Castle Combe – 10/11th June 2023 Race Report, Images and Results

Posted on: June 15th 2023 • Posted in: Race Results

Rounds 5 and 6 – Castle Combe

After the disappointments and dramas of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit rounds in May, Castle Combe in June welcomed the SRCC racers to a relaxed club event.
Castle Combe is one of the circuits with a long post war history. Having been in continuous use since 1950 when the original airfield that saw operational service from 1940 – 1948 was decommissioned. The circuit is flat, fast, being slowed by the addition of two chicanes from its original configuration. It is also quite bumpy in places creating problematic vibration for some of the competitors during testing and racing. As some were to discover the run off at Castle Combe can be quite short and mistakes can be punished severely as the barriers approach very quickly.
The weather had turned hot and sunny during the week leading up to the event. The cold North East wind changing to a Southerly direction. With the heat came the threat of Thunderstorms and potential downpours. Whilst rain did play its part on Sunday overall it was the summer heat that brought the umbrellas out to provide additional shade
A smaller than anticipated entry for this the second of the split grid races, did not detract from the quality of the racing. There were 13 cars entered for the Pinto Grid and 19 cars for the Duratecs, this having been impacted by the accident that took place at Brands Hatch. Mike Turner wearing a strap on his leg was seen striding around the paddock on both days. Whilst he is not back to full race fitness it is planned that his car will be back at Donington for the July races. Another welcome visitor taking a break from racing was Nick Bates.
Thursday testing, proved to be just that: testing. Richard Johnson having the worst experience when he discovered just how quickly you could meet the barriers. Clive Hayes and the team spending Friday rebuilding the car for him. Roger Donnan found the bumpy nature of the circuit do not suit the splitter on his MCR as it was flexing gradually destroying itself and creating vibration throughout the front end. The vibration had also loosened the adjustment on the brake pedal. Roger calling it day when the pedal rapidly moved closer to his foot.
Clive Steeper was the last of those who reported pre-event issues. His problem being more difficult to rectify as it was an electrical problem. Originally diagnosed as being the starter motor. He is now expert at changing starter motors having undertaken 6 changes of motor in a 24 hour period.
Away from the track Andrew Butler had his excitement on the motorway when he had a trailer tyre puncture at 70 mph. Regrettably his weekend was not to improve.

BS Burner Services Ltd Duratec Qualifying

Saturday was bathed in glorious sunshine for both qualifying and racing. First group onto the track being the Duratecs. From the outset the two championship rivals Michael Gibbins and Josh Law (fresh from an evening gig in Chelmsford) were heading the lap times. 3rd in the standings was Tim Tudor in the car he shares with Patrick Sherrington. Tim’s time only 1/10th of a second faster than David Houghton who seemed really happy with his performance. Half a second behind David was a tight trio headed by Richard Johnson, who was having splitter problems, the replacement from MCR being one of the earlier flexi splitters which was giving the vibration Roger experienced in testing. Hard on Richard’s heels were Paul Trayhurn and Ash Law.
The two Van Diemens had got together on times with Colin Peach just ahead of Josh Needham. Roger Donnan found himself in a lonely spot with no immediate opposition in front or behind. John Owen was blaming the driver for the poor performance. He was aiming for two finishes from the weekend as those barriers did look pretty unrelenting if he made an error. Andrew Butler, was having a weekend to forget. He pulled off at Bobbies when his brake calliper collapsed. The fragments creating damage to the rear end suspension. This would be the first of many occasions where the Sports 2000 paddock came to the rescue with parts and man power to get a fellow competitor back on track.

