CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons Castle Combe 12th September 2026
BARNARD BESTS BABY BERTHA IN BRILLIANT CASTLE COMBE CONTESTS
The fifth and final event of the 2026 CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons series' season took the participants to Castle Combe, with the series playing a starring role at the venue’s annual ’Autumn Classic’ showpiece on the 12th of September. The former wartime airfield in Wiltshire was an appropriate choice for the series, given the circuit’s long-running Special GT championship and Special Saloon competition prior to that. The local series has played host to some fantastic weaponry over the years, from Terry Sanger’s Ford Cortina V8, Vince Woodman’s fabulous Broadspeed Cologne Capri and Brian Chatfield’s stunning Group 5 BMW 320, through the rapid Lotus Elans of Andrew Wareing, Chris Perkins, Richard Ward and Rob Cox that fought some fine battles in the 1980s, to the Mobile Windscreens Skoda-Tiga/Rover that dominated the early 1990s in the hands of George Douglas and Phil Lomas. The mix of machinery on show at the weekend was sure to evoke memories of those heady days.
The fifth and final event of the 2026 CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons series' season took the participants to Castle Combe, with the series playing a starring role at the venue’s annual ’Autumn Classic’ showpiece on the 12th of September. The former wartime airfield in Wiltshire was an appropriate choice for the series, given the circuit’s long-running Special GT championship and Special Saloon competition prior to that. The local series has played host to some fantastic weaponry over the years, from Terry Sanger’s Ford Cortina V8, Vince Woodman’s fabulous Broadspeed Cologne Capri and Brian Chatfield’s stunning Group 5 BMW 320, through the rapid Lotus Elans of Andrew Wareing, Chris Perkins, Richard Ward and Rob Cox that fought some fine battles in the 1980s, to the Mobile Windscreens Skoda-Tiga/Rover that dominated the early 1990s in the hands of George Douglas and Phil Lomas. The mix of machinery on show at the weekend was sure to evoke memories of those heady days.
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Preview: Joe Ward brought ’Baby Bertha’ back to Castle Combe for the first time since the glory days of Gerry Marshall 50 years ago and the milestone passed of her only previous appearance at the circuit just one day before the meeting, she was victorious of course. Ward isn’t keen on standing starts so may well start from the rear of the field but watch the old girl charge up the order come the races. The famous Firenza V8 took pride of place on the circuit’s Autumn Classic event artwork and she would also go on static in the paddock on Sunday. Peter Baker’s beautiful lightweight Marsh Plant Aston Martin DB4 made its third entry of 2026 and the 4.2-litre coupe is the second machine participating to have been saddled by the late Gerry Marshall. The blue GT car hasn’t had the best of fortune so far this season but has a lot of potential and should revel in the quicker sections of ‘Combe’. An interesting entry was received from Andrew Haddon with an ex-IROC Chevrolet Camaro owned by Julian Bronson. The American series chiefly pitted the cream from the worlds of CART, IMSA and NASCAR competition against each other on both oval and road courses, with this particular example being an ex-Richard ‘The King’ Petty machine. The muscle car should find the fast circuit to its liking but the Camaro had the sad distinction of being the car Gerry Marshall was testing when he had his fatal heart attack at Silverstone in 2005. Away from the Gerry Marshall-associated machinery, Steve Barnard flew to the ‘Peter Baldwin Trophy’ spoils at the last meeting in North Yorkshire with a double victory and the spaceframed Mk1 Escort BDG should be right up there in Wiltshire too, despite it being his first visit to the former airfield in more than 20 years. Four of the five entries were all in Class D, with Myles Castaldini the outlier in Class A. Castaldini started to find his feet with the diminutive Davrian Mk5 at Croft, where improved gearing helped him to a top ten qualifying spot and a pair of class wins. The Davrian marque has strong links to the Wiltshire track, with the little sports cars taking the home Special GT Championship title four times with Steven Roberts (twice), Robin Harvey and Chris Snowdon.
Qualifying: The quintet of competitors were part of a slightly smaller entry than usual, with the grid-sharing Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons not counting the event towards their championship. The entry was down by one before the session even started as Ralph Underwood’s Triumph TR7 V8 lost its clutch in the paddock. Dean Clayton’s Volkswagen Golf set the early pace before the Special Saloons of Steve Barnard and Joe Ward found their feet. The latter’s V8-powered Firenza sat at the top of the times first before Barnard’s flame-spitting Escort clone scorched onto pole position by 1.576 seconds with a time that came late in the session. Ward would ultimately line up ’Baby Bertha’ on the outside of the front row. Clayton impressed in third as the quickest Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons runner, with the Mk2 Golf GTi running in the Invitation class. The smallest car in the field went very well to be fourth fastest as Myles Castaldini belied his 998cc capacity to bag a second-row start despite a worry with oil surge. Peter Baker hung onto the glorious 400bhp Aston Martin DB4 for fifth on the grid ahead of the huge ex-Richard Petty Chevrolet Camaro of Andrew Haddon in sixth but all was not well with the IROC machine as the offside-rear shock absorber mount broke. The remainder of the field was made up by Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons contenders, with Alasdair Coates heading Thomas Owen, Kevin Hewer, Paul Bowers and Clive Gimson.
