Racing Results 2010
Rounds 6 & 7 Castle Combe: 31 July/1 August 2010
For the third year running, the CCRC invited the BRSCC Arrowpak EuroSaloon and Sports Car series to race at Castle Combe, unlike the past two years, this time was a summer date rather than a May Bank Holiday date.
Qualifying:
A couple of local drivers joined in with the regulars giving a starting grid size of 24 cars spread across the 5 classes, although disappointingly, Ian Craig would have class D to himself on his home circuit. Home advantage proved itself as Laurence Kilby (Mitsubishi Evo) set a pole time almost 2 seconds quicker than the 2nd placed driver and class B polesitter, Peter Challis (Nissan Primera). Ilsa Cox (Seat Leon Cupra), a former Castle Combe racer took 3rd on the grid where the top 10 places were all taken by class A and B cars. At Castle Combe, power counts! Ian Craig (BMW M3) was highest placed outside the top two classes in 11th while Class C pole was James May (Seat Leon) fully 3.5 seconds clear of his nearest Class C competitor Mike Gregory (Ford Escort Mk II). Championship leader Nick Hayes finished the session just 5/100ths adrift of May but his times were disallowed for not stopping after the black flag was waved warning him of loose bonnet catches. Stewart Calder (Renault Clio) headed Class E at 17th on the grid with David Pierce (Renault Clio) just 1/5th behind.
Race 1 (Saturday):
Fast starting Kilby was perhaps unsurprisingly 2 seconds clear after the first lap, but in second place was another local driver, Guy Higgs (BMW M3) who had made up 4 places on the opening lap, Challis having fallen to 3rd, and Cox down to 6th from the start. Kilby continued to pull away at 2-3 seconds per lap while Challis was pushing hard to regain second place which he did on lap 5. Kilby was already among the backmarkers and Challis was gaining very slowly before his race ended on lap 7 leaving Kilby in the lead from Grahame Tilley (Saker GT), Cox, Higgs and Keith Butcher (Nissan Primera). On the following lap, Higgs forced his way up to 2nd and the lead pair would maintain their positions to the end of the race. Butcher and Cox were swapping positions, with Cox finally taking the last podium place and Class B win from Butcher by just 0.6 seconds. Mark Chilton (Porsche 993 GT2) narrowly pipped Class A leader Tony Soper (Harrier) to 6th place, some 9 seconds adrift of 5th placed Tilley.
Championship leader Hayes was not enjoying his race having started from the back of the grid, finishing 2nd from last, and leaving him starting from the back again on Sunday. James May (Seat Leon) took second in class C and doubled his points by playing his joker, moving him into championship contention. With Class D going to the sole runner Craig, it was left to Class E to provide the remaining excitement. Tim Clarke narrowly won the battle of the Clio Cup cars from Stewart Calder and David Pierce, with just 4 seconds separating the three of them at the end of the race. Calder had been behind the other pair for the first few laps after which the three swapped places many times during the race. Robert Kucia (Rover 216) made his mark on the series with a spin coming onto the pit straight which ended backwards into a stack of tyres in the middle of nowhere, before he resumed running
Race 2 (Sunday):
Kilby and Higgs got away first, but Kilby was only pulling away at 1-2 seconds/lap while Butcher was staying right with Higgs, drawing alongside many times. Challis and Richard Hawken (Nissan Primeras) had started from the rear of the grid and were making very rapid progress, Challis already up to 10th on lap 1, with Hawken just three places behind. Challis took a couple of laps to get past Soper who would retire with a puncture, another to pass Doug Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) so now he was up to 7th on lap 5. By lap 7, Kilby led by 11 seconds, but less than 2 seconds covered the following group of Higgs, Chilton, Butcher, Cox and Challis. Disaster struck on lap 8, Kilby ran into the back of Simon Jackson (MG ZR) while lapping him into Quarry leaving the MG buried in the wall while the Mitsubishi was able to continue, but now down to 7th place. Just 1.8 seconds covered the six lead cars, Tilley having caught up the group.
On lap 10, just 0.4 seconds covered the lead four cars of Higgs, Chilton, Butcher and Challis, by the following lap Challis' Primera ended up backwards in a wall while passing Higgs and Chilton had a lurid spin at Camp dropping him to 8th. The front three, Higgs, Butcher and Cox were covered by just 0.7 seconds while Kilby was now just a further 2 seconds back., 3 laps later Kilby was out front where he and Higgs would remain once again. After the race, Higgs would be excluded having been deemed guilty of "driving in a manner not compatible with general safety" after the incident involving contact with Challis and a number of other close scrapes. Butcher had been trying to pass Higgs all race long, and was elevated to 2nd while winning Class B for the first time this year, Cox finishing just over 1/2 second further back in 3rd. Doug Ellwood had made steady progress through the race to finish 4th after Tilley retired his overheating Saker after a trip through the grass.
Nick Hayes showed his true form on Sunday despite starting near the back of the grid, and took the Class C win from James May by six seconds. However May's fastest lap gave him the points to become new championship leader with 128 points to Hayes' 126. Mike Gregory filled the final Class C podium position.
Class E looked like another battle of the Clios, but Stewart Calder fell out of contention on lap 3 after pitting before rejoining in last place, then pitting again a couple of laps later. While Pierce was getting the better of Clarke, the final podium place was up for grabs with Calder out of it. Simon Jackson had been looking good for 3rd, but Yaser Almaghrbi was right behind him despite having to run his road legal Renault Clio rather than usual Daihatsu Charade GTii. Once Jackson was taken out of the reckoning, Steve Wood (MINI Cooper S) took up the challenge, but some sterling driver from Almaghrbi saw him hold on and take 3rd in class E.
James May now leads the championship from Nick Hayes 128-126, while Ilsa Cox played her joker in coming second and now heads Class B (3rd overall) on 118 points. Stewart Calder retains his lead in the Mark Fish Motorsport Clio Cup Challenge from David Pierce 102-68, while Seat extended their lead from Renault 526-346 in the MSE-Performance.com Manufacturers Cup. Ilsa Cox 4th consecutive win in the Arrowpak Super Touring Cup extends her lead over Richard Hawken 128-88 with just the Anglesey double header round to come.
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With support from :
Mark Fish Motorsport, MSE-Performance.com & LMA Performance
Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10 (www.nyssaracing.com)
Click here to link to the full TSL Timing results pdf of the meeting