Andy Smith took yet another final at what was a low-key meeting by Sheffield standards, with no Reliant Robins or stunts for support, just some fairly dismal banger racing. We still got the trademark fireworks and a soap star though. This time it was some bloke out of EastEnders, who unbelievably managed to hold Paul Harrison, Mark Gilbank, and Junior Wainman at bay to win his first stock car race. Now, what were the odds of that? Perhaps TrackStar’s predictions about car numbers and finish times were slightly optimistic, but the F1 racing was good, and after all, that’s what we’d paid to see.
Steve Smith (40) raced away at the start of Heat 1. Neil Scothern (152) slowly reeled him in, but just as he got on Smith’s back bumper, he clipped the parked Martin Bent (401) car and lost time. This let Lenny Smith (185) through for second, but a determined charge by Scothern saw him back in second place by the halfway, and in the lead shortly after. Paul Harrison (2) put Frankie Wainman (212) firmly into the turn 1 fence, and Lenny Smith lost third place when he tangled with Ian Tingle on the back straight. Scothern went on to win, and on the last lap, Frankie Wainman Jnr (515) went to take second place from Steve Smith, but overcooked it and put himself backwards into the fence.
At the start of Heat 2, Rob Speak (318) put Mark Taylor (490) straight into the fence, and a few laps later Mark Tittecomb (398) went into the turn one fence, bounced out, and was hit by Mal Brown (34), who in turn was hit by Dave Johnson (383). Meanwhile, Steve Harrison (118) was leading, having overtaken early leader Nigel Bowler (248). Simon Gill (290) always goes well at Sheffield, and he took the lead at the halfway stage. There was a caution when Bowler went hard into the fence, and on the restart, Gill set off with the same blistering pace as before, and although Speak looked to be closing, it didn’t look like he’d catch him in the remaining laps. However, for the second Sheffield meeting in succession, Gill’s outside rear tyre blew while he was leading, and he came to a stop, handing victory to Speak.
Gill made amends in the Consolation, though the end was slightly controversial. Gaz Wood span at the drop of the green, and was T-boned by Mark Clayton (225). Martin Bent (401) deposed Steve Harrison (118) to take the lead after a few laps, but Simon Gill was soon in front, with Steve Booth (446) second. With a lap remaining, the yellows came out for attention to Nigel Bowler, who had hit the back straight fence in a big way. Everyone except Booth seemed to have seen the flags, as he charged past a slow moving Gill on turn three, and came flying down the home straight, presumably thinking he’d just snatched a last bend victory.
Booth then found he couldn’t avoid the slow moving traffic in front of him, and hit John Walker with some force, sending the number 70 car hard into the fence. The race was then red-flagged, and Gill quite correctly declared the winner. (Booth wasn’t penalised for overtaking on the yellows, and what about the new rule of all races running the full distance?)
There was carnage in the opening laps of the Final, largely due to Mark Brightmore. The 477 car had pulled off on the rolling lap, but Mark had managed to get the engine running, and rejoined the race in front of the red tops. Mark Taylor had no way of avoiding him, and they both ended up going into the fence on the first bend. A lot of other cars then piled in as well, while Taylor managed to get going again, only to tangle with Steve Smith, the result being the number 40 car bouncing off the fence, and ending up sideways across the home straight.
At this point the yellows came out, and a complete restart followed. This time around, the 477, 40, 318, 490, and 198 cars were on the infield, and Neil Scothern began to open up a lead, with Chris Brocksopp (338) a distant second. It stayed that way until the halfway, when Scothern retired with mechanical problems. The order then read 338, 185, 247, 391, and 515, though Gary Castell (247) lost a lot of places soon after, when he took himself out. Andy Smith and Frankie Wainman then worked their way up to second and third, and in the closing stages, Smith was on Brocksopp’s back bumper, having left Wainman behind. Brocksopp did well to hold Smith off for a few laps, but Smith wasn’t going to be denied his third successive Sheffield Final.
16 cars came out for the 12 lap Dash for the Cash, and as soon the the green flag dropped, it was carnage, with cars spinning on the home straight and a big pile up on turns 1 and 2, which involved about half of the field. A complete restart was called, and at this point the 515 car was perched on the bonnet of the 401 car. Andy Smith was among the non-starters for the restart, which ended any hope of another 391/515 shootout. Phil Smith fired Martin Bent into the fence on the restart, and Stu Fellows (13) shot into the lead. Wainman and Speak were up to second and third respectively, and for a few laps the front three all looked evenly matched for speed.
But Wainman seemed to find a little extra from somewhere, and closed in on the leader. Speak retired to the infield, where his car caught fire. Wainman took the lead with a few laps to spare, and comfortably won the money. Probably the least entertaining of the DFC races so far this season.