RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Wilson will drive the sister car to this one at Rallyday

Rallyday is pleased to confirm that M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson will pilot the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC car at the UK’s premier rally car show at Castle Combe Circuit on Saturday 17th September.

Matthew’s attendance means that both of Britain’s top WRC drivers will be at Wiltshire’s annual rally extravaganza, as Kris Meeke’s participation with the MINI WRC Team was announced last week.

Matthew will head to the event fresh from competing on Rally Australia (September 8-11), the tenth round in the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, where he finished fourth – equally his career-best result. To date this season the 24-year-old has scored points in eight of the ten events and he is currently seventh in the standings with 52 points on the board, leaving him just 4 points behind team-mate, Mads Østberg and ahead of both former F1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen and his other M-Sport Stobart Ford colleague Henning Solberg.

“I’m delighted to be attending this year’s Rallyday at Castle Combe,” said Matthew. “I was at 2009’s event alongside my Dad [M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson] and both the spectators and the atmosphere were incredible.

“As a British rally driver I always like to be able to support rally events such as Castle Combe but sometimes it can be difficult with my busy schedule competing in the WRC. It’ll be great to attend this year’s event with the new-for-2011 Ford Fiesta RS WRC – I can’t wait to entertain the spectators with our car.”

Rallyday organisers, Brian Stubbings and Darin Frow are both pleased to see Matthew return following his outings at the event in 2007 and 2009.

“I’m really pleased to see Matt back at Rallyday this year,” said Darin. “He was hugely entertaining when he drove the Ford Focus RS WRC at Rallyday 2009, and I’m sure he’ll have everyone cheering again when he’s behind the wheel of the new Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

“In fact it will be a very special Rallyday for us seeing him alongside Kris in the MINI WRT John Cooper Works WRC – two of the UK’s top WRC drivers in two current WRC cars!”

Matthew and Kris won’t be the only top British rally drivers’ in attendance however, as Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins will also put in an appearance, along with his co-driver, Craig Drew.

David and Craig won the 2011 Rally America National Championship back in the summer in their BFGoodrich Tires-shod 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car. The 2011 title is the third for David in the USA having won the SCCA ProRally Championship in 2002 and 2003. He also won the British Rally Championship in 2004 and enjoyed much success in the Chinese Rally Championship from 2007 to 2010.

“After all the years Rallyday has been going this will actually be the first time I have had the chance to go,” David remarked. “My last five or six years has mainly been taken up competing in events outside the UK – in either America or China. It will actually be quite nice to be involved in something in the UK for a change. It is so easy when you are away so much competing overseas to fall out of touch with the British motorsport scene, but everybody loves watching the historic cars and seeing some of the old stuff – and obviously it will also be good to see the new MINI John Cooper Works WRC car at this year’s Rallyday as well the all-new Fiesta RS WRC. I am just looking forward to the whole day.”

The addition of Matthew and David completes the star-studded roster for Rallyday 2011. Other rally celebrities already confirmed include, as mentioned previously, MINI WRT Team pilot, Kris Meeke, as well as ex-WRC works ace Harri Rovanperä (who will drive MML Sports’ new R4 Mitsubishi Lancer EvolutionX) and former British Rally Champions Jimmy McRae, Russell Brookes and Gwyndaf Evans. Top Gear’s former Stig, Ben Collins is also going to put in an appearance, there to raise funds and awareness for the Race2Recovery campaign, which has set itself a challenging goal: to compete in, and finish, the 2013 Dakar Rally and in the process, raise £2m for wounded British servicemen and their families.

“We are very pleased with how everything has come together and can’t wait to see all the different cars, new and old, at the show. Having two current WRC teams at the show is absolutely incredible. There is certainly more to see and do at the show than ever before plus we are very excited about the dedicated 4×4 Rally Raid Zone, which should be a real hit with the spectators. We’d like to thanks all the drivers, teams and traders for their support and wish them an enjoyable Rallyday 2011,” Brian concluded.

Spectator tickets for Rallyday 2011 cost £20 per adult on the gate. Accompanied children under 16 can enter for FREE.

For more information visit: www.rallyday.com

Porsches and Ferraris make their annual visit to Castle Combe on Bank Holiday Monday 29 August for the A Plant Lux Traffic Controls Race Day, but it’s the circuit’s own three championships where local drivers will be making the impact.

Proving they can build and run the fastest car, regardless of what is thrown at them, is the Swift Cooper team, based on the doorstep of the circuit at Yatton Keynell.

After the loss of their driver, Peter O’Shea, at the last meeting, the understandably subdued team bounced back and came away with a win and a second place for its championship leading driver, Rob Hall. Moreover, their other pilots, Nathan Ward from Coventry and Luke Cooper, son of Swift Cooper boss, Alan, came away with a 2nd and 4th in class respectively, all the cars bearing the name of their former team mate.

Carrying on into this event will be the battle between Hall and 2009 champion, Ben Norton, from Bratton. When Hall’s car is perfect he may just have the edge, but has to temper this against Norton’s ability to drive flat out, with no regard to points, given his late arrival to the contest this year.

With two rounds to go, Saltford’s Steven Jensen needs to regain the form which saw him take double victories earlier this year. Valuable points were lost to Hall after his airborne excursion from the last meeting in the Gloucester based Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum, but thankfully no bones were broken.

Another local driver with considerable speed is Bradford on Avon’s David Vivian who picked up the two class B wins and the ‘Driver of the Day’ award last time. He still has to close the gap on Chippenham’s Adam Higgins who took a second and a third and will fly if there is any sign of rain.

Melksham’s Ed Moore and Langford’s Roger Orgee are class A contenders looking for some smooth running, whilst Bath’s Chris Acton, the former Pre ’90 champion, has one of his occasional outings in the Ray GRS08.

There is likely to be some air of tension in the circuit’s Saloon Car championship race after a controversial lead change at the last race.

Adam Prebble (Southampton) had already won the first race in his Rover Turbo and was deposed in race two by Bridgwater’s Tony Dolley in his 206 as they entered Bobbies, the pair differing in their view of the fairness of the pass.

Although Dolley’s overall title battle is not directly with Prebble or any of his own class A rivals, he still needs to beat them to stand any chance against Yate’s Nick Charles, the runaway leader of class B in his rapid 106.

After his gearbox problems last time, Nick Clark’s overall title battle is over, as Charles has a points lead which cannot be overtaken in the two remaining rounds. Weston Super Mare’s Will Burns and Ditcheat’s Charles Hyde-Andrews-Bird will be eager to deny Clark points for the class D honours too.

Bristol’s Mark Wyatt will be interfering in the Dolley/Prebble battle again and looking to secure his second in class in his Astra.

The ever changing position at the top of the circuit’s Sports and GT championship is an ongoing fascination. Trowbridge’s Andrew Shanley is this week’s leader in the Radical Prosport after the demise of Simon Tilling’s engine excluded him from the last race.

Whilst Tilling has the pace to romp home clear when the gods look kindly upon him, Shanley is capable of raking in a good dose of points on a consistent basis, so the outcome is still far from settled.

In the class for modified road based cars, North Wraxall’s Ian Hall would welcome a little more competition for his Darrian Wildcat if only to strengthen his points scoring ability. Like Tilling, his car is quick enough to almost guarantee a win if all goes well, but the odd glitch has kept him just off the overall lead.

Bath driver Guy Parr will be on a high after a second and third at the last meeting in his 2 litre Nemesis sports racing car, run by the Dursley based Wayne Poole Racing team.

The Porsche Club championship races see a variety of both front and rear engined machines from the German manufacturer. Engine and transmission modifications are not allowed, with regular power checks to ensure compliance. Stuart Ings from Bristol is one of the drivers having fun in a Boxster in class 2.

