CTCRC Castle Combe 10th & 11th June 2023
Two years after their previous visit to Wiltshire, the Classic Touring Car Racing Club held its third outing of 2023 at the very warm and humid ‘Summer Spectacular’ meeting at Castle Combe over the weekend of the 10th and 11th of June.
Classic Thunder
Classic Thunder
The early stages of Classic Thunder qualifying were dominated by BMWs, the German machines occupying the top four places. However, rapid laps later in the session got Nick Vaughan’s Audi A3 Turbo onto the front row and the Capri V8 of Simon Light up to the second row in fourth, the car and driver racing at Combe for the first time since 1994 in Super Road Saloons. Jasver Sapra's early time was good enough to snare pole in his E36 M3, 0.652 seconds ahead of Vaughan, whilst Bryan Bransom’s E46 M3 shared the second row with Light. Jason West’s BMW, championship leader Sam Wilson’s Aston Martin V8 and another BMW in the hands of Gary Hufford completed the top seven as just 1.592 seconds covered all of them. Expected front-runner Neil Philpotts suffered from a misfire in his fearsome Starion Turbo and languished in 14th, one place behind Matt Skidmore’s bike-engined Mini Clubman.
Race One: After completing two formation laps, the field was unleashed and Vaughan powered into the lead at the rolling start. Using his V8 grunt, Light rumbled up alongside Sapra for second up Avon Rise but ended up losing out to West under braking for Quarry. Quickly applying pressure to the pole-starting BMW, West steamed into second through Folly starting lap two. In front of them, Vaughan had been steadily building a narrow advantage through the opening laps but the Audi suddenly pitted ending lap four. A boost pipe on the turbo had come adrift. West was thus promoted into the race lead aboard his left-hand drive E46 M3, Sapra and Light following in second and third. As the race wore on, Light was becoming ever more interested in Sapra's second place. At the eighth time of asking, Light tried a move into Camp which was rebuffed but the Capri used its greater straight-line speed to pass the BMW through Folly. Sapra immediately fought back at Quarry to reclaim the spot and a lap later, Light spun at the Esses to end the fight. Up ahead, West managed the gap to cross the line 1.318 seconds ahead of Sapra at the end of the fifteen minutes. The Aston Martin of Sam Wilson kept Gary Hufford's BMW at arm's length throughout for third whilst Neil Philpotts got his Starion going well to finish fifth. Light recovered from his rotation to come home in sixth.
Race One: After completing two formation laps, the field was unleashed and Vaughan powered into the lead at the rolling start. Using his V8 grunt, Light rumbled up alongside Sapra for second up Avon Rise but ended up losing out to West under braking for Quarry. Quickly applying pressure to the pole-starting BMW, West steamed into second through Folly starting lap two. In front of them, Vaughan had been steadily building a narrow advantage through the opening laps but the Audi suddenly pitted ending lap four. A boost pipe on the turbo had come adrift. West was thus promoted into the race lead aboard his left-hand drive E46 M3, Sapra and Light following in second and third. As the race wore on, Light was becoming ever more interested in Sapra's second place. At the eighth time of asking, Light tried a move into Camp which was rebuffed but the Capri used its greater straight-line speed to pass the BMW through Folly. Sapra immediately fought back at Quarry to reclaim the spot and a lap later, Light spun at the Esses to end the fight. Up ahead, West managed the gap to cross the line 1.318 seconds ahead of Sapra at the end of the fifteen minutes. The Aston Martin of Sam Wilson kept Gary Hufford's BMW at arm's length throughout for third whilst Neil Philpotts got his Starion going well to finish fifth. Light recovered from his rotation to come home in sixth.
