Dave Wayne

I always thought the winner was the first LEGAL car over the line ? 🤔

Without wanting to start the ball rolling on a hotly disputed topic, while I agree with you (and Nigel) that what he had done with the 'full width' axle was not a costly innovation the problem was that it would have taken the sport in a very wrong direction. The wider track meant that the car was much more stable in the turns and therefore very difficult to move off line with normal contact. Had they not made the rule change when they did we would have been moving into the same territory as F2s when RCE built the wider axle car. It became extremely boring to watch as it became 'stock cars racing' rather than 'stock car' racing. It took F2 over 10 years to recover on tarmac as the rule changes were not made soon enough which meant that too many people had that type of car, and they then had to be phased out gradually. By nipping it in the bud before it became the norm, the F1 board made a brave move but one which was necessary to keep the sport heading in the right direction.

Had a similar one back in the old Brampton days (sorry it's not F1 !!). They had a strange grading system where it was the car/number that was graded rather than the driver, but multiple drivers could be registered to that same number, including day licences. Also, the grades were based on reaching a certain number of points rather than the top so many red, etc. so at the start of the season with everyone on 0 points they were all white grade apart from the reigning points champion. We had been racing there most of the season and near the back end of the year we decided to let everyone who had helped us out have a couple of races (yes you could have multiple drivers in one day as well). My mate's girlfriend went out on track, very nervous, and lined up at the back. A marshal came over and told her that she couldn't start there and needed to move to the correct grade. She (not very) politely told him she was staying where she was at which point he replied "Sorry, I didn't know you were a woman" and went back to his marshal post, leaving her where she was !!

I once sat on the grid at Skegness for a consolation and counted that I was 28th on the grid and 8 qualified for the final. I wasn't even the back yellow and I know there were blues and reds on track as well. Knowing that just to make the final meant passing at least 20 cars, and preferably not being passed by anyone from behind, with my £300 self built engine didn't exactly fill me with confidence !!

I thought the most noticeable thing was how lockdown is so badly affecting you that you haven't had your highlights done !! Also, good to hear that you are still meeting people in random places as I first met you many years ago when you shouted to me at a set of traffic lights just because I had stock car stickers in my back window. Great interview and good to have some light relief at the moment as we all sit here waiting to be let out.

Interesting to hear George Russell say 'for the next 8 weeks' in his video. Guess this means Brisca/ORC are definitely not expecting there to be any racing till mid June at the earliest.

Ordered mine last night. Could be a while till I get it signed by the author though !!

Been looking forward to this book hitting the printers for a very long time, especially as I am proud to say that I gave a small amount of assistance with some of the research of information, as I am sure did many others. I know this has been a labour of love for Carlton and has caused him a lot of grief to put together what is the most comprehensive record of F2 history ever to go into print. Not the favoured subject matter on here admittedly, but should be interesting to a lot of members nonetheless. Will certainly be useful for whiling away the hours while our normal day to day lives are on hold.

It wasn't a complaint. Absolutely amazing to get this up and running and get so many drivers online. I was just commenting on the fact that you said to Steve that the stream never went down and it must have been a glitch at his end. Was concerned that you weren't aware of the loss of coverage and wanted to highlight when it happened so that you could look into it if necessary.

Hi JC. If you check the video on YouTube we lost the racing from about halfway through the 1st consolation and just had the commentators filling time till consolation 2 started.

I assume this will still be available on youtube after the event if you can't watch it live ?

Haven't watched it, but with this response he must have suggested using van tyres !!

OK so the 'rubbish' comment was tongue in cheek but you said he wasnt particularly brilliant in the early years of the decade. I didnt realise you only meant in 2010 and 2011 so I listed his achivements in the first half of the decade. If it is only based on 2010/11 then he scored more points than anyone else in those 2 years and was the 2nd highest final winner behind 391, with more than double the number of final wins achieved by 515. Championship wise - 515 would have been 1 up with a GNC win in 2011, but only due to BriSCA failing to recognise the achievement of finishing top of the grading points list.

