Modified Ford Series Castle Combe 6th May 2024
GRANGE MAKES LIGHT OF COMBE'S MAY DAY MADNESS AS CAPRI STORMS RACE TWO
The Modified Ford Series paid its first visit to the famously undulating Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire on bank holiday Monday the 6th of May, for which the former airfield venue drew another packed entry to contest the planned trio of races.
Simon Light’s thundering V8 Capri started as one of the pre-race favourites in Class SA and overall as it made its inaugural appearance in the series for 2024. Lloyd Jamieson made the long journey south from Scotland for his maiden visit to the Wiltshire track and the fast nature of Combe should suit the Escort Maxi Cosworth 4x4. Piers Warwick bagged a class win in the tricky opening race at Oulton Park with his turbocharged Mk1 Escort, besting the Escort Cosworth of final entrant Malcolm Wise in the process. James Allen scored a podium at Oulton Park before a Race Two coming together put him out but the much-modified Focus RS from Class A was sure to feature at the sharp end once more. Mike Manning’s flame-spitting Texaco Sierra RS500 should be able to stretch its legs on the high-speed sections and David Matthias’ Sapphire Cosworth couldn’t be written off in the front-running battle either. Adam Underhill has moved up to the class this year and made his first appearance with the turbocharged 2-litre Zetec-engined Focus. Mick Head’s Martini RWD Escort Cosworth had an adventurous couple of outings at Oulton Park and would be aiming to stay on the straight and narrow at Combe. Club Racing UK part owner ‘Sideways’ Stefan Marsh brought out his five-cylinder Focus ST and newcomer Leroy Brown took his first steps with the series in a 2-litre Mk6 Fiesta Turbo. Tom Ovenden’s Team Matt #74 Duratec-powered RSR ought to feature at the sharp end of Class SB and was likely to be well up in the overall results too, the youngster having recently taken pole position and a podium finish on his Mini JCW debut at Donington Park. Ben Purnell’s Millington-engined example would hopefully be able to make its race debut after gearbox worries cut short its planned first outing at Silverstone in March. Mat Brennan brought out the tidy Vauxhall-powered Mk2 Escort with which he made his racing debut in the Castle Combe GT championship a couple of years ago. Another to have raced in the local GT series was former BTCC pilot Lea Wood, the Hereford man wheeled out the RSR that he scored a race win with at last year’s Ford Power Live event and should give Ovenden a run for his money in Wiltshire. The silver bullet Mk2 Escort of Piers Grange would be the car to beat in Class B+ and could well grab a podium, or three! His regular adversary Malcolm Harding was a last-minute entry with his Zakspeed Mk2 Escort after the car’s elusive misfire was finally traced. Competing on home territory, Josh Payton aimed to put his local knowledge to good use in the Millington-powered Mk2 Cortina and mix it with the Escorts. Series head Paul Nevill’s long-serving Mk2 Escort RS2000 was back to its usual pristine self after the car’s startline indiscretion at Oulton Park and the Hertfordshire man drove well to reach seventh overall from the back of the grid during the second bout in Cheshire. Wayne Crabtree was named ‘Driver of the Day’ at Oulton Park and the Gulf-liveried Mk1 Escort should go well again with its oil cooler leak-induced smoke trail now cured. Neil Argrave’s Mk2 Escort made its seasonal debut at Combe and his press-on style should put him well up in the results, Martin Reynolds’ similar car should be in the mix too in the competitive class. 