Race One: Despite his dislike of standing starts, Joe Ward took his place on the front row with ’Baby Bertha’ but neither Ward or Peter Baker in the Marsh Plant Aston Martin were confident of making good starts. Steve Barnard got the drop off the line but couldn’t rest with Ward’s V8 Firenza pushing the ground-hugging Mk1 Escort all the way. The gap between the pair ebbed and flowed for all of the race's 15 minutes duration, with Barnard holding the upper hand through the first half of the circuit before Ward clawed the lost ground back on the return run and the time difference separating them was rarely more than one second. The Firenza set the race’s fastest lap on the penultimate tour but Barnard’s strength up to Quarry was enough to defeat the mighty Vauxhall by 0.247 seconds. Andrew Haddon had powered into third by Quarry on lap one and the repaired IROC Chevrolet held onto the front pair until their slick tyres had warmed up. The American machine maintained third throughout to complete the podium overall and in the Historic Modsports and Special Saloons. Thomas Owen finished as the top Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons contender in fourth after Dean Clayton’s Golf snapped its fan belt during the opening lap, the Peugeot 205 GTi finished just ahead of a fine battle between Peter Baker and Myles Castaldini. The former’s Aston Martin had the legs on the straights but the chasing Davrian would pull everything back under braking and in the corners, with Baker fending off Castaldini by a slender 0.278 seconds for fifth place overall and fourth of the Historic Modsports and Special Saloons. Alastair Coates’ Sunoco Mk1 Escort RS2000 got the better of Kevin Hewer’s MGB GT V8 for seventh overall and second of the Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons. Clive Gimson’s GT6 and Paul Bowers’ Fiat 128 were at play all the way, with Bowers taking advantage of the Triumph allowing the Owen, Baker and Castaldini contest through to nip past into third of the Scottish field at the final corner as they made up the ten finishers.
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Race Two: Having elected to take his spot on the front row again, Joe Ward led out of Quarry for the first time from Steve Barnard and the fast-starting Peugeot 205 of Thomas Owen. The famous Firenza continued to pull away with a rapid fastest race lap deep into the 1:13s, the fastest lap time by anyone over the weekend, to sit almost four seconds clear but the spaceframed Mk1 Escort fought back as the race progressed. Barnard was able to grab the lead at Quarry with three minutes left but the Escort was struggling with its gearbox jamming in third gear. Ward sped back past heading onto the last lap when the unit played up but Barnard quickly reclaimed the lead at Quarry. The troublesome gear fouled again exiting the final corner and the pair were neck-and-neck past the flag, with Ward initially given the verdict by just two thousandths of a second but the timekeepers soon swapped them back on review to give Barnard his second win of the day by a slim 0.088 seconds. Andrew Haddon’s Camaro passed Owen for third place by the start of lap two and the Peugeot was also caught by a flying Dean Clayton, who was already fifth by the end of lap one after starting at the back but the Volkswagen couldn’t force an opening. The imposing Camaro of Haddon settled into third but lost the place when the car overheated with five minutes left, after the radiator cap had been left off. Owen was able to fend off Clayton by 0.340 seconds for third overall, the top Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons finisher and Invitation class win! As in the opening race, Peter Baker held off Myles Castaldini for much of the distance. That was until the leaders came up to lap them during the final lap and the Davrian pounced at Gooch’s to nick fifth overall and clinch its second Class A win, whilst Baker was the last Historic Modsports and Special Saloons car home in sixth. Alasdair Coates took a class-winning seventh with his Mk1 Escort RS2000, ahead of Kevin Hewer’s MGB GT V8 once more. Paul Bowers and Clive Gimson kept each other company again in ninth and tenth, with the former’s pretty Fiat 128 coupe holding the Triumph GT6 at arms length for the duration to claim the final two finishing positions.
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Castle Combe Trophy
A prize was awarded to the best performer across the two races, with the cup going to Steve Barnard after his pair of overall victories. His winning margin was just 0,335 seconds over Joe Ward after the pair of races.
A prize was awarded to the best performer across the two races, with the cup going to Steve Barnard after his pair of overall victories. His winning margin was just 0,335 seconds over Joe Ward after the pair of races.
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Class winners
The two-time overall race winner Steve Barnard also prevailed in Class D twice as a result, whilst Myles Castaldini made it to the end both times to wrap up Class A and both received a bottle donated by series partner Black Shuck Distillery. Gerry Johnstone was the DTV team leader in the construction of 'Baby Bertha' and he was present on Saturday to hand out the spoils to the award winners, including to the current custodian of the storied Vauxhall Firenza V8 Joe Ward.
The two-time overall race winner Steve Barnard also prevailed in Class D twice as a result, whilst Myles Castaldini made it to the end both times to wrap up Class A and both received a bottle donated by series partner Black Shuck Distillery. Gerry Johnstone was the DTV team leader in the construction of 'Baby Bertha' and he was present on Saturday to hand out the spoils to the award winners, including to the current custodian of the storied Vauxhall Firenza V8 Joe Ward.
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The Castle Combe Autumn Classic meeting brought the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons' first season of the being administered by the Scottish Motor Racing Club to a conclusion, with the calendar for 2027 yet to be revealed but the growing series would be an eye-catching addition to any event.