cadwell race report from fsra site

[martyf350]

2010 FSRA Post Classic/F350 Championship
In the opening meeting, a triple for Post-classic reigning champions Stu Mellor and Mick Fairhurst but three different winners in the 350 class!


The opening round of the FSRA Post Classic Sidecar Championship at Cadwell Park, was dominated by Stuart Mellor/ Mick Fairhurst (Martek TZ750) with three wins from three starts. In contrast, the revitalised F350 class was very competitive with Gordon & Julie Jones, Dave Smith/Martin Pither and Liam Abbott/Callum Lawson taking a win each!

In race 1, Greg Noble/Justin Sharp made their customary flying start on the HamYam and led the field until stopped by an engine seizure on lap 2. This allowed Mellor to inherit the lead and he gradually pulled away from the Kawasaki outfit of Dave Tibbles/ Wayne Kemp. After battling with a gaggle of 350's, Chris Fairhurst and son Gary took third in class on their 1100 Kawasaki. Paul Owen led the F350 class for 3 of the 4 laps and looked unlikely to be beaten until he ran wide trying to pass Tibbles, allowing Gordon Jones through to first and Abbott into second. Dave Smith was pleased with fourth place from the back of the grid on his return to racing. Greg Noble's brother, Merv, with 'Team Past it' s Annette Daykin in the chair was fifth in his first race.

Mellor repeated his disappearing act in race 2. Pat Gallagher/Shane Rooney held second place throughout on their Suzuki outfit ahead of Tibbles and Fairhurst. There was a great scrap in the F350 class with Smith catching and eventually passing race 1 winner Jones. However, Jones was not prepared to give up the place easily and he harried Smith all the way to the flag. Paul Owen / Phil Parkes were in the hunt early on, but they had to settle for third in class after being slowed by a broken exhaust. On his first meeting on a 350, Ken Tomlinson/Joe Shardlow started to get to grips with Allen Steele's outfit and took fourth ahead of Noble. Abbott retired on lap three with ignition trouble.

Mellor put on a fine demonstration of smooth driving in the final race as he powered to an unopposed win. Gallagher gradually pulled away from Fairhurst who was having a close battle with F350 leader Abbott. Tibbles had a lonely race to fourth place. In the early stages of the F350 race, Jones led from Owen with Abbott snapping at their heels. By lap four, Abbott was ahead and he pulled away to take a deserved win. Both Owen and Jones retired on lap five, allowing Tony Hewitt and Tim Sheffield to take second spot ahead of Noble and Tomlinson. Race two winner Smith failed to start due to a broken clutch. Post Classic crews will be wondering how Stuart Mellor can be beaten this season, whilst the F350 crowd could well be sharing out wins between themselves all year!

John Moulton