21-year-old Todd Garner showed a strong turn of speed at Oulton Park with his Mk7 Fiesta, including winning the division during the difficult first race. David Guthrie was scheduled to rejoin the series alongside his Boamerang Racing stablemate and Oulton Park top-four finisher Alex Boam in their turbocharged Fiestas but his van expired as he prepared to start the journey to Wiltshire. Robert Lewis’ Focus Ecoboost has raised eyebrows with his performances, particularly if the weather isn’t kind, whilst Cliff Pellin’s Mk7 Fiesta has shown flashes of speed and Nigel Craig’s n/a Cosworth-powered Mk2 Escort rounded out the B+ split. Oliver Bullion came into the meeting off the back of a stellar day at Oulton Park, where the Fiesta took a clean sweep of pole position and two wins in Class B and could well upset the applecart if it rains again, as has been all too common in 2024... The fast nature of the Wiltshire circuit should bring Chris Baker’s Mk3 and Mike Thurley’s Mk1 Escorts back to the fore in the class if the climate stays dry. Andy Pipe came back into the Modified Ford Series fold for his first races at the Wiltshire venue in fifteen-odd years with his immaculate Mk1 Escort and joined the Gary Johnson and Colin Claxton examples in the chase of class glory, with Johnson’s car running a newly fitted sequential gearbox. Jay Hinton put on a great show in Race One at Oulton Park before clutch issues aboard his Focus spoilt his day. Silverstone ‘Driver of the Day’ Tyler England was back with his silver Fiesta and Tom Abbott wheeled out his smart Labatt’s-style Capri to fill out the entry as his Sapphire Cosworth was still out of commission after its Silverstone engine problems. Gary Littlewood, the double Class C winner at the season-opening Silverstone meeting, returned with his yellow Fiesta ST 1.6 and joined the nicely-prepared Fiesta of twice Oulton Park victor Dave Barrett. Darryl Taplin felt he suffered from a lack of grunt at Silverstone so the long run from Camp to Quarry may leave the Fiesta a little breathless but look out for the bright green machine if it rains. Kevan Hadfield completed the entry in his Puma and wasn’t far adrift of the Barrett Fiesta in the second Oulton Park contest.
Qualifying: The field faced murky but dry conditions for their fifteen minutes of qualifying after the early morning mist had lifted. Piers Grange mastered the fast and unforgiving circuit to grab pole position in his Mk2 Escort by just 0.040 seconds from Lea Wood’s Class SB Mk1 Escort RSR, who had been topping the timesheet until the Class B+ car bettered his fastest time. Local lad Josh Payton set a promising third fastest time with the cult hero Cortina, 0.520 seconds off Grange, whilst David Matthias booked his place on the second row with his last lap of the session and headed Class A. Late entry Malcolm Harding was demoted to the third row in his Mk2 Escort by Matthias’ late lap and James Allen lined up sixth after a trying week going into the meeting, the Focus running with its spare gearbox fitted after the original gearbox’s input shaft snapped on the rolling road. Tom Ovenden was the second fastest qualifier of the Class SB cars and was joined on the fourth row by Mike Manning's fabulous Group A RS500 Sierra. Simon Light’s wild V8 Capri flat-spotted a tyre early in the session and struggled to find a clear lap afterwards but still headed Class SA in ninth and series supremo Paul Nevill's Mk2 RS2000 made up the top ten. The front-wheel-drive Escort of Chris Baker was the top Class B qualifier in fourteenth and had a second in hand from Mike Thurley's Escort Mk1 on the row behind in sixteenth, Tyler England's Fiesta was a strong third and would start from eighteenth. Darryl Taplin's Fiesta narrowly headed a competitive squabble for the Class C pole from Gary Littlewood's Mk6 example by a slim 0.164 seconds and Dave Barrett was just 0.075 seconds further back in third. Novice Leroy Brown impressed with twentieth in his first qualifying session despite a slipping clutch, whilst Lloyd Jamieson’s Escort Maxi Cosworth suffered with a vibration and would line up in 38th alongside newcomer Ben Purnell's Mk1 Escort RSR, which proved reluctant to fire up prior to the session with a crank sensor issue. Robert Lewis only managed two laps before a gearbox mounting bolt sheared on his Ecoboost Focus so would start from the back of the grid, whilst Jay Hinton's Class B Focus was trailered after qualifying having suffered more clutch issues.
Qualifying results: Click here
The Modified Ford Series paid its first visit to the famously undulating Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire on bank holiday Monday the 6th of May, for which the former airfield venue drew another packed entry to contest the planned trio of races.
