Doublewinfor Parkinff2000s

A fabulous field, with quality to match quantity, got the Historic FF2000 season off to a barnstorming start with a double win for reigning champion Andrew Park.

In Saturday’s opener, Nelson Rowe languished down in 14th on the grid. The brakes needed bleeding early in the session and by the time he went out again, the track was wet. That was good news for defending champion Park, who set a fearsome early pace with Benn Simms sitting on his gearbox. “Benn was giving me a hard time,” admitted Park. Sadly, Simms was destined not to finish as a failing rear upright finally gave way and his race was over.

Meanwhile, Rowe was making very strong progress in an attacking drive and jumped into second once Simms parked up. Rowe got to within 10s of the leader but that was as far as the laps would allow. Importantly, it put the equine vet on the front row of the grid for the second race on Sunday. Andrew Storer fended off a lengthy challenge from David Walton to complete the podium.

With Simms at the back of the grid for the second race, another cracker was expected. Unfortunately, a first lap midfield tangle sent him into the wall on the exit of Mcleans to complete a weekend to forget. Up front, Park was in stunning form, holding Rowe at arm’s length over the early laps then eking out a winning margin of four seconds in a truly impressive performance.