The Ferrari Owners Club has two races. The ‘Open’ caters for the modern machines such as 355, 360 & 430, whilst the ‘Classic’ allows cars built before 1990.

David Hathaway from Chepstow is contesting both, using his 308 GT4 in the Classic and his F355 Challenge in the Open, in which he finished 5th at Zandvoort this year.

Mike Reeder also has an F355 Challenge in the Open race along with fellow Pewsey resident Tim Ingram-Hill.

Malmesbury’s Pete Fisk in a Ferrari 328 GTB and Salisbury’s Martin Hart in a Mondial are other West Country drivers in the Classic race.

England’s home grown sports car manufacturer, Morgan, has its own half hour race too. Bristol’s George Martin is in his +8 after a 5th in class at Silverstone last time out. Keith Ahlers is usually the man to beat overall in his thundering 4.6 litre +8.

The Trimarque challenge 20 minute race sees all three manufacturers lining up against each other, with many of those from the Morgan, Ferrari and Porsche races taking part.

The day’s action starts at 8.30 am with qualifying, racing getting under way from 12.30 pm.

Admission prices are £15 for Adults, £7.50 for OAPs, £2.50 for Paddock Transfer, whilst accompanied children under 16 are admitted free.

For further information, visit the Castle Combe Circuit website on www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk or on Facebook or Twitter.

British sportscar maker, Caterham Cars, will feature in its 100th race at Wiltshire circuit, Castle Combe, on August 13.

Twenty-five years after Caterham’s iconic Seven first raced at Combe, drivers in the Caterham Graduates Championship will take part in a 20-minute race as part of the August Cup race weekend on the track described by Autosport Magazine as “the best club racing circuit in Britain”.

Caterham has a rich motorsport heritage in the UK – its innovative Caterham Academy has launched the careers of more than 850 brand new racing drivers since its inception in 1995, more than any other race series.

Among the drivers to have raced, and won, at Castle Combe in Caterham Sevens since the marquee first raced there on July 5, 1986, are ex-Formula One driver David Brabham, ITV4 British Touring Car Championship commentator Ben Edwards, and former motorcycle racer and MotoGP commentator, Steve Parrish.

Caterham Motorsport Manager, Simon Lambert, said: “Castle Combe has long been a firm favourite with club racers across the UK because of its fast, flowing nature. It has doubtless produced some of the finest Caterham racing of all time in the quarter century we’ve been going there.”

Tickets for the Castle Combe race weekend are available online at www.castlecombe.co.uk, costing £8 (£4 OAP and free for U16s) for the Saturday and £15 (£7 OAP and free for U16s) for Sunday. Paddock access is free when booked online or £2.50 on the day.

Please visit http://www.caterham.co.uk or call 01883 333 700 for more information about joining the Caterham Academy or any other of Caterham’s motor racing championships.

Phil Dryburgh and John Gaw took victory in the MSA Britcar Endurance Championship, and Simon Phillips and Chris Randall took victory in the Britcar GTN Production Championship during a 2 hour combined race at a sunny, and well attended, Castle Combe on Sunday.

The BEC winners’ Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 invitation entry, qualified second on the grid, behind the Azteca Mosler who, once again this season, were unable to turn pole position into a race victory. Javier Morcillo, taking the first stint made a mistake on lap 16, had an off and thought that was it. However, he managed to work out how to fix the problem, and got the car back to the pits and Manuel Cintrano managed to get out for the final 45 minutes.

Two hundredths further back, and starting in third position, Millard & Heward in their Rapier 6. Wilkins and Scott lead Class two, and were fourth overall ahead of the Paul White / Calum Lockie Strata 21 Mosler, who once again would have to start from the pitlane due to a problem. Rounding off class 1 and starting 6^th overall were Mustill and Evans in the bright yellow Aquila CR1.

Taking class 3 pole (7^th overall) were Jay Shephard and Rod Barrett, a man down this weekend with Jan Person away on business. Rod seeing the competitive advantage that could bring though: ““It means we have to make only 1 pitstop, which will save us 90 seconds. Jay will probably do an hour & fifteen, and I’ll do the final 45.” Jay Shepherd was leading at one point, as the pitstops were going on, before coming in right on 75 minutes. Unfortunately for Rod gearbox problems caused him to complete 25-odd laps with only 3^rd and 4^th gear, but still finished a remarkable 2^nd in class and 7^th overall, just two tenths ahead of the Ferrari 430 of Dhillon & Khandan-Nia.

Taking the Production pole were Mercer & Smith in their Ginetta G50, 15^th overall and sixth tenths ahead of the Strata 21 BMW of Jensen Lunn & Sarah Bennett-Baggs, who would start the race two laps down having needed to source another driveshaft after a failure in Sunday morning practice. P2 pole was taken by Byford, Adams and Green in their Seat Leon Cupra, just two hundredths behind the Cunninghams P1 Seat Supercopa.

Setting a respectable time, and starting 23^rd were Heitkotter and Mardenborough two finalists in the Playstation 3 Academy programme. Having beaten thousands of other entrants on the game Gran Turismo, a select bunch of finalists are being put through their paces in various championships to find an overall winner. The two drivers kept it on the black stuff and finished in 17^th place overall, and second in class.

Owen Thomas and Ashley Woodman weren’t where they expected to be this weekend, losing around some 2 seconds a lap due to brake pad problems. Not an issue they had at previous rounds, but being shown up here with the two big stops into the chicanes. The pads were overheating and then causing the discs to glaze, causing them to have to begin braking a lot earlier than everyone else. The team qualified in 26^th overall, and went on to finish in 18^th place.

Towards the back of the grid was Alyn James in the Synchro Motosport Honda Civic. Run by employees from the Honda factory up the road in Swindon, this was to be the teams “home” race. The Civic running well for the Friday test and Saturday qualifying day. Synchro’s other car, a Honda Jazz, driven by Dave Allan on the other hand, failed to set a time in qualifying to due differential problems, and so started right at the back of the grid. Sandwiched in between was the #61 car, another Honda Civic, driven by Tim Saunders. The two Civic’s and the Jazz were fighting very closely for the first few laps, until there was a big accident which left Alyn’s Civic on its roof, and brought out the safety car for 6 laps while it was cleared away.

Alyn: “I moved over to let the quicker Dave Allan through and the 2 of them [Allan and Time Saunders in the ’61 Civic] had a good battle, with Dave getting past on a very fast section of the track. But unfortunately the pressure we had put on the competitor [Tim Saunders] eventually showed when he missed his breaking point and hit the side of the Jazz and then spinning and facing the wrong way on the circuit, this then acted as a launch pad for myself and my Civic and I ended up driving up the front of his car and barrel rolling off the track. That was the end of the day for the Civic, but the Jazz kept going for another 3 laps then it developed an electrical problem. The impact with the competitors car had snapped the battery terminal and eventually due to the vibration it had come off completely. That was the end of a very disappointing weekend.”

There was a second safety car to clear Morcilo’s Mosler to a safe place, and then a third on lap 40 – just under half distance, for another car who pulled over in an unsafe position. At this point in time the race was being led by the #7 Rapier 6, 7 seconds ahead of the #42 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari with Nigel Mustill in the bright yellow Aquila another 8 seconds back.

Production was being led at this point, by #58 Lotus Exige of Mileham and Guglielmi, but they would go on to retire on lap 74. Second in Production were the Cunninghams in their Seat Supercopa, with eventual Production winners Simon Phillips and Chris Randall in third.

Once the pitstop sequence had come and gone, the race didn’t settle down one jot. Paul White leading in the Mosler, after a stonking series of laps by Calum Lockie to take the car from last place on lap 1 up to 2^nd place by lap 22 when he came in for his first stop. Having a smaller tank, just 90 litres compared to the 120 in the other Moslers, the Strata 21 entry has to pit more often. Calum explaining later in the race: “We saved time by just doing 1 churn on two different stops under the safety car. We’ve not got the pace of the Aqulia and the others.” They would have to stop again and went on to finish 4^th overall.

