Well the rain returned, it even hailed, however it wasn’t as bad as 2008 and despite the howling wind and very cold conditions the event was run in an exemplary manner. The paddock was full of ‘new’ sights and sounds. The Potters were back with the now turbocharged Jedi whilst Terry Graves was making his competition debut in the ex-Tim Painter Gould GR37. Just one of the Scots ventured South and he enjoyed the day no end! The event saw some very close battles and an intriguing Top 12 run-off.
After practice there was an early lunch break so that the timed runs and Top 12 could be run en block. The event proper got underway with the Mod Prods and in the 1400 class Brian Davage took a comfortable class win over Stephen Dummet et al. In the over 1400s Ian Beacham managed to keep all the oil in the Peugeot this year and finished nearly 9 seconds clear of the battling Hobdays and Paul Bird. In the third and final Mod Prod class for the kit cars Grahame Harden never made it out on track as he had driveshaft problems. However the SBD Westfield dominated proceedings with Matt Hillam just beating Craig Sampson; Derek Hodder was third in his now supercharged Honda-powered Westie.
Once again the Sports Libres were amalgamated into one class and with the Clemow’s withdrawing the initial leader was Ian Cameron in his well driven Mallock however on the second runs on a by now dry track Colin Early in his well prepared Darrian took the class win. Cameron finished second whilst Carole Torkington took third co-driving Early’s Darrian.
The first of the single seater classes was for Up to 1600cc cars – another amalgamation due to only getting 2 entries in the 1100 class. The first two cars out on track were hit by the deluge and both Chris Perry (OMS) and Tom Potter (Jedi) abandoned their runs after several near-misses. At the end of the first set of class runs Scott Pillinger, who was co-driving Perry’s OMS, was leading from Andy Potter but the second runs were on a virtually dry track and things changed dramatically. Tom Potter was first out and he put in a stellar performance in the little Jedi showing many of the skills he picked up in his season of drifting. Andy Potter took second spot in their now turbocharged Jedi with Jonathan Toulmin in third place as he was still getting use to the rather stiff Force. The battle of the Formula Fords was led throughout by Combe racing regular Martin Pickles however Chris Bennett and Dennis Pickett were snapping at his heels.
The Over 1600 single seater class suffered a spate of none starters: Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb had damaged their FVL in testing the day before whilst Mike Musson’s Force had dumped all its oil out whilst having a final check over in his garage on Thursday. Pete Howgate & Brian Woffenden had a problem with the Judd engine in their Ralt and had to call it a day without leaving the paddock. Tony Eyles had a transmission problem as he left the line so retired on the spot whilst David Standing had the slave cylinder in the bell-housing fail and was immediately sidelined. On track in the wet first runs Stewart Robb led from Mark Smith however when the track dried out for the second runs there were some changes. Stewart Robb still held sway in the lead but Terry Holmes took the Lola into second – the Judd engine now sounding sweeter than it has ever done in the past! Nick Algar struggled to third with a very fluffy sounding engine which may have been intermittently on seven cylinders. Top two litre was Mark Smith who had Steve Broughton on his tail despite the latter’s incredible double 360 at Quarry!
We then reverted to the five classes of Roadgoing cars. In the Up to 1800s Pete Goodman in the Elise fought back from third place in the wet to record the class win from Stuart Morgan-Nash in his MG ZR. The 1800 to 2600 class saw Toby Harris initially lead in the Puma before Anthony Wright in the bulbous Audi A3 took the class win – Harris finished second whilst Dave Greenslade came home third in the Lancer. The final Tin-Top class for Over 2600s was again affected by the rain. In the wet first runs Mike McBraida led but in the dry Trevor Hartland blasted through into the lead and Matt Nicholls in the indecently quick Megane R26 was second with McBraida third.
The last two classes were for the Kit Cars and in the Up to 1800 class Mike Smith in the Puma engined Sylva Striker was the class act. He led in the wet and cruised home in the dry finishing over 7 seconds clear of Tim Richardson (Caterham) and the rest. In the Over 1800 class the wet run was led by Tim Pennington in his Westfield however on the dry track the second runs proved decisive. Ian Parr in the diminutive Sylva riot was unstoppable and finished over 5 seconds clear of Barry Slingsby, Stephen Herbert, Rob Crossland and Garry Bunn all in Westfields.
The first run-off of the season then got underway first out on track was Tony Ellis in the Megapin who clipped a handy two seconds off his Q-time. Then it was the forceful Jonathan Toulmin who went even better by clipping over seven seconds off his Q-time – the track was starting to get faster and people were acclimatising to their mounts. Graham Porrett then set off and never made it past Quarry out as he dropped the Lola off track and slithered over the wet grass clipping the tyre wall. The car was recovered and looked OK apart from a wonky rear wing which was caused by the two mounting plates being bent with the impact. It would sideline both Porrett and co-drive Terry Holmes despite their efforts to run without the rear wing!