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Race Two: The lunchtime rain had abated by the time the Classic Thunder field formed up for race two, an almost fully dry surface was now evident. Two entries to keep an eye on were lurking at the back of the field, Bryan Bransom had non-started race one after rearranging his rear suspension in the second Kumho BMW race, crashing out after climbing from twelfth into the race lead, whilst Vaughan’s A3 had been fitted with a refettled turbo to hopefully keep the boost pipe attached. The Gulf-liveried Aston Martin of Wilson burst through from the second row to take the initiative into Quarry for the first time whilst West fended off Sapra for second. The Aston was quickly into its stride and was over a second clear at the end of the opening lap. West's BMW soon set about reeling Wilson in, setting the fastest lap in the process and was with Wilson by the end of lap four, headlights ablaze. Having tailed the big V8 coupe for several laps, the BMW made the decisive move at Quarry with four minutes to go. The race-winning BMW couldn't fully shake off the Aston to the flag and crossed the line just 0.804 seconds up the road. Vaughan stormed through the field to third in his Team Prawn Racing Audi but had been behind fellow back-row starter Bransom as they rose through the order. When the orange BMW caught a defensive Sapra and Hufford’s BMWs, Vaughan was able to breeze past each of them in a straight line. Sapra got the Audi back on his first attempt but Vaughan made the place his own a lap later. Hufford also got ahead of Sapra on the final tour for fourth, whilst Bransom was a late retirement. Another to lose ground late in the day was Simon Light’s V8 Capri, Paul Cook nicking sixth from the faltering coupe as they crossed the line. The Starion Turbo of Neil Philpotts was a smoky retirement on the ninth lap having ran well in sixth, just ahead of Light at the time.
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Pre '66/'83
The BMW of William Davison secured pole position by 0.344 seconds from Jonathan Corker’s Datsun. Mark Osborne's Dolomite Sprint set the third fastest time and was joined by Don Hughes' Golf GTi on the second row. Mark Cholerton's Mk2 headed an all-Escort third row with a comparatively lowly sixth for the Mk1 of multiple champion Stephen Primett. Dan Lewis impressively took pole in the Pre ‘66 division in his Mini Cooper S, besting the much larger capacity Ford Falcon of Alan Greenhalgh. Billy Kenneally lined up third in his Ford Anglia, 1.230 seconds covering the three of them. Pat Kenneally's freshly repaired Lotus Cortina, making its first appearance after shattering its flywheel at Brands Hatch, stopped early in the session and took the start from the eleventh row, the ninth Pre ‘66 car, but sadly didn’t last the formation lap.
Race One: Polesitter Davison didn't look as though he would be denied as he ended the opening lap 1.845 seconds clear of Osborne and Corker, the pair having ran side by side through Tower. A car that started further back than expected was the Akai VW of Simon Jeffs, which had started from the sixteenth row, and the Golf made good progress in the early stages to sit in seventh overall after four laps. The Osborne Triumph and Corker Datsun would lap in tandem until the close of the fifth lap when contact in traffic sent Corker into the barriers approaching Camp, both are able to continue but the pair lose out to Cholerton's Escort. Nursing bent rims and bodywork, Corker also fell behind Hughes' Golf, a fast-starting Bob Bullen's Mk1 Escort, Simon Jeff's rising Golf, Primett's delayed Escort and Mostyn Rutter's droop-snoot Firenza to sit in ninth. Osborne was soon back with Cholerton and relieved the Escort of second during the ninth lap, with Hughes looking on. A train of cars had formed behind Bullen's Escort and Corker was making swift progress through them, having followed Jeffs and Primett past the orange Mk1 on the sixth lap. Seventh became sixth when Jeffs' Golf pulled off at Camp ending lap seven and the Datsun then took fifth from Primett next time around, Primett was also on a recovery drive having finished lap one down in fifteenth. At the end of the fifteen minutes, Davison eased to a 5.404-second win. Osborne held Cholerton at arm’s length for second, whilst the Mk2 had Hughes‘ Golf on his tail. Corker just beat Primett for fifth by 0.223 seconds as they catch lapped traffic at Camp. Alan Greenhalgh topped the Pre '66s in his Falcon from Billy Kenneally's Anglia, who had challenged the big Ford early on before the pair were split by Bradley Bosdet’s Pre ‘83 Escort Mk2. Category poleman Dan Lewis and 2021 champion James Ibbotson were both early retirements with driveshaft and engine woes respectively.
