Report by Mark Paulson
Formula One World Final weekend was kicked off by an hors d’oeuvre on the Friday night. A very healthy turnout of 39 overseas F1 cars were joined by a superb entry of 70 F2s in what was only their third Lynn outing of the season and 28 1300 Saloon Stock Cars, making their first appearance since their own World Final the previous month.
The Formula One heats ran to a two-thirds format. The first race was dominated by H47 Danny van Wamelen, before he failed post-race scrutineering, handing H27 Rutger Valk the win from H26 Jan van der Lest. The second saw a red-and-chequered finish after a pile-up on the back-straight which claimed previous leader H69 Cor Meijer. Yellow-graded H195 Harmen Zwerver took the win, having done well to hold off everything thrown at him. The experienced H22 Louw Wobbes was second, having placed third in race one. The third heat saw lots of heavy action, rearranging the stadium ‘furniture’. NZ282 Phillip Ogle hit the front and showed impressive pace on his way to the win from van Wamelen and H440 Jac Tesselaar.
The meeting final, with 29 cars, saw second placed Ogle tangle with backmarkers as he was about to challenge Zwerver for the lead. The resulting yellows allowed H217 Ron Kroonder to get on terms with Zwerver and he then moved ahead to take the win from Zwerver and H29 Durk Greidanus.
USA12 Josh Pelkey showed excellent pace to lead the meeting-closing Grand National until the final lap, whereupon Greidanus took over, to win from H35 Fred Henk and H646 Rene de Groot.
After their second March date was cancelled due to the inclement weather (like the F1s who were also due on the bill), this was only the second meeting of the season for the F2s. And despite it being a weeknight, the drivers showed how popular the track remains, with one of the biggest turnouts at any meeting in the country this year. Unfortunately, time constraints meant the provisionally scheduled Grand National could not run, but the full format of three heats, consolation and final still provided excellent racing.
Heat one doubled up as the Trackstar White & Yellow Grade Series Final (for which only two qualifying meetings had been run, of course) and so featured the smallest field, only just breaking into the teens. 259 Simon Farrington put the bumper in on 728 Carl Pilkington to take a lead he wouldn’t relinquish. 448 John Wright followed him through and looked set to challenge before Farrington pulled away. 995 Michael Lund relieved 535 Simon Turner of third with two laps to go. New World of Shale Champion 977 Dave Massey came back down to earth with a bump as he was forced to retire from the race.
In heat two, 225 Tony Blackburn hit the front relatively early on and remained there throughout, easing clear of the challenge of H124 Wim Peeters. Bristol’s 362 Dave Harley drove well for third, while Yorkshire white-top 417 Alan Weston hung on in sixth, having been the initial leader.
The last heat appeared to have more of the big-name drivers, but among 28 cars they mainly found it difficult to get through the pack. 431 Andy Gibbs showed strong pace to lead initially but was half spun by 798 Mark Sarjeant as the ‘East Coast Legend’ hit the front. 186 George Turiccki was the star on the move, up to fourth by half way and then working his way up to second. He was placed perfectly for a last bend lunge but Sarjeant fended it off superbly to hold on for the win. H29 Cor Schutter was third and 823 Sam Wagner fourth. Some of the bigger names who failed to make it through included 606 Andrew Palmer, 732 Daz Kitson and shale expert 380 Steve Cayzer.
A big 33-car field made it on track for the consolation. Former Superstox World Champion 151 Colin Aylward went from third to first in one opportunistic move with two laps to go as he dived inside both 49 Paul Prest (who held on for second) and 389 Mike Sibers who had led most of the race. The latter dropped to sixth by the finish as 866 Bobby Griffin took second and Massey made the most of his second chance in fourth.
Another 30+ field was on track for the final where Blackburn completed a superb heat-and-final double. Gibbs had again set the early pace before pulling off and allowing Blackburn to take up the running. From there, he built a big advantage to ease to victory. Pilkington held second for a long time before being dumped down the order in the last few laps, as Peeters and Wagner completed the top three.
The 1300 Saloon Stox entry included new World Champion 344 Ross Fisher, his car resplendent with its gold roof. There were also a number of Spedeworth travellers to boost the ranks, including 64 Mark Whybra, 71 Steve O’Dell and 371 Mark Bloss who had all been on top form at the World meeting. Nearer the front of the grid, both 308 Alec Hannay and 241 Beau Southgate were making the first appearances of the season, the latter in a very smart new car. And right at the front there were debuts for 708 Jamie Nottingham and 960 Ross Winsor.
Heat one saw 673 John Moat rediscover the form that deserted him on World weekend as he roared to the win from 409 Carlos Pears and Fisher. It was a spectacular race with both newcomers given some rough treatment, Winsor also hitting engine trouble after setting the early pace. Three separate caution periods were required for the numerous incidents. Behind Moat, son 473 Dean was spun from his top-four place on the last lap by 23 Lee Pearce. 316 Danny McCluskey sneaked through for fourth as Pearce and Dean Moat recovered.
The second heat carried on where the first left off, with the action seeing Winsor’s Almera being rolled on bend four and then collected by the pack, caving in the back half of his roof. He exited unscathed and both his and 450 Luke Jackson’s car, which also took some, were able to race in the final later on. 229 Steve Carter, in his ex-Pearce Starlet had driven well to lead, but Hannay hit the front in the restart. He held on until passed by Fisher with a couple of laps to go whereupon a fantastic scrap for the lead developed. It also involved 215 Ben Yould, Pearce and 653 Gemma Rainer, who came home in that order.
Carter again led the early stages of the final until he was spun by Fisher who was a lap down a just rejoining from his own incident. The lively youngster then accounted for Yould, just as he was challenging the leading 838 Ady Wales. 23 Lee Pearce came through to take the win, with Pears just behind. When the former was docked two places for jumping the start, the latter was promoted, with 573 Shane Moat also moving up to second. Wales was fourth with Jackson fifth and Winsor sixth.