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HOWARD’S DAY REPORTS
FROM: MARCUS PYE
HOT HATCH CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST WINS FOR STACK AND RYALL
Superb wins for Jason Stack and Geoff Ryall characterised the 2025 CCRC Hot Hatch Championship’s opening double-header on Easter Monday (aka Howard’s Day), April 21. Re-armed with a Honda Civic EP3, Stack suffered a jammed throttle in the morning’s wet qualifying session, then in damp but drying conditions hurtled from 22nd on the grid to claim the first victory of Castle Combe’s 75th anniversary season. Third in race one behind Nathan Nicholls’ BMW Mini Cooper S, Ryall wrung every ounce of performance from his shrill little Peugeot 106 GTi on a glorius afternoon, snatching back the lead from the charging Stack and beating him to the chequered flag by 0.402s. Third placed Corey Webber, another to switch horses from Renault Clio to Civic EP3 over the winter, broke Stack’s class A lap record chasing them.
Twenty three competitors – the largest grid of the day long on quality, despite absentees set to rejoin the throng – turned out for qualifying. Last year’s championship runner-up, young Crofton Woodhatch, immediately established the pace in his supercharged Grant Motorsport Cooper S R53. First to break 1m 30 seconds, in what was a lottery, Woodhatch was supplanted atop timekeeper TSL’s charts only briefly by class rival Nicholls from The Mini Sport Motorsport team and Webber, before cutting 1:22.674s (80.55mph) for pole position.
Webber’s 1:23.227 best in his Hyland Car Sales Honda claimed the other front row grid slot, with Nicholls and Justin Holloway (Renault Clio) third and fourth. Class B leader Ryall headed the third rank on 1:24.196, joined by MG ZR Saloon stalwart Lee Waterman aboard his Willand Service Centre Honda Civic EP3. Scott Hughes qualified his Peugeot 106 GTi seventh, best of the class C brigade on 1:25.627, but was rendered a non-starter – from R1 at least – when the car took a hefty rearward wallop with team-mate Tim Swift up during the Saloon qualifying session.
Quickest Ford runner was Julian Fisher (Fiesta ST150) in eighth, ahead of debutant Jake Humphrey – son of Combe stalwart Russell in a colourful Interceptor Racing Clio – and Todd Carter, who netted 10th in just two laps in his Cooper S. James Dyer-Bufton (Civic EP3), Hughes’ class rival Adam Wilks in a similar Pug, Julian Ellison (Fiesta ST150), Jack Lovegrove (Citroen Saxo) and Darren Griffiths (Clio) were the next quintet, with plucky Clare Pensom chasing hard in her late-model Civic.
The field was rounded out by Mark Pope (Ford Puma), Benjamin Haywood (Cooper S), Steve Andrews (Saxo), class D soloist Sam Wilkins in the Wiltshire College-run Civic EF – on double duty with 2024 wet race winner Ross Parker transferring to Saloons – Mark Culley (Saxo) and Michael Nunn (ex-Jez Williams Saxo) who did not record a time. A defective fan caused the Citroen’s engine to boil during the closed-wheel practice precursor in which Nunn’s four laps were sufficient to qualify.
The track was still soggy for the first of two races scheduled before the lunch break, although conditions were showing encouraging signs of improvement per weather forecasts. Webber made the best start, leading Ryall and the heavier Minis of Nicholls and Woodhatch up over Avon Rise towards Quarry. Stack was away like a rocket, picking off cars neatly at every opportunity. Sixth at the end of the opening lap, behind Nicholls, Ryall, Woodhatch, Holloway and Waterman, this was one combo on a mission.
Holloway’s pale blue and orange Renault and Woodhatch displaced Ryall on lap 2 as Stack’s rise continued. Third four circuits later, only Nicholls and Holloway now lay ahead of the black Honda. Out by this point were Carter’s Mini and Waterman’s Civic, and Woodhatch joined them on the sidelines at half-distance when crank sensor failure halted his Cooper S. From P16, Pensom charged her Cherry & White Hire Honda up to ninth before retiring.