They had already dropped to second before their stop, as a flying John Gaw in the Ferrari 458 was putting in some excellent lap times to take the lead on lap 75. This is a lead that they would hold to the end of the race – lap 96.

There were still some changes to come behind though. Ian Heward in the Rapier (running in second overall), was trying to lap Ashley Woodman, Heward pulled right exiting the old paddock, unfortunately Ashely had done the same taking the racing line. The Rapier had nowhere to go and so took to the grass, spun and their race was over. The accident also caused the Oribtal Sound Lotus of Chris Headlam & Jamie Stanley to spin, whilst taking avoiding action, and they would finish in 10^th overall and third in class 3.

This incident put the Aquila up into second place overall, and the Dodge Viper of Wilkins and Scott took the final place on the podium – and the class 2 victory.

Class 3 was won by the Topcats Racing Marcos Mantis driven by O’Neil and Harrison, who inherited the class victory from Hawthorns Motorsport with their gearbox problem. Owen especially enjoyed the race, and was keen to help with this report: “We qualified 5th in class, starting in 14th. I brought it in after 55 minutes under the third safety car in 9th and we won our class after Rod lost gears in the 997.
I think something along the lines of “The class 3 Marcos harassing the class2 Ferraris for most of the start of the race at its spiritual home track, before claiming the class win” should do it!”

Simon Philips was pleased with his teams Production GTN victory: “Great weekend at Castle Combe in Britcar and a race WIN! Cracking first stint from Chris Randall put us right in the hunt and our pit stop tactics worked perfectly! (phew!) Winning with a lap in hand is the way forward”

Coming home second in Prodction were the Cunninghams, having a great scrap with the GT class 3 TVR Sagaris of Glynn & Hood, finishing just 3 seconds behind. Mercer and Smith in their Ginetta G50 rounded out the Production podium, coming home just 15 seconds ahead of Ticehurst & Mildenhall in their Mazda MX5.

The next round is at Snetterton on the weekend of 13^th/14^th August.

Words: Alex Ings / Images: Alex Ings

NO HTP, NO PROBLEM, FOR CASTLE COMBE CHALLENGE

A new race for owners of relatively unmodified classic Alfas and MGs will round off the season at the Castle Combe circuit on October 1.

Saloon or sports cars from the two marques, built between 1959 and 1975, will be eligible and whilst no FIA Appendix K or HTP papers are required, the organiser’s will use their judgment to ensure all cars are in keeping with the spirit of the race.

Known as the Gadgethelpline.com Alfa/MG Challenge, the race will allow cars under 2 litres capacity and encourages owners of lightly modified road cars to take part.

Crispin Thomas, himself a classic racing enthusiast and the man behind the initiative said, “We want to offer an outlet where owners of nice cars with perhaps a few period modifications can have some fun. We will be subjective about the cars, so there is some flexibility, but we certainly aren’t looking for homologation specials and bodywork modification is definitely out. There are lots of owners out there who do not want the expense or hassle of building their car to FIA spec’ even though their cars are quite original, so here is a place for them to play.”

With the interest shown already, it is hoped a full grid of suitable cars can be fielded, especially with the additional incentives of prize money, garland and trophy on offer.

It is hoped further races can be run next year if interest is sufficient for the inaugural event.

Entries can be made on line at www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk or contact Haydn Earl, Competitions Secretary, on 01249 782417.

Endurance racing comes to the Castle Combe circuit over the weekend of July 23 and 24 when the Britcar MSA British Endurance championship rolls up with its Ferraris, Porsches and other exotica.

Backed up by a full supporting programme, Sunday’s two hour encounter features pit stops and driver changes just like at the Le Mans 24 hours and three circuit champions looking to make their mark.

Chippenham’s Kyle Tilley, the reigning Castle Combe Formula Ford Pre ’90 class champion, is 2nd in class and 3rd overall in the championship in the Topcats Racing Marcos Mantis. The 7.2 litre Chevrolet V8 engined machine is capable of 190 mph and Tilley is looking forward to trying it on his home track. He said, “Compared to our rivals the car lacks a little in modern technology such as traction control and ABS, however at least I can say it’s all me doing the driving and not a computer”.

Nigel Mustill from Salisbury, the circuit’s Special GT champion in 1989 and 1990, will be looking for a repeat of his win at the Wiltshire track at the opening Easter meeting in the Charles Saunders Food Services Open Sports and GT race. Driving the unique Aquila CR1, a Danish built V8 powered sports racing car, Mustill also put the car on pole position at the Spa Francorchamps circuit last time out and will be hoping for a repeat of those feats.

The third circuit champion in the ‘enduro’ is Duncan Cameron, in a Ferrari 430 GT3, run by M Tech who took him to the 2007 Castle Combe GT title in a 360 Challenge.

Providing plenty of substance and excitement in support are the circuit’s own three championships for saloon cars, sports and GTs and Formula Ford, all of which race on both days.

With the last three wins in his pocket, the man to beat in the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 championship is Rob Hall in the Swift SC10, built and run next door to the circuit by the Swift Cooper team.

His nearest opponent is likely to be Steven Jensen from Saltford in the Spectrum 011 run by the Gloucester based Kevin Mills Racing team, although the returning Felix Fisher from Bridgwater could be a problem, especially as outright pace is more important to him than points, given his only occasional appearances in the championship this year.

Other class A drivers to keep an eye on include Jensen’s team mate, Roger Orgee from Langford, in the Van Diemen RF00 and former champion, Ed Moore from Melksham, in the recalcitrant Ray GR11.

Class B is the home of the young chargers, with Adam Higgins from Chippenham fending them off in his RF90 Van Diemen which is almost as old as him. Man of the meeting last time was Bradford on Avon’s David Vivian in the Wiltshire College run Swift, his turn of speed when things go right, simply awesome.

Coventry’s Nathan Ward and ultimate local, Luke Cooper, are right in the mix, both taken care of by Swift Cooper, the team with a Yatton Keynell address but a boundary on the edge of the circuit.

After the last meeting, life is a little easier for Nick Charles from Yate who leads the circuit’s Saloon Car championship in his B class Peugeot 106. Whilst his stunning outright race win at the previous meeting gave him no more points, his double class victories put him a very useful nine ahead of class C leader, Will Burns from Weston Super Mare, in the Fiesta.

Main class opposition for Charles should come from Bristol’s David Kift in a similar 106.

In class A it’s the two long standing adversaries, Bristol’s Mark Wyatt in the Astra and Tony Dolley from Bridgwater in the 206 who are often at the sharp end. But local chaps, Tony Hutchings from Calne in the Audi TT, Atworth’s Rob Ballard in the SEAT Cupra, together with Trowbridge’s Mark Funnell and Bath’s Guy Parr, both in Mini Coopers are all looking to get in on the act.

The fight for the Castle Combe Sports and GT championship is shaping up for another thrilling climax as the season progresses. With what appears to be a strong 7 point lead over his closest class rival, Trowbridge’s Andy Shanley has the frustrating problem that his Radical Prosport can be beaten by the more powerful Radical SR3 of Simon Tilling. Some no scores by Tilling earlier in the year have helped Shanley’s cause no end, but with lap record setting pace, the turbo SR3 could destroy that advantage as the season progresses.

But both have the leading class B driver, Ian Hall, to contend with. The Chippenham man has had a few issues with his spectacular 5.3 litre Darrian Wildcat in the class for highly modified saloon and sports cars this year, but is still only 4 points behind Shanley and faces little real opposition in his own class.

