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Cadwell Park July 2005
Introduction	Cadwell Cars	Track, Practice & Qualifying	Pre-Race Barbeque	Car Preparation	The Race	Finally.....

(Click on picture to see enlargement)

(121) Wayne Cowling is ready and Ainslie Bousfield goes to commentate		(122) Andy Smith makes final adjustments		(123) Andy Smith makes final adjustments
(124) Andy Smith makes final adjustments		(125) Zoe Cardell-Williams next to Philip Myatt's car		(126) Pete Sparrow goes back to the Paddock
(127) Budding artists show their drawings of the winning car		(128) The winning car - Rocket Dog Racing		(129) Pete and Viv celebrate their first win
(130) Pete Cardell-Williams and Mark Whitwell		(131) Shaun McLaughlin		(132) Pete Sparrow's broken clutch plate with its replacement above.

IT’S A MAD WORLD
(reporter: Matt Hollis)

Cadwell Park always provides great racing, with its long back straight and twisty corners.  This year, alterations to the track had allowed for greater run-off at the Hairpin, increasing it from zero to approximately 50cm.  Pete Sparrow was the man in charge of the championship, after winning the first two rounds at Oulton and Pembrey, whilst reigning champion Phil Myatt was only 7^th in the standings after missing Pembrey.  Testing the day before saw several cars out, trying to perfect their set-ups.

Pre-race scrutineering proved problematical for a few drivers – all because of the colour of their front lights.  Matt Hollis scraped just got away with orange, but Sam Fritchley and Pete Sparrow were both told they could not race at Donington if they kept their red covers.  In fact, there was talk that the light covers were illegal but ultimately no action was taken.  Qualifying was supposed to be early, except it wasn’t.  Clearly the race meeting had caught many by surprise, not least the emergency crews who didn’t turn up until 9:45.  Qualifying was consequently cut down to just ten minutes, which equalled roughly four laps.  At the end of the session it was Sparrow on pole by an amazing 3.5 seconds, smashing the 2CV lap record by over 4 seconds!  With him on the front row was Shaun McLaughlin, the 2CV rookie really on the pace for his highest grid placing in only his 4^th race, ahead of Matt Hollis who had solved the handling problems he had had at Oulton and Pembrey and was equally in his highest championship race grid spot.  Up until the last minute, Wayne Cowling had been second, but slipped to 5^th behind Andy Smith.  Down in 8^th was Myatt, unable to explain his lack of pace, whilst Sam Fritchley, racing at Cadwell for the first time since her 2002 crash, was well-placed in 6^th.                      

Heat was a problem at the track – several drivers looked like they had already completed the race before they even got in the car.  At the start, Sparrow got away well, but any thoughts he may have had of driving off into the sunset evaporated as McLaughlin took the lead down the back straight.  For the first few laps, McLaughlin, Sparrow and Hollis pulled out a bit of a lead, but soon it was a 7-car battle for the lead – McLaughlin, Sparrow, Hollis, Cowling, Smith, Myatt and Cardell-Williams.  A bit further back, Fritchley, Zoe Cardell, Richard Hollis and Steve Panas were fighting for 8^th.  In 12^th was Aubrey Brocklebank, who was suffering from faulty shock absorber disease.  At half-distance, the race really started to come alive.  Matt Hollis, who had briefly got past Sparrow, dropped to the back of the pack with no brakes, but at the end of the lap it was Sparrow who was dropping back.  A broken clutch was to blame, putting Sparrow out of the race, and suddenly giving everyone else the belief they could win.  Pete Cardell-Williams had somehow sneaked through into 2^nd as he and McLaughlin made a break for it.  Myatt and Cowling were 3^rd and 4^th ahead of a down-on-power Smith, whilst Hollis was starting to claw his way back as everybody else’s brakes started overheating.

Steve Panas, who has an uncanny knack of developing problems with his car, was in the pits again, eventually finishing a lap down in 11^th.  Into the last lap, Mad Pete got alongside McLaughlin and took the lead, with Myatt trying to follow through.  Into the Gooseneck, Myatt and McLaughlin got to know each better, and the cheeky Cowling got past both of them.  At Mansfield, PCW and Cowling both went off but rejoined without losing any places, accompanied by enough grass to lay a football pitch.  Out of the Mountain, Cowling seemed to lose momentum and Myatt got alongside as they went into Hall Bends.  Unfortunately, the final three corners are masked by trees, so none of the spectators or commentators could predict who would come out first.  McLaughlin also got past Cowling before the Hairpin, with Hollis trying to drive around the outside (the run-off area came in handy after all!).  Into the last corner, Mad Pete and Myatt got round safely to take 1^st and 2^nd, but McLaughlin and Cowling disputed the same bit of tarmac, allowing Hollis to drive around the outside on the grass and steal 4^th from Wayne.  Mad Pete’s win elevated him into the lead of the championship, with Sparrow dropping to 3^rd – the championship race is definitely on!

(reporter: Matt Hollis)

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