Race One: Polesitter Davison didn't look as though he would be denied as he ended the opening lap 1.845 seconds clear of Osborne and Corker, the pair having ran side by side through Tower. A car that started further back than expected was the Akai VW of Simon Jeffs, which had started from the sixteenth row, and the Golf made good progress in the early stages to sit in seventh overall after four laps. The Osborne Triumph and Corker Datsun would lap in tandem until the close of the fifth lap when contact in traffic sent Corker into the barriers approaching Camp, both are able to continue but the pair lose out to Cholerton's Escort. Nursing bent rims and bodywork, Corker also fell behind Hughes' Golf, a fast-starting Bob Bullen's Mk1 Escort, Simon Jeff's rising Golf, Primett's delayed Escort and Mostyn Rutter's droop-snoot Firenza to sit in ninth. Osborne was soon back with Cholerton and relieved the Escort of second during the ninth lap, with Hughes looking on. A train of cars had formed behind Bullen's Escort and Corker was making swift progress through them, having followed Jeffs and Primett past the orange Mk1 on the sixth lap. Seventh became sixth when Jeffs' Golf pulled off at Camp ending lap seven and the Datsun then took fifth from Primett next time around, Primett was also on a recovery drive having finished lap one down in fifteenth. At the end of the fifteen minutes, Davison eased to a 5.404-second win. Osborne held Cholerton at arm’s length for second, whilst the Mk2 had Hughes‘ Golf on his tail. Corker just beat Primett for fifth by 0.223 seconds as they catch lapped traffic at Camp. Alan Greenhalgh topped the Pre '66s in his Falcon from Billy Kenneally's Anglia, who had challenged the big Ford early on before the pair were split by Bradley Bosdet’s Pre ‘83 Escort Mk2. Category poleman Dan Lewis and 2021 champion James Ibbotson were both early retirements with driveshaft and engine woes respectively.
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Race Two: The rain which had started to spit during the earlier Jaguar race had now soaked the surface for the second Pre '66/'83 encounter. Mark Osborne crept at the start, for which he was penalised ten seconds, but it did him no favours as Davison led through Folly whilst the Dolomite had Corker's Datsun and Hughes' Golf on either side of it. Also getting away well was Primett and the Mk1 Escort would sweep around the outside of Osborne and Corker up Avon Rise to trail Hughes into Quarry, Primett outdragged the VW towards the Esses to end lap one in second. The Escort was then swiftly onto Davison's tail and took away the lead from the BMW into the Esses for the second time. Hughes' Golf was also reeling in the Davison E30 and repeated Primett's move to take second on lap three. The order in the top three became settled from then on as Corker headed Cholerton in fourth and fifth. In the Pre '66s, Billy Kenneally had got away well and established himself as the category leader, whilst Michael Loveland starred in his Imp early on to sit in second ending lap one. Race one retirees Lewis and wet-weather maestro Ibbotson were moving quickly through the field together, catching Saturday winner Greenhalgh's Falcon by Old Paddock for the first time. Whilst Ibbotson became embroiled in a dice with the big Ford, the Lewis Mini was marching on towards category leader Kenneally but wouldn’t get the chance to make a move after the Safety Car was deployed with four laps completed for Dave Thomas' stranded Capri. Unfortunately, time ran out just as the officials' Civic pulled off to release the field so Primett took the flag first from Hughes and Davison. Kenneally's Anglia topped the Pre '66s from Lewis, Loveland's Imp took a heroic third whilst Greenhalgh’s Falcon came home fourth as Ibbotson’s Imp didn't see the chequered flag.
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Pre '93/'03/BOSS
A close qualifying session was marked by the top four cars setting a time just over one second apart and the timesheet was topped by the Honda Civic of Chris Southcott from Castle Combe specialist Gary Prebble's slightly older Honda, the BMW M3 E36 of Pre '93 table topper Stuart Waite shared the second row with Ian Bower's similar CiBiEmme replica BMW M3. The top BOSS runners would qualify less than a tenth apart, with the Ecoboost Fiesta of Sam Daffin heading James Dunkley's XR2, although the Pre '93 BMW of Andy Cripps still got between them! Mike Manning’s gorgeous RS500 and Alan Breck’s Jäegermeister Capri V8 both qualified out of session so would go from the rear of the grid.
Race One: Waite won a race of attrition after taking the lead off Ian Bower’s similar M3 at Tower on lap two, clearing off to a 12.775-second winning margin. Early Pre '03 leader Gary Prebble’s year of unreliability continued with another retirement, owing to a duff sensor, so a last lap pass by Ross Craig on Cavan Grainger into Bobbies gained him the category win, the pair had fought their way to the head of a five-car train that included Chris Southcott, James Dunkley and James Alford. Another early leader to go out was BOSS front-runner Sam Daffin, the James Dunkley Fiesta taking the win as a result. Great progress had been made by Mike Manning’s Texaco Sierra RS500 from the back of the grid and the Welshman was sat on Dunkley’s tail exiting Bobbies for the first time before alternator gremlins struck and he toured into retirement.
Race One: Waite won a race of attrition after taking the lead off Ian Bower’s similar M3 at Tower on lap two, clearing off to a 12.775-second winning margin. Early Pre '03 leader Gary Prebble’s year of unreliability continued with another retirement, owing to a duff sensor, so a last lap pass by Ross Craig on Cavan Grainger into Bobbies gained him the category win, the pair had fought their way to the head of a five-car train that included Chris Southcott, James Dunkley and James Alford. Another early leader to go out was BOSS front-runner Sam Daffin, the James Dunkley Fiesta taking the win as a result. Great progress had been made by Mike Manning’s Texaco Sierra RS500 from the back of the grid and the Welshman was sat on Dunkley’s tail exiting Bobbies for the first time before alternator gremlins struck and he toured into retirement.
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Race Two: A number of entries were back in the field on Sunday morning after suffering various issues in the stifling heat of Saturday, including David Clark’s Renault 5 GT Turbo after a holed sump sent him to an early bath. Sam Daffin would also be back out in his turbocharged Fiesta, after an overnight engine change, as would Mike Manning's Sierra RS500. Alan Breck’s mighty Jäegermeister V8 Capri was another able to rejoin after engine timing issues on Saturday, whilst Chris Southcott missed the race changing his gearbox after trouble selecting fourth gear on Saturday. From pole position, Stuart Waite's BMW took the lead from the start but Ian Bower's similar car didn't let him escape and was still within one second of the black and gold E36 out front after four laps. Having had it all to do again after starting from the back of the field for the second time, Manning's Sierra blasted into the BOSS category lead through Folly starting lap three and reached third overall on lap five. By now the two leading BMWs were more than half a minute to the good but a Safety Car interruption brought the first two back to Manning. 500bhp and slick tyres told at the restart as the Sierra straight away fired into second up Avon Rise and then grabbed the lead from Waite into the Esses. The BMWs were still in touch throughout the remaining six minutes but weren't able to make a move so Manning took a superb win. Bower got ahead of Waite on the last lap to steal the Pre ‘93 win and second overall, whilst the stricken Waite BMW stopped in the pit exit after taking the chequered flag. Gary Prebble charged through to fourth overall and bagged the Pre ‘03 win after starting from 21st, thanks to a borrowed sensor from fellow competitor Andy Abrams. Ross Craig's Civic Type R took second from Cavan Grainger during the early stages but the BMW held off James Alford‘s Honda for third. Sam Daffin came through for second of the BOSS competitors and finished in sixth overall, the Fiesta having briefly held the category lead before Manning blasted by.
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Jaguar Challenge
The circuit played to the strengths of the XJSs as they filled the top three qualifying positions. Guy Connew’s Group 44 car took pole by just over a second from Colin Philpott and Tom Lenthall, with second and third setting times just 0.099 seconds apart. The two XK8s in the entry were next up, Mike Seabourne narrowly missing out on third as he headed Jack Robinson's example.
Race One: Connew converted pole as the race got underway, whilst Seabourne's XK8 used its V8 grunt to reach third up Avon Rise and then drove around the outside of Philpott at Quarry for an early second place. Back in the pack, contact sent Tim Morrant's Castrol Daimler Sovereign Series 1 spinning but the smart coupe was able to rejoin with a kinked front wing. Whilst Connew tried to make good his escape up front, Seabourne lost out to Philpott's XJS into the Esses for the third time and Lenthall's similar car followed him by at Tower. A lap later and Seabourne slowed, pulling off into retirement at Tower. One beneficiary of the XK8's exit was James Ramm, who was going great guns to reach sixth from the back of the grid in his XJS. Having got his lead out to over two seconds during the first half of the bout, Connew was suddenly back in the clutches of Philpott and Lenthall with five minutes left. The top three lap were running close together going into the closing stages and on the final lap Lenthall nicks second from Philpott at the Esses, before closing right in on Connew exiting Bobbies. Helped by a yellow flag at Camp, Connew doesn’t relent under the pressure and took the win by 0.591 seconds from Lenthall and Philpott, on-the-road. Post-race scrutineering revealed that Philpott's XJS was underweight so he was scrubbed from the results and Jack Robinson's radical XK8 inherited third place.