On track, Stack overtook Holloway on lap 7 and hounded down Nicholls. Jason dived down the inside into Camp to seize the lead on lap 10, but Nathan was back ahead before the Esses. Again Stack had the answer and he duly retaliated at the Esses, taking the chequer 2.717s ahead of the class E-winning Mini. “It was quite fun coming through from the back, but I wasn’t expecting to win,” said Jason. “It was like driving on ice, super sketchy,” said his runner-up.
Class B victor Ryall ousted Holloway for the final podium position, while fifth-placed Webber set fastest lap. The only competitor to break 80 seconds, Corey’s 1:18.667s (84.66mph) best augured well for the afternoon’s race. Half a minute shy, Julian Fisher’s Fiesta was sixth, a similar margin clear of C winning namesake Ellison’s younger version.
Ellison found himself with a frantic battle on his hands, for Nunn had screamed the Rhino Goo Peugeot from stone last to 10th in eight laps and did not relent in his quest for class honours. Michael finished 0.169s short, eighth overall with a class best lap of 1:24.131, 1.5s inside Ellison’s.
Wilks, the last unlapped competitor, was also in the 24s, his Peugeot sporting scuffed left wheel arches as souvenirs. Lovegrove, Dyer-Bufton recovering from a tough opening lap, the Clios of Humphrey and Griffiths were next in. Williams, Heywood and Pope also finished a lap down, one clear of Saxophonists Culley and Andrews, closely matched on lap times.
With race 2’s grid set by second fastest qualifying laps, Stack had to burn from the stern again on a sunny afternoon. Woodhatch was out for the day, as were Pensom, Carter and Nunn – who had felt his engine tighten earlier to cap a miserable day. Great work from the Brooklands Autocraft crew got Scott Hughes out in a heavily bandaged Peugeot, thus 19 combatants came under starters’ orders.
Ryall shot out of the blocks to lead Nicholls, Webber and Holloway to Quarry, while Andrews jumped the start ambitiously before being swallowed. Astonishingly, Stack was seventh past Clive Woodward in the Old Paddock commentary box and the #18 Honda was fourth, chasing Ryall, Webber and Holloway by the end of the first lap. Third next time round, Jason then knuckled down to the tasks of matching Webber’s sister car and catching Ryall’s zippy Peugeot.
Webber pared Stack’s [Clio] record of 1:14.929 back to 1:14.841 (88.98mph) on lap 4, before a mid-race safety intervention. With Pope and Griffiths already out, Williams pitted his Honda four laps in, then resumed. Alas it went bang approaching Tower a couple of laps later, liberally coating the track surface with fluids, which the pace car inevitably redistributed on its single lap ahead.
Four laps after the green, Ryall suddenly found himself bustled back behind Stack, himself recovering from a grassy excursion exiting Quarry. Jason usurped Webber at Folly and Ryall into the Esses on a lap 12 charge, but Geoff dug deep to find something extra, defending stoutly into Tower to score his first outright victory after more than a decade of trying. “I had to drive my socks off for that. There was oil everywhere at the back of the circuit, which made it very difficult,” he beamed as the magnitude of his long-craved achievement began to dawn.
Stack was more than happy with second to back up his earlier win, and a class A double. Third-placed Webber “kept him [Ryall] on his toes” for most of the way, clear of Holloway and twice E winner Nicholls. Fisher was a distant sixth. Hughes rewarded the team effort by scorching through to class C victory and seventh overall. Dyer-Bufton separated Scott from rival Wilkes, while Waterman, Humphrey and Ellison all remained on the lead lap. Heywood, Culley and Esses spinner Andrews completed the finishers in a race which lost Lovegrove’s Saxo after the full-course caution.
With two wins and two fastest laps apiece on their slate, Ryall and Nicholls head to the May Madness rounds – on Bank Holiday Monday, May 26 – as joint championship leaders. Webber’s fastest lap bonus points, which denied Stack a maximum, have set up a fascinating season ahead as class C appears wide open.
