The 22nd staging of the 2L ORC World Final took place at its new spiritual home of Mildenhall Stadium for the third occasion in its tenure on Saturday 31st May. There were many smart cars for the occasion, with the visitors from Autospeed in particularly making a top effort. The vehicles were the typical expectation of Ford Mondeos, Ford Cougars and Mk4/Mk5 Vauxhall Astras, with a Ford S Max for 315 Daniel Osborne, Jaguar X-Types for 50 Reece Laybourn and 133 Malakie Cullum, sole Vauxhall Zafira for 26 Paul Lovick and a Volvo V40 for 548 Alex Utting the exceptions.
507 Danny Brown and 603 Jon Cooper found themselves off the front row for the Last Chance race. 603 Cooper set the early pace and was closely followed by 830 Lee White. 356 Harry Overy flicked 59 Tom Greenstreet fence-wards at the end of the back straight with the latter being collected by 662 Jamie Harding. Cooper threw the lead away to run in 315 Daniel Osbourne as it kicked off on turn 1/2 also. 669 Cal Curtis jacked 713 Oscar Preston hard and copped one in turn from the lively Cooper. 662 Harding ran into 315 Little Oz and was done in turn by 40 Ben Reeder who got it all wrong and caught Harding heavily in the drivers’ door. 59 Dob attacked 40 Gentle Ben on oppo. Gentle Ben kept that momentum to blast 742 Toby Parfitt on oppo, with 456 Nathan Roberts and 133 Malakie Cullum collecting the Damage Inc young gun. Dob then took hits from both Little Oz and Gentle Ben as the TCM lads continued to get in the mix. 603 Cooper went in on 315 Little Oz and copped it from 244 James Turner. 670 Max Eaton drove through Turner. 49 Billy Crittenden jacked Cooper and backed across the track in front of 28 Mac Bell who had no choice but to drive into the former. 699 Aaron Nelson dumped 456 Roberts into the melee on turn 4, with 359 Lee Moatt running 370 Johnny Cobbold into Roberts. 49 Critt met 623 Ricky Hutton on the nose. 160 Perry Willings, 448 Alfie Critt and 370 Cobbold all crashed out together on turn 4. 623 Tricky set about 356 HJO whilst 830 Stretch raced to the win – the top 10 making it onto the World Final grid with 669 Heli and 325 Josh Hanser joining them as entertainers.
830, 26, 188, 623, 670, 323, 126, 28, 160, 370
It was time for the World Final – the drivers coming out in grid order parking within the flame throwers whilst being presented with their qualifier trophy by Terry Garrod. The grid being formed out of the hat and drivers’ briefing.
Outside – Inside
296 Thomas Jennings – 340 Wesley Freestone
348 Sonny Sherwood – 350 Liam Webster
62 Harvey Webb – 701 Riley Marsh
12 Troy Cobbett – 760 Joey Reynolds
817 Kurt Jacobs – 327 Mick Maskell Jnr
56 Ricky Clark – 230 Kevin Stahr
548 Alex Utting – 18 Corey Karkeek
337 Ashley Garrod – 648 Jamie Smith
678 Alex Ward – 37 David Lewis
673 Darren Fendley – 247 Lee Clarke
519 Lee Middleton (Defending Champion) – 248 Jamie Blything
266 Scott Gillbard – 166 Luke Gillbard
26 Daniel Holmes – 830 Lee White
623 Ricky Hutton – 188 John Reeves
323 Kieran Tweed – 670 Max Eaton
28 Mac Bell – 126 Daniel Bowley
370 Johnny Cobbold – 160 Perry Willings
325 Josh Hanser – 669 Cal Curtis
The green flag dropped and it was curtains early on for some of the pre-race favourites – 327 Maskell Jnr, 817 Stig and 18 Corey all crashed out. 166 Soft Boy Jnr followed 248 Blything into Stig. 126 Balers collected 266 Scotty G. Soft Boy Jnr ran 623 Tricky into 18 Corey. 673 Dazza spun 350 Webster. 340 Wes had already opened up a big gap up front – the order after the first three laps being 340, 12, 701, 673, 648, 296. Wes was making rapid progress, already coming across back-markers putting distance between him and second placed 12 Troy; the gap at nearly straight after the first 5/6 laps. 160 Pez and 28 Bell tangled. Defending champion 519 Knuckles was another making strong moves, now up to fifth. The order seeing 340 Wes still up front from 12 Troy, 701 Marsh, 673 Dazza, 519 Knuckles and 62 Webb. Knuckles chances of reclaiming the title slipped away as he dived under Marsh and collected the lame car of 18 Corey. 56 Clark spun 348 Mushy which caused trouble for the leader, as 37 Lewis collected Mushy only to have 340 Wes ran into him by the back-marking 188 Victor. 