Apsley House Capital (PLC) Historics (Pinto) Qualifying

The Historic classes whilst lacking two of the front runners from the earlier races, set an extraordinary pace in qualifying with Charlie Hyett on Pole recording a time below the existing lap record and the top 6 covered by less than a second. Ross Hyett was full of praise for his son’s performance explaining that Charlie comes to any new circuit blind. He does not use simulators or Playstations to lap the track in advance he even declined an invitation from Ross to follow him round for a lap. The lap was achieved entirely through his effort within the 15 minutes of qualifying.
In hot pursuit of Charlie was Paul Streat making it an all Lola front row. Chris Snowdon was 3rd in his Tiga whilst alongside him would be Hugo Besley who was another young driver learning the track and searching for the limits. His experiment resulting in a high speed spin at Camp that resulted in some rather flat spotted tyres, but importantly he did not make solid contact with anything on his progress to 4th on the grid. Completing the highly competitive top 6 were Nick Hyett and Mike Fry. Followed by our welcome European competitors Jurg Tobler in his Royale and the Lola of Andreas Floth. Clive Steeper returned to the paddock still having issues with the electrics wondering if this would be a wasted weekend.
The Historics also welcomed one newcomer, Mark Hobbs having his first race with the SRCC following a varied motorsport career which included Formula 1300, with a Multisport, Legends, Mazda MX5 and Crossle which became a class in SR & GT. His appearance at Castle Combe was the culmination of 6 months prep work on the car. The first time his Tiga SC79 turned a wheel in anger was the Thursday test day. Car and driver continued to get acquainted over the course of the weekend. The learning curve sharpened in qualifying. He left the cover on the carburettor and having completed 2 and ¾ laps pulled off lacking power to discover the root of the problem. Chris Snowdon assisted with a problem in the gearbox which came down to a binding dog ring which was changed.
Aside from Mark the paddock was pleased to welcome back after a five year layoff John Deane-Bowers, now being overseen by the Snowdon crew. John’s Tiga SC85 looked immaculate and it won’t be long before we see him and Mark edging towards the sharp end of the grid.

Apsley House Capital (PLC) Historics (Pinto) Race 1

Charlie Hyett’s great work in qualifying failed to give him an advantage when he made a poor getaway from Pole Position. Giving the lead to Paul Streat from Chris Snowdon with Mike Fry in 3rd place. Clive Steeper made a demon start only to run out of space having to drop back to 7th from 10th on the grid.
Hugo Besley was not having a good day, he made a premature start, lifted off and then got shuffled back to 6th place. Unfortunately the first start being recorded by a line judge earned him a 10 second penalty dropping him back to 7th on the final result from his 5th place finish on the road.
On lap 3 Mike Fry made a mistake at Westway, taking to the grass at the Chicane this gave enough space for Charlie Hyett to move up to 3rd place. On lap 5 he overtook Chris Snowdon for second place and began his pursuit of Paul Streat. Neither was going slowly and the lap times were quite close. Clive Steeper was gradually overhauled first by Nick Hyett and then Charlie Besley who would be demoted after the penalty was applied.
Mark Hobbs was enjoying his first race from the back of the grid. He like others made a poor start, which he put down to driver error and the transmission still misbehaving. After a couple of laps he was able to catch up with John Deane-Bowers, Richard Cooke. Richard retiring on lap 12 with a drop in power which he put down to probable electrical problems as the battery had gone flat.
On lap 14 Mike Fry’s great race came to an end when his overheating brakes refused to work and he went off into the barriers at Quarry. Mike was unhurt and the circuit was able to be cleared without a safety car.
In the remaining laps Charlie Hyett continued to chip away at Paul Streat’s lead bringing the gap to 6 tenths of a second at the flag. Setting a new lap record on the way.
The day ended with a birthday celebration for Ross Hyett organised by his sons. It also helped to dispel a myth. Last year Ross ran the race number 69 this year it was 70 for his age, which cleared any doubt regarding his choice for the previous year.

