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Once again, our man in the North East, Wrighty has been on his travels. This time he was over at the home of Oasis, but it was another Manchester legend who took to the track, albeit for charitable purposes, as our fella watched Rob Speak (218/318) in his comeback Charity meeting... I'll let the bloke blather on....

Speaky in a borrowed Bingley car, trailed by one of his old ones! Pic courtesy of Danii Wright

Paul Wilson (925) I think?? is under the mud pack. I'm sure it'll knock years off and end up a mini! Danii Wrightt pic...

As with all things, it is human nature to get used to things as they are, with the comfortable knowledge that it all works, that everything’s fine, and that events, actions and (of course) reactions will be as we expect. Sometimes, however, it takes a step outside of the comfort zone, this bubble if you will, to make you re-evaluate the circumstances and view pastimes and pursuits, events, actions and reactions from a wider perspective. The Aspire charity takes these bold steps every day, supporting and assisting those with spinal cord injuries as they start to adapt to a new kind of life and the charity has a connection and long-time supporter in one Rob Speak, recently returned to this F2 parish and returning to some old territory in the name of raising awareness and much-needed funds for Aspire’s work, so while this meeting was a celebration of a glittering (and of course still incomplete) career, it was also a day tinged with poignancy, but more than anything it was a day with a purpose, and so the support it received from the fans and the drivers (and of course Steve Rees and Startrax Promotions) should not be underestimated, despite the rather inclement conditions on the day.

Did I say inclement? I meant absolutely foul, at least before the meeting, as a wall of poor weather swept across Manchester and on to the Pennines (which is the direction I came from, so it was a poor portent for the day ahead, despite the messages I was receiving that conditions at the track were better than those which engulfed our happy travelling band of fans from the frozen North) leaving the track looking sticky at least, with a subtle hint of quagmire, so as heat 1 for the F2s drove out onto track we were treated to two races in one. The main race was for virtually everybody involved as they scrabbled for grip, slithered and slid and threatened to disappear in their own roostertails of mud…..then there was the other race, inhabited by one Daz Shaw (377) who seemed to have a different surface completely, although we know that this was just his total and utter command of his car, the surface and the conditions in a perfect display of technique and balance on the loose. It is not often we see commanding wins these days in F2 at any level, but to see Shaw take the win by 7/8ths of a lap over second place (yes really, as in he was half a straight behind Steve Wycherley(662), who was in 2nd place at the finish and of course is no slouch on the dirt anyway) was awe-inspiring……truly a drive worthy of the day.
Onward then to heat 2, thankfully after three more races and a good deal of attention by the track staff to carve the top layer of shale from the track, revealing a pristine surface underneath, tacky and devoid of the sludge so hated by shallow-tread tyres. This race saw the first appearance of Speak in Darren Bingleys regular steed, and while it was clear that he was still acclimatising himself to an unfamiliar vehicle it only seemed to take 7 or 8 laps and he was snapping at Charlie Whitfields heels in the places while some of the regular pacesetters (Ian Mallinson, Josh Coleman and Andy Palmer, bedding in a new Randall shale special) took the top three, chased home by Chris Mitchell and Danny van Wamelen in fourth and fifth while Speak eventually overcame Whitfield to take sixth on the first leg of this marathon day.
While Speak moved from the Bingley chassis to the Ryan Harrison machine, the switch in styles and skills that we may have expected to test Speak’s resolve was not apparent, and the F1 moved as if he’d never really been away from the sport. The fans, quite rightly, were entranced by the spectacle and it was clear that there was a lot of fun being had in that small dark cab and his eventual seventh place finish was, if not an outright surprise then certainly an indication that this wasn’t just ‘for fun’ (because, of course, if it was just fun and fundraising on the agenda we’d all be running laps around the track in tutus, or at least mud-wrestling on the centre green, but I digress).
After a F2 consolation that was slightly let down by a lack of numbers but was won in familiar style by Micky Brennan, who still races with the class and skill of a driver who has tasted championship success very early in a hopefully long career but has not seen his enthusiasm and infectious desire to throw a car around eroded by having to stay on that knife-edged peak of performance, we were treated to another F1 heat that saw Speak repeat his seventh place finish in swashbuckling style (and I should also mention that, having seen him with friends and family in the main stand between races, this was a Speak who was as relaxed as I’ve ever seen him, a world away from the intense and sometimes pensive driver that returned after so long away from the sport) and, almost before frostbite could take hold of our poor extremities (I did say ‘almost’) the F2 final was upon us.
As a spectacle, the race was not quite a classic but it saw a quite sensational win for Josh Coleman, who romped home in front of Speak by some distance, but Speaks race with Andy Palmer was a joy to behold, as fortunes ebbed and flowed through the traffic and the gap between the two expanded and contracted in the blink of an eye. As it was, come the finish Speak was ahead but only by a couple of paces, with Colin Eardley and Paul Kitching producing sterling performances to secure fourth and fifth places respectively. Following from this, Speak leapt from the podium lap of honour back into the F1 for another final while we all leapt into the bar for some well-earned warmth and shelter from a bitter unrelenting wind.
Finally, the Grand National was upon us….surely this could not measure up to the performances we’d already seen? This, my friends, was the best performance of the day for Speak, with a car that seemed to suit him, a surface that had stayed in perfect order through the day and a zeal that saw him get within a length of a famous win on a special day. As it was, Colin Eardley was the only driver able to lead Speak home, but the statistics sometimes do tell the story, or at least Speak setting the fastest F2 time of the day in this race does. It was a drive of purpose, of guile and of real note, one for the fans, the wise heads and the purists of the sport to watch and admire. It was, quite literally, a performance befitting a meeting which represented the support for a cause to which we could all Aspire, and that’s where we came in isn’t it?

From back to front

Sheffield next….it might be warmer outside (we can but hope), but if the action can match this meeting then you’d better get comfortable.

Forever F2s, on behalf of JHO…..Wrighty

Incidentally, those who stayed away and moaned about it on Stoxnet, (which is officially the new home of numpties) missed a cracker by the sounds of things!