Qualifying resulted in Ian and Carl Bell taking pole by 0.4 second from Carl Fenwick/Phil Knapton and Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn. Problems for both John and Jake Lowther and Sean Reeves/Mark Wilkes meant they would start from the back of the grid, which is much more of a handicap here at Cadwell where clear opportunities to overtake are at a premium.
Race 1: Bell took advantage of his front-of-the-grid position and got to Coppice first and Bryan nipped ahead of Fenwick. Wildcards Frank Lelias/Paul Knapton and championship leaders Conrad Harrison/Lee Patterson were 4th and 5th. For the opening half of the race, upto 7 laps, there was no change in the leading group, but behind them the action was quite superb. 6th to 10th after the opening lap were Dave Atkinson/Mike Aylott, Dean Lindley/Rob Bell, Dave Wallis/Ben Weston, Alan Founds/Tom Peters and Howard Baker/Mike Killingsworth. Atkinson retired on lap 3 by which time the leading F2 Cup rivals, Lindley and Founds were battling for 6th and 7th while Gordon Shand/Phil Hyde were now in the top ten. Then there was a fair gap back to the Lowthers who had made short shrift of their back-of-the-grid start.
Dave Lillie/Ben Chandler, Tony Thirkell/Nigel Barlow and Scott Parnell/Luke Capewell had all retired and then a lap later Fenwick took second place from Bryan while Lelias and Harrison had dropped back a little. Lindley was slowing but Shand had taken over the task of harassing Founds, while Lowther had closed right up on Howard Baker. In 12th were Rob Fisher/Rick Long in another close dice with Roy Hanks/Kevin Perry, Tony and Fiona Baker, Tom and Thomas Quaye, and Steve and Mattie Ramsden. Both Nev Jones/Joe Gaunt and Sean Reeves/Mark Wilkes retired in the closing stages while Lindley slowed to 15th.
At the flag the Bells’ winning margin was just 2.59 seconds but it had been a dominant performance and the perfect antidote to their two no-scores at Oulton. The usual awards were added to by trophies presented by Bill Barraclough for fastest lap (the Bells), best turned-out outfit (Rob Fisher and Rick Long) and performance of the race to Howard Baker and Mike Killingsworth in keeping 9th place under strong pressure.
Race 2: Monday brought more good weather and another cracking race. The start was identical to race one, Bell-Bryan-Fenwick leading the way then Lelias-Harrison-Lindley. No changes until lap four when Founds from his qualifying 11th place got through to 7th but even in that short time, there was a sizeable gap to Lindley in 6th. On lap 7 Fenwick again got past Bryan while Lindley, with the fastest lap of the weekend, got past Lelias. Shand, Wallis, Atkinson and H.Baker were swapping places regularly in 8th to 11th positions while the Lowthers and Reeves/Wilkes from the back of the grid were up to 12th and 13th. Thirkell, Quaye and Rob Handcock/Basil Bevan had all retired while Shand’s race was over at the bottom of the Mountain after a ‘coming together’. Lapping backmarkers came into the equation on lap 12 with Gary Bryan and wildcard Dean Kilkenny having a moment or three at Charlie’s which saw Dean retire, and Gary lose third to Dean Lindley. The Ramsdens also retired on lap 12. Both Reeves and Lowther finally got past H.Baker for 10th and 11th while T.Baker, Hanks, Jones, Lillie, Fisher and Parnell completed the finishers.
And so the Bells took a double win, this time by 1.19 seconds, and Lindley took his first ‘senior’ podium as well as the F2 Cup honours. In the Cup, Founds, 7th overall, was second and the Cup podium was completed by Reeves/Wilkes after their battling performance. After Oulton, Bell was languishing in 8th place in the points but these two wins see him improve to 5th place with 75 points, obviously a fair bit closer to leaders Harrison on 102, Fenwick 98, Bryan 92 and Founds 89. Founds also leads the F2 Cup with 140 from Lindley on 126, Quaye 71, Reeves 48 and Ramsden on 42. A 12-week layoff now until Donington on July 26-27 as all eyes begin to focus on the TT.
Last, but by no means least, many thanks to Cath and Alan Brown, who with their family and friends, presented the awards, including the superb Andy Brown and John Dowling trophy to winners Ian and Carl Bell. The 10 years of presenting this trophy have now come to a close, so a final huge ‘Thank You’ to them for their valued support of our championship.
Report from John Newton. Photos courtesy of Derek Donsworth and John Mushet.