623 Tricky then latched onto Victor dispatching both him and Wes leaving the long-term leading stranded facing the oncoming traffic exiting turn 4. 12 Troy now lead from 370 Cobbold, 701 Marsh, 760 Joey and 830 Stretch as the reds came out for a lose wheel from the 340 car. The leading duo were bizarrely sent to the back having been deemed to not be in the running by the head steward despite neither having had an off at any occasion and would be rightful to feel aggrieved. The restart seeing British Champion 760 Joey head them off from 701 Marsh and 62 Webb – 548, 247, 296, 348, 56, 37, 623 rounding off the top 10. 62 Webb soon got past Marsh to take second place. 188 Victor lunged at 760 Joey as 623 Tricky attacked the leader on oppo as they both tried to dislodge his momentum but he rode the waves to continue on. Joey still lead from 548 Big Al, 62 Webb, 56 Clark, 247 Bro and 296 Jennings. That soon changed however, as Clark went up the inside of Webb and bounced off of him into the path of Bro who finished the former off spinning him to the infield. Joey wasn’t as fortunate next time round, as he slowed a little too much whilst working out the route of the scheming 623 Tricky on oppo and was picked up by the chasing pack and ran into the pit gate. This seeing the race order fully shaken up as 247 Bro dived into the lead. 230 Little Bad Boy spun 296 Jennings to the centre as they aimed to avoid the carnage promoting him to second place with 701 Marsh, 830 Stretch, 166 Soft Boy Jnr and 327 Maskell Jnr the next in line. 548 Big Al sat himself up on oppo incase of any attempt to dislodge Bro, but he was comfortably around 188 Victor’s dead car and pass the carnage to take the win. 327 Maskell Jnr didn’t manage to avoid Victor, and was collected in turn by 348 Mushy. 519 Knuckles followed in 230 Little Bad Boy after the chequers, with 166 Soft Boy Jnr also involved before the red flags came out. 701 Riley Marsh and 230 Kevin Stahr the placemen.
It must be noted that 247 and 701 failed post-race checks for the bottom crankshaft pulley being cut down, and the win awarded to 230 on the night. An appeal was then launched in which the ORCi investigated any wrongdoing releasing a statement on the matter here.
The official results on the Spedeworth seeming that 247 Lee Clarke was reinstated and our congratulations go to him.
247, 701, 230, 830, 166, 370, 348, 548, NoF
166 Soft Boy Jnr was the first to show in Alcomers 1, spinning Scrapyard Screamer 126 Bal. 359 Lightweight Lee got bounced around turns 3/4 which left his facing the oncoming cars near the pit gate. 132 Archie Cullum attacked 570 Jordan Cumming and came under fire himself from 166 Soft Boy Jnr. 26 Hacker was turned left by the pack before the reds came out. 678 Wardy was the leader on the restart. 315 Little Oz set about 359 Lightweight Lee. 448 Alfie Critt and 603 Cooper tangled along the back straight. 244 Turner set about 817 Stig. 760 Joey drove through 59 Dob. 507 Danny Boy and 49 Critt tangled. 760 Joey weighed in on Dob once again. 50 Reece Laybourn had a pop at 603 Cooper. 678 Wardy raced to the win.
678, 670, 36, 662, 276, 50, 570, 248, 244, 742
The second Alcomers begun with 36 Lewis spinning 507 Danny Boy. 570 Jordan Cumming spun 350 Webster fence-wards and he was had 49 Critt ran into him by 166 Soft Boy Jnr which saw a tyre go lose with many crashing onto the infield taking avoiding action including 248 Blything and 699 Nelson. 337 Garrod had a pop at 315 Little Oz which spun him aside as 126 Bal jacked 244 Turner. The reds coming out for Turner. 662 Harding lead them away on the restart. 570 Dino Jnr spent several laps having a go at 133 Cullum who was holding off the interest well. 548 Big Al and 37 Lewis tangled. A great battle for the lead broke out between 678 Wardy, 662 Harding and 325 Hanser. Harding turned Hanser left on the last bend, which also prevented Wardy from getting a lunge in seeing Harding win whilst racing in his grandad’s colours in a fitting moment. 570 Dino Jnr and 133 Cullum met in a solid head on. 40 Gentle Ben steamed in on Cullum and copped one from the winning Harding.
662, 678, 742, 36, 648, 817, 133, 248, 40, NoF