Simon Light’s thundering V8 Capri started as one of the pre-race favourites in Class SA and overall as it made its inaugural appearance in the series for 2024. Lloyd Jamieson made the long journey south from Scotland for his maiden visit to the Wiltshire track and the fast nature of Combe should suit the Escort Maxi Cosworth 4x4. Piers Warwick bagged a class win in the tricky opening race at Oulton Park with his turbocharged Mk1 Escort, besting the Escort Cosworth of final entrant Malcolm Wise in the process. James Allen scored a podium at Oulton Park before a Race Two coming together put him out but the much-modified Focus RS from Class A was sure to feature at the sharp end once more. Mike Manning’s flame-spitting Texaco Sierra RS500 should be able to stretch its legs on the high-speed sections and David Matthias’ Sapphire Cosworth couldn’t be written off in the front-running battle either. Adam Underhill has moved up to the class this year and made his first appearance with the turbocharged 2-litre Zetec-engined Focus. Mick Head’s Martini RWD Escort Cosworth had an adventurous couple of outings at Oulton Park and would be aiming to stay on the straight and narrow at Combe. Club Racing UK part owner ‘Sideways’ Stefan Marsh brought out his five-cylinder Focus ST and newcomer Leroy Brown took his first steps with the series in a 2-litre Mk6 Fiesta Turbo. Tom Ovenden’s Team Matt #74 Duratec-powered RSR ought to feature at the sharp end of Class SB and was likely to be well up in the overall results too, the youngster having recently taken pole position and a podium finish on his Mini JCW debut at Donington Park. Ben Purnell’s Millington-engined example would hopefully be able to make its race debut after gearbox worries cut short its planned first outing at Silverstone in March. Mat Brennan brought out the tidy Vauxhall-powered Mk2 Escort with which he made his racing debut in the Castle Combe GT championship a couple of years ago. Another to have raced in the local GT series was former BTCC pilot Lea Wood, the Hereford man wheeled out the RSR that he scored a race win with at last year’s Ford Power Live event and should give Ovenden a run for his money in Wiltshire. The silver bullet Mk2 Escort of Piers Grange would be the car to beat in Class B+ and could well grab a podium, or three! His regular adversary Malcolm Harding was a last-minute entry with his Zakspeed Mk2 Escort after the car’s elusive misfire was finally traced. Competing on home territory, Josh Payton aimed to put his local knowledge to good use in the Millington-powered Mk2 Cortina and mix it with the Escorts. Series head Paul Nevill’s long-serving Mk2 Escort RS2000 was back to its usual pristine self after the car’s startline indiscretion at Oulton Park and the Hertfordshire man drove well to reach seventh overall from the back of the grid during the second bout in Cheshire. Wayne Crabtree was named ‘Driver of the Day’ at Oulton Park and the Gulf-liveried Mk1 Escort should go well again with its oil cooler leak-induced smoke trail now cured. Neil Argrave’s Mk2 Escort made its seasonal debut at Combe and his press-on style should put him well up in the results, Martin Reynolds’ similar car should be in the mix too in the competitive class. 21-year-old Todd Garner showed a strong turn of speed at Oulton Park with his Mk7 Fiesta, including winning the division during the difficult first race. David Guthrie was scheduled to rejoin the series alongside his Boamerang Racing stablemate and Oulton Park top-four finisher Alex Boam in their turbocharged Fiestas but his van expired as he prepared to start the journey to Wiltshire. Robert Lewis’ Focus Ecoboost has raised eyebrows with his performances, particularly if the weather isn’t kind, whilst Cliff Pellin’s Mk7 Fiesta has shown flashes of speed and Nigel Craig’s n/a Cosworth-powered Mk2 Escort rounded out the B+ split. Oliver Bullion came into the meeting off the back of a stellar day at Oulton Park, where the Fiesta took a clean sweep of pole position and two wins in Class B and could well upset the applecart if it rains again, as has been all too common in 2024... The fast nature of the Wiltshire circuit should bring Chris Baker’s Mk3 and Mike Thurley’s Mk1 Escorts back to the fore in the class if the climate stays dry. Andy Pipe came back into the Modified Ford Series fold for his first races at the Wiltshire venue in fifteen-odd years with his immaculate Mk1 Escort and joined the Gary Johnson and Colin Claxton examples in the chase of class glory, with Johnson’s car running a newly fitted sequential gearbox. Jay Hinton put on a great show in Race One at Oulton Park before clutch issues aboard his Focus spoilt his day. Silverstone ‘Driver of the Day’ Tyler England was back with his silver Fiesta and Tom Abbott wheeled out his smart Labatt’s-style Capri to fill out the entry as his Sapphire Cosworth was still out of commission after its Silverstone engine problems. Gary Littlewood, the double Class C winner at the season-opening Silverstone meeting, returned with his yellow Fiesta ST 1.6 and joined the nicely-prepared Fiesta of twice Oulton Park victor Dave Barrett. Darryl Taplin felt he suffered from a lack of grunt at Silverstone so the long run from Camp to Quarry may leave the Fiesta a little breathless but look out for the bright green machine if it rains. Kevan Hadfield completed the entry in his Puma and wasn’t far adrift of the Barrett Fiesta in the second Oulton Park contest.