AVON TUNING GT CHAMPIONSHIP
DOLBY FIRES V10 RECORD SALVO
Pro driver Craig Dolby’s blinding speed has never been in doubt, as occasional outings in Nigel Mustill’s mighty cars – including the extraordinary Solution F Volvo-Chevrolet S60 which its intrepid owner rolled on Avon Rise last year – attest. But the former Formula Renault and Superleague Formula racer’s Howard’s Day double in a wailing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3r-EX left regulars in the rebranded for 2025 Avon Tuning GT Championship breathless in wet and dry conditions on Easter Monday, April 21.
Reunited with the raging 5.2-litre V10-engined bull, Dolby – stunt double for Brad Pitt, who he rates as a talented driver, in the Hollywood superstar’s forthcoming film F1 – set exemplary standards on track. Furthermore, the 37-year-old’s 1m04.101s (103.89mph) fastest lap in the second stanza set a new GT best at the circuit, eclipsing Mike Jordan’s 1:04.339 mark set in the Lister Storm he shared with David Warnock in the 2022 British Championship round.
Unfazed by the company, indeed inspired by it, last year’s runner-up Dylan Popovic led the chase, his seven-litre Ginetta-Chevrolet G50 unfamiliar in a crushed avocado with mango coulis paint job! “New livery, some engine tweaks but same old Dylan,” quipped the Sarajevo-born London-based speedster. In a field graced by 1989 FIA World Group C2 champion Nick Adams – at 76 sharing a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with Hot Hatch graduate son Tim at the circuit where he made his race debut in 1975, driving a Mallock Mk14 Clubmans sportscar! – third places were posted by welcome returnees Keith Butcher (Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3) and Josh Smith (Caterham 7) respectively.
An eclectic mix of cars populated a promising 17-strong field which included Icelandic time attacker Hlynur Sigurhansson in Rocketdog Racing’s bewinged Mazda RX-8 among a number of WRDA competitors who bolstered the runners. The most impressive newcomer, though, was James Kembrey who – with a novice cross adorning the bootlid of his immaculate three-litre BMW M2 – ranked third in the drizzly qualifying session, behind runaway poleman Dolby and Popovic.
Dolby’s 1m10.539s (94.91mph) best aside, that Kembrey’s 1:17.326 was but 1.106s shy of Combe veteran Popovic opened more than a few eyes. Splitting the 20-minute Q-session after two days of acclimatisation to the Scandinavian-sourced Porsche, the Adams family’s times were barely a second apart, Tim the quicker having watched nine-time Le Mans participant Nick’s three laps before jumping in to the left-hooker for six. Out for the first time since last June, Smith was very much in touch with his 1585cc RLM Suzuki Hayabusa-powered Caterham 7, a 66 second lapper last summer.
Alan Hamilton, with a new 2.3-litre Ford [Mustang] turbo engine in his tubeframe Vauxhall Tigra Silhouette since October’s fiery exit, headed the mid-grid, outrunning Mark Sear’s iridescent green Ultima-Chevrolet Evo, VW Scirocco Saloon convert Dave Scaramanga’s Avon Tuning Audi R8 V10 and the similarly-engined Lambo of Butcher, supported by Julian Simpson-Smith after a fraught weekend running an R8 at Spa and an overnight drive from Belgium. Cornishman Sear’s monster, with its seven-litre Chevrolet LS7 engine mated to a Porsche transaxle, was out for the first time. Having fought the team all last year – forcing Mark to wheel out his BMW M3 – it had finally been persuaded to run for eight laps!
An heroic 10-month effort by Philip ‘Mr Cheese’ Young and his friends had restored both the driver and his ex-Dave Longhurst tubeframe NHR Mitsubishi Colt to health after arresting the momentum of Jazmin Norman’s brakeless Audi TT at Quarry last summer. “The central chassis survived, but both ends are new, fabricated by a mate [using original Chris Ludlow jigs]. The bodywork took more time without moulds, but like the shape” said Philip, delighted to report that its handling was as before.
