Castle Combe – Summer Spectacular – 15/16 June
Words: Joshua Barrett
CCRC Gulf Race Fuels FF1600 Championship
Smith and Walker claim tight Formula Ford victories
Rory Smith (Medina Sport JL18) and Alex Walker (Van Diemen RF01) claimed a pair of hotly contested Gulf Race Fuels FF1600 race victories. Smith won the opener after passing Andrew Rackstraw (Spectrum 011C) at the start, while race two saw an incident at The Esses and Alex Walker (Van Diemen RF01) was awarded the victory after Felix Fisher (Ray GR05) skipped the corner in a race which saw six cars battle for top honours.
Qualifying
Six days after claiming his first victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup at Thruxton, South African Andrew Rackstraw returned to Castle Combe and claimed pole in the Kevin Mills Racing-run Spectrum 011C in a shortened wet session with a lap time of 1m22.425.
He was just 0.039 seconds quicker than Rory Smith, who also missed the previous meeting, in his B-M Racing Medina. Luke Cooper, who came into the weekend twelve points behind Felix Fisher, qualified ahead of ahead of him in third in his Swift Cooper Swift SC20. Fisher rounded out the top four in the TM Racing run Ray.
Nathan Ward topped class B in his Swift SC92 with Tom McArthur (Van Diemen RF89) and Sam Mitchell (Merlyn Mk20A) quickest in classes C and D respectively.
Race 1
Rory Smith jumped past a slow starting Andrew Rackstraw to lead the opening race of the day and never looked back.
Rackstraw fell all the way to fifth by the time they got to Quarry – which also allowed Luke Cooper, Felix Fisher and Alex Walker through.
Walker passed Fisher on the second lap at Tower before trying to make a move on Cooper a lap later at Hammerdown and ended up on the grass, which allowed Fisher back through.
Cooper was able to pull clear of the battle that continued behind him and chased Smith throughout the rest of the race but was never able to pass him and finished 0.216 seconds behind after 10 laps allowing Smith to take his second victory of the season.
Meanwhile, Walker regained third on the fifth lap at Quarry from Fisher before the positions switched again on the final lap at the same corner. Fisher came home third – with Walker, Rackstraw and Tom Hawkins (Ray GR11) just 0.7 seconds apart after a race-long battle.
Chris Acton was the best of the rest in his Ray GR08 and finished a second ahead of Nathan Ward after passing him on lap three.
Ward won class B but had a race-long dice with class C’s David Cobbold (Van Diemen RF89), who finished just 0.2 seconds behind after losing the position on lap eight. Cobbold still won class C – 0.8 seconds ahead of Tom McArthur, who started last after arriving in the assembly area too late.
Tom Radburn (Spectrum 011) took 11th after passing the fast-starting Sam Mitchell, who won class D. Mitchell passed five cars on the opening lap and only lost a couple of those places before the conclusion of the race in the oldest car on the grid.
Australian William Liston took thirteenth in his Castle Combe debut in a Souley Motorsport Van Diemen RF88 and claimed third in class behind Cobbold and McArthur.
Bob Hawkins (Ray GR10), Nigel Dolan (Van Diemen JL12), Richard Earl (Van Diemen RF88) came next ahead of Shaun Macklin’s Swift SC92, who was second in class B while Alicia Hamlen (Ray GR09) completed the finishers.
Race 2
Rory Smith converted his pole position into an early race lead in the second bout with Andrew Rackstraw and Felix Fisher chasing.
Alex Walker began the race in fifth and moved ahead of Luke Cooper at the start before following Fisher past Rackstraw at Quarry on lap three.
Fisher then set after Smith for the lead and made a similar move on him to grab the position two laps later at Quarry. Walker also passed the erstwhile leader at the end of the lap at Camp.
A tight battle emerged between the championship leader Fisher and double race winner from May, Walker for the victory. Walker drew alongside out of Quarry on lap nine to challenge at The Esses but Fisher missed the corner to retain the leader.
Fisher held on at the end of ten laps to win the race on the road by 0.119 seconds. However, a post-race judicial looked at the incident on lap nine which deemed Fisher to have gained an advantage by skipping the corner and therefore lost the victory and was demoted to second.
Therefore, Walker took his third victory of the season ahead of Fisher and Smith. Rackstraw, Cooper and Tom Hawkins were also in close pursuit in a super-close ending to the race with the top six classified 1.4 seconds apart.
