH VICTORY IN HEAT 3 |
The final saw 24 cars on track, although unfortunately Heffer would not be able to make it a hattrick as he pulled off with a misfire before the start. Somerton led the pack into turn 1 ahead of Stringer and Innocent as James Trigg moved ahead of Tom Stoodley 7th and Paul Webb passed Gary Webb on turn 3. Trigg then continued his progress as he got the better of Jess Webb out of turn 2 for 6th.
Gary Webb lost out to Lewis on turn 1 as Stringer snatched the lead from Somerton. Mawson moved Innocent wide to sit 3rd as Jess Webb dropped back several places after coming under attack from both Stoodleys and Cornock. The latter was then involved in a pile up on turn 1 that included Jess and Paul Webb. This allowed several to move up into the top 10 including Lewis, Andy Webb and Williams.
Innocent gained 3rd from Mawson down the back straight with the latter also losing out to James Trigg on turn 4, before spinning on the home straight and dropping out of the top 10. Somerton slipped back to 5th as Innocent claimed 2nd and was followed through by Trigg and Tom Stoodley, while Lewis passed Walding for 8th.
Lewis then moved by Phil Trigg for 7th as Walding also came through on the 521 car around turns 3 and 4, closely followed by Williams into turn 1. Mawson had rejoined the race following his earlier spin but now found himself in amongst the leaders while a lap down. Going into turn 1 the 132 car received a shove from Tom Stoodley and spun, clipped a marker tyre and went into the fence backwards with Stoodley following which ripped a wheel off the former. Somerton was left with nowhere to go and came to rest behind the pair as the red flags came out for the loose wheel.
With 7 laps remaining the restart left Stringer in the lead from James Trigg, Ryan Stoodley, Lewis and Walding rounding out the top 5. On the green flag Trigg took the lead from Stringer with the 488 car then under attack from those behind as Stoodley, Lewis and Walding all came through within a lap. 4 laps from the end Lewis moved ahead of Trigg to make up the lead into turn 1, with Trigg slipping to 4th as Stoodley and Walding also made their moves.
Innocent dropped back to 10th as Gary Webb and Richens came through, while Trigg slipped into the clutches of Williams and Andy Webb and now found himself running in 6th. The red flags were then out again for Innocent spinning on turn 2 and as there were less than 2 laps remaining the result was declared with Lewis rounding off his points title win in style by taking the final; becoming the only racer to win 2 finals at Standlake this year in the process. Ryan Stoodley and Walding made up the remaining podium places.
Result: 155, 535, 563, 105, 352, 776, 421, 82, 856, 488
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| FINAL WINNER AND 2021 STANDLAKE POINTS CHAMPION 155 CARL LEWIS |
The final race of the season saw a 20 car field contest the grand national and once again Somerton was the early leader from Linz Richens and Stringer. Heffer passed Stringer for 3rd on turn 2 but immediately lost the place back on the next corner as Stringer jumped up to 2nd passing Richens in the process. Dobie passed Richens for 5th before Heffer slipped back to as Newman and Dobie came through.
Heffer retook 4th from Dobie as Williams gained 7th from Keith Richens while Linz Richens dropped out of the top 10. Newman passed Stringer for 2nd on turn 2, with the latter then losing out to Heffer on turn 3. Newman’s progress continued as he then took the lead from Somerton on the exit of turn 4. The fight for 1st place was now a 4-way battle and with bumpers going in on turn 1 Heffer suddenly found himself in the lead ahead of Stringer as Newman and Somerton dropped to 3rd and 4th respectively.
James Trigg moved Dobie wide for 5th as Williams was now 7th ahead of Phil Trigg. James Trigg then climbed up to 3rd as he passed both Newman and Somerton on the back straight, although Newman’s race was then to end as he spun out on turn 2. This caused a reaction behind as Andy, Paul and Gary Webb all collided on the same corner and dropped back out of the places. Williams bested Somerton and then Trigg to now sit 3rd and then quickly took 2nd from Stringer, the latter also losing out to Trigg on turn 4.
Walding and Ryan Stoodley then made some progress as they climbed into 7th and 8th respectively as they reeled in Townsend, Tom Stoodley and Phil Trigg, while Lewis broke in to the top 10 as he too passed Trigg. Stringer moved ahead of James Trigg for 3rd as the 776 car slipped back to 6th behind Somerton and Keith Richens.
With just a lap remaining Williams dived under Heffer on turn 2 and took the lead, coming through to hold on for the win and only his 2nd Standlake victory of the season ahead of Heffer and Stringer, while further back Lewis passed both Stoodleys late on to finish 8th.
Result: 105, 254, 488, 210, 82, 776, 563, 155, 535, 534 |
| LAST RACE WIN OF 2021 WENT TO 105 LOUIS WILLIAMS |
Excellent reading as usual well dun Adam for the hole season
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