The veteran from Rubery was in brilliant form all weekend, but equally impressive were the performances of rookies David Roper and Mark Fell. Roper took a brace of strong seconds, and Fell chased him home all the way in the first race.
Perfectly entitled to enter his race-cammed 1000cc Yamaha-engined Jedi in the field of standard 600cc cars, under the curious structure the BRSCC has seen fit to impose on the series after average grid numbers declined a little in 2001, Newbury�s Andy Keeling was not popular with some of his fellow drivers. His unorthodox blend of aggressive defence while rolling through some corners off the throttle when they were flat, braking in places where none of the 600cc competitors did, and using his prodigious acceleration and straightline speed to pull clear (or to repass) on Cadwell�s two long straights, caused irritation among those who challenged him. In practice, qualifying and both races a queue of increasingly frustrated smaller-engined drivers was frequently seen stacked up behind the silver car. Keeling nevertheless took fourth in the first race and third in the second, setting new R1 class lap records each time. But several Formula Honda drivers voiced their opinions that the presence of the larger-engined car had ruined their own races as they were trapped in an increasingly frantic concertina in his wake.
Keeling sprinted up to second place from fourth on the grid for the first race, as Reuben took off from pole for a welcome victory that made up for a troubled 2001 season. By Charlies, however, Keeling was deposed by ex-karters Roper and Fell, who had qualified second and third respectively and ran round the outside. They pulled away to indulge in a fabulous battle that brought them closer to the leader as Reuben suffered the effects of a seized front wheel bearing. He held on, however, to win by just under a second.
Behind fourth-placed Keeling, Adam Saward and Tom Tremayne fought back from poor qualifying (13th and 10th respectively), the former taking advantage with a lap to go when Tremayne got baulked by newcomer James Baker as they lapped the Welsh student.
Philip Churchman took seventh, showing aggressive form on his Cadwell debut, to lead home his former TKM karting colleague David Scott who drove a fine race to recover from a pit lane start after a sticking throttle prevented him from taking up his ninth fastest grid slot. In their wake Andy Roberts was an unhappy ninth after an engine misfire dropped him from a fight for fifth place with Louis Hamilton-Smith.
The latter stalled in fifth spot on the grid and caused the restarted race to be shortened by a lap, then dropped out (and non-started the second race) through fading oil pressure.
Luke Kidsley was out of luck after engine problems lost him all of Saturday�s testing and a couple of spins spoiled his race, while rookie Rob Hedley had a relatively lonely run to 11th. Fellow rookies Mark Hosken and Jodie Hemming had a great fight that would continue in race two. They were followed home by Dean Kidsley, Baker, Scott Mansell (who had qualified eighth but lost time with a sticking throttle)
and Robin Pritchett, who failed to start the second race after being taken ill.
Frazer Corbyn lost 10th place on the opening lap after a wall-of-death act on the rubber-faced tyre wall at the Hairpin damaged his works Jedi, while Fulvio Mussi, the youngest driver in the field at 16, failed to start after engine failure late on Saturday in his ex-Alex Buncombe 2001 title-winning chassis.
Reuben made no mistake about race two either, but Keeling jumped up to second again until Roper recovered from a sluggish start to depose him on lap two. The Scot managed to weave surreptitiously enough on the pit straight to discourage Keeling�s counter-attack, and thereafter pulled quickly away to chase Reuben. He finished four seconds behind, and will surely challenge again for victories this year.
Tremayne had established himself in a clear fourth place by lap three. A daring move on Saward going into � and up - the Mountain on lap two just failed to come off but he made another attempt stick at Park on lap three and quickly pulled away until he caught Keeling. Thwarted by Keeling�s tactics and the 1000cc car�s grunt on the straights, but all over it through the corners, he was soon reeled in again by the pack comprising Saward, Fell (who lost gears and thus made a poor start from third on the grid), the flying Scott, Roberts and Mansell. Churchman had been ahead of Scott up to lap three but crashed heavily, fortunately without injury, after getting on the dirt and sliding off the road at Charlies.
Saward took Tremayne�s fourth place (third in class) on lap four after the 17 year-old former karter had to lift as Keeling braked unexpectedly for the fast Barn corner and the 35 year-old Londoner got a better run down the pit straight. Saward and Tremayne then arrived at Park side by side on lap seven as Tremayne counter-attacked. He won what Saward described as a �game of chicken� but then missed a
shift, ran wide and dropped to the tail of the bunch in eighth place.
Now Saward challenged Keeling, chased hard by Scott, Fell, Roberts, the recovering Tremayne and Mansell.