Qualifying: The field faced murky but dry conditions for their fifteen minutes of qualifying after the early morning mist had lifted. Piers Grange mastered the fast and unforgiving circuit to grab pole position in his Mk2 Escort by just 0.040 seconds from Lea Wood’s Class SB Mk1 Escort RSR, who had been topping the timesheet until the Class B+ car bettered his fastest time. Local lad Josh Payton set a promising third fastest time with the cult hero Cortina, 0.520 seconds off Grange, whilst David Matthias booked his place on the second row with his last lap of the session and headed Class A. Late entry Malcolm Harding was demoted to the third row in his Mk2 Escort by Matthias’ late lap and James Allen lined up sixth after a trying week going into the meeting, the Focus running with its spare gearbox fitted after the original gearbox’s input shaft snapped on the rolling road. Tom Ovenden was the second fastest qualifier of the Class SB cars and was joined on the fourth row by Mike Manning's fabulous Group A RS500 Sierra. Simon Light’s wild V8 Capri flat-spotted a tyre early in the session and struggled to find a clear lap afterwards but still headed Class SA in ninth and series supremo Paul Nevill's Mk2 RS2000 made up the top ten. The front-wheel-drive Escort of Chris Baker was the top Class B qualifier in fourteenth and had a second in hand from Mike Thurley's Escort Mk1 on the row behind in sixteenth, Tyler England's Fiesta was a strong third and would start from eighteenth. Darryl Taplin's Fiesta narrowly headed a competitive squabble for the Class C pole from Gary Littlewood's Mk6 example by a slim 0.164 seconds and Dave Barrett was just 0.075 seconds further back in third. Novice Leroy Brown impressed with twentieth in his first qualifying session despite a slipping clutch, whilst Lloyd Jamieson’s Escort Maxi Cosworth suffered with a vibration and would line up in 38th alongside newcomer Ben Purnell's Mk1 Escort RSR, which proved reluctant to fire up prior to the session with a crank sensor issue. Robert Lewis only managed two laps before a gearbox mounting bolt sheared on his Ecoboost Focus so would start from the back of the grid, whilst Jay Hinton's Class B Focus was trailered after qualifying having suffered more clutch issues.
