151 Andy Enright took the first win of the season in heat 1, while Somerton made the trip worthwhile, taking his first victory away from Standlake in heat 2. Andy Enright then scooped the final ahead of brother 150 John and Somerton in 3rd.
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| HEAT AND FINAL DOUBLE FOR 151 ANDY ENRIGHT |
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| A FIRST WIN AWAY FROM STANDLAKE FOR 210 PATRICK SOMERTON |
H2: 210, 595, 151, 253, 150, NOF
F: 151, 150, 210, 595, 593, NOF
2 weeks later Ringwood hosted their 2nd meeting of the season. This time there were only 6 cars in attendance after several late cancellations. 280 Pete Webb was a welcome visitor, while 254 Harry Heffer and 915 Dave McNally made their first outings of the year.
The meeting turned into an Enright domination, with a heat 1 and final double for 150 John, while brother 151 Andy took the win in heat 2.
H1: 150, 254, 593, 915, 253, 595, 151, 280
H2: 151, 254, 595, 150, 253, 915, 280, 593
F: 150, 151, 254, 595, 253, 280, 915, 593
The next day saw Standlake open its doors for the first F2 outing of the year. 23 cars might have been slightly low by usual standards for Standlake these days, but it was still a pleasing turnout for an afternoon in late February! 61 Damien Light made a one-off F2 appearance at the wheel of the ex Linz Richens car – now under the ownership of Somerton as a hire car. 508 Terry Butcher made a return to racing in the ex Paul Webb car and 245 Kyle Broadway had acquired the multi-championship winning Ash Greening RCE from 2022, which had been smartly refurbished over the winter break.
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| 245 KYLE BROADWAY IN THE MULTI-TITLE WINNING, FORMER 42 ASH GREENING CAR |
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| A BRIEF RETIREMENT FOR 508 TERRY BUTCHER, BACK AT THE WHEEL OF THE 856 PAUL WEBB MACHINE |
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| BIG DAMAGE FOR 61 DAMIEN LIGHT AFTER THE HEAT 2 PILEUP |
254 Harry Heffer held on from the restart to take his first win of the season, before completing a double as he also romped home to claim the final ahead of 534 Tom Stoodley, who claimed a podium place in a final for the first time and Muckian in third. The day closed out with the grand national which featured a good battle between a number of lower graders and it was 61 James Watts who took the flag after a last lap move on Butcher around turn 2.
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| HEAT AND FINAL DOUBLE FOR 254 HARRY HEFFER |
H1: 716, 352, 101, 210, 421, 61(JW), 534, 254, 242, 542
H2: 254, 534, 563, 253, 716, 421, 101, 542, 6, 508
F: 254, 534, 716, 352, 61, 508, 210, 101, 6, 185
GN: 61, 508, 210, 101, 252, 716, 254, 563, 534, 352, 6
Saturday March 4th saw a third Ringwood meeting in quick succession, and just 6 cars in the pits, with 255 Joshua Heffer making his first outing of the season. 254 Harry Heffer swept all before him, taking both heats and the final, while an additional Grand National saw 150 John Enright improve on his trio of 2nd places, taking the win.
H1: 254, 150, 255, 185, 594
H2: 254, 150, 255, 185, 594, 253
F: 254, 150, 185, 255, 594, 253
GN: 150, 253, 255, 254, 594
The following week, despite heavy snow in many parts of the country, racing took place at Swaffham as planned, but with a hugely reduced field of just 3 cars. 112 Bradley Tinto made a return to Swaffham to race for the first time since 2019 and was joined by 14 Rob Taylor and 82 Steve Rickard on rare outings away from the RTS. Heat 1 went to Rickard and Taylor claimed victory in heat 2, before Rickard made it a double with a win in the final.