Acton was the best of the rest in seventh again ahead of David Cobbold, who won class C in eighth. He also came home as the top pre-95 car, which earnt him the driver of the day award. He passed Nathan Ward, who won class B, on lap eight to grab the position.
Tom Radburn completed the top ten ahead of the class D winner Sam Mitchell – who impressively beat class C podium finishers Tom McArthur and William Liston.
Nigel Dolan came 14th ahead of race one retiree Vincent Jay (Van Diemen RF90), who finished second in class B. Bob Hawkins finished just 0.3 seconds behind him with Richard Earl coming out on top of a close tussle for 17th ahead of Alicia Hamlen and Shaun Macklin, who completed the class B podium.
CCRC Gulf Race Fuels GT Championship
Smith and Popovic share wins
Josh Smith (Caterham RLM 260 Edition) and Dylan Popovic (Ginetta G50 7.0 V8) claimed the two Gulf Race Fuels GT Championship races. Smith dominated the opener before Popovic passed Smith in ever dampening conditions in race two. Darren McCormack, in only his fifth Motorsport event, took a pair of third places in his Castle Combe debut in a Caterham 420R.
Qualifying
It was a Caterham 1-2 in the drying Qualifying session when Josh Smith took pole with a time of 1m10.812, which was set on the tenth lap of the session.
He was 0.76 seconds faster than the 2300cc powered 7 of Tim Bishop. The fastest of four Ginetta entries was Dylan Popovic in his repaired car after an incident at Folly at the previous round.
He headed class A by just 0.36 seconds with the 6.2-litre G55 of Chris Everill behind. The third Caterham was Darren McCormack in fifth overall ahead of David Krayem’s Ginetta G50.
Jasmin Norman topped class E in her Audi TT Mk1, Keith Johnston was fastest in class B in a V6-powerered Ginetta G50 and Philip Young was quickest in class F in his silhouette Mitsubishi Colt.
Race 1
Josh Smith took a lights-to-flag victory in the opening race and set the quickest lap on the third tour with a time of 1m06.871, which is a fraction under 100mph average speed.
Dylan Popovic chased Smith throughout the 18-lap race and kept the gap at nine seconds throughout the final third of the race but was never able to catch the lighter Caterham. Smith also claimed class D honours, while Popovic won class A.
Popovic had to pass the fast-starting Chris Everill, who had a repaired driveshaft after it broke in Qualifying but struggled throughout the race with an intermittent issue.
Tim Bishop was briefly back in second at the end of the first lap but was quickly passed by Popovic, who enjoyed the fully dry conditions. Bishop then fell into the clutches of Darren McCormack on lap four.
McCormack found a way past at Bobbies to claim third. Bishop lost six seconds and the gap climbed to nine seconds by the checkered flag.
Everill had fallen to the back of the grid on the second lap but was able to post some quick laps to recover to fifth at Camp on lap 13.
Keith Johnston finished sixth nine seconds behind Everill and won class B. Philip Young – known as Mr Cheese – passed Jasmin Norman on lap eight at the Esses and remained in seventh at the end. He won class F, while Norman claimed class E honours.
Race 2
While rain fell around the circuit in race two – firstly and more heavily from the Old Paddock end of the circuit – Dylan Popovic passed race one winner Josh Smith on lap seven.
Popovic was then able to pull out a three-second victory before the conclusion of the race over Josh Smith when red flags flew. Popovic claimed class A honours with Smith won class D.
Jasmin Norman was enjoying the wet conditions and climbed to fifth before an incident at Quarry eliminated her and Philip Young, necessitating an early end to the race.
Just like the earlier race, Darren McCormack was able to pass Tim Bishop. This time he moved ahead on lap six and was able to pull 25 seconds clear in the tricky conditions to take third.
Chris Everill again struggled with intermittent trouble which significantly slowed the car at times. He moved up to as high as fifth before falling to the back. Norman passed Philip Young at Tower on lap nine, Chris Everill at Old Paddock on lap ten before both her and Young could no longer continue.
That meant Keith Johnston was classified fifth and as the class B winner with Everill in sixth.