Enthusiastic Hlynur Sigurhansson, who races a home-brewed RX-8 and a VW Up at home, flew in to pilot South Wales-based Rocketdog’s arrive-and-drive Mazda rotary, finding time with familiarity. Dave Marcussen’s 3.2-litre BMW M3 broke in qualifying and was trailered, but Damian Longotano’s Millington-engined Westfield SE provided fun. Four low-powered cars rounded out the pack, the Ford Kas of Russell Haggerty and Paul Endicott sandwiching Doug Forbes’ Ginetta G20 and MG ZR convert Verity Banks’ Renault Clio 197.
Still on wet tyres in the Lambo he raced during Nigel Mustill’s previous ownership from 2016-2018, Dolby was immediately in the groove at the rolling start for the first championship round. Almost five seconds ahead of Nick Adams at the end of the opening lap, Craig stretched it to 9.8s after two and continued to pull away, circulating super consistently in the long 1:10s to low 1:11s.
While Popovic took four laps to pass Adams – with Kembrey holding on to them brilliantly in fourth in the black BMW – Sear was embroiled in an early tussle with Hamilton, Smith and Butcher. That made quite a spectacle, as Hamilton’s orange Tigra clone caught and split Kembrey from Adams.
As track conditions evolved, drying rapidly as ambient temperatures rose towards comfortable mid-teens Celsius, leader Dolby sought out the wetter lines to keep his grooved tyres alive, “in case I needed them for later.” Popovic’s pace picked up though. “I went out on road tyres, which seemed like a bad idea, but then the track came back to me.” Butcher, who started gingerly, surged forward at this point and charged after Popovic. They finished in that order, 1.234s apart, with winner Dolby close to lapping them.
Adams was a lapped fourth, with Scaramanga’s Audi menacing in his mirrors, hotly pursued by class winners Kembrey and Smith. Longotano and Sigurhansson finished two laps down on the podium party, followed by Young, Forbes and tin-top trio Haggerty, Banks and Endicott. Hamilton retired after 10 laps, inexplicably out of fuel, and Sear after three having gone grass cutting to avoid another car and filled his radiator duct with mowings.
With slicks enabling him to demonstrate the yellow Lamborghini’s dynamics, Dolby streaked ahead in the sequel, lapping runner-up Popovic on the penultimate tour. Seventh at the end of the opening lap, Dylan growled quickly back through the field to third within six, then clawed past Smith who had led the chase initially. “I had to work for that one,” said Popovic post-race, having been waved past by Smith. “It was a different animal for the first couple of laps,” said Josh, bewildered by the couple of seconds lost from 2024’s best.
Scaramanga and class E winner Kembrey – down to 1:08.517 (97.20mph) in the Beemer – finished fourth and fifth. Hamilton, Butcher and Tim Adams, who spun out of the Esses on lap 5, dropping from third to seventh, then fell prey to the black Lambo, were next home. Young, Sigurhansson, Longotano and Forbes completed the classified finishers. Sear’s Ultima disappeared after three laps, but will doubtless be back with lessons learned.
SOUTH CERNEY ENGINEERING SALOON CHAMPIONSHIP
CHAMBERLAIN AND PREBBLE WIN
Defending champion Harrison Chamberlain (VW Golf GTi) and 2022 titlist Adam Prebble (Vauxhall Astra) remained the drivers to beat in the CCRC South Cerney Engineering Saloon Championship which opened with pacy duels on Easter Monday, April 21. The 150mph two-litre turbocars may have had their tyre widths restricted, but every indication is that lap times will be similar in a class structure realigned to accommodate the quickest older cars now ineligible for the Hot Hatch championship.
