Castle Combe Circuit is hoping families will treat Dad to a day out at the Father's (Satur)Day Race Meeting on Saturday 14th June, where a packed programme of varied racing is in store.
With 13 races in rapid fire succession throughout the afternoon and the morning's qualifying sessions giving plenty of time to wander around the paddock and take in the sights, a full day of 'Dad style' entertainment is guaranteed.
The vast majority of the races are run for cars every Dad can relate to, as they are based on the road going versions, some more modified than others. Always popular is the 'Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship'. The leading cars in this race look almost identical to their cousins on the road and still run on road tyres, but underneath the skin they are extensively modified, making this the fastest championship of its kind in the country.
Run with four classes, the battle to be outright champion is between the class leaders, with two of them currently tied on points. FellowBristolians, Mark Wyatt and David Rose, are at the top of classes B and D respectively, but just two points behind is the man who has the experience of two championship titles behind him, Calne's Tony Hutchings.
Consequently, each class leader has his own battle to contend with and the quality of his opponent will be a strong determinant. For Wyatt, he has Bridgwater's Tony Dolley lurking just 4 points behind him and although the 206 Peugeot is generally not a match for Wyatt's lap record holding Astra, there is no room for an off day either.
Rose has life perhaps a little easier as his VW Lupo is able to stay well clear of the opposition, his main task being to remain reliable and out of trouble.
Hutchings has perhaps the most formidable opposition in his class A Audi TT, his position in the points reflecting this. But given half a chance, the experienced local garage proprietor will always squeeze the maximum out of his unusual machine.
Renault Megane pilot Charles Hyde-Andrews-Bird from Shepton Mallet is the closest in terms of speed, but has yet to develop the car to be a regular high points scorer. This has elevated the class A Astra Turbo of Swindon's Julian Ellison to second place in the class, with Westbury on Trym's David Challenger 3rd in his SEAT Leon Cupra. Bath's Dave Scaramanga in his VW Bora and Keynsham's John Barnard in his Turbo Astra are amongst the other A class contenders.
The class C cars are headed by Stroud's Rodney Apperly in his Peugeot 106 Gti and Chard's Carl Loader in his Saxo VTS, with Bath's Guy Parr in the Fiesta.
The Gloucester based 'Kevin Mills Racing Team' seems to have the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 championship pretty much under its control thisyear, with 3 of its drivers taking most of the big points on offer so far.Wiping up most of them in the last two rounds has been Ashley Crossey from Flax Bourton in a Spectrum 011B, some of his main opposition coming from his own team mates, Langford's Roger Orgee and Coventry's Nathan Ward.
Chippenham's Adam Higgins and his Riadro Racing team mate and brother, Richard, from Burnham on Sea have joined in battle in class A this year, Richard currently outscoring his reigning champion brother.
Edward Moore from Melksham will be hoping for a clean run in his Van Diemen JL013K, whilst Plymouth's David Cobbold is in a class of his own in his Pre '90 Van Diemen RF89 and in a remarkable 4th place overall. Tewkesbury's Paul Barnes leads the class B cars built before 1996.
After breaking the circuit record for the most number of wins at the last meeting, Bournemouth's Gary Prebble is back in the circuit's 'Sports and GT Championship' in an attempt to put it even further out of reach of anyone else. His 37th victory was at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Evo, the second car he has won in this year at the circuit, having taken the saloon car race in May in his friend's SEAT.
Another 'south coast' driver, Torquay's Barry Squibb, leads the standings in his 'Evo', with Droitwich's Keith Dunn second overall and the top of his class in his Caterham C400 with Tim Woodman from Westbury on Trym not far behind. Envious fathers will want to catch a glimpse of the unique BMW M6 coupe of Blagdon's Doug Watson.
The rest of the programme is comprised of races for championships organised by the 750 motor club. After a 4 year break, the Formula Vee championship returns with its unique VW Beetle engined single seaters. These unlikely, but very effective, machines have been visiting the circuit since 1967! Bristol's John Hughes is one of the latest batch in his Scarab.
There's also a pair of races for the 5Club Racing Mazda MX5 Cup, which has local entries from Chippenham's Kelly Williams, Warminster's Matthew Short and Swindon's James Canfer.
The Stock Hatch & Classic Stock Hatch races include Swindon's Gordon Macmillan in his Peugeot 205 Gti and Chippenham's Edward Cooper in hisFiesta XR2i.
Trowbridge's Josh Harvey, Bristol's Mike Tovey and Westbury's Owen Hunter are the 'West Country' participants in the BMW Compact Cup races and there are also two packed races for equally matched MR2s.
Saturday's action starts at 8.30am with qualifying, racing getting under way from 11.50am.
Admission prices are £15 for Adults and £10 for Seniors, whilst accompanied children under 17 years are admitted free. 'Paddock Transfer' is free if the tickets are booked in advance.
For further information, please visit www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk BUILT BY RACECAR
ortelephone the Circuit on 01249 782417 during normal office hours.