BS Burner Services Ltd Duratec Race 1

It was Josh Law who made the best start, with Michael Gibbins slotting in behind. Both drivers breaking free from the pursuing pack creating a gap of almost 2 seconds at the end of lap 1. Patrick Sherington starting in the third place grid slot position from Tim Tudor’s time soon slipped back and at the end of the first lap it was David Houghton from Paul Trayhurn, with Sherrington in 5th place with Richard Johnson who had misjudged the start dropping back into 6th place. Colin Peach was 7th followed by Ash Law whilst Joshua Needham in the other Van Diemen was 11th having bogged down at the start and trapping Roger Donnan behind him. The following lap Peter Williams retired with a flat battery which was traced to detached wiring.
Tony Barwell pitted he suffering from vibration again caused by a flexi splitter and ongoing overheating. The team did some repair work and he returned to the race but only having completed 2/3rds race distance was not classified in the result.
Whilst most of the order remained stable Josh Needham was regaining lost places moving up to 9th place on lap 2. Andrew Butler’s bad weekend continued with a pit stop for two laps as he tried to sort out problems with the car.
On lap 8 the race took a dramatic turn when Josh Law spun out of the lead at Westway to rejoin in third place. Having come across the rumble strip at Camp damaging the undertray. The diff had locked on the car and Josh came round to retire on the following lap. His race was run with the probability he would be out for the weekend.
This placed Michael Gibbins leading with a 12 second margin however Paul Trayhurn’s interval back to David Houghton was only 3/10ths of a second. This was looking like a close finish for the podium places. The battle became closer and by lap 10 there was a one second gap covering Paul in second place back to Richard Johnson in 5th. In front of them Tony Barwell who had returned with his ailing MCR.
On the lap of Josh’s spin, John Owen and Steve Ough had spun at Bobbies both continuing a quick chat with the Clerk afterwards deciding there was no contact involved.
On the next lap Joshua Needham was pitched into the barrier at Camp, leaving the car parked up against the barrier just before the start and finish line. Josh scrambled out shaken but his weekend was finished. Prompt action by the officials got the safety car out quickly but he was behind the leader. Michael in the lead spotted the safety car and waved him through so the train was in order more or less immediately.
Confusion further down the order did ensue at Quarry Patrick Sherrington and Richard Johnson stumbling over each other in the order but a careful shuffle resolved the positions easily.
Prompt work by the Marshals and recovery crew got Joshua Needham’s car to a safe place within three laps enabling the last two laps for the pack to race to the finish.
Michael Gibbins gauged the start perfectly immediately resuming his pace advantage. Paul Trayhurn in the Gunn TSll was second winning the Derek Bell Class, third was David Houghton, 4th Patrick Sherrington, 5th Richard Johnson, 6th Colin Peach who gained the place from Ash Law in that last lap. Colin winning Class B. 8th was John Illey 9th Andy Chittenden with Roger Donnan 10th and second in the DB Class. John Owen and Bryn Tootell completing the Class B podium.

Apsley House Capital (PLC) Historics (Pinto) Race 2

With potentially heavy rain forecast, the timetable was working ahead of time to get the cars their race before the predicted storms. In the event there were a few drops of rain but nothing to give concern.
The grid formed from the finishing order of the first race, with Paul Streat on Pole Position with Charlie Hyett alongside him. The second row being Chris Snowdon alongside Nick Hyett lined up behind his brother.
The Hyett brothers do not make the best of starts and it was Paul Streat who led from Chris Snowdon, with Charlie Hyett followed by Clive Steeper, up from row 3 Nick Hyett and rounding out the top 6 was Hugo Besley. The pack coming round on that first lap to meet the safety car.
Ross Hyett and Mike Fry had come together at the Esses, both describing it later as a racing incident. Ross losing the front bodywork from his car and subsequently having to retire the car. Mike confused stopped thinking the nose section may have come from his car, which had been repaired overnight by the Chris Snowdon team, who had also assisted Josh Law. Those guys really do need a hobby they certainly did not rest at this meeting.
Once Mike realised the car was in one piece he drove back to the pits for the car to be checked over and the Tiga front section was moved to a safe place for the racing to resume for a mere two laps before the safety car was brought out to play again.
Sadly this heralded the end of Chris Snowdon’s race at Quarry, the rear hub joint broke detaching his rear wheel. Driver was okay and the car is repairable. The particular component being carried in the van as stock as it is prone to failure.
With prompt work by the Marshals and recovery work, after three more laps the race was able to continue without incident to the flag. With the demise of Chris, Charlie Hyett slotted into 2nd place behind Paul Streat. Mike Fry had rejoined the race directly behind Charlie much to the despair of Clive Steeper who hoped to have a chance of staying with the lead pair. Charlie stayed within 3/10ths of Paul but was never able to find the opportunity to launch a passing manoeuvre. He made one last attack at Bobbies running wide which cost him time finishing 3.5 seconds behind the winner Paul.
Clive did eventually pass Mike Fry, but by this time Nick Hyett and Hugo Besley had passed them both. Jurg Tobler completed the top 6 as he closed on Clive Steeper in the Final laps. Richard Cooke did complete the race distance but still had problems with a misfire. He had help from the Hyett family as they provided much needed slave battery power to get his car restarted from Race 1.
Mark Hobbs retired on the very last lap of the race when he experienced a loss of power accompanied by some nasty noises from the engine. Overall he had a positive weekend with assistance from Clive Steeper and Chris Snowdon. He is still learning the car but was pleased to have had a race on each day despite struggling with the starts.
It was a Lola clean sweep on the podium all from Class A. Class C winner was 4th placed Hugo Besley whilst Class B winner was John Deane-Bowers who had two trophies to add to his cabinet after his layoff.