Prebble was a few lengths ahead of Chamberlain in the opening race when they encountered traffic at Old Paddock. Exiting the ultra fast right-hander, Adam was preparing to lap 2023 champion Mike Good’s Vauxhall Corsa and Jack Boulton’s troubled Golf GTi, when a dramatic incident unfolded. “Mike may not have seen me, but I found myself squeezed into Jack” said Prebble, whose car was airborne momentarily, but he nursed it back to the pits, pulling sharply to the right with damaged suspension. Good continued, securing a class double over his only rival, father Roger aboard his Ford Fiesta.
With Oliver Sprague’s MG ZR in the barrier at Quarry and Ross Parker’s gallant Civic – raced by Sam Williams in the earlier Hot Hatch event – abandoned at Tower when its engine popped, leaving plenty of oily residue, the race was stopped. Chased by non-scoring invitee Will Self (Honda Civic EP3) from the five minute restart, Chamberlain had an easier run to the chequered flag. Bill Brockbank (SEAT Leon Cupra turbo) joined them on the podium having lagged at the original start then launched with remarkable gusto.
A titanic effort in the paddock by Prebble’s crew and reinforcements from Grant Motorsport saw the We Wheel Fix It Astra repaired and re-scrutineered for race two, in which Adam stormed away from the lights and repelled Chamberlain throughout. Self crossed TSL’s timing line third, ahead of Brockbank’s SEAT which was swallowed at the start. “I’m embarrassed to say I was in neutral,” admitted ‘The Badger.’
The complexion of the championship thus took some intriguing turns in its first phase. With Chamberlain and first race retiree Prebble scoring a class A win apiece, Kieren Simmons (Ford Fiesta) and Mark Wyatt (Astra) each beating the other in class B, and Mike Good’s reduced scoring opportunities in two-car D, Wayne Rushworth splendid double in C with fastest lap bonuses puts the MG ZR driver at the head of the table going into rounds three and four of 12 on Monday, May 26.
A wet qualifying session for the season-opener proved little beyond Chamberlain and Prebble being in good shape should the going remain moist for the afternoon’s double-header. Invitee Self and Todd Carter (Renault Megane turbo) shared row two within half a second of Prebbs Jr, Rainmeister Ross Parker was fifth, having moved the venerable Wiltshire College Honda Civic EF over from Hot Hatch, with Brockbank’s whooshing SEAT on his heels.
Class B standouts Wyatt and Simmons locked out the third rank, closely-matched in their General Motors v Blue Oval tussle with C leader Nathan Sutton’s lemon and lime flavoured MG ZR up next on a very colourful row with Haydn King’s multi dayglo hued SEAT Leon. Former champion James Keepin and James Blake (MG ZRs) were in the class hunt as ever – albeit more than a second half adrift of Sutton – but Jack Boulton’s VW Golf turbo returned after three laps with its front splitter askew.
Oliver Sprague’s MG and the Goods, Mike and Roger, were separated by Tim Swift’s Peugeot 106 which suffered a hefty rearward impact on its second lap. Lesser mortals would have licked their wounds and headed for home, but with Brooklands Autocraft’s Scott Hughes also racing the car in the Saloon events they got stuck in and made it raceworthy, if not pretty. Returnee Peter Elliston managed a lap in his hand-controlled VW Golf GTi but made the races too, as did invitee James Allen in his natty Honda Civic Coupe, yet to show its colours.
Much of the race action is already detailed, but Prebble and Chamberlain were flat out from the lights, leaving fast starter Self a lonesome third. When red flags flew at the 10 minute mark following the Prebble/Boulton incident at Old Paddock, Brockbank, Carter – whose French blue Renault rotated at the Esses – and King were disputing fourth. Wyatt was next, ahead of Sutton, who enjoyed himself with MG rivals Keepin and Blake behind. Unfortunately Nathan did not make the restart, his car being pushed off the track forlornly when its clutch cable snapped.
The fresh race, a five-lap dash, saw Chamberlain and Self scamper away, pursued by Carter, who was deposed by Brockbank and King in turn before the chequer. Elliston ran a strong sixth initially, battling with Simmons, who nipped past. Kieren’s principal opponent Wyatt escaped from the MGs of Rushworth, Keepin and Blake to finish 2.223s astern of him. Swift and the Goods completed the 14 finishers.
Race two marked the return of Prebble and – starting from a grid ordered by second best Q times – Adam hurtled ahead of Self, the understeering Chamberlain, Brockbank and King. Chamberlain’s car improved as the 20 minutes ticked away. Past Self on lap 5, he hungrily began to erode the five second deficit to Prebble. A sequence of four personal bests at the end left Harrison 1.867s adrift, clear of Self. Brockbank was fourth throughout, but Allen – going well in the black Honda – grabbed an eyecatching fifth from King on the last lap. Carter remaind on the lead lap on seventh.
Wyatt trumped Simmons by 2.455s for eighth and class B gold. Sutton established a five second lead over the MG gaggle before his alternator failed, spelling another DNF. Rushworth, building on the speed he found at the end of last season, had the legs on Keepin and Blake in C thereafter, before the latter joined Sutton and Swift in retirement. Mike Good came home 11th, behind Rushworth. Elliston and Roger Good rounded out the 14 finishers.
MOTUL FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP
Smith pips Cooper in Medina medley
Winner of six of the 10 CCRC Formula Ford rounds he contested last season, yet three points shy of triple champion Felix Fisher having missed the other two double-headers, Rory Smith aced both of this year’s Motul championship openers on Easter Monday, April 21. The Howard’s Day rout extended his unbeaten Combe run to six races in the B+M Medina JL18.
Double FF Festival victor Smith annexed pole position in the wet qualifying session, with two-time circuit champion Luke Cooper (Swift SC20) and versatile Saloons to single-seater racer Alex Kite in one of a pair of Australian-originated Spectrum 011Cs fielded by triple Combe champion driver Kevin Mills’ equipe his closest rivals.
With conditions perfect for racing on a glorious sunny afternoon, Smith and Cooper lapped as one in the first stanza, finishing 0.202s apart, eight seconds up the road from Kite. Alex unlocked more pace second time out, slipstreaming Rory and Luke over the line after another breathtaking encounter. Kite’s 1m10.362 best lap was the quickest since Fisher’s 1:10.261 set in August 2022, assisted perhaps by less savage kerbing at Bobbies.
Sixteen competitors lined up for the start of Britain’s longest-serving regional FF1600 championship, contested annually since 1969 – two years after the category’s debut at Brands Hatch – when Bryan Sharp emerged victorious in a Merlyn Mk11A. While long-time Formula Fordster Peter Lavender brought his Historic Merlyn Mk11/17 out to play with the modern equivalents, hotshoes and Combe specialists in younger cars fought at the sharp end.
Behind Smith, Cooper and Kite, returning double champion Adam Higgins and brother Richard were fourth and fifth in Beastworx Van Diemen JL15 and RF91 respectively. Following a four year sabbatical Richard was surprised to find himself at the head of class B, for 1990-1995 chassis. Only by quarter of a second, over multiple divisional champion Nathan Ward.
The Jaguar Land Rover engineer was fortunate to be out at all in his Swift SC92. Oil pump failure in Thursday testing wrecked his only engine’s camshaft, but he was saved by retired Combe racer and veteran team chief Brian Soule of Souley Spares who lent him a spare. Numerous changes [flywheel, sump and ignition] were required to make it compatible, but Nathan’s dad Carl set to stripping the engine bay while junior was at work. A long Friday night and full Saturday in the workshop got it running, and following a tootle round the paddock on Sunday afternoon to check that gears and brakes were operable Nathan was back in the game, ahead of rival Higgins by 0.072s for a P5 start in race two!
Next up was Mikel Bezuidenhout, top rookie in last year’s South African F1600 championship, in the second KMR Spectrum. The Investchem-backed Johannesburg teenager, who competed with the squad in November’s Walter Hayes Trophy, sampled Combe on Thursday, then enjoyed acclimatisation days at Oulton Park and Donington in a KMR GB4 car. Having not experienced the circuit in the wet until qualifying, seventh was a very good effort.
