Richard Dalton clinched the 1999 Andyspares 2CV Championship at Oulton Park with an amazing comeback drive.
A broken steering rod saw him crash out of qualifying, leaving him 29th on the grid for the race. His misfortune couldn't have come at a worse time, as he merely needed to finish in front of championship rival Pete Sparrow to secure the crown. However, it took just a few laps for him to gain the lead.
Sparrow had similar bad luck, managing to spin at Cascades on the first lap, and ending up at the rear of the field. Like Dalton, he charged up through the pack to claim second spot. Nick Woodward must have thought his luck was in, leading the race for a number of laps before Dalton and Sparrow came through. Martin Woodley put in his best sprint race performance to date finishing third, just ahead of end-of-season charger Roy Eastwood.
The starting grid had seen some new faces at the front. Euan Bowie qualified an impressive 2nd, while David O'Keefe, former championship title holder, stepped into Paul Robertson's car for the race and went a full 2 seconds faster than anyone else to take pole. Neither was to capitalise on their good fortune, as a lunchtime downpour had left the track in a treacherous condition, and both cars colided heavily. Bowie had trouble staying on the track for the rest of the race, and was almost called in by race officials as his boot gradually worked its way off the car.
Dalton won not only the Listgrove Annual Charity cup for first place, but also a trophy for most improved driver. In a very sportsmanlike gesture he handed this to Shaun Morris who had dragged 'Dirty Gertie' up from 21st on the grid to finish 10th.
The race itself supported rounds 14 and 15 of the Formula Palmer Audi championship. These high spec and highly priced machines failed to complete more than one lap of the circuit on each of the four starts they had. While the 2CV's with one exception, all made it back to the paddock intact.