H1: 82, 14, 112
H2: 14, 82, 112
F: 82, 14, 112
Grimley was last to open its doors on Sunday 19th March, with 12 cars in the pits. There was a first F2 meeting for 756 Dan Steele in an old Ryan Mulley car (of the same number), while 4 Owen Strong made his track debut and there was a rare outing for 505 Jason Masters. Heavy rain in the build-up to the meeting meant that a large portion of the bottom pit area was underwater, which left the bizarre sight of cars being towed through the pits and on to the track.
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| A FIRST GRIMLEY VISIT FOR 4 OWEN STRONG WAS REWARDED WITH VICTORY IN HEAT 1 |
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| 505 JASON MASTERS, OUT ON TRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE APRIL 2022 |
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| F2 DEBUTANT 756 DAN STEELE |
Heat 1 presented a very wet track catch a number of racers out; an impressive drive from Strong saw him take his first victory ahead of 101 Zak Moores and 252 Izzy Jackson. Heat 2 again looked to be going the way of the #4 car, but he was reeled in in the closing stages by Moores, who took his first win of the season ahead of 299 Will Jackson and Strong.
The final saw most of the race turn into a battle between Moores and Somerton, with the former just able to keep a cars length ahead for almost the entire race. Neither could hold off Will Jackson however, as he took to the front with 4 laps remaining and held on for his first win of the season.
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| A FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON FOR 299 WILL JACKSON |
H1: 4, 101, 252, 210, 246, 173
H2: 101, 299, 4, 173, 502, 681
F: 299, 101, 210, 681, 4, 173
The last meeting of March produced the largest field of the season so far, with 27 cars in attendance. Amongst the entry, were no less than 10 drivers making their first appearance of the season – including a welcome return for 535 Ryan Stoodley and a track debut for 84 Stuart Langridge. 352 Andy Webb made his first outing in his newly acquired former Jordan Butcher car.
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| A RETURN FOR 535 RYAN STOODLEY AFTER ALMOST A YEAR ON THE SIDELINES |
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| A FIRST VISIT TO STANDLAKE FOR 84 STUART LANGRIDGE |
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| 352 ANDY WEBB AT THE WHEEL OF THE EX 509 JORDAN BUTCHER HIGMAN |
Once again the English weather conspired to leave the pits and the track in difficult conditions and with a rare all-in format used, things were hard going. Owen Strong continued where he left off last week at Grimley, claiming his first Standlake victory in heat 1 after a 3-way battle between Strong, 255 Josh Heffer and 210 Patrick Somerton saw the former come out on top as the latter spun out with 4 laps remaining.
Strong then made it a double by again holding off Heffer on a slightly drying track in heat 2. Although conditions had improved slightly, it was still hard work for those towards the rear of the field – 716 Jim Muckian coming through to finish 4 being the best the red grade could manage.
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| DOUBLE WINNER 4 OWEN STRONG |
The final once again saw the 4 and 255 cars battling out at the front, with Somerton again giving chase in 3rd before spinning out in the latter stages. As the laps ticked down, the majority of the field found themselves getting involved in incidents and spins, as the leading 3 of Heffer, Strong and 252 Izzy Jackson kept their nerve and held on to close out an all lower-grade podium.
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| A FINAL WIN FOR 255 JOSHUA HEFFER |
A depleted field of 16 cars returned for the grand national, which saw 295 Leo Freebody take the early lead ahead of 508 Terry Butcher and 623 Rob Dobie. Butcher reeled in the 295 car around the halfway mark and took a lead he wasn’t to relinquish. Freebody kept chase in 2nd to earn his best ever finish in F2 while a late charge from the rear of the field saw Muckian snatch 3rd from Dobie in the final laps.
H1: 4, 255, 101, 352, 82, 534, 776, 252, 535, 109
H2: 4, 255, 776, 716, 535, 534, 82, 352, 563, 210
F: 255, 4, 252, 534, 716, 352, 101, 776, 254, 516
GN: 508, 295, 716, 534, 101, 623, 352, 61, 516, 535
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