World Champion 2013 National Series 2012 Grading Points 2011 2012 2013 European 2012 2015 Gold Cup 2012 2013 GN Champion 2012 Yeah you are right Sam, 84 was rubbish in the first half of the decade !!

Yes you are right with those 2 but Frag is incorrect in saying 4 each for 84 and 515.FWJ only topped the 'grading points' 3 times this decade. The other winner was 445.

Yes 2019 was the first season in which he failed to win a final, as he even managed a couple in 1987 despite not starting till October.

According to Colin Casserley's stats, 84 won 53 finals in the decade compared to 33 for 515. Tom was also the only driver to win a final in every season.

Would agree with Tom in terms of titles, but based on overall impact on the sport I would be inclined to go for Sir Robert of Speak. He made an unexpected (even to himself !!) comeback and gathered up a few more major titles, but beyond that he reinvigorated the formula and reminded people what the bumper was for. It had become a little bit tame and 'roundy-roundy' but when Rob came back all the other top drivers had to up their game and the contact returned to the sport and made it much more entertaining.

I may be wrong here, but I thought double points was only for the shootout ?

i think that before the Grand National races were introduced all the last race were called the Helter SkelterIndeed. All the tracks I have been to which have run a race after the meeting final have referred to it as either a Helter Skelter or Allcomers. Was also sometimes called the Hell Fire Stakes.

I think you will find that is the F2 meeting on the previous Sunday. Nothing up for the F1 meeting as yet but would expect it to be at least £22 for adults as it has been for the last couple of years.

Is that you volunteering to set up and perform a Punch & Judy show on the terraces there Dave? How to run a Stock Car meeting - special edition. "That's the way to do it!" The 3 hours would fly by, I'm sure. And though he might not tolerate that entire duration, stood there as the target of your ire, I should imagine Mr Rees would happily recognise your selfless efforts, with two complimentary tickets to the next Stoke F1 meeting? Oh actually, hang on... 3x Heats at 16 laps each, Final at 20 and Grand National at 16 would equate to the quoted 84 laps. Don't think we need to call Sherlock Holmes in just yet. Great that yet another preview thread has started off with such unbridled enthusiasm though. No danger of any 'seasonal affective disorder' setting in with these dark nights, when you've got these gems each week, just the touch of a screen away to light up your life? Thanks for the flippant response. Apologies for being a realist. I can only assume you have never taken kids to a stock car meeting and tried to keep them entertained. Also, I am sorry that I didn't take the time to add up the number of laps quoted. There is no GN mentioned in the meeting schedule, and as there is mention of a 'candle tribute' at the end of the meeting I assumed this was what the 'Tribute to Stoke' was, especially as it doesn't have a race number attributed to it. Maybe he should have put 'F1 GN' in brackets to help those of us without psychic powers ? Having said that, the last Stoke meeting I went to 2 weeks ago had the last event in the schedule as being the F2 GN and the Bangers DD so maybe I am expecting too much.

Being a bit picky here but do the gates really need to open over 3 hours before the meeting starts ? This is why attendances are getting lower all tbe time. People already struggle with 5pm starts and now they are being told that unless they can get there ridiculously early all the best vantage points will be long gone and they will be parked 3 miles away !! How are you supposed to keep kids entertained for 3 hours before the racing even starts ? Also, no GN at a shootout round ??!!

Like any other formula, they drive in a different style at different tracks.Its a very different type of racing at Cowdenbeath than Yarmouth for the Saloons. Pretty sure F1s use the Kings Lynn plating to their advantage but tend to keep away from the fence at Sheffield.

I love the racing at Sheffield and it is very rare that I miss either an F1 or F2 meeting there, but at the risk of sounding negative my attendance at this meeting will definitely be based on booking lists. With F1 and Saloons at Lynn the night before, I think both could be scarce at this meeting other than the F1 shootout contenders. Also, with around 8 Sheffield F2 regulars otherwise engaged in a national series round at Hednesford their numbers could also be quite low. Its OK Startrax giving it the big 'get behind us' statement, but people on both sides of the fence make plans a long way in advance and will now have intention of going to other meetings or doing other things away from racing on that day.