Twenty years of saloon car racing is celebrated at the Castle Combe circuit’s August Bank Holiday Monday Race Meeting on 31st AugustIn 1995, the track’s long standing championships for ‘Formula Ford 1600’ and ‘Sports and GT’ were added to with the addition of a ‘Saloon Car Championship’ for steel bodied road cars running on road tyres. The first year was seen as somewhat of an experiment, with the series given championship status by the governing body in 1996. Since day one, the championship has been a resounding success, with exciting racing, large grids and regular drivers with whom Combe’s loyal crowd have built an affinity.Two of those are Bridgwater’s Tony Dolley, the only man racing in the first year still competing today and Bristol’s Mark Wyatt, who missed the 1995 season but has raced at his local circuit ever since.As it happens, Wyatt is in contention to win his first outright championship title after two decades of trying. He has clinched his class numerous times, but despite dominating class B with his Interceptor Racing Astra for most of this decade, the outright title has eluded him, usually due to missing a round. This year, he has a slender single point advantage over his team mate, Russell Poynter-Brown from Compton Martin, who leads class D with his Corsa and also sponsors the championship. Dolley is Wyatt’s main rival in their class.To celebrate this 20th year, there will be a lunch time grid walk, where spectators can see the cars and drivers close up, prior to the first of two races that afternoon for each of the ‘Combe’ home championships.Leading class A and likely to be out front, is Southampton’s Gary Prebble in his SEAT Leon Turbo, which, with a demon set of new tyres, now seems to have the edge on Calne’s Tony Hutchings, the former double champion. At the last race, Hutchings was confident of being able to catch Prebble as the race developed but mechanical issues with his Audi TT forced retirement. But Hutchings will be back with an improved set up and could easily close the gap on a day when two helpings of points could make all the difference.Charles Hyde-Andrews-Bird from Ditcheat moved to 3rd in the class A points last time out, his Renault Megane running strongly with its new engine. Conversely, the VW Scirocco of Bath’s Dave Scaramanga took a step backwards with its mechanical upgrades, but is still potentially the fastest car in the field.In class C, Adrian Slade from Seend will be hoping for reliability, the speed of hisPeugeot 106 not in question. With 2 trouble free races he should be able to close the points gap on Bristol’s James Keepin, the class leader in his MG ZR.Although Melksham’s Edward Moore eventually missed the podium at the last round, his fastest lap and super strong pace throughout the race was cause enough to speculate how he might influence the course of this year’s Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 championship.With a number of car mishaps inhibiting his progress over the last few seasons, Moore has struggled to equal his championship winning seasons of the past. But the family run Van Diemen is finally coming together and whilst Moore is realistically (though not mathematically) out of contention for the 2015 title, his performance against the main contenders could be significant.Michael Moyers from Wellingborough, like Moore, was given a 5” penalty for exceeding track limits at the last race. His points situation is better, as he is just 10 behind leader, Langford’s Roger Orgee, his ‘Kevin Mills’ team mate.Chippenham’s Adam Higgins, who was promoted to race winner last time, has to make up 4 points on Orgee, whom he has only beaten twice this year. The double header nature of the day could work in favour of Higgins, who is generally slower than the others in qualifying due to a lack of testing, but fast in the race, evidenced by the fact he holds the lap record.Overcoming a number of issues to take the 3rd place on the podium at the last meeting was Yatton Keynell’s Luke Cooper, who has now moved up to 4th overall in the championship, despite running a B class car.Bridgwater’s Josh Fisher is similarly impressive and was another of the three front running drivers penalised last time, demoting him to 5th in the championship in his even more elderly C class ’89 Reynard.The circuit’s ‘Sports and GT Championship’ has all kinds of cars taking part but none scoring points on a regular basis, so although Bristol’s Oliver Bull missed a couple of rounds earlier in the season with his Tigra Silhouette, he has a good chance of making up the deficit to championship leader Dylan Popovic in the Avatar.After the excitement of the last ‘Castle Combe Sports Racing Series’ race on the 8 August, a double header for the fastest machines seen on the Wiltshire track is eagerly awaited. Professional driver Craig Dolby was given a hard time by former double Combe champion, Simon Tilling, who not only outran Dolby for the first part of the race but set a new lap record in the process!Staying with the ‘double header’ format, the annual visit of the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic series is something Combe’s loyal band of spectators always look forward to. Catering for Ferraris of all types built prior to 1990, there are classes for both unmodified and ‘lightly modified’ cars, but excluding turbo-charged machinery. Last year, East Chinnock’s Gary Culver was a winner in the wet in his 328 GTB.Also returning for another non championship pair of races is the ‘Monoposto Racing Club’, bringing its eclectic range of single seaters for the first of three races for the ‘Tiedeman Trophy’. Frank Tiedeman was the founder of the club and was a race winner at Castle Combe in 1952. Warminster’s Geoff Fern won the Trophy last year and has been a front runner in his class in the main championship for many years. He leads his class again this year, with 5 wins to his credit and is 4th in the overall standings. His team mate, Nigel Davers, also from Warminster, has not been out much this year in his BMW engined Jedi but as another former champion, should be in contention. Cheltenham’s Craig Hurran has a similar car but Yamaha powered and is another good bet for a result. There are various other useful Gloucestershire based drivers too, including Stroud’s David Cox and Jim Blockley.Monday's action starts at 8.40 am with qualifying, racing getting under way from mid-day.Admission prices are £15 for Adults and £10 for OAPs, whilst accompanied children under 16 are admitted free. ‘Paddock Transfer’ is free if the tickets are booked in advance.For further information, visit the Castle Combe Racing Club online at www.ccracingclub.co.ukwww.facebook.com/CastleCombeCircuit, or @castlecombeuk 

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