Wrington’s Darcy Smith has been a winner this year in his Nemesis RME 98 whilst Bath’s Guy Parr has a similar car run by the Dursley based Wayne Poole Racing team who also look after fellow Bathonian, Des Andrews, in the MegaHart 001.

Bristol’s Tim Woodman has his Caterham in class C.

Making its debut at Castle Combe is the 4two Cup, an innovative race series for Smart cars. Still road legal but with 125 bhp from the tiny 998cc engines, the miniature machines should be hilarious fun.

The Formula Free single seaters is where anything goes, so expect the Formula 3 cars to be stretching their legs on the 1.85 mile circuit.

The GAZ Shocks Production BMW Championship caters for the 318i and 320i made between 1983 and 1990, almost unmodified and suitably tail happy!

Toyo Tires Racing Saloons is another low cost series for Pre 1994 saloons with limited engine and suspension modifications.

Saturday’s action starts with qualifying at 08:45. Racing gets under way from 13.15.

Sunday morning starts with qualifying at 09-30, with a Smart Car race at 10.55. The endurance race starts off the afternoon’s events at 13:00.

Admission prices are on Saturday, £8 for Adults, £4.00 for OAPs, Paddock Transfer free and on Sunday, £15 for Adults, £7.50 for OAPs, £2-50 for Paddock Transfer, whilst accompanied children under 16 are admitted free on both days.

For further information, find the Castle Combe Circuit online at www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk, on Facebook or Twitter.

FUCHS TITAN MR2 Racing Series
Castle Combe was the venue for rounds 3 & 4 of the FUCHS TITAN MR2 Racing series on 30th May, 2011.
Qualifying
35 drivers lined up on a wet circuit for qualifying, Jason Jesse and Aaron Pullan found conditions not to their liking and attacked the barriers, Dave Pittard proved to be the wet master or the day from Mat Smith and Richard Avery to 5 were as follows…
1) David Pittard
2) Mat Smith
3) Richard Avery
4) Ralph Budd
5) Charlotte Burridge
6) Steve Hennessy
Race 1
With the circuit still wet and still raining, Dave Pittard lead off the line from Mat Smith and Richard Avery, Richard moved up to 2nd place but lost control and spun backwards into the barrier losing him a few places, so another win for Pittard from Mat Smith and Mark Woods.
Race 2
With a drying track now for this race and almost the last race of the day the grid was formed up ready with Dave Pittard on pole again and true to his form all day he left the start line and pole never to be seen again by the grid, he finished a full 4 seconds ahead of Aaron Pullan who was 5 seconds ahead of 3rd place Jonny White, unfortunately front row starter Matt Smith had a mechanical / car fire after an off the track moment, this also covering part of the circuit in oil, thus causing quite a few cars to spin off.
1) Dave Pittard
2) Aaron Pullan
3) Jonny White
4) Ralph Budd
5) Jon Winter
The Red Dragon Race & Track Club Promoted series next visits the New Snetterton 300 circuit on 26/6/2011
With the Red Dragons NIPPON CHALLENGE also at this event.

Vaughan Fletcher @Castle Combe 30th May 2011
Nippon Challenge “First Line” Japanese Race Day
“Super GT” Subaru Impreza

Pre Race:

It’s been a while since we were last out with the Nippon Challenge series, but following a chat with organiser Steve Vince at the pre-season event at Silverstone, and given the chance to run at one of Vaughan’s favourite tracks, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Since our last outing at Brands Hatch for the series final rounds in October last year, the car has undergone a number of changes to further enhance the handling and in our opinion the looks of the car.

With a wide arch kit giving the car a more aggressive appearance, we’ve increased the track with some new 8×18” wheels, and had new front hubs developed to engineer out the problems associated with the standard hubs, which are notoriously weak.

With a routine fluid change before the trip, everything was ready for the race.

Race Day:

Bank Holiday Monday’s at Castle Combe are something of legend, as the support for the circuit is far reaching and huge crowds flock to watch the racers compete.

With a full compliment of additional races, the paddock was brimming with cars from all of the attending series.

However the biblical rain that was falling from the skies was making the tarmac of Combe take on a more aquatic nature!

Qualifying:

Very Wet

From a possible grid of 42, the Nippon Challenge came up trumps with 34 cars, covering every class from GT150 up to Super GT and the Subaru Cup.

The ever popular Swift of Andy McLennan was out looking to add his wins tally from the opener at Silverstone and the last race at Brands, and with a couple of unknowns in the mix, it would be interesting to see how things played out.

Super GT class was made up of the following:

01. Jonathan Blake Mazda MX150r

16. Vaughan Fletcher Subaru Impreza RA

50. Yaser Almagrhrabi Daihatsu Charade Gti
96. Jason Langan Suzuki Swift Gti
97. Andy McLennan Suzuki Swift Gti

For qualifying it was decided we would try out the Toyo’s R888’s which were mounted on the new Revolution “Millennium 2” alloys. Given the opportunity to see how these faired in the wet, we took the gamble in the hope that we wouldn’t be disappointed. How wrong we were!

All too soon it became apparent that in heavy rain, the 888’s don’t cut the mustard. It wasn’t possible to get any heat in the tyres (as the data after the session showed) and the grip was non existent.

With the Impreza’s “understeer” handling bias magnified in the appalling conditions, and not being able to get the power down coming out of the corners, it wasn’t long before the car neatly pirouetted on track. 6.0 6.0 5.9!

With a sea of red flags, the session was called to an early close, and with only 4 laps carried out, it would be anyone’s guess as to what the grid would look like.

With the results in we had:

Qualified 1st in class

Qualified 1^st overall

Fastest lap: 1.34.917sec on lap 4 of 4

Pole Vaughan Fletcher

2^nd Yaser Almaghrbi

3^rd Eliot Dunmore

Race 1

Very Wet

Following qualifying it was obvious we needed to swap to “full wets” for the race, so the wheels were swapped over and the suspension re-set to get the best possible set up for the conditions, which showed no signs of improving.

Starting from 1st place on the inside of the grid we needed a good start, to out run the chasing pack. The weather and short qualifying session had played into the hands of the GT150 and GT200 cars, and they were right up near the front ready to charge.

With the red lights out, Vaughan took a good start, but the silver Subaru of Kevin Middleton had sliced his way through from the 2^nd row to overhaul Eliot Dunmore in his GT200 Celica and Yaser in his SGT Daihatsu.

Stewart “Viper” Hutchinson also capitalised with a great start and followed the Impreza of Middleton through the pack to hold 3^rd and then on to 2^nd place by lap 2.

Hutchinson was then in the Impreza’s mirrors for the rest of the race looking for any mistake to use to his advantage, but that wasn’t to be.

Finished 1st in class

Finished 1st overall

Fastest lap: 1.32.231 on lap 8 of 8

1^st Vaughan Fletcher

2^nd Stewart Hutchinson

3^rd Yaser Almagrhrabi

Race 2

Drying

Keeping an eye on the weather, it was decided that we would switch back to the 888’s for race 2, as there was a dry line forming on track. If we were to continue with the full wets, these would pay the price and soon become over heated and start to fall apart.

Starting again from 1st place on the inside of the grid, the drying circuit would be ideal for the rapid FWD cars that were all around.

All things came together for the start of race 2, and Vaughan pulled out a good lead up to Quarry,

Eliot Dunmore in his Celica came through from the 2^nd row of the grid to tuck in behind Vaughan and take 2^nd place off Hutchinson in his JDM DC2 Integra.

A lap later Stewart returned the favour and re-took 2^nd place to hold position until the end of the race, and Yaser in the 3 cylinder Daihatsu put in a great performance to claw back his lost positions to claim 3^rd and close out the top 3.

Behind were some great drives from the likes of Paul Hughes in his DC5 Integra who came through from 11^th to finish 4^th and 1^st in class. Candidate for drive of the day had to be Kevin Middleton in the X-Spec Impreza, who having started from the back of the grid, came through to finish 5^th overall and 1^st in class, passing both other “Cup” Impreza’s in the process.

