The wildly contrasting sights of tiny 125 cc Superkarts sharing the paddock with Aston Martins and Ferraris is just one of the attractions at the Castle Combe Circuit’s LUX Traffic Systems Raceday on Bank Holiday Monday August 28.
Whilst a Ferrari is regarded by many as the ultimate performance car, the tiny karts from the two British Superkart Association’s National Championship races are likely to lap Castle Combe faster, despite their diminutive size.
Four classes, dominated by the 125cc machines but including 210s and 250s, make for a healthy grid, with Louise Colin the sole lady and hailing from Swindon.
The Ferraris taking part in the Pirelli Formula Classic race are relatively unmodified road based cars, relying on inherent power from their classic V12, V6 or V8 engines, whilst the Karts’ speed comes from phenomenal grip through the corners and braking capability which exceeds all but the most sophisticated of single seater race cars.
As for the Astons, arguably the best loved of all ‘supercars’, their two races for either ‘classic’ or ‘historic’ versions, should see the most modified cars posting some impressive times, whilst the paddock scene will have mouths watering. Examples of almost every Aston will be taking part including the rare Pre-War 1500cc LM7 of Rudolf Ernst from Germany. Local ones are the V8 Coupe of Bath’s Geoffrey Lewis, the DB5 of Tetbury’s Ian McCallum and DB2s from Gloucestershire’s Mark and Colin Campbell, the latter also out in a Dino 246 in the Ferrari race.
West Country drivers are a force to be reckoned with in the Ferraris, Yeovil’s Gary Culver and Pewsey’s Graham Reeder close adversaries for the win in their 328 GTBs. Other local drivers include Frome’s Richard Moseley in a 308 GTB.
Bringing together a wide variety of sports and sports racing cars is the Sports Racing and GT Challenge race, which features many of the aforementioned, as well as Stroud’s Chris Shipton in a Ford GT40 Mirage replica and Bristolian Mike Walker in a 2 litre Crossle 9S.
Bradford On Avon’s Ed Moore no longer has even a mathematical chance to claw back his early season points deficit to Matt Rivett in the Melton Concrete Products Formula Ford 1600 Championship.
Problems in qualifying last time saw Moore back in 16th place on the grid and even his skills were not enough to place him higher than his eventual 5th overall and second in class.
Newbury’s Pat Blakeney is in a battle for second place in Class B with the consistent Steven Jensen from Saltford.
Bratton’s Ben Norton is becoming increasingly familiar with his Class B Swift and will be duelling with the likes of Bath’s Bob Higgins, Chepstow’s Nick Jones and Stroud’s Brian Soule.
Trowbridge’s Stephen Gibbins and Bath’s Chris Acton will be the protagonists for Class C honours.
Atworth’s Rob Ballard will be thankful for his first win in the National Mobile Windscreens Saloon Car Championship race at the last meeting, having sold his house to help finance a super-powerful Mitsubishi Evo 7 RS.
Nailsworth’s Keith Murray and his 4WD Audi A4 Quattro will be hoping to demote him this time, as will Weston Super Mare’s Steve Turvey in the improving Subaru Impreza.
Bristol’s Mark Wyatt should be best of the normally aspirated cars with his immaculate Astra.
Calne’s Tony Hutchings’s has lost the overall lead of the championship after problems last time with his Class C MG ZR, but is still very much in contention and will be helped by a new gearbox.
Bath’s Guy Woodward should be the man to beat in the savesometax.co.uk Castle Combe Special GT Championship race, but needs some more class opposition. Calne’s Steve Coen will be hoping to provide it with the delayed debut of his unusual bike engined ADR.
Bristol’s Tony Michael is again swopping his Nemesis RME02 with the Westfield SE of Rockhampton’s Thomas Richardson, both strong contenders in Class B.
Visiting his home circuit after a highly successful period contesting and winning the North West Sports and Saloon Car Championship is Bristol’s Ian Hall, a regular official at Castle Combe, but this time on the other side of the fence in his Darrian T98-GTR in Class C. His opposition includes the very quick Lotus Exige of Trowbridge’s Mark Funnell and the stunning Opel Omega V8 Star of Salisbury’s Nigel Mustill.
Castle Combe’s Keith Sprules is still racking up the points in his Ferrari 355 in Class D, his challengers including Corsham’s James Johnson in a Fisher Fury and Bristol’s Jon Reeves in a Mazda RX7.
Completing the 11 race programme is the evo Caterham Academy for novice drivers, including Matthew Withers from Bradford On Avon.
Monday’s action starts at 8.40 am with qualifying, racing getting under way from 13.00.
Admission prices are £15 for adults, £7.50 for OAPs, £2.50 for Paddock Transfer, whilst accompanied children under 15 are admitted free.
For further information, visit the Castle Combe Circuit website on www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk
