April 16/17
War of attrition at Cadwell!
At a bright and sunny Cadwell Park, the Post Classic and F350 sidecar field was
decimated before the end of the first practise session as five outfits failed to
finish. Pat Gallagher/Sean Rooney (Derbyshire Suzuki) made the most of the
situation in the Post Classics, taking three wins out of four, but honours were
shared in the hotly contested F350 races. The first incident packed practise saw
Greg Noble/Bill Weston (Ham-Yam TZ750) have a major crash on the Mountain,
resulting in Greg breaking both legs. The usually reliable Kawasaki of Dave
Tibbles/Wayne Kemp broke a crankshaft and Stuart Mellors/Mick Fairhurst ran a
big end on their TZ70. The F350's faired a little better with Merv Noble/Stuart
Brotherton (Ham-Yam TZ350) seizing the engine and Alan Longshaw/John Longbottom
(Ireson XPVS 350) holing a piston. As the depleted field left the grid in race
1, Gallagher took the Post Classic lead and surged ahead of the pack. Tony and
Neil Wheatley (Ireson TZ750) held onto second for three laps before a flywheel
exploded, putting an expensive end to their race! This allowed Chris and Gary
Fairhurst (Kawasaki 1100) to take a lonely second place as the only other Post
Classic finishers. Dave Smith/Ben Weston (D&D Windle TZ350) looked to be set for
a dream debut on their brand new outfit, leading the F350's until lap 3 when a
plug cap came off. Conscious of championship points, they toured for the
remaining two laps , picking up fourth place and the consolation of the fastest
lap. Gordon and Julie Jones (TZ350) took over the lead from Smith and looked a
safe bet for the win until the hard charging pairing of Paul Owen/Phil Parkes
(Shelbourne TZ350) caught them off guard on the final circuit. Dave
Cheesmond/Smudge Taylor (Windle TZ350) had an uneventful ride to third place,
despite Dave's gear changing being hampered by cramp! In race two, Gallagher
again took command from the flag and was never challenged in the Post Classic
class. Fairhurst maintained a distant second place throughout with no other Post
Classic outfits making the start. Gordon Jones appeared to have taken command of
the F350 race, leading from the flag, but his gear linkage broke on lap three,
putting him out. Noble inherited the lead, pulling away from the other 350's to
take the win, a just reward for his frantic repair work between races. Paul Owen
was lying second until battery problems sidelined him on the penultimate lap,
allowing Cheesmond into second spot. A broken spark plug put Smith out on lap
two. The first race on Sunday saw both Stuart Mellor and Tony Wheatley rejoining
the fray, but Wheatley's Yamaha expired on the sighting lap. Gallagher made
another flying start and he built up a commanding lead until his Suzuki went
onto two cylinders at the start of the final lap. This allowed Chris Fairhurst
to take a class win as Gallagher limped across the line to take second. Stuart
Mellor's challenge only lasted for two laps due to fuel starvation. The F350
class saw a terrific race long battle between Noble, Jones and Smith. The three
outfits were locked together throughout the race with Noble just ahead of Jones
and Smith across the line. However, Noble's celebrations were short-lived as he
received a ten second penalty for a jumped start, dropping him to third behing
Jones and Smith. Paul Owen took a battling fourth place with Dave Cheesmond in
fifth. Gallagher continued to dominate the Post Classics in the final race, but,
after a difficult weekend, Stuart Mellor managed a good run to second. Fairhurst
and Wheatley had a battle for third, with the result eventually going to
Fairhurst. In the F350 class, Noble got no further than the sighting lap as his
engine failed to pick up properly. Jones took the lead from the start, initially
pulling away from the following crews. On lap two, Smith started to close and he
maintained a strong challenge until the penultimate lap when the engine cut out.
This allowed Cheesmond into second with Owen a distant third at the flag. After
an incident packed but exciting meeting, the Post Classic and F350 teams will be
hoping for a quieter time at the next round at Mallory Park! Sunday 22 May
Report by John Moulton.