Qualifying results: Click here
Race One: The morning had remained dry for the series' first racing action of the day and Piers Grange converted his pole position into the lead at the rolling start as Lea Wood fell into the clutches of Josh Payton and David Matthias, whilst Mike Manning made a great start from eighth in his Texaco RS500 but a brush with Malcolm Harding’s Mk2 Escort from the row ahead at Folly sent the pair into the barriers at high speed and both cars rode up the airbags, with the Sierra almost rolling. James Allen and Simon Light were fortunate not to be involved as the out-of-control cars crossed their paths. The race was immediately red-flagged while the drivers were extracted, fortunately without serious injury. The necessary barrier repairs from the race-stopping incident saw an early lunch break called and Race One would go again in the time slot for their second outing, the second race would then be in the timetabled place of the third and their last bout was planned to be the last action of the day if time permitted. A lunchtime downpour had left the circuit extremely wet but the surface was drying fast as the field took the rolling start. Poleman Grange led the field into Quarry for the first time, with the Mk2 Cortina of Payton going up the inside of front row starter Wood for second. Allen's Focus also quickly got by the RSR exiting Quarry during the opening tour, having jumped Matthias' Sapphire Cosworth under braking, and the top three ended the lap together. Payton had tested Grange’s defence towards Tower and again at Camp before Allen came steaming past on the flat-out run through Folly at the start of lap three. Allen repeated his Cortina move to take the lead starting the fifth lap after a much better run out of Camp but joy almost immediately turned to despair as the Focus suffered a catastrophic engine failure as he neared the top of Avon Rise and he was forced to pull off at the exit of Quarry. Allen’s misfortune put Grange back into the lead from Payton, a charging Light and Wood. Tom Ovenden and Matthias weren’t far away from the top four either in fifth and sixth place. Light had risen through the order well after his qualifying struggles, having used his Capri's prodigious straightline speed to dispense with Matthias during lap two, then bellowed past Ovenden on the next lap and did likewise to Wood on the fifth lap, who was regularly running off-line to cool his wet tyres on the rapidly drying surface. The Capri pilot finally took second from Payton on lap six with his favoured move over Avon Rise just before the Safety Car appeared. There would be no time for a restart after recovering the stranded cars so the chequered flag was waved early and Grange avoided the increasing threat from Light to take victory from the 5-litre Class SA-winning Capri. There was late frustration for Payton’s Cortina after a bolt dropped from the fifth gear selector inside its sequential gearbox and put the red Cortina out of third behind the Safety Car so Wood’s RSR took the final podium spot and the Class SB spoils. Ovenden set the race's fastest lap on the way to second in Class SB and fourth overall from the Class A-winning Matthias Sapphire Cosworth in fifth, whom the red RSR got ahead of into the Esses for the first time. Once he had seen off the early attention from Neil Argrave’s Mk2 Escort, series promoter Paul Nevill held station throughout to take what became sixth place and the Class B+ runner-up spot. The fast-starting Argrave finished the opening lap in ninth before the Ecoboost Fiesta pair of Alex Boam and Todd Garner passed the Mk2 Escort during the second time around. Garner’s newer Mk7 Fiesta passed Boam’s Mk6 version on lap four to take seventh overall and third in Class B+ as Boam followed him home in eighth. The Focus ST of Stefan Marsh also ousted Argrave’s Escort to take the flag in ninth and took home the Class A second place trophy as the Warrior-engined Mk2 Escort completed the top ten. Oliver Bullion’s Fiesta stole away the Class B win from long-time leader Mike Thurley’s Mk1 Escort just before the Safety Car came out and the pair were classified twelfth and thirteenth. Leroy Brown took a fine third in Class A on his racing debut and came home seventeenth. Behind podium finisher Light at the head of Class SA, Malcolm Wise took second with his Escort Cosworth from Lloyd Jamieson's Escort Maxi Cosworth 4x4. Early Class C leader Gary Littlewood pulled off just after Allen’s demise with a list of issues aboard his Fiesta and had dropped to third just before his exit. Darryl Taplin led the chase of Littlewood early on before Dave Barrett's silver Fiesta passed the green car to take the Class C victory as the pair took the flag in 24th and 25th, whilst Kevan Hadfield’s Puma took third. Debutant Ben Purnell claimed a Class SB trophy first time out aboard his Millington-engined RSR with third.
