2003 Stock Hatch Round 14, Cadwell Park
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The penultimate Stock Hatch round of 2003 was preceded by a track test on the Friday, I tested 6 of the current Stock Hatch cars, just a couple of laps in each to get a feel for the differences between them, and their relative strengths and weaknesses - but more on that in the club magazine! On to the races, and heat 1 was red flagged befor eit got anywhere. On the restart it was Trevor Corteil's XR2 took the lead, and never lost it, taking a well deserved win. Close behind him John Munday was up from 6th to 2nd on the first lap as they climbed the mountain, but as he reached Hall Bends he got it all wrong, and spun off onto the grass, forcing Roger Neep to take avoiding action. Further back Jonathan Howes was holding his own after some major rebuilding was required on his car after contact with eth barriers during qualifying. By the end of lap 2 Kingsnorth in 2nd was under pressure from Smith, and set about pulling away from the 3rd place man, and was soon beginning to attack for the lead. Just a few corners from home, Richard Kingsnorth's engine expired heading up the mountain, losing him a certain place in the final, but handing 2nd to Simon Smith, with Chris Cody now third. In the second heat, Hilary Howlett was the man of the moment, leading from the off with Simon Howard hot on his heels in his XR2, followed by Alistair Boulton, Stuart Pearson and Matt Lewis. On lap 3 Pearson passed Boulton for third, and began chasing down Howard. He caught him on lap 5 at Charlies, in more ways than one, and the resulting jolt caused Howard to over rev his engine and bend a valve. With diminished power he could only sit and watch as one by one he was passed by another 10 drivers before the race ended. Howlett held on to take the win, from Pearson, Boulton, Lewis and Alden. The final was a bit of a conversation piece, not least for the fact that it was moved to Sunday at the last minute. Peter Felix had set a convincing pole, and it was he would lead from start to finish. Paul Taylor got a good start from 3rd, and followed Felix away with McMillan demoted to third. It was very soon clear that this would be a two horse race, as Felix and Taylor built a huge lead on the rest of the field. The race was brought to a premature end when Maurice Hayden lost control of his new Saxo, and collected Stokes and Townend, blocking the track. Felix was declared the winner, from Taylor, McMillan Shepherd and Morgan - with plenty of other drivers going home to lick their wounds before the final race of the season at Snetterton. |