Tom Hawkins joined him on row four in the TM Racing-run Springbridge Direct Swift SC95, followed by teenage karters Sam Skellett and Miles Wragg, in for the season and making their car racing debuts in Swift Cooper-run SC92 and SC20 respectively. Briton Wragg, domiciled in Holland [please give him #20 in future, like his home town’s football team Twente Enschede and the chassis designation], shunted the ex-Team Brazil Scholarship/Wallace Martins 2002 Festival car on the recent media day, but played himself in again.
With only Steve Bracegirdle’s Van Diemen RF01 to field under his team banner, Wayne Poole, an infrequent racer these days, jumped into an RF89 for the first time in a decade. With Josh Fisher offering advice – “a reversal of roles,” grinned the three-time Combe champ – Wayne qualified top of class C, for 1985-’89 cars, heading Tom Hawkins’ drag racer dad Bob in his newly-acquired Van Diemen RF89 and Dane Catanzaro in a similar machine. The trio was split by Alicia Hamlen in, unusually, the sole Ray – a GR09 – and Bracegirdle, with Lavender completing the grid.
As an aside, Hawkins Sr arrived with only a handful of laps’ experience in his latest steed. In Thursday’s test session he lost a brand new engine when swarf in the dry sump oil tank – apparently the only component not refurbished – blocked the oil filter. Although Bob switched off pronto, oil starvation took out the pump and camshaft – and bent the crank. Undeterred, a replacement was fitted and the team re-set for race day.
Happily, under a beautiful blue sky, the track was bone dry for the afternoon races. Richard Higgins jumped ahead of his sibling at the start of the first and chased poleman Smith, Cooper and Kite for the first three laps. Behind him Higgins, Bezuidenhout, Adam Higgins and Ward were locked in combat, but the South African wriggled through to fourth where he stayed, a distance behind team-mate Kite who had “laid a smokescreen from riding the clutch at the start.”
Up front, Smith established a tenuous advantage of a few lengths over Cooper who homed in from half-distance, tucking into Rory’s tow, but was unable to usurp him. “In Formula Ford there’s no such thing as being in control,” said Smith. “I played it tactically, but over the last few laps really had to defend.” Luke, who set the fastest lap in 1:10.413 (94.58mph), was fractionally quicker over half of the lap, slightly slower in the other.
Behind the third and fourth placed Spectrums, Higgins and Ward traded places at every opportunity, Richard prevailing by 0.210s. Skellett and Wragg also enjoyed a spirited dice, their order reversing until Sam pitted to report overheating, which Alan Cooper found water pump failure to be the culprit.
Skellett joined the family Hawkins – Tom out when his Swift’s driveshaft snapped at the start, Bob after seven laps when a core plug worked its way out of the Kent block and its water escaped, toasting another engine – and Adam Higgins in retirement. Bracegirdle thus advanced to eighth behind Wragg, while Poole won class C, with Hamlen’s A spec Ray in tow. One lap down, Catanzaro and Lavender completed the dozen finishers.
Starting without Bob Hawkins, Adam Higgins and Skellett [cooked engine, alas] the sequel was an action replay of the first. Smith, Cooper and Kite hurtled round in unison, Alex bagging the fastest lap bonus point by latching on and maximising their cumulative tow before Smith inched away for a 1.998s victory. Unsure of his programme, Rory may have to prioritise Combe if he wants the chase the title which so narrowly eluded him last term.
Bezuidenhout finished fourth again, with Ward shading Richard Higgins for fifth and class B. After another intense duel, Nathan’s prodigious speed out of the Esses looked valuable after half a dozen passes over the final three laps, but the final arbiter was his bravery into Tower where, for the second time, he lunged ahead. With a win and a second apiece, Higgins’ fastest lap bonuses give him a slight lead to the next rounds on May 26, where four-time champion dad Bob intends to rejoin the fray.