Race One results: Click here
Race One results: Click here
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Race Two: The track was very wet for the Modified Fords' second outing, which saw the race distance reduced to ten minutes after the pinch from earlier delays began to be felt. Josh Payton's team were able to get the Mk2 Cortina going again with some precision grinding and a new bolt installed. Class B front runner Chris Baker started at the back too after clouting a spinning Wayne Crabtree Mk1 Escort during the opening outing and the Hampshire man feared that he’d burst the radiator on his Mk3 Escort in an incident that could have been far more damaging. Not taking the start was David Matthias, who had become fed up with the ropey weather so went home to save the Sapphire for another (hopefully drier!) day. As a storm rumbled in the distance, Simon Light thundered ahead of Piers Grange at the rolling start and swept across the Escort’s nose through Folly to take a lead the monstrous Capri wouldn’t lose. The coupe was already close to being a second up the road after lap one before pulling further clear and was 2.237 seconds in front after three laps. Grange's Escort was second initially before Tom Ovenden came through on lap four and the Mk1 Escort RSR started to nibble away at the V8-powered Capri's advantage, bringing the margin down to 1.449 seconds heading onto the sixth lap before Light steadied the ship and took the flag by 3.274 seconds to wrap up an impressive win. Lea Wood’s Duratec-powered RSR further demoted Grange on lap five and started to make ground on Ovenden's similar car with the race's fastest lap, helped by the red RSR losing its splitter after being put on the grass through Hammerdown by lapped traffic. The top four in Class B+ filled the next four places as Grange sealed the class win in fourth ahead of the Fiesta pair Todd Garner and Alex Boam, whilst a charging drive from Josh Payton was rewarded with seventh to repay his team's efforts to get the popular car out again. The local man started from the sixteenth row in 31st but had reached sixteenth overall by the end of the opening tour, was eleventh completing lap two before climbing inside the top ten on the third time around to sit in ninth, he then moved past Neil Argrave into eighth on lap four and went into seventh on lap six. The Cortina faced a 6.172-second hill to climb inside two laps to reach the top six and the Bristolian finished up crossing the line 1.298 seconds off Boam's third in Class B+. Stefan Marsh's Focus ST was the last to fall victim to the flying Cortina on its way to the Class A victory in eighth. Martin Reynolds reversed his earlier battle with Argrave as the Mk2 Escort pair claimed ninth and tenth. Paul Nevill hadn't long got past the duelling duo when the RS2000 dropped out on the last lap with a loosening bonnet catch, which was causing the leading edge of the bonnet on the driver's side to rise up. Oliver Bullion was caught by Mike Thurley's chasing Mk1 Escort during the race's second half but the Fiesta held on for the Class B win by just 0.280 seconds to make it four class wins in a row, the pair finished just outside the top ten in eleventh and twelfth. Racing debutant Leroy Brown improved on his earlier third position in Class A with second and placed in thirteenth overall aboard his turbocharged Mk6 Fiesta, with Mick Head's Escort Cosworth RWD grabbing third in the class. Tyler England took another third place on the day in Class B with his Fiesta and narrowly beat Class SA runner-up Lloyd Jamieson to the line by a slender 0.174 seconds, the Nissan 180SX-powered Mk1 Escort of Piers Warwick claimed third in Class SA. Dave Barrett and Darryl Taplin's Fiestas squabbled over the Class C win before the green Fiesta's race ended after Taplin dropped a rear wheel on the grass and caught a tyre stack at Bobbies whilst having a go on the last lap, with second in the class going the way of Kevan Hadfield's Puma. Ben Purnell took home his second trophy as the third Class SB runner home and was the final finisher in the class after Mat Brennan's Mk2 Escort non-started.
Race Two results: Click here
Race Two results: Click here
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Race Three: The Modified Fords' third race was rescheduled to possibly be the last race of the day, time allowing, but the axe swung on the encounter due to the fast-approaching curfew to end a challenging meeting.
To complete his trophy-laden day, Simon Light took away the ‘Driver of the Day’ award in addition to the Capri driver's overall victory and second-place finishes.
The next outing for the Modified Ford Series takes the field to the Knockhill roller coaster in Scotland on the 1st and 2nd of June, with the circuit being used in each direction to help mark the circuit's 50th anniversary.
To complete his trophy-laden day, Simon Light took away the ‘Driver of the Day’ award in addition to the Capri driver's overall victory and second-place finishes.
The next outing for the Modified Ford Series takes the field to the Knockhill roller coaster in Scotland on the 1st and 2nd of June, with the circuit being used in each direction to help mark the circuit's 50th anniversary.