With the chequered flag dropped:

Finished 1st in class

Finished 1st overall

Fastest lap: 1.17.047 sec on lap 7 of 9

1^st Vaughan Fletcher

2^nd Stewart Hutchinson

3^rd Yaser Almagrhrabi

Summary

The weather was the ultimate winner, but we were really pleased to come away with overall and class wins in both races.

Thanks also go to all of our sponsors, who make this possible, and in particular ScoobyClinic for the car preparation.

Words: Jonathan Fletcher

Pictures: Simon Cooke

“First Line” Japanese Race Day

Preview:

Following the last event at Brands Hatch, the Nippon Challenge road show rolled into Wiltshire and to the circuit which is Castle Combe. Showing no signs of slowing down, this popular race series is bucking the trend of low grid numbers and providing close racing for the club racer.

With a full grid last time out here in 2010, the promise of a “Japanese Race Day” was expected to draw in both the competitors and the crowds, although the torrential rain was out to spoil the fun. With rivers in place of tarmac, the conditions would be challenging for all involved.

Race Day:

With rain looking like being the only weather on the cards for the day, it was going to be an “interesting” days racing.

All classes were well represented and the day looked like providing some close class battles.

Super GT

The ever popular Swift of Andy McLennan was out looking to add his 2011 wins tally from Silverstone and Brands, and with the addition of a second “Hellier Motorsport” Swift, driven by Jason Langan and Yaser Almagrhrabi in his Daihatsu Charade GTi, a close battle could be expected.

However McLennan’s more reliable Swift of late, has seen him busy taking the scalps of the more powerful but heavier machinery. With this in mind we would be likely to see him near the front of the pack nipping at the heels of his rivals.

Vaughan Fletcher was back out to race at one of his favourite circuits, and would be expecting a hard time from the super quick McLennan, Hughes and the Subaru Cup contingency.

GT300

With no GT300’s at Brands, it was a welcome return for the class at Combe.

Paul Hughes was returning to more familiar territory by putting his DC5 Integra through its paces. In the GT300 class, he would be leading the charge for the Buddy Club brigade, and fellow Honda driver Anthony Allit rounded off the class with his CTR.

GT250

Stewart Hutchinson in his impressive JDM DC2 Honda Integra and Lee Bennett-Neil in his similarly matched UK spec DC2 would be aiming to be the N/A “thorn” in the sides of the turbo’d Toyota’s and Nissan Pulsar in the GT250 class.

Lee Bennett-Neal with his green Integra has been having a good season to date, but not having raced at Combe before, and up against some worthy opponents he would have to pedal hard.

Following his early retirement at Silverstone, the now repaired Nissan Pulsar of Adam Lockwood has found a new home in GT250, and will be hopeful of better results.

GT200

With an almost even mix of Celica’s and Civics in GT200, it would be a Honda v Toyota battle for class spoils, and it would no doubt create one of the biggest battles of the day with such closely matched competition. With a good turn out again for the BCCC, front runner Paul Cowland would be looking to add to his silverware collection, whilst fending off the chasing pack.

GT150

The MR2’s in GT150 were taking advantage of running in both the “Nippon Challenge” and the “Fuchs Titan Race MR2 Racing Series” at Combe. A case of double your pleasure, double your fun! The only non MR2 in class was the Hyundai Coupe of Steve Harman.

Subaru Cup

Following a stint in the “Tengudo Motorsport” Impreza, Karen Philips was back racing in her own Impreza, and having spent some time familiarising herself with the circuit during the recent “Japfest” event she would be fighting for the top step in the SC.

Joining in the fun for Combe, would be Richard Senter, (Karen’s partner) in the “Tengudo Motorsport” Impreza. Team principal Martin White secured a 3^rd in class at Brands Hatch and 4^th overall with the Subaru, so the #29 Subaru is capable of producing the goods. Hopefully there would be no team orders between drivers!

Kevin Middleton rounded off the class, and was out again in the X-Spec Impreza, having taken the step to move from his GT150 MX5 earlier this year.

Qualifying:

With only 4 laps possible due to the appalling weather and number of on track incidents, the grid was probably going to be one of the most mixed up of recent times.

Any more waved red flags, and it was in danger of being mistaken for a Spanish bull fight instead of a motor race!

Richard in car #29 paid a visit to the tyre wall, but thankfully any damage incurred was soon rectified by the team at “Tengudo”. Another driver thankful of a good team to back him up was Paul Hughes, who was in the worst possible situation when he collided with one of his teams Civic Cup racers and damaged the radiator of his Integra. Thankfully for him he was able to be repaired and out for race 1.

The conditions had played into the hands of the lower power classes, with GT150 cars placed much higher than we have come to expect, with 3 MR2’s in the top 10.

Pole: Vaughan Fletcher Subaru Impreza SGT

2^nd: Yaser Almagrhrabi Daihatsu Charade GTi SGT

3^rd: Eliot Dunmore Toyota Celica GT200

4^th: Kevin Middleton Subaru Impreza SC

5^th: Paul Cowland Honda Civic GT200

6^th: Charlotte Burridge Toyota MR2 Mk1 GT150

7^th: Dave Hemingway Toyota MR2 Mk1 GT150

8^th: Stewart Hutchinson JDM Honda Integra DC2 GT250

9^th: Richard Avery Toyota MR2 Mk1 GT150

10^th: Ross Stoner Toyota Celica GT200

Race 1

With both the turbo’d GT250 class Toyota’s of Nick Reed and Rob Jefferies out, the grid numbers were back up to 34 with the additions of Anthony Allit in the GT300 Civic Type R and Alok B Iyengar in his GT200 Celica, who had both missed qualifying.

With the red lights out, Fletcher held position to hold onto his lead from pole position. The silver Subaru of Kevin Middleton used his 4wd to great effect and sliced his way through from the 2^nd row to overhaul 3^rd placed Dunmore in his GT200 Celica and 2^nd placed Yaser in his SGT Daihatsu.

Stewart “Viper” Hutchinson also capitalised with a great start and followed the Impreza of Middleton through the pack to hold 3^rd.

By lap 2 Hutchinson and Yaser had dispatched the Impreza of Middleton and sat in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively until the chequered flag dropped.

Despite the text book start Middleton began to drop back down the field until on lap 4 a visit to the gravel at “Quarry” signalled the end of his race.

Further down the field, cars were still struggling for grip, and both remaining Impreza Cup cars found themselves in difficulty.

Anthony Allitt paid a visit to the pit wall on lap 3 which meant the driver from Neath was back in the paddock sooner than expected.

The GT150 and GT200 cars showed that they could have their day, with places throughout the top ten.

1^st: Vaughan Fletcher SGT

2^nd: Stewart Hutchinson GT250

3^rd: Yaser Almagrhrabi SGT

4^th: Eliot Dunmore GT200

5^th: David Hemingway GT150

6^th: Richard Avery GT150

Fastest lap: Vaughan Fletcher 1:32.231 on lap 8 of 8

DNF

07 Kevin Middleton

25 Anthony Allitt

Class Wins:

SGT Vaughan Fletcher

GT300 Paul Hughes

GT250 Stewart Hutchinson

GT200 Eliot Dunmore

GT150 David Hemingway

SC Karen Philips

Race 2

The drying circuit for race 2 would be ideal for the rapid FWD cars that were at the head of the field.

Both Allitt and Middleton had got their respective cars out for the start for Race 2, although the grid was down 6 of the MR2’s.

With lights out, it was a clean get a way, with Fletcher leading the way up “Avon Rise”.