Reuben continued on his untroubled way, with Roper doing his utmost to close the gap. Keeling eased away from Saward as the latter was forced to focus on keeping Scott behind. Fell dropped back to ninth as he struggled with his gears on lap eight, then the ever-unlucky Roberts departed dramatically across Tremayne�s bows at Barn when his right front stub axle sheared suddenly and threw him into the wall.
Saward held off Scott to the flag, with Tremayne sixth from Mansell and Fell. After another spin Luke Kidsley took ninth from Hedley, while Hemming was delighted to beat Hosken home for 11th. Baker was the last finisher in only his second Formula Honda race.
After the record grid for the first race (19 cars), 15 started the second as Kidsley, Corbyn, Hamilton-Smith and Pritchett stayed on the sidelines.
Both races confirmed the increasing popularity of the formula, which is arguably the most cost-effective form of single-seater racing currently available, and the effectiveness of the new-for-2002 Avon tyres. For the unflappable Reuben and the highly impressive Roper it was a dream start and the meeting bodes well for a very competitive season ahead, but the one cloud was the presence of the 1000cc car.
All of those who found themselves bottled up behind it were extremely disgruntled afterwards. One summarised the view of many when he said: �That thing has 50 percent more power than any of the 600s. It�s like allowing an F1 car to run in an F3000 race. Okay, it runs in a separate class, but it can still screw up your chances of a good finish and if this carries on it�s going to ruin our championship.�
RESULTS
(All drivers in 600cc Jedi Hondas bar Keeling, in 1000cc Jedi Yamaha)
DRIVER DEFICIT CLASS GRID POSITION
RACE ONE
1 Nigel Reuben 0.00s 600 Pole
2 David Roper 0.92s 600 2
3 Mark Fell 1.21s 600 3
4 Andy Keeling 11.89s 1000 4
5 Adam Saward 17.21s 600 13
6 Tom Tremayne 17.59s 600 10
7 Philip Churchman 28.86s 600 7
8 David Scott 35.02s 600 9
9 Andy Roberts 37.14s 600 6
10 Luke Kidsley 47.37s 600 12
11 Rob Hedley 67.64s 600 14
12 Mark Hosken 79.04s 600 16
13 Jodie Hemming 82.38s 600 15
14 Dean Kidsley 1 lap 600 17
15 James Baker 1 lap 600 18
16 Scott Mansell 1 lap 600 8
17 Robin Pritchett 1 lap 600 19
DNS
Fulvio Mussi
RETIRED
Frazer Corbyn, lap 1, accident
Louis Hamilton-Smith, lap 2, engine
FASTEST LAPS
Reuben, 1m 28.98s on lap 5, 87.92mph, new record
Keeling, 1m 30.32s on lap 7, 86.61mph, new record
RACE TWO
1 Nigel Reuben 0.00s 600 Pole
2 David Roper 4.43s 600 2
3 Andy Keeling 16.12s 1000 4
4 Adam Saward 19.24s 600 5
5 David Scott 19.59s 600 8
6 Tom Tremayne 25.40s 600 6
7 Scott Mansell 30.92s 600 16
8 Mark Fell 36.32s 600 3
9 Luke Kidsley 45.37s 600 10
10 Rob Hedley 58.14s 600 11
11 Jodie Hemming 74.17s 600 13
12 Mark Hosken 77.74s 600 12
13 James Baker 1 lap 600 15
DNS
Fulvio Mussi; Dean Kidsley; Robin Pritchett; Louis Hamilton-Smith; Frazer Corbyn
RETIRED
Andy Roberts, lap 5, stub axle
Philip Churchman, lap 4, accident
FASTEST LAPS
Reuben, 1m 28.28s on lap 7, 88.61mph, new record
Keeling, 1m 29.77s on lap 8, 87.14mph, new record
FORMULA HONDA CHAMPIONSHIP 2002 - POINTS STANDINGS
SCORING: 1st 12 pts; 2nd 10; 3rd 8; 4th 7; 5th 6; 6th 5; 7th 4; 8th 3; 9th 2
All other finishers 1 point; fastest lap 1 point
After rounds 1 and 2, Cadwell Park April 7
POS DRIVER POINTS
1 Nigel Reuben 13+13 26
2 David Roper 10+10 20
3 Adam Saward 07+08 15
4= Mark Fell 08+04 12
4= Tom Tremayne 06+06 12
6 David Scott 04+07 11
7 Scott Mansell 01+05 06
8= Philip Churchman 05+00 05
8= Luke Kidsley 02+03 05
10= Andy Roberts 03+00 03
10= Rob Hedley 01+02 03
12= Mark Hosken 01+01 02
12= Jodie Hemming 01+01 02
12= James Baker 01+01 02
15 Dean Kidsley 01+00 01
16 Robin Pritchett 01+00 01