COMBE CHALLENGE, AUGUST 6
LUKE AND FELIX STRIKE BACK
August 3’s Combe Challenge event, the fifth double-header of the Gulf Race Fuels Formula Ford Championship, may have drawn the smallest entry of the season in the summer holiday, but it marked a return to victory circle for Luke Cooper and Felix Fisher. Atypically, neither double champion – the latter gunning for a hat-trick of titles – had won a round in 2024, yet by being consistent front-runners where rivals have dipped in and out the omnipresent protagonists arrived atop the table, Felix 14 points ahead of Luke, with triple-winner Alex menacingly on their heels.
All three dipped well into the 70 second bracket in qualifying, Cooper (Swift Cooper SC20) snaring pole for the opening race with a strong 1m10.261s (94.78mph) best, his final charge a scant 0.073s quicker than Fisher in his Somerset Electrical Company Ray GR05. Walker (Wayne Poole Racing Van Diemen RF01) was just 0.274s adrift, presaging a three-marque fight for supremacy. Defending Class B champion Nathan Ward (Swift SC92) gridded fourth on 1:11.369 (93.31mph), shading Chris Acton (Ray GR08).
Class C standout David Cobbold (Van Diemen RF89) sat sixth having cut a 1:12.253, heading off Bob Hawkins (Springbridge Direct Ray GR10) and Tom Radburn in his Echo Motorsport Spectrum. Van Diemen-mounted Richard Earl (RF88) and Vincent Jay, piloting one of the period game-changing RF90 ‘Stealth Bombers,’ were next up, clear of Alicia Hamlen (Ray GR09). Tom Hawkins (GR11) did not record a Q time, the Super Classics FF1600 standout having bent two valves when it jumped out of gear, but would at least get out in the first race after remedial work by his crew.
Cooper made the best of the first race start, establishing himself ahead of Fisher and Walker, with Hawkins rocketing from the back of the grid to fourth inside the first lap. Felix and Alex traded second until a clash at the Esses on the penultimate lap fired Fisher straight through and earned Walker a reprimand for causing contact. He came off worse, falling to ninth, but his 1:10.880s (93.96mph) fastest lap third time round was the race’s best. Cooper, relieved to have got the monkey off his back, took the chequered flag 3.673s ahead of Fisher, with Ward a well-deserved third in his 32-year-old Golden Bull Swift.
Hawkins was fourth over the line, but his race was far from straightforward. More gearchange problems on lap 3 dropped him to ninth, behind his drag racer father, who ceded immediately, whereupon Tom passed Radburn, Cobbold and Acton on successive laps to recover the lost places. Acton, Cobbold and Radburn together, then papa Hawkins chased him home. Walker, Earl and Hamlen completed the 11 finishers, but Jay retired to the pits at half distance.
Race 2 saw Fisher refind his winning form, leaving Cooper to duel with Walker in his wake. They swapped places several times, before a last lap lunge by Alex advantaged Luke. He finished second, 2.489s adrift of Felix, although the fastest lap bonus point for his 1:11.177 on lap 6 was a fillip. Walker kept third, watched by Ward who, having passed the faster-starting Cobbold on lap 2, had Acton’s more modern Ray increasingly large in his mirrors towards the end.
Bob Hawkins sprang up to sixth, ahead of division winner Cobbold and Radburn. Hamlen and David’s rival Earl rounded out the finishers, for Jay’s miserable day ended in another retirement and Hawkins Jr’s race was over inside a lap when his gear linkage disintegrated, if nothing else revealing the root cause of a very frustrating day.
Fisher and Cooper are now 13 points apart at the head of the table with four rounds remaining. Things hot up next time out at the Combe Countdown on Bank Holiday Monday, August 26. With competitors able to count only their best 11 results from 14 rounds, dropped scores come into effect before October 5’s Grand Finals. Walker, discarding two zeroes and a 12, thus has the potential to close in.
PREBBLE: PER ARDUA AD ASTRA
Through adversity to the stars – as the Latin phrase per ardua ad astra translates – Vauxhall Astra turbo returnee Adam Prebble’s early season woes torpedoed his chances of defending his Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship title, but as he proved at August 3’s Combe Challenge meeting he has not lost the hunger for winning. Two victories over points leader Harrison Chamberlain (VW Golf GTi turbo) and June’s Summer Spectacular conqueror Dave Spiller (Audi TT turbo) respectively were Prebble’s first of the season.