Apart from Hamlen getting the better of Poole this time, the order behind seventh-placed Wragg was as before. Poor Tom Hawkins was again an early casualty. Pincered by Higgins into Bobbies on lap three, he clonked the barrier, buckling a front corner and catching his thumb in the steering wheel to complete the family’s catalogue of woe. Nine race laps in total, engine and suspension damage it was an event to forget as they returned home with Bob’s class C fastest lap their only positive souvenir.
DAVE ALLAN TROPHY
The 12th Dave Allen Trophy race, run in memory of the Honda test driver and Synchro Motorsport stalwart who died in 2012, attracted a disappointingly thin entry, but saw some stout action in its 40-minute pitstop format. Dylan Popovic set the pace from the off, thundering his Ginetta-Chevrolet G50 down to a best of 1m06.844s (99.63mph) on lap four before settling into a winning rhythm.
Dad and lad Nick and Tim Adams used the race to get more mileage their recently-acquired 3.8-litre Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Tim clocked a strong 1:08.500 as they finished second, a lap down and one ahead of Dan Ludlow’s class-winning SEAT Leon.
Sharing the only Honda, Tony Cooper’s proven Civic EG, race debutant Kyle Bradley fulfilled a dream to compete and won a tussle with Stuart Emmett’s pristine MG ZR to secure fourth overall, with class victory a bonus.
The two-car relay team of Justin Holloway (Renault Clio) and Wayne Holloway (MG ZR) and the rare MG ZS saloon of Rob Holley and new track day graduate James Blake completed the finishers. The MG ZR of James Foard and Gavin Mills fell by the wayside. Saloon champion Harrison Chamberlain/Tom Hanks withdrew their VW Golf GTi turbo after qualifying.
500CC FORMULA 3
Harking back to the start of racing at Castle Combe in 1950 – when Curly Dryden, Stirling Moss and Peter Collins won in motorcycle-engined Formula 3 Coopers at October’s maiden public event – and the circuit’s first few seasons, 500 Owners Association members turned out in force to support the 75th Anniversary celebrations. Their elbows-out exploits reminded onlookers of such racers as Les Leston, Don Parker and Jim Russell, plus double Le Mans winner Ivor Bueb from Cheltenham.
Popular with spectators in recent years, the 17-strong field spanning six chassis marques – Comet, Erskine Staride, Martin, Petty and Waye taking on the Cooper majority – powered by methanol-fuelled JAP and Norton and engines was greeted by rain for qualifying. As his name might suggest, Tommy Waterfield, a previous Combe winner in Bristolian Tim Ross’ Cooper-Norton Mk9 [and a Frazer-Nash at the Autumn Classic], qualified on pole by more than seven seconds!
The races were dry, however, but on a pleasantly sunny afternoon the young Cotswolds engineer did not have things all his own way. In the opener, Waterfield and 500OA champion Alex Wilson in father Chris’ Martin-Norton traded the lead until brake failure at Quarry gave Tommy a grassy fright. Wilson went on to win from Hamish Cameron-Eveleigh (Cooper-JAP Mk8) and Simon Dedman (ex-Ninian Sanderson Erskine Staride-Norton Mk3). Cooper-Norton duellists Richard Kelly and Richard Fuller squabbled over fourth, chased by Iain Rowley in Duncan Rabagliati’s Comet-JAP Mk1.
Second time out, Waterfield and Wilson tussled until ignition failure silenced the latter’s long-stroke Manx Norton, forcing him to pull off at Old Paddock. Waterfield took that as a signal to put his right clog down, buzzing round ever more quickly and leaving fastest lap at an astonishing 1m25.316s (78.06mph). Kelly, Fuller, Welsh-based Scot Finlay Mackintosh and Stuart Wright completed a Cooper clean sweep. Reading racer Rowley was again sixth in the Comet, designed and built by De Havilland aero engineer Brian Heyward.
MARCUS PYE