Eliot Dunmore in his Celica came through from the 2^nd row of the grid to tuck in behind Fletcher in his Subaru and take 2^nd place off Hutchinson in his JDM DC2 Integra.

A lap later Stewart returned the favour and re-took 2^nd place to hold position until the end of the race, and Yaser in the 3 cylinder Daihatsu put in a great performance to claw back his lost positions to claim 3^rd and close out the top 3.

McLennan was on a storming drive to drive from up from 10^th to 4^th by lap 6, but a tussle with Yaser for 3^rd resulted in the Swift paying a visit to the grass and dropping him back to 7^th overall.

Paul Hughes in his GT300 DC5 Integra came up through the field from 11^th to finish 4^th overall and 1^st in class.

Candidate for drive of the day however had to be Kevin Middleton in the X-Spec Impreza, who having started from the back of the grid, came through to finish 5^th overall and 1^st in class, passing both other “Cup” Impreza’s in the process and leaving them in his wake.

1^st: Vaughan Fletcher SGT

2^nd: Stewart Hutchinson GT250

3^rd: Yaser Almagrhrabi SGT

4^th: Paul Hughes GT300

5^th: Kevin Middleton SC

6^th: Eliot Dunmore GT200

Fastest lap: Vaughan Fletcher 1:17.047 on lap 7 of 9

DNF

11 Adam Lockwood

94 Andy Howell

Class Wins:

SGT Vaughan Fletcher

GT300 Paul Hughes

GT250 Stewart Hutchinson

GT200 Eliot Dunmore

GT150 David Hemingway

SC Kevin Middleton

Despite the weather, the racing was honest, with some great battles throughout the field.

Words: Jonathan Fletcher
Pictures: Lance Wittenberg

Live television coverage returns to the Castle Combe Circuit after a 50 year gap, with the hosting of the Motors TV Live Race Day on Monday May 2.

The meeting will be beamed live to the TV screens of viewers in 39 countries and is the first time an entire event has been broadcast from the circuit. The last live broadcast was at a motorcycle meeting in May 1961, whilst in 1955 the BBC covered both the start and finish of a Formula 1 race there.

Spectators at the Wiltshire track have an added bonus for the event with giant TV screens at Camp and Quarry to help them keep track of even more of the action than usual.

As is traditional at Castle Combe, the accent is on non-stop action, with a packed programme of generally short races, where sprinting to the finish will be more important than pacing and preserving tyres.

Nevertheless, with two races for each of the circuit’s home grown championships for saloons, Sports & GT cars and Formula Fords, there will need to be a delicate balance in the first races between car preservation and ultimate pace. With the last meeting just seven days previous, some of the teams will already have been burning the candle at both ends to bring their machines back to full health, so expect to see a few tired looking mechanics in the paddock. With the season barely one meeting old, it is a little too early to comment on form, but inevitably the star names will be filtering through, especially with the added bonus of live TV exposure for their sponsors.

The quality of the entry for the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 race makes picking a winner a tricky business. Reigning champion Marcus Allen faces all the opposition he overcame last year and has the 2009 championship winning Spectrum to help him, run by the circuit based Wiltshire College.

One of his fiercest young opponents, Felix Fisher from Bridgwater, returns for one of his sporadic outings this year in his Van Diemen RF00, whilst former double champion, Ed Moore from Melksham, has his new Ray GR11. Also Ray mounted is local Castle Combe man Andrew Jones, his GRS07 most at home in damp conditions. The list of top names goes on, with 2010 Carnival winner, Rob Hall, back in the Swift, Bath’s Chris Acton the 2006 Class C title holder, in the Ray GRS08, Saltford’s Steven Jensen with the Spectrum 011C and in Class B, David Vivian from Bradford on Avon in the Wiltshire College Swift SC92.

The circuit’s Saloon Car Championship adds a couple of (BMW) Minis to the mix for the first time headed by reigning Sports and GT champion, Mark Funnell from Trowbridge. With his penchant for driving his race car to meetings, Mark is following in the footsteps of double Class C champion, Julian Howell from Radstock, whose BMC Mini was also road registered.

With a theoretical limit on the effective power two front wheels can deliver, the eyes are on the progress of the new rear wheel drive 3 litre BMW 130i of Ditcheat’s Kevin Bird. Relying on turbos for their oomph are the likes of double champion Tony Hutchings from Calne in his Audi TT and Southampton’s Adam Prebble in the Rover, whilst the normally aspirated runners such as Bristol’s Mark Wyatt, the reigning class B champion in the Astra and Bridgwater’s Tony Dolley in the Peugeot 206 rely on all round driveability.

Class B sees the Peugeot 106′s such as those from reigning champion, Nick Charles from Yate and David Kift from Bristol versus the Fiesta of Bath’s Guy Parr. Russell Poynter-Brown defends his Class D title in the immaculate Corsa 1.4. In the new mildly modified class, the Honda Integra of Melksham’s Simon Norris should be worth keeping an eye on.

The Sports and GTs will provide the fastest races of the day with the Radical sports racing cars likely to be out at the front. Simon Tilling in his Radical SR3 will be fending off those such as a busy Guy Parr in the Nemesis. In the highly modified class, the Darrian Wildcat of Chippenham’s Ian Hall is aptly named with its monster 5.3 litre V8 ready to pounce. He will have the Lotus Exige of Stuart Dixon from Bideford to contend with.

Always welcome are races for Minis. This time the Mighty and Super Mighty championships provide their version of ultra close BMC racing. Last year, Louise Inch clinched a poignant victory in the Mighty Minis at the scene of her grandfather Chris’s death at the circuit in 1980 from a heart attack in qualifying. Louise even beat her father Paul, who had qualified on pole. Scott Kendall and Neven Kirkpatrick shared the Super Mighty honours last year.

The Kumho BMW championship is open to any production BMW sold in the UK, its four classes offering a relatively low cost entry into motorsport, with the added bonus of rear wheel drive. Garrie Whittaker has won all the races so far this year in his E36 M3.

A combination of cars and drivers from the circuit’s own championships and the visitors will also feature in the various ‘open’ races, where more or less anything goes.

Monday’s action starts at 8.40 am with qualifying, racing getting under way from 1.00 pm.

Admission prices are again held at £15 for Adults, £7.50 for OAPs, £2.50 for Paddock Transfer, whilst accompanied children under 16 are admitted free.

The Castle Combe Circuit’s 2011 season gets under way on Easter Monday, April 25, with a special race to celebrate what was once Wiltshire’s only car manufacturer, Marcos.

Whilst the famous marque is no more, having gone into liquidation in 2007, a loyal band of enthusiasts still revere the cars, none more so than on the racetrack, where they are still competitive in events world-wide, one Marcos in particular holding four land speed records.

The idea for the race came from the Trowbridge based Classic Sports Car Club, which recently appointed Marcos founder, Jem Marsh, it’s President.

Jem, who has lived for most of his life in Bradford on Avon, founded Marcos in 1959, the ‘cos’ part of the name coming from Frank Costin who went on to become half of the world famous Cosworth engineering company.

The 30 minute race at Castle Combe is open to every kind of Marcos from the nimble Mini based cars to the 3 litre V6 machines and it will be interesting to see which come out on top. Castle Combe could be described as the home of the Mini Marcos as it was there it made its race debut in 1965, winning in the hands of local driver Geoff Mabbs, who lapped all but one of the field.

Likely to be at the front this time is a car which in 2004 was the fastest ‘Mini’ in the world, beating every other variant in a race at Silverstone. In the hands of former Castle Combe saloon car driver, Matthew Howell from Radstock, the ‘ground effect’ 1380cc machine has been little used since its world beating performance seven years ago. Said Matthew, “My dream is to match the kind of performance the land speed record holding Trans XL Marcos achieved in the hands of Steve Roberts”. Roberts from Marshfield, the car’s original builder, will be on hand himself to judge as he runs the circuit based Merlin Motorsport company. At one time the Trans XL machine was thought to be the most successful race car ever built and it’s hoped the current owner will bring it to Castle Combe to take part in the Marcos Cavalcade at Mid-day.