These, and a scintillating lap record of 1m09.963s (95.60mph) which erased Harrison Chamberlain’s 1:09.721, set on May 6, in the racecard’s opener, issued a mighty challenge to Bill Brockbank (SEAT Leon Cupra 16v) who lies second in Class A, four points ahead with four races remaining. Only their division rival and overall leader Chamberlain is thus far set to drop points in the best 10 from 12 score South Cerney Engineering-backed contest.
Prebble served notice of his intent in qualifying, bagging pole position with a sub-record 1m09.967s (95.18mph) charge. Breathless in his wake, the VAG challengers were led by Spiller and Chamberlain, 0.094s apart, Dave having posted a 1:11.196 on his penultimate lap. Awaiting his race gearbox and limited-slip diff, Harrison was relying on a “stock box,” but was also contending with electrical problems. Outpuffed, Brockbank ranked fourth, having circulated his Spanish steed in the low 13s.
Teenager Jez Williams, mounting an impressive title challenge in the Rhino Goo/GMS Peugeot 106, topped Class C, the Welshman’s 1:15.126 (88.65mph) rewarded with fifth overall. Behind him, a quartet of MG ZRs driven by closest points rival Lee Waterman, Wayne Rushworth, James Blake and Nathan Sutton were separated by 1.4 seconds.
Peter Elliston’s hand-controlled Golf GTi turbo completed the top 10, ahead of reigning champion Mike Good’s 1400cc Vauxhall Corsa, best of the multi-marque Class D trio on 1:19.076s (84.22mph) and B leader Darren Griffiths’ Renault Clio on 1:21.895 (81.32mph). Liam Hopkins (BMW 318i), Roger Good (Ford Fiesta), Daniel Williams (Citroen Saxo) and Jonathan Wills (MG Maestro) formed the field of 16.
Prebble scorched away from the lights at the start of the programme’s first race, pursued by Chamberlain and Spiller at increasing distance despite their efforts. Having recorded the race’s best lap – 1:09.683 (95.60mph) – on his first flyer, Adam broke his pursuers with a longer nine second time round and was almost four seconds clear inside as many laps.
There was no response to his pace, thus the camouflaged Interceptor Racing-run Vauxhall took the chequered flag 6.863s to the good. Pursuers Harrison and Dave managed high 10s and low 11s respectively, having lapped their less-powerful pursuers. “To do 10.858 with an open diff, and the ABS sending all the brake bias to the rear was pretty amazing,” said Chamberlain. “I can’t wait to have the proper gearbox back for Bank Holiday Monday. The Golf should be better than ever.”
Gobbled up at the start by Elliston’s rocket-like getaway and rival Waterman’s torquier MG, Jez Williams came round eighth on the first lap, but jostled rapidly back to a class-winning fourth, ultimately aided by the demise of Brockbank at one-third distance. Jez set the best C lap of 1:15.405 (88.32mph), chased all the way by Waterman who was less than three seconds behind at the chequer. Elliston was also ousted by Blake and Rushworth on lap 6, but recovered to finish sixth.
Putting June’s miserable non-scoring ‘Summer Spectacular’ behind him, Good regained his form in D, getting ahead of Blake’s MG to land seventh. Class B winner Griffiths and D runner-up Williams also completed 14 laps, one more than Hopkins and Roger Good. Rushworth and Sutton were not classified and Wills’ Maestro fell after a couple of laps.
Fourteen competitors formed the second grid, Brockbank and Rushworth having been sidelined by their earlier dramas. Again Prebble scarpered when the red lights went out, the We Wheel Fix It alloy repairer stretching out a stout 3.6s advantage over Spiller’s Audi in four laps. Chamberlain came round only eighth at the end of the opening lap – behind Jez Williams, Waterman, Elliston, Sutton and Blake – but despite continued electrical gremlins putting the engine into limp mode – “I had to switch the ignition on and off several times to reboot it” – nursed it home third, almost a minute behind the svelte TT.
Young Williams, playing catch-up in the overall championship fight (to be decided on a best 10 from 12 results basis) since his non-finish in June, matched his earlier fourth, finishing on the lead lap this time. With four points splitting them to date, four rounds remaining and with four fewer points to discard than Chamberlain to date, this could be a battle which goes to the wire in October’s Grand Finals.
Best of the MGs, Waterman finished a lap down in fifth ahead of Blake, who with Mike Good usurped Elliston at mid-distance. Griffiths, Daniel Williams, Hopkins and Roger Good chased them home, while Sutton and Wills were in the wars again, Nathan posting his retirement after 12 laps and Wills after three.
ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON?
Two wins for Prancing Horseman Doug Watson took the Ferrari 488 Challenge driver’s seasonal tally to four as the Gulf Race Fuels GT Championship continued with its fourth of six double-headers at August 3’s Combe Challenge meeting. Despite retiring from the second stanza, Keith Butcher still heads the table in his Lamborghini Huracan, but Watson is just four points behind heading into Bank Holiday Monday’s Combe Countdown event, one ahead of Dylan Popovic (Ginetta-Chevrolet G50), Keith Johnston (Ginetta-Ford G50) and Josh Smith (Caterham RLM 260).
Watson broke the 100mph average speed barrier in qualifying the 3.9-litre turbocharged V8-engined Ferrari on pole with a splendid season’s best 1m06.523s (100.11mph) fifth lap shot, inside his own class record. Smith closed to within 0.253s, posting 1:06.678 (99.73mph) in the 1600cc Suzuki Hayabusa-powered lightweight to see off Butcher’s 1:07.170 in the 5.2-litre V10 Lambo. Reigning champion Jamie Sturges was barely half a second slower on 1:07.688 in his two-litre turbocharged front-wheel-drive Cupra Competicion TCR.
Twenty eight litres of rampant Chevrolet V8 muscle motivated the next quartet equally, Popovic and Nigel Mustill (Solution F Volvo) in the eights, championship debutant Richard Guy (Mosler MT900) and David Krayem (Ginetta G50 GT3) in the nines. Three more Ginettas, Reuben Taylor’s two-litre Vauxhall engined G40, Johnston’s 3.5 V6 G50 and Chris Everill’s 6.2 Chevy powered G55, hobbled by electrical gremlins, were separated by half a second. Returnee Jordan Billinton completed the dozen entrants aboard his 5.2 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo, successor to the Gallardo Reiter GT3 he ran on Easter Monday.
Watson led the opening race from the start, but with Smith buzzing round the Ferrari’s tail like an angry wasp overheated its tyres in staying ahead. Josh lapped fractionally slower – 1:07.266 (99.01mph) to Doug’s 1:07.257 – but third placed Butcher pipped them to set fastest lap at 1:07.162 (99.16mph), thus claiming Class A’s bonus point. Sturges harassed Butcher, batting above his Spanish silhouette machine’s weight, cutting a 1:07.421 (98.78mph) and finishing in Keith’s slipstream. Just 0.259s covered the quartet’s best laps.
Guy and Popovic – who found his car wayward on tyres worn down to the canvas – finished a detached fifth and sixth, with Billinton a lapped seventh and Taylor beating Johnston back. Mustill’s tubeframe Volvo clone did not last the distance, but neither Krayem nor Everill, whose electronics were generating insufficient amperage to trigger the engine’s fuel injectors, started the race.
Nine cars came out for the sequel, Smith having been rendered a disappointed spectator with a repeat of the clutch slave cylinder issue which thwarted the rapid Caterham at May’s Combe Carnival meeting. Watson led Butcher until the latter retired on lap 6, promoting Popovic – to whom Everill sportingly loaned his spare wheels and tyres – to the role of eager pursuer. Dylan dived past audaciously into the Esses on lap 11, but Watson came back and a clash of wheels damaged one pair, presaging the purple peril’s retirement after three glorious laps ahead.
Still Watson did not have an easy run to the chequered flag, for the feisty Sturges chased the yellow Ferrari for all he was worth, crossing the timing line 1.901s behind. Billinton and Guy also went the distance, with Taylor and Johnston finishing a lap down. Everill did not complete a lap, but hopes that he’s licked the problems for a return on August 26, 50 years to the day after his late friend John Turner won at Combe in his Skoda-Chevrolet Super Saloon.
DI CLAUDIO RUFFLES FEATHERS
It was a case of some like it hot for triple Castle Combe Saloon Car champion Will di Claudio, whose long-awaited comeback in the inaugural SamcoSport Hot Hatch championship after a five year sabattical resulted in a debut victory at August 3’s Combe Challenge event. It wasn’t a run-of-the-mill win either for the local man – whose W-A-S Racing team mates Jake Alden, Shaun Deacon and Shaun Goverd are in contention for three of the six championship classes and the overall title – stormed his Peugeot 106 from 16th on the grid to second on the opening lap, then wrested the lead from top qualifier Sam Stride on lap 7.