After the delay we got underway with Andy Potter in the turbo-Jedi. He was the first driver to post a Top 12 time who didn’t improve and he slipped back behind JT. Steve Miles, winner back in 2008, then made a marked improvement on his times to slot into the lead. Terry Graves was next and despite sitting out the wet first class run due to only having slicks he also improved but not enough to move ahead of Smiley. Steve Broughton then took the Top 12 by the scruff of the neck by setting the fastest time of the day so far. The supercharged OMS looked glued to the track and with no repeat of the qualifying spin he rocketed into the lead. Mark Smith then set off in the re-liveried Reynard only to stop at Bobbies when the battery ceased to give enough power and the ECU shut down! Next was Nick Algar and the reigning champion slipped effortlessly into the lead despite what was now a distinct misfire. Then it was Tom Potter’s turn to terrorise the track and he just slipped inside his Q-time to move into third spot. This just left Stewart Robb and the Pilbeam leapt off the line and blasted down to quarry. Stewart was in his usual determined mood and looked incredibly fast. As he swept through Camp to start his second lap he was quickly into sixth and flat out from Folly to Avon Rise. As he swept through Bobbies and headed for the finish all eyes in the pit lane focussed on the clock which stopped at 115.00 – a new outright course record! The second runs started again with the Megapin of Tony Ellis but he failed to improve and would have to be content with ninth place. JT did make an improvement but would it be enough to stay ahead of Andy Potter. In short it would as Andy opted out of his second run to preserve the car for Tom as it was getting a tad hot! Steve Miles continued his exemplary tactics as he once again set his personal FTD on his very last run. Terry Graves then found a three second improvement but just failed to overhaul Inspector Gadget by less than a second. Steve Broughton’s run came to a premature halt with a burnt out clutch which apparently had played up on his first Top 12 run and finally cried enough as he started his second. Mark Smith was next and this time only got to Camp when his replacement battery failed to deliver enough squiggly amps and the ECU shut down again - two fails and no points for the Welshman not an auspicious start to the season. Nick Algar was next and despite that top end misfire he really got stuck in and when he crossed the finishing line the clocks read 115.01 – a great effort but not enough! Tom Potter then took his second run but failed to improve on his first run time. Surprisingly Stewart Robb came to the line for his second run. Off the line the Pilbeam was flying and he seemed to be getting faster and faster this time being flat out well before Folly. When the orange blur flashed through the finish the time was 113.03 – another new outright course record and with a new flying sprint lap record of just 60.11 seconds for Castle Combe.
Back in the Paddock I asked Stewart why he took his second run “I went out just in case Nick’s time was a mistake.” Despite the prospect of a 10 hour journey home the Robb camp were pleased to say the least! So with just 8 days to the next round will those suffering mechanical problems make it and can those who missed Combe be on the pace – I can’t wait to find out!
1 Stewart Robb Snr (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd MP88) 113.03secs 2 Nick Algar (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 115.01secs; 3 Steve Broughton (1.3s OMS-Suzuki CF06) 119.35secs; 4 Tom Potter (1.0t Jedi-Yamaha Mk4) 122.07secs; 5 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Zetec RF96M) 128.11secs; 6 Terry Graves (3.5 Gould-Cosworth DFR GR37) 128.93secs; 7 Jonathan Toulmin (1.5 FORCE-Suzuki PC) 133.43secs; 8 Andy Potter (1.0t Jedi-Yamaha Mk4) 137.81secs; 9 Tony Ellis (2.0 Megapin-Duratec 31-07) 138.15secs Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-Vauxhall 903G) Fail; Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) Fail; Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) Did Not Start
BTD: Stewart Robb 113.03secs – Outright Course Record
Class Winners: Pete Goodman (1.8 Lotus Elise) 157.76secs; Anthony Wright (1.8t Audi A3) 150.30secs; Trevor Hartland (2.0t Mitsubishi EVO 5 RS) 151.07secs; Mike Smith (1.7 Sylva Striker) 152.00secs; Ian Parr (1.3 Sylva Riot) 141.62secs; Brian Davage (1.4 Rover Cooper) 160.24secs; Ian Beacham (1.9 Peugeot 205GTi) 146.34secs; Matt Hillam (2.0 Westfield-Duratec/SBD) 143.42secs; Colin Early (2.0 Darrian T9) 148.76secs; Tom Potter 122.09secs (Record); Stewart Robb Snr 119.80secs