Round 1: Castle Combe – 27 March

With a rapidly closing curfew at Castle Combe, the run-off was reduced to just one shot per competitor. Under pressure to get a time, the nail-biting finale was worth the wait. Tom Potter's fantastic drive would, under normal circumstances, have earned him the Driver of the Day with a new class record and a fantastic fourth place in the diminutive Jedi, but Stewart Robb Senior was in an uncompromising mood. On his single run he annihilated the outright sprint course record in far from ideal conditions, got desperately close to the outright lap record and threw down the gauntlet to his championship challengers.

There were problems galore throughout the paddock with Terry Holmes blighted by his car jumping out of third gear, yet he still finished second; Steve Broughton was sidelined when the crank sensor failed & caused his engine to shut-down; Simon Bainbridge had his V8 cut-out due to an electrical failure; Kevin Lealan's Pilbeam developed an appalling thirst for methanol; Phil Lynch stripped fourth gear; whilst several drivers failed to even make it to the meeting!

The next round at Silverstone's Stowe circuit should see the mechanical mayhem resolved plus several additional entries into the championship.

Results

1 Stewart Robb Snr (4.0 Pilbeam-Judd MP88) 112.96secs;

2 Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd/Swindon ERH) 119.42secs;

3 Mark Smith (2.0 SBD Reynard 903/DB-Mk01 Duratec) 121.39secs;

4 Tom Potter (1.0t Jedi-Suzuki Mk 4) 121.98secs;

5. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd/Swindon ERH) 123.73secs;

6 Terry Graves (3.5 Gould-Cosworth DFR GR37) 123.96secs;

7 Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Duratec/SBD RF96/MM11) 124.44secs;

8 Kevin Lealan (2.0 Pilbeam-Vauxhall/Lealan MP62) 127.20secs;

9 Mike Musson (1.3t Force-Suzuki/Holeshot PT11) 131.71secs;

10 Simon Bainbridge (4.2t Audi TT Replica 4-w-d) 136.37secs;

Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Reynard 903/DB-Mk01 Duratec) & Phil Lynch (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F301) Did Not Finish

Championship standings

1 Stewart Robb 13pts;

2 Terry Holmes 11pts;

3 Tom Potter & Mark Smith 10pts;

5 Graham Porrett 8pts;

6 Terry Graves 7pts;

7 Steve Miles 6pts;

8 Kevin Lealan 5 pts;

9 Mike Musson 4pts;

10 Simon Bainbridge 3pts.