The largest field of the day, embracing 29 competitors, saw Stride – cousin of current Saloon champion Adam Prebble – plant his Honda Civic EG on pole with a 1m12.890s (91.37mph) shot on his first outing since Easter Monday. May Madness’ wet race winner Ross Parker was closest in his earlier shape EF model, 0.614s shy, with excellent support from Wiltshire College motorsport engineering students. Goverd sat third in his Citroen AX, with Tony Cooper’s EG, another returnee, alongside as the older Class F cars ruled the roost.
Deacon (Peugeot 106 GTi) gridded fifth, his 1:14.998 (88.80mph) inside the record. Championship leader Jason Stack (Renault Clio) was sixth, topping Class A on 1:15.265 (88.48mph), with rivals Corey Webber and Tom Harris (Civics) in his shadow. Danish veteran Erling Jensen headed the Class E supercharged BMW Mini Cooper Ss with a fine 1:16.736 (86.79mph), with young Crofton Woodhatch – the championship class leader – a mere 0.058s slower in his Grant Motor Sport version.
The top 12 was completed by Matthew Johnston (Peugeot 205 GTi) and Class C’s overall contender Jake Alden (Citroen Saxo) alongside on a promising 1:17.082s (86.40mph). In the thick of the mid-pack gaggle behind him, di Claudio managed only one lap before a blown fuse halted his steed, which masked their potential for those unfamiliar with his superb circuit record. His Peugeot thus lined up alongside the quickest Ford, Julian Fisher’s Fiesta ST150.
James MacGregor’s Honda Integra, the VW Golf GTi 16Vs of Dean Clayton (Mk2) and Dan Parsons (an unusual Mk3) provided welcome variety in the mid-order. Newcomer Mel Higgins joined the fray for the first time in a Citroen Saxo.
Poleman Stride got away strongly from the traffic lights, but di Claudio stormed off his row eight slot and, having carved his way past 14 cars in 1.85 miles, was only four tenths of a second behind the Strides ARC Honda at the end of the opening lap! Cooper, Goverd, Parker and Deacon led the chase, followed by Webber, fast starter Jensen, Stack and Johnston, with Harris and Woodhatch next in line.
“It was all going well until a back marker chopped me towards Quarry,” said Stride. “Maybe he hadn’t seen the blue flags, but when a Mini driver did the same di Claudio came past me. I reeled Will in and having battled with the world’s widest 106 – he wanted to win that one badly was close enough to have a go into Tower. But then I had a hiccup. There must have been oil down – the Golf Mk2 was parked there – but with more ambition than adhesion I slid off and hit the barrier. The impact was about 40mph, damaging a bumper and wings.” Red flags stopped the race early. Stride was out for the day.
Behind di Claudio, Parker was classified second on countback, with Goverd taking the last step of an all Class F podium. Class winners Deacon and Webber were fourth and fifth – Shaun having thumped his own B record from 1:15.298 through the 14s to 1:13.907 (90.11mph). Passed at the start, Corey’s rival Stack filled his mirrors at the line. Harris, Johnston and Class F duellists Woodhatch and Jensen completed the top 10. Crofton, who trumped Erling for the divisional lead on lap 9, reset the Mini record with a best of 1:17.143 (86.33mph). Alden pared his record back by 0.009s, leaving it at 1:17.473 (85.96mph) en route to 13th and a C win over Adam Wilks (106) and Ellison.
Race two, its grid ordered by each competitor’s second best laps, saw di Claudio at the back having managed but one. There was to be no double triumph though: the pugnacious Pug climbed hungrily to sixth place before a valve dropped, heralding retirement after four laps. Up front, AX man Goverd deposed early leader Parker on lap four and sped to a narrow victory. Stack improved to third, netting his sixth win from eight rounds, but was made to sweat by class rival Webber who was breathing down his neck at chequer.
Deacon secured his B double for the day with fifth – Shaun’s fifth win attracting fewer points with MacGregor his only challenger – ahead of the improving Harris, Johnston’s rorty Peugeot and Woodhatch. The Mini Cooper S class victor excelled again, rewriting the record to 1:16.572s (86.97mph) in beating Jensen by just 0.607s.
Alden maintained his unbeaten record across eight rounds to date with 11th place overall – the only point he has dropped was to Scott Hughes who set fastest lap at the Mayday Madness meeting – thus with 85 points leads the championship into its penultimate double-header on August 26th’s Combe Countdown bill. Stack is second on 81, with Deacon on 76 and Woodhatch on 71. With two scores to discard at October 5’s Grand Finals there is still everything to play for…
ENDS: