A fabulous array of racing, including rounds of two of the most prestigious championships in Britain, make up a mighty 18-race weekend at Castle Combe for the Summer Racing Festival (19/20 June).
Headlining the racing will be a 90-minute race for the Britcar Championship, which brings out a stunning field of high-powered GT cars. Meanwhile, Grand Prix stars of the future will contest two rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain and young Josh Hill will be in action as his bids to become third generation of the Hill family to win the World Drivers' Championship.
Backing up the visiting races will be rounds of all three of the circuit's own championships, including a double-header for the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 Championship.
Add in mammoth grids for the Mazda Racing Championship, the Toyota MR2 Series and races dedicated to Volkswagens and Japanese cars, and the stage is set for a fabulous weekend of racing.
Running over 90-minutes on Sunday, the Britcar race will bring a taste of Le Mans to Wiltshire with pit-stops and driver changes as Ferrari takes on Porsche, Lotus, BMW and TVR. Leading the standings in the GT classes are reigning champions Witt Gamski and Keith Robinson in their sensational Ferrari 430. They head to Castle Combe with a handy lead over father and son pairing Michael and Sean McInerney with their Mosler.
Other title contenders include the pro-am Spanish pairing of Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano, in the Azteca Motorsport Porsche 996 and class 2 front-runners Neil Huggins and Raphael Fiorentino in their Wiltshire-built Marcos Mantis. Fancied runners for the Castle Combe race include the JMH Ferrari 430 with British GT pacesetter Aaron Scott at the wheel with Andy Ruhan.
Making a welcome annual visit to Wiltshire are the young hotshots in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, which is enjoying a great season with strong grids and very close racing.
World Champion Jenson Button started his single-seater racing career in Formula Ford, and there are plenty of young hopefuls in the class of 2010 looking to follow in Jenson's wheeltracks. Not least among them is 19-year-old Josh Hill, son of 1996 World Champion Damon and grandson of 1962/68 World Champion Graham. Josh won his first Formula Ford race last month and is with the front-running Jamun Racing team, championship winners for the last five seasons.
Scott Malvern currently leads the championship, but it is Australian racer Scott Pye who is on a winning streak, having claimed four race victories already. Pye is just one of a host of young international stars who will be taking part - The Netherlands, Denmark, Finland,France, Ireland, India, Cyprus and Mexico will all be represented.
Gloucestershire's Kevin Mills Racing will have at least one of its Spectrum chassis in action, with current Castle Combe FF1600 star MarcusAllen (Moreton in Marsh) getting his maiden outing in one of the latest Ford Duratec-engined machines. Allen is in for a very busy weekend as he will also be defending his early season lead in the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 Championship,which means that he will be contesting two qualifying sessions and four races in the course of two days.
His opposition in the local races will be as fierce as ever and includes fellow 2010 race winners Felix Fisher (Bridgwater) and defending champion Ben Norton (Bratton). Other contenders for victory include Andrew Jones (Castle Combe) and Josh Fisher (Bridgwater), the elder of the Fisher brothers. With a race each day, this is a very important weekend for the title contenders.
Mark Wyatt (Bristol) is the man to beat in the Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship with a clean sweep of class wins to date in his Vauxhall Astra. He even won overall last time out when the four-wheel drive pack was absent and Wyatt now heads the title contest from class leaders Russell Poynter-Brown (Meppershall) and Will Di Claudio (Chippenham).With a typically full grid, there will be plenty of great racing from the saloon car pack. Simon Tilling (Vernham Dean), Josh Fisher (Bridgwater) and AndrewShanley (Trowbridge) are the big three in the Castle Combe Sports and GTChampionship, with Fisher pitching his unique Quantexe ME Mantis against the Radicals of Tilling and Shanley.
Gearbox problems in qualifying prevented Fisher starting the previous round, so he will be battling to recover lost ground. In the classes, the sensational pace of the Lotus Exige of Mark Funnell (Trowbridge) will again make him the man to beat, while Keith Dunn (Droitwich) presently tops class C in his CaterhamC400.
So big is the entry for the BRSCC Mazda Racing Championship that three races are needed to ensure that all of the 50 cars get two races during Sunday. The pack will be split into three groups, with each group racing twice as the iconic MX5 celebrates 20 years of production.
Another production sports car from Japan will be in action in a pair of races for the Toyota MR2 Series, while Saturday's seven-race programme also includes races for the VAG Trophy, VW Golf Mk2 GTi Championship,the Nippon Challenge and the Classic Clubmans Championship.
Finally, a Castle Combe Racing Club Open Sports and Saloon Race completes a packed weekend.
For further information, visit the Castle Combe Circuit website on www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk built by Racecar