CCRC Samcosport Hot Hatch Championship
Tomkinson double in Hot Hatch
Craig Tomkinson took two Samcosport Hot Hatch Championship victories after a pair of hotly contested races in his 2-litre Vauxhall Nova. He had to fend off the attentions of Shaun Goverd (Citroen AX) and Ross Parker (Honda Civic EF) in the opener before pole man and series returnee Craig Fleming (Honda Civic) chased him home in race two.
Qualifying
Craig Fleming topped the Qualifying session with a time of 1m12.681, in his first competitive action for two years, which was seven tenths faster than Craig Tomkinson.
Ross Parker was third with Shaun Goverd also within a second of pole. Geoffrey Ryall (Peugeot 106 GTi), Erling Jensen (BMW Mini Cooper S) Corey Webber (Honda Civic) and Jake Alden (Citroen Saxo) topped their individual classes.
Class A was the smallest pole position gap with Webber just 0.153 seconds quicker than Jason Stack’s Renault Clio.
Race 1
Pole man Craig Fleming made a slow start in his first race of the season and dropped to fifth, which promoted Craig Tomkinson to the lead ahead of Shaun Goverd and Ross Parker.
Fleming moved ahead of Geoffrey Ryall by the end of the first lap and took third passing Parker on the next tour before hunting down the top two.
However, on the fourth lap Fleming started to have what appeared to be an intermittent problem – which turned out to be a broken gear linkage, which meant his car was stuck in fourth gear.
That promoted Parker back to third and he chased down Goverd and past him at Bobbies on lap seven. Goverd retired to the pits a lap later with brake failure.
Parker hunted down the leader Tomkinson and for the final five laps of the 17-lap race was never further than four tenths behind but could not find a way through. Therefore, Tomkinson took the checkered flag first and won class F too just 0.205 seconds ahead of Parker.
Meanwhile, there was a just as tight class B battle for third overall, but Shaun Deacon (Peugeot 106 GTi) couldn’t find a way to pass Ryall despite finishing just 0.289 adrift.
Fleming came home a struggling fifth only being able to utilise one gear for half of the race but that was still enough for third in class F.
Crofton Woodhatch (BMW Mini Cooper S) claimed another class E victory in his impressive first season finishing in sixth overall – 5.8 seconds clear of class pole man Erling Jensen.
Jake Alden won class C and just remained on the overall lead lap in eighth. His overall championship rival Jason Stack finished behind in ninth but importantly claimed class A honours – 1.5 seconds clear of Justin Holloway (Renault Clio) with class B podium finisher Lewis Harwood between them on debut in his Alfa Romeo 33 Cloverleaf.
Tim Fooks-Bale was also in the class A battle in his Renault Clio 172 Phase 1 and finished a further 1.6 seconds behind Holloway but also had another car between them in the overall order as James MacGregor’s Honda Integra was twelfth. Class A pole man Corey Webber retired on lap two with an engine failure
There was a gap back to fourteenth at the flag which was taken by Julian Fisher’s Ford Fiesta ST150 ahead of Gary Franks, who took third in class E for BMW Mini’s.
Behind Alden in class C were Scott Hughes and Adam Wilks – also both piloting Peugeot 106 GTi’s.
Race 2
After Craig Tomkinson took his first win of the season earlier in the day – he doubled up after another race-long, fast-paced 17-lap battle.
He again beat Craig Fleming off the line – but then had him attached to his rear bumper throughout most the duration. For the first half of the race, Fleming was never more than half a second behind and got as lose as 0.137 seconds off the leader at the line.
With some traffic to deal with near the end, Tomkinson took the victory by 2.197 seconds and earnt himself driver of the day with two excellent overall and class F victories.
Shaun Goverd and Ross Parker were never that far behind but had spread out by the conclusion of the race. Goverd pleased that the brakes were fixed from earlier in the day.
After Geoffrey Ryall retired on the opening lap, Shaun Deacon eased to his first victory of the season in class B in fifth overall ahead of Jason Stack, who claimed class A again.
Matthew Johnston (Peugeot 205 GTI) came home seventh ahead of class E and C winners Crofton Woodhatch and Jake Alden. Stack and Alden continue their form of only having been beaten once this season and continue to be equal on points heading into the next round.
Lewis Harwood made it two top tens in an impressive opening weekend. He also finished second in class B. Erling Jensen was second in class E again after falling behind Woodhatch on lap six but dropped down to 11th overall before the end of the race.
Julian Fisher and Tim Fooks-Bale came next and completed the class A podium. Thomas Owen (Peugeot 205) and Graham Cox (Renault Clio) concluded the top fifteen ahead of Adam Wilks, who took home another class C podium – but this time in second.
Dan Parson (Volkswagen Golf Mk3) finished ahead of Gary Franks, who claimed third in class E. Ray Ferguson (MG ZR) was next and third in class C in his fourth race of the day just shy of his 75th birthday.
Julian Ellison took third in class C while Ben Pemmberton (BMW Mini Cooper S) completed the finishers.
CCRC South Cerney Engineering Saloon Car Championship
First Chamberlain loss, Spiller wins
After winning the opening South Cerney Engineering Saloon Car Championship race of the day, Harrison Chamberlain (Volkswagen Golf GTi) featured his first loss of the season in race two when he retied from the lead on the penultimate lap allowing the chasing Dave Spiller (Audi TT) to claim his first victory of the season.
Qualifying
Dave Spiller picked up pole position with a time of 1m11.696 in a session where the championship leader didn’t set a competitive time thanks to a gearbox issue.
John McMillan was second quickest in his SEAT Ibiza, 0.71 seconds behind Spiller with the Golf of Jack Boulton in third ahead of the SEAT Leon Cupra of Bill Brockbank.
Darren Griffiths (Renault Clio), Jez Williams (Peugeot 106) and Mike Good (Vaxuhall Corsa) set pole position in classes B, C and D respectively.
Race 1
Harrison Chamberlain took less than one and a half laps to charge through from the back of the grid to win the opening race overall and in class A for the fifth consecutive time despite losing top gear towards the end of the 15-lap encounter and came home 4.6 seconds ahead of Dave Spiller.
Spiller, who started from pole, made a slower than Bill Brockbank and Jack Boulton, who headed the start of the opening lap. He passed Boulton at The Esses and then Brockbank on lap three.
Boulton took third away from Brockbank on the seventh tour of the circuit and pulled five seconds to claim to third.
Thomas Hanks was the best of the rest in fifth in his Renault Megane and finished 2.8 seconds ahead of the class C winner Jez Williams, who claimed his second class victory of the season.
He finished 7.5 seconds ahead of James Blake – who had a race-long battle with Lee Waterman’s similar MG ZR. Blake passed Waterman with just three laps to go but couldn’t pull away and finished just 0.356 seconds ahead.
Daniel Williams took ninth and his first class D victory of the season in his Citroen Saxo after Mike Good pulled into retirement at the start of lap eight.
Class B winner Darren Griffiths took tenth ahead of Oliver Sprague (MG ZR) and Roger Good completed the finishers but claimed second in class D in his Ford Fiesta.
Race 2
Dave Spiller made a dreadful start from pole in race two due to being in neutral and fell to nearly last but luckily was missed by the rest of the pack.
That meant Bill Brockbank led the way from Jack Boulton and impressively Harrison Chamberlain charged from the back to third by the time the cars arrived at Quarry. He took second at Tower from Boulton.
Just as it looked like he would grab the lead, the car slowed for the first time in the race and dropped to fourth.
By this time, Spiller had charged back into the lead group ahead of Boulton and was in second and stated to hunt down Brockbank for the lead.
Back up to speed Chamberlain took third on lap four from Boulton and incredibly passed both Spiller and Brockbank at Tower to grab the lead.
A lap later Spiller made his move on Brockbank, who also fell behind Boulton on lap 11 at The Esses.
While leading by a couple of seconds, Chamberlain slowed into retirement on the penultimate lap, which is his first non-victory of the season.
A delighted Spiller came through to win class A and overall, by nearly 19 seconds – thankful to the Grant Motorsport team after his incident at the beginning of the season.
Boulton came home second ahead of Brockbank with class C winner Lee Waterman the only other car on the lead lap in fourth after race one winner Jez Williams retired on lap two.
Waterman led the class throughout the distance to claim his second victory of the season. James Blake came second ahead of the impressive Nathan Sutton, who fought his way through from the back of the grid to take third in class in his MG ZR.
Tim Swift – also from the back – was seventh overall in his Peugeot 106 ahead of Oliver Sprague. Daniel Williams won the closely contested class D by less than two seconds from Roger Good after passing him on lap 11.