Some of the bigger V8 Marcos cars will be out in the pair of Charles Saunders Food Services Open Sports and GT encounters. These races welcome back ‘ big banger’ unlimited capacity sports racing cars to the circuit, none bigger than the 7 litre Chevrolet engined Aquila of Salisbury’s Nigel Mustill. Bath drivers Guy Parr in the Nemesis and Des Andrews in a Radical will be up against the might of the works Jade.

Parr and Andrews will also feature in the circuit’s regular championship for Sports and GT cars, as their machines are within the 2 litre capacity limit. Likely to be resuming their ongoing battle of the last two years are Trowbridge’s Andrew Shanley, the reigning class champion, in the Radical Prosport amd Simon Tilling from Vernham Dean in his Radical SR3.

A new class for modestly modified cars up to 1800cc is added to the circuit’s Saloon Car championship this year. Out front should be many of the usual protagonists, including double champion Tony Hutchings from Calne in his Audi TT and Bristol’s Mark Wyatt, the reigning Class B champion in the Astra, sure to be challenged by his team mate, Kevin Bird from Ditcheat. Bird debuts a unique new car to the championship in the shape of a 3 litre BMW 130i built to M sport specification. Rear wheel drive should give it an ‘off the line’ advantage once sorted. Bird’s SEAT Cupra Turbo is now in the hands of Atworth’s Rob Ballard, run by 2008 champion, Will Di Claudio from Bromham.

With Di Claudio’s time taken up running other people’s cars, life will be easier in Class B for the likes of reigning champion, Nick Charles from Yate, who defends his title with his quick 106 GTi from those such as Bristol’s David Kift with a similar car. Bath’s Guy Parr has acquired the 2009 championship winning Fiesta from Jason Cooper to supplement his outings in the Sports and GT championship.

Also back to defend his crown is Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 champion, Marcus Allen, now run by the circuit based Wiltshire College team responsible for the 2009 championship domination of Ben Norton. Allen will use the same Spectrum as Norton, its sister car in the hands of debutant Harry Kightley.

Returning to the scene of his 2004 and 2007 championship titles is Melksham’s Ed Moore, now in a Ray GR11, whilst 2008 champion, Josh Fisher from Bridgwater, adds to the quality in his Van Diemen. Staying with champions, Bath’s Chris Acton, 2006 Class C title holder, is back in Class A with a Ray GRS08.

Saltford’s Steven Jensen stays with the Kevin Mills Racing team from Gloucestershire aboard his Spectrum 011C. Joining him in a similar car will be 2004 Class C champion, Nick Jones, from Chepstow.

Class B favourite should be Bradford on Avon’s David Vivian in his Wiltshire College Swift SC92.

The deceptively fast MG Midget championship cars return for a 15 lap race, with Shepton Mallet’s Martin Hillard and Stone’s Richard Homer, the local participants. Completing the programme are two races for Production Golf GTis.

Spectators have an opportunity to get close to the drivers and cars from the Castle Combe Circuit based championships with a track walkabout from 12:15.  Monday’s action starts at 8.40 am with qualifying, racing getting under way from 1:00 pm.

Admission prices are again held from last year at £15 for Adults, £7.50 for OAPs, £2.50 for Paddock Transfer, whilst accompanied children under 16 are admitted free.  For further information, visit the Castle Combe Circuit online at www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk, Facebook or Twitter.

The AAA Saloon Cup heads to Castle Combe on Monday August 30th for the final 2 rounds of the series as AAA Saloons reaches the climax to its debut season.

Fresh from back-to-back victories last month in the AAA Saloon races at Oulton Park, the man most likely to be drinking more champagne at Castle Combe – his local circuit – is Simon Norris, driving his awesome 800 bhp Bogey Evo, rumoured to have cost in excess of £200,000.

Attempting to make him at least share some of the spoils of victory will be Malcolm Wise in his Escort Cosworth, a race winner from Silverstone, and Gary Prebble, behind the wheel of his 700 bhp Sparshatts Evo VII RS, who won the second round of the AAAS season at Combe – from the back row of the grid ! Gary knows Combe like the back of his hand and set the fastest lap of the race, to follow on from his pole position.

But making his debut in AAA Saloons from the Dunlop Motorsport News Saloons will be Mark Biggers in his impressive Skyline, and judging by his season’s form he could well be up challenging the front runners.

Ajec Racing’s Laurie Kilby (Evo IX) will be hoping that his fast but unlucky season finally generates the results he’s been searching for all year. He led the opening race of the year at Combe to within sight of the chequered flag before dropping to second.

Meanwhile Richard Jones, in his debut race season, is gaining more and more confidence in his 2.2L Launch Motorsport Evo VIII, and will be delighted to make another appearance on the rostrum should any of the expected front runners get a wheel out of line.

In GpB, for cars limited to 400 bhp, Steve Liquorish in the Ergo/JRM Evo X is likely to be the front runner, although it must be said that Combe is not his favourite circuit; he’s already had 2 expensive accidents there this season, one in his Evo (making its race debut) and the other in the Mini Challenge.

With three GpB wins under his belt from the earlier rounds Martin Thomas (in his first season of racing) driving the Somerset Storage Evo VIII has his fingers crossed that he’ll once again be taking some champagne home with him.

The man to beat in this year’s Nippon Challenge – taking the majority of race wins – is Vaughan Fletcher and this weekend he’s returning to AAA Saloons to see how his race-winning Subaru Impreza RA matches up with the GpB Evos. He’ll once again be joined by Ian Froggatt, in another Subaru, both cars built by the Scooby Clinic. Both drivers made impressive AAA debuts at Oulton last month, and enjoyed the series so much they are back for more.

Making his AAA Saloons debut will be the very experienced Malcolm Stevens who will be driving his twin-turbo Mitsubishi GTO and hoping his decades of race experience will counteract his power disadvantage when he competes at his local circuit.

Completing the mixture of Group B cars are Angus Gorringe – he made his race debut at Combe at the end of last year – who will be racing his Tangerine Audi S2, while David Harries is hoping that his Subaru will be a lot more reliable than his last outing at Oulton Park where he failed to even finish qualifying.

These final 2 races of the season also include a special invitation 2WD class.

Motors TV are broadcasting a 25 minute programme from each race at Castle Combe.

Britcar GT & Production Race. Castle Combe. Sunday 19th June 2010.

It looked like there was a chance the MJC domination have come to an end. A sunny two day weekend was in store for the Britcar family as they all rolled up to Castle Combe for round four of the 2010 season. Witt Gamski and Keith Robinson had won all three races so far this year. Could anyone stop them?

The class two cars had their day in the sun during qualifying on Saturday, with the JMH Ferrari driven by Aaron Scott & Arwyn Williams being one of only two cars lapping in under 1min 8 seconds. Alongside on the front row was the Topcats Racing Mantis of Huggins / Fiorentino. Row 2 was the championship leading MJC Ferrari F430 with Witt Gamski & Keith Robinson down on their usual front row starting position. Another Ferrari was in fourth, this time in the shape of MTech Motorsport’s F430 GT3, piloted by Cameron & Khandon-Nia. The class 3 Oribtal Sound Lotus popped up in 5th spot, with Keith Gent & Steve Clark taking Production pole in their BMW M3 E46.

Row 4 consisted of the Neil Garner / Azteca Motorsport Porsche 996, just two tenths ahead of another BMW M3 – this time the Intersport Racing entry, who were only three tenths ahead of the other Topcats Racing Mantis. Gino Ussi rounded out the top ten and was in for a hot race, being the only driver in his Geoff Steel Racing E46 M3.

