Castle Combe Racing Club - Howard’s Day

Report and images by Chris Pearson of CPe FOTO

18^th April 2022

Fantastic to be back at a race circuit to photograph some highly competitive racing action! I spent most of the day with my Olympus OM-D E-M1ii and 40-150mm f2.8 PRO glued to my eye. 

Although I was in attendance as an accredited photographer with a media bib, one of the joys of Castle Combe Circuit is the access for spectators. The entire track is pretty close to the viewing areas which span the whole track on the outside. No infield access is available but it really isn’t a hindrance.

An early start for the Hot Hatches with an 8:30am qualifying session. Everyone took to the track to warm up their tyres and unfortunately, during the session, two red flags saw a much-reduced opportunity to set their best times. Fundamentally, Craig Tomkinson secured P1 in his very well sorted Vauxhall Nova sporting a 2 litre Redtop engine.

He was a solid 2 seconds ahead of his front row competitor, Will Self (Peugeot 205) posting a time of 1:14.363 vs Will’s 1:16.549. 

The two Hot Hatch races that followed during the packed schedule saw some talented racing all through the grid with battles across the different classes. 

 Next to hit the circuit was the visiting MGCC BCV8s. The beautiful sounding grid of 19 cars was a sight to see with a mix of stunningly prepared MGB GT V8s, MGB GTs, MGB Roadsters & MGBs.

A few hairy moments occurred as the drivers tested the limits of the circuit and their cars. James Wheeler had a flawless day with P1 in qualifying and the top step of the podium in both races.

Not to say that it was an easy day for him as there was valiant challenges from Neil Fowler and Simon Cripps throughout their races. 

In the resident Saloon Car Championship, it was a mixed day of greatness and frustrations. Gary Prebble, Matt Parr, Mike Good and Jack Boulton all having DNS or DNFs during the day with failures and gremlins to contest with. Fingers crossed that they are able to get their machinery sorted by the next race day on 2^nd May. 

After a dominant victory by Adam Prebble in Race 1, he was unable to make the grid for Race 2 due to the aforementioned car troubles. This paved the way for an epic battle between Tony Hutchings and Dave Spiller who were fighting for the lead in Race 2 for the entire 20-minute race.

Spiller, who was making his race debut in the ex Alex Kite Audi TT blew everyone’s expectations of a ‘learning day’ to get some seat time in! 

Another visiting grid to Castle Combe were up next with the 750MC Sports Specials. An eclectic mix of cars with the super sleek Eclipse SM1s to the proper cool MEV Exocet Rs. 

Top spot on the grid was taken by Andy Hiley in his gorgeous blue and white Chronos HR1S. He also had some gremlins which saw him pull off onto the grass before the end of qualifying. This didn’t hinder his day though as he nailed wins in both races for the Sports Specials. 

The penultimate championship of the day was the local Formula Fords who although with a smaller grid than normal, put on one hell of a show! 

Brothers Josh and Felix Fisher were separated on the grid by Luke Cooper during qualifying with all three drivers only 0.208 second apart. Race 1 saw them create a train that latest a lot of the race.

Only separated when Josh had a little excursion to the grass. Felix ended up taking the win by two tenths from Luke Cooper. Race 2 was much the same, ending up with Josh in P1, Felix in P2 and Luke in P3

The final collection of this superb day was the GT Championship contenders. A moderate grid of 14 cars but what was missing in quantity was certainly made up for with quality. 

Alex Fores dominated the qualifying Race 1 and Race 2 in his ballistic Caterham CSR 2400cc but there was an incredible selection of TCR, Touring cars, spaceframe and Supercars.

Nigel Mustill peddled his roaring Volvo S60 (fitted with a 7 litre Chevvy) to a P2 in the first race but unfortunately didn’t make it back out for Race 2.

Doug Watson found some incredible pace in his Ferrari 458 Challenge to get the second step after a hard-fought battle with Keith Butcher (Audi R8 LMS Ultra) who secured P3 and Jamie Sturges (VW Golf TCR) who just missed out on the podium.