Race One: Connew converted pole as the race got underway, whilst Seabourne's XK8 used its V8 grunt to reach third up Avon Rise and then drove around the outside of Philpott at Quarry for an early second place. Back in the pack, contact sent Tim Morrant's Castrol Daimler Sovereign Series 1 spinning but the smart coupe was able to rejoin with a kinked front wing. Whilst Connew tried to make good his escape up front, Seabourne lost out to Philpott's XJS into the Esses for the third time and Lenthall's similar car followed him by at Tower. A lap later and Seabourne slowed, pulling off into retirement at Tower. One beneficiary of the XK8's exit was James Ramm, who was going great guns to reach sixth from the back of the grid in his XJS. Having got his lead out to over two seconds during the first half of the bout, Connew was suddenly back in the clutches of Philpott and Lenthall with five minutes left. The top three lap were running close together going into the closing stages and on the final lap Lenthall nicks second from Philpott at the Esses, before closing right in on Connew exiting Bobbies. Helped by a yellow flag at Camp, Connew doesn’t relent under the pressure and took the win by 0.591 seconds from Lenthall and Philpott, on-the-road. Post-race scrutineering revealed that Philpott's XJS was underweight so he was scrubbed from the results and Jack Robinson's radical XK8 inherited third place.
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Race Two: Just as in race one, Connew's XJS led into Quarry for the first time but had Lenthall crawling all over him throughout the opening lap this time. A storming first lap saw Philpott complete it in third from back of the grid but the charge is short-lived as gear selection issues soon forced him out. Spots of rain started falling after five minutes and the more-comfortable-with-the-conditions Lenthall took the lead at Tower and drove away to a commanding win by 18.805 seconds. Erstwhile leader Connew frustratingly pulled off with a dead engine on the last lap at the Esses but was able to coax the car back into life and come home in fifth. The supercharged S-Type of Andrew Harper gratefully accepted second from the XK8 of Jack Robinson in third, with James Ramm taking fourth.
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The Classic Touring Car Racing Club now heads to Kent for one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year, the new Super Touring Power event at Brands Hatch over the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of July. The competitors racing for a day on both the Grand Prix and Indy layouts.
Other Highlights
Other Highlights
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Luke Cooper took a fine pair of race wins in the local Castle Combe FF1600 double-header, besting title rival Felix Fisher in each as Adam Higgins, Ben Mitchell and Kieran Attwood got involved too. There was a little needle afterwards as Fisher complained about the new track limit rules. Harrison Chamberlain benefitted when the sibling rivalry between Adam and Gary Prebble boiled over with contact at the Esses during the wet first Castle Combe Saloon Car race, the pair sailing off onto the grass. The pair quickly rejoined with Adam losing just the one spot but Gary reeled him back in and took second before the end. The brothers were at it again in Race Two as Gary wore down Adam's defence to take the win. The rorty Citroen AX of Shaun Goverd took both Castle Combe Hot Hatch wins, the first one quite comfortably in the wet but Chris Southcott made him work much harder for the Race Two victory. In addition to his pair of Classic Thunder triumphs, Jason West was also the victor twice in the Kumho BMW races. A last-lap stutter from James Card gifted him the first win, whilst a mistake from a charging Bryan Bransom damaged the suspension on his similar E46 M3 in Race Two after reaching the race lead from twelfth on the grid. Paul Streat did the double in the two Sports 2000 Historic encounters, the slow-starting Charlie Hyett giving valiant chase in his similar Lola for two silvers. Michael Gibbins overcame Joshua Law to win the first Sports 2000 Duratec bout on Saturday and had a straightforward run to complete a pair of wins on Sunday. Steve McDermid took a winning double in the two MGOC bouts, pushed hard by Martin Wills in the second. On the split-grid GTi and Z-Car races, Simon Hill took both GTi victories whilst runaway Z-Car race one winner Matt Dance non-started race two, which gave Luke Giddings his chance to clean up. The invitational Audi TT of Christopher Jackson took the overall race win in the last race of the weekend.