Both Sagaris’ (Sagarii?) had problems in qualifing, with the GTF Racing making it to 11th place, and the Glynnsport vehicle managing 17th. Two cars with a bit of history lined up in close proximity – the In 2 Racing Ginetta GT4 started in 12th, and the Cunninghams SG Racing Seat Leon, who had had gearbox problems, in 13th. It was these two who had the start line collision at Snetteron back in April, causing the Leon to miss the round at Croft.

Starting in 14th was to be the Day/Phipps entry in the Simmons Printers BMW with Gary Furst in his Mitsubishi Evo 9 in 15th. Dave Allan driving a Honda Civic run by Synchro Motorsport was 16th. The field was rounded out with the BPM Racing Renualt Clio in 18th, another BMW, this time from Brunswick Automotive in 19th. Sams Boyz Motorsport had a Honda Accord in 20th. The last row of the grid was the Bullrun Seat Cupra, with the Race Car Spares Ford Escort of the Cox family bringing up the rear after a forced gearbox change on Friday.

Unfortunately for the class two front row, Sunday didn’t quite go according to plan. The pole sitting JMH Ferrari was pushed off the grid just before the pace lap, and had to start from the pitlane – with suspected electrical problems. A great recovery drive, firstly from Aaron Scott who managed to get up to 8th by lap 13, and later by Arwyn Williams, saw the car home in fourth place overall.

This meant that Neil Huggins, who had the first stint in the Mantis, was in the lead going into turn one, and slowly pulling away from Witt Gamski in the no 1 Ferrari. Ten laps in and the Mantis was 3.6 seconds ahead, with Gamski only four tenths ahead of an exceedingly fast starting number 10 Sagaris – who had also had problems on the grid, but they obviously weren’t too serious given the pace of Tim Hood!

There were a couple of good scraps in the midfield. The Cunninghams Seat Leon and the In2 Racing Ginetta managed to avoid each other on the start line but were exceedingly close for a number of laps – Mark Cunningham all over Mick Mercer into the Esses. Nearly 20 laps in though, and the Leon started to drop back, possibly due to a return of the gearbox issues they had in qualifying the previous day, and lost out on positions to Steve Glynn and also and Robert Day. Peter Cunningham was unable to improve on matters, and they finished 16th, 16 laps down on the leader.

Javier Morcillo, who started in the Azteca Motorsport Porsche was also having a highly entertaining scrap with Steve Clark in the KG Motorsport BMW M3. From the off they were separated by less than a second, and in most laps it was only a couple of tenths, until lap 17. By this time they were going past back markers and so the gap increased to a few seconds. 10 laps further on though, and a drive shaft joint sheered off, which holds the rear stub axle on which in turn holds the wheel on, causing Morcillo to pull over by Camp corner, bringing out a safety car. The car was recovered to the pits, a new shaft fitted and the Porsche re-joined the race and saw the chequered flag, albeit not classified as a finisher. The failed part is supposed to last 40 hours, but this one had been run for only 20, so fingers crossed for the team the rest of the parts they have last the full distance.

As we were now about 40% of the way through the race at the time of the safety car going out, it was well within the pitstop window, and so a host of teams called their drivers in. The big winner of this was the MJC team, with Keith Robinson taking over driving duties, and managing to get out ahead of Raphael Fiorentino, now in the Mantis. Unfortunately for the Topcats team, the woe wasn’t over, as with 10 minutes to go, Fiortentino suffered a suspension failure (thought to be caused by a knock earlier in the race) and was forced to retire, but was classified in 10th spot.

This left the way clear for another Team MJC victory, and after 74 laps, Robinson took the chequered flag a lap ahead of Duncan Cameron who did the second stint for MTech Motorsport.

The afternoon ended badly for the GTF Racing team, after Hood pitting on lap 28 from their excellent third place, for Dowling to take over. The car started to overheat behind the safety car, causing more visits to the pits – losing htem 11 laps in the process – and eventually an 11th place classification. This meant that third spot on the podium was taken by the Orbital Sound Lotus. After pitting on Lap 30, Jamie Stanley took over from Chris Headlam and put in a sterling effort, eventually finishing just 5 seconds behind the Ferrari.

Keith Gent & Steve Clark took the Production victory, and 5th place overall, just 18 seconds behind the GT class 2 Ferrari of Williams & Scott. This was on top of a previous Production win at Croft, and second place at Snetterton, so the pairing is starting to put a good string of results together.

Topcats Racing did get a class podium, with O’Neill & Harrison, finishing an overall 6th, just 10 seconds behind Keith Gent, but second in class, just ahead of fellow class three competitors Day & Phipps.

Seventh overall, but taking the Production runner up spot, and class two victory, was the Cox family in the Motor Spares Ford Escort. This proved to be a very popular victory at the presentation a little after the race. Another lap down was the Renault Clio, also in class two of Production, who had a solid race and managed to improve to an 9th overall from their starting position of 18th.

The remaining classified competitors were the Glynnsport Sagaris in 12th place, the Brunswick BMW in 13th. Dave Allan’s Civic, Gary Furst in the Evo 9, the ailing Cunninghams Seat Leon, and the Sams Boyz Honda Accord.

So Gamski & Robinson, and the MJC team, did it again. 4 from 4 so far this season, and with each competitors best seven results of the year used for the points tally come seasons end, it would be a brave man to bet against them retaining their title.

With the GT & Production cars on track at the same time, there really is competition and action throughout the 20+ cars on track. Coupled with this there was a good sized crowd, perhaps encouraged to come by the public grid walk that happens just before the race.

Either way a good crowd, good weather and a good race – what more can you ask for.

Words: Alex Ings / Images: Alex Ings.

The weekend of 19th and 20th June saw Rotherham-based racing ace, Jake Cook, make the long trip to Wiltshire for round four of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.

Castle Combe was the final destination, and having never been there before, it was a brand new experience for the youngster. Jake headed into the weekend once again on the back foot, as being unable to test on the Thursday meant he was at a disadvantage.

As Saturday arrived so did Jake’s 17th birthday. The day kicked off with qualifying, and despite struggling with an over-steering car and a new circuit, Jake set the ninth fastest time for the first race, once again overcoming the disadvantage. The qualifying session also saw a one-off livery displayed on his single-seater, as his team helped to celebrate his birthday by putting ‘L’ plates on his race car.

As race one got underway, the Getem Racing pilot got boxed in at the first corner, dropping him to 14th place. As the race developed Jake showed he had the pace we’ve come accustomed to, with his swiftness taking him to the fifth fastest lap of the race. Despite his early set back, Jake was able to fight his way back through the field to eighth place at the chequered flag.

The second race began with Jake starting in 13th position. This time around he was able to get a strong start, launching up to 10th place immediately. Not too far down the road he made up more ground, battling through to eighth.

Unfortunately this was short-lived for the 17 year old, as a lock-up at the chicane sent him off of the track and across the grass. After catching the kerb the floor of his Mygale machine came away, forcing Jake to pit immediately. Not being able to rejoin the race brought his second outing to an abrupt end instantaneously.

Glancing back over his first Castle Combe experience, Jake said: “It was a very different track to get used to. I had to drive a lot harder, and with missing testing on Thursday we didn’t have much time to get used to it.”

Jake’s next round is at Rockingham, Northamptonshire, the weekend of 17-18th July. Looking ahead to it Jake said: “I’m looking forward to Rockingham. I’ve been there a lot in the past and had good results. Plus my team [Getem Racing] have always done well there.

“I’m looking to get more podiums and maybe a first win there,” he added.

With a bit of a gap now until the next round Jake will be able to reflect on his season so far, and what a season it’s been for the rookie up to this point.

Report: Leanne Fahy
Photography: Jonathan Hatfield
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