BS Burner Services Ltd Duratec Race 2

The second race for the Duratecs, was also the last of the Sports 2000 Championship races for the weekend. Having been early in the programme for the Saturday they followed the Historics on the Sunday. This allowed the weather to come into play along with strategy. Wet or dry tyres? Prior to their race their had been rain sufficient to warrant Wet tyres. However there were two more races before they went on track the rain was easing and everyone was studying their phones.
When the call came to assembly the majority of drivers had selected slicks with 4 deciding on discretion and opting for wets. Everyone aside from Josh Needham was taking part in the second race. A massive effort from all concerned in the paddock saw Josh Law with his car back together and ready to go from the back of the grid.
A dry line had developed from the previous races and the rain had stopped. There was still some standing water then there was a delay due to a Medical Incident. The ensuing delay saw the track dry and the 4 who had gambled had effectively lost their race.
Michael Gibbins again made a good start this time only leading by 1.2 seconds from Tim Tudor fast starting from Row 2 Paul Trayhurn was 3rd with David Houghton 4th. Andrew Butler one of those on wets came into the pits for a tyre change. Roger Donnan pulling off after the warming up lap deciding not to destroy his set of wet tyres. John Owen retiring on lap 3. By lap 2 Josh Law made his way up to 6th place. After which he was caught up by the train ahead with Richard Johnson being 5th man.
Unlike his brother Ash Law made a poor start dropping back to 10th place. On lap 5 David Gorst became the next retirement when he got stuck in gear. Pulling off at Avon Rise. Tim Tudor lost all his good work at Bobbies when he had a spin that dropped him back to 6th place. Promoting Paul Trayhurn into second place with David Houghton into 3rd place.
Steve Ough was the next retirement coming in because his wet tyres had turned to Jelly. On lap 11 Bobbies claimed its next victim when Ash Law spun disappearing into the cornfield. He did extricate himself without as some have done setting light to the cornfield to retire into the pits.
The race ended with Michael Gibbins leading Paul Trayhurn at the chequered flag, he was leading a close following train of David Houghton, Richard Johnson and Josh Law. The four being separated by just over a second. Paul Trayhurn won the Derek Bell class from Peter Williams in 9th place, Class B Winner Colin Peach finished 8th with Bryn Tootell second in class. One of the happiest drivers at the end of the day was Tony Barwell, as the car had run clean and finished. By contrast Andrew Butler with all of his dramas was looking to see if anyone would buy his car and they could take it away to save him transporting it home.

My thanks to everyone who contributed either at or post the races with information to compile this report.

Many thanks to Alan Jones for this report.

Full results are available via the Results Page. Here

Race Images

Many thanks to Kevin Gibson of KJG Photograpy for these Images from the event. To view the full set or purchase copies visit https://www.kjgphotography.co.uk