Cadwell Park is without doubt the most ridiculous track to race around in this country. Not only is it tight and twisty, but the gradients mean that 2cvs are probably not the best car for the job. In fact, a new pulley system at the Mountain was in place for those that lost momentum too soon.
A relatively large grid of 19 turned up for the club barbeque before realising they had been roped in to racing the next day. Once again, Wayne acted as head cook, the taste of engine oil from his culinary/mechanic's gloves merely adding to the flavour of the burgers. Much discussion was had regarding rules for next year, before moving onto more important matters like Mad Pete's knee.
Qualifying, first thing on the Sunday, was a similar affair to all the previous races - everybody tried to set the fastest time. For once it wasn't Myatt on pole, in fact he wasn't even on the front row. He was in France. So it was left to Monsieur Sparrow to take first, having jumped ship to Tete Rouge as Team Fine Print had a break following the 24hrs. Cowling was next up, followed by Panas, Callander, Davis and Storey. It was good to see Peter Wann and Derek Coghill back on the grid, as well as Graham Harper, though the prospect of qualifying seemed dull for Rambo so Graham went back to the paddock and cooked some sausages for breakfast.
When the lights went out, the race started, as was expected by most except Neil Thompson, who having not yet woken up dropped to last from 8th on the grid. Cowling got away in front as Sparrow lost out at the first corner, followed by the second corner, the third and pretty much all the way around the lap, crossing the line in 6th. Smoking Peter Wann (considering tobacco sponsorship to match his engine) entertained the crowds by bunny-hopping up the Mountain, before retiring half way round lap 2. Richard Hollis and Andrew Smith collided on the first lap, with Richard well and truly stuffing the car into the barrier at the last corner due to the resultant handling of the car. A quick check at the pits and he was away again, with excessive oversteer on any left hander the order of the day. Simon Turner was banned from the pit wall for the entire race as the marshals didn't like his Tete Rouge T-shirt - seemed a little harsh to punish him for his taste in fashion, though it later turned out that if Simon had been waved over the pit wall he might have got mistaken for a red flag. Presumably, Rocket Dog outfits would suffer the same sort of problem, though claims that Mad Pete would position team members around the circuit to prevent anyone overtaking him were strongly denied.
Up at the front, Sparrow suddenly remembered he qualified on pole, and fought his way back to the front, with Cowling, Panas, Storey and Pete Cardell making it a 5-car fight for the lead. Christian fell back into the clutches of Matthew Hollis, lost the place then retired. Graham Harper managed slightly less laps than he did in qualifying, retiring on lap 4. Neil was fighting back from his perfect start, joining the fight for 7th between Paul Robertson, Trevor Williams, Jon Davis, Aubrey Brocklebank and Smith. With a couple of laps to go, Cowling and Sparrow made a break for it, with Wayne leading, eventually winning by 1.5 seconds. Pete Cardell claimed an impressive 3rd from 10th on the grid just beating Mick to the line. Steve Panas' spark plug lead fell off halfway round the last lap, resulting in a dead heat with Matthew Hollis at the line, with Steve getting 5th by just 6/100ths of a second.
Jon Davis struck problems on the last lap, then Aubrey Brocklebank struck him as he moved to let him through. Andy Smith found himself with nowhere to go and the resultant 3 car pile up left Smith and Brocklebank out of the race, whilst Davis recovered to limp across the line in 10th, ahead of Derek, Christine, Richard and Katie.
Results summary