7th October

I can’t believe this is the last round of the Castle Combe Special GT Championship, it doesn’t feel like yesterday when I was paddling around on a wet race day in March. After the last meeting I was looking forward to this one. I was confident with the car and feeling a lot more comfortable driving in traffic. There was very little to do to the car between the last meeting and this one apart from the usual checks.

The days running up to the 7^th were typical October weather, very wet and windy. Luckily the morning of the meeting the skies were blue without a cloud in the sky. We get to the track around 7.30am and manage to sneak into scrutineering early, normally we have a allocated time but the scrutineering bay only had a couple of cars in it so we took the opportunity. It also meant we could relax before qualifying. By relaxing I mean having a full english and a big mug of coffee. The grid again was at maximum of 30 cars, a testament to the work of the CCRC (Castle Combe Racing Club) getting new drivers into the championship. Qualifying gets underway about ten to eleven and I venture out on track. The plan was to have a couple of laps to settle into driving and then get a time in. Well with 30 cars on track you can imagine there wasn’t a lot of space. On the third lap I post a 1:11.1 which was the same as my previous best qualifying time but this time it wasn’t a struggle to get. I came out of Bobbies chicane and the track was looking empty in front of me so I decide this is my chance to get a decent time in. I fly down to Camp, dab on the brakes and round….this is going to be a good lap. Avonrise is taken with a slight lift from max rpm in 6^th, around Quarry and onto the Esses. Out of the Esses and then the throttle is flat to the floor until I brake for Tower, this corner used to scare me but these days its just another corner. A good exit from Tower and onto Bobbies, I love this chicane and the speed I take through it makes me smile every time. Back down to Camp and again a quick dab on the brakes and through the bend. I cross the line and my lap timer shows 1:10.1, a whole second quicker than my previous qualifying best. Excellent! The next few laps I hit a lot of traffic so I wasn’t able to improve on this time. The car is feeling great, I am very confident with it and putting in a quick lap is becoming second nature now. If you had told me back in March when I was struggling to get into the 1:14’s that by the end of the season I’d be doing 1:09’s I would said you were joking. The 1:10.1 put me 8^th on the grid, out of 30 cars I am very happy with this, plus it’s my best starting position this season.

The race, I line up on the grid and sit looking around, I suddenly realise that the car just up on the right is the pole man….wow it suddenly hits me how good a starting position I have. At this point the nerves kick in……but these soon subside when the 30 second board is shown. Within a few moments we are moving and out onto the formation lap. As we come out of Bobbies I make a point of really getting under the boot of the car in front, the car in question is the big V8Star Omega, this time driven by professional driver Phil Bennett. The start lights go out and I stand on the power, knowing that my little car will get swallowed up by the bigger cc cars around me. I do my best to fend off a Radical SR3 that tries to come up the inside at Folly, while I continue to glue myself to the Omega. Into Quarry and there are cars in all directions, the SR3 is still trying to get past but some opportunist driving got me out of Quarry still in front of the SR3 and lying in 8^th place. This is fun, I get into a battle with the Omega, Prosport LM8000, Radical SR8 and a SR3….I am working my arse off just keeping the SR3 behind and keeping in touch with the 3 cars in front. Their extra cc’s/hp helped but I was able to maintain my corner speed which kept me in touch. The SR8 and Omega pull a small gap and I am left trying to find away around the Prosport LM5000. I am concentrating on where to attack the LM5000 as I come into Camp and the SR3 takes this opportunity and gets inside me and past. Great move by him. His extra HP enables him to force his way past the LM5000 and starts pulling away. At Tower I get LM5000 by out breaking him. I then set about trying to chase down the SR3, we are already into the lapped traffic and the SR3 gets them in much better place than me, which makes the gap between us a lot bigger. Although I am matching his lap times, mid to late 1:09’s I am just unable to make any ground on him. This situation continues for the next 6 or so laps, but I am still holding a very safe 8^th place with the rest of the field behind me no where in sight. At this point I back off my pace to 1:11’s as there is no way I can get on terms with the SR3 now. Coming out of Folly I notice the SR8 with smoke coming from the engine bay, I over take him as he pulls off at Avon Rise and I get prompted to 7^th. This is where I stay until the chequered flag comes out. A excellent finishing position for me, add to this another bunch of 1:09 laps means this was a great end to the season. I lost count how many people asked if my car was still a 1100cc.

So that’s it, the end of the season. I’d like to say thank you to all the people and companies that have helped me out this year. The CCRC for organising a brilliant championship, which has provided some fantastic racing this year. To all the marshals and officials that have provided a very safe racing environment and making the team and me feel so welcome. All the spectators and members from the Combe forum that have made the whole experience a very social one. And last but not least all the people that read these little reports. I hope I’ve kept you entertained this year, it certainly been enjoyable to do.

Next year? Well…. we’ll be doing the Castle Combe Special GT’s next year, the car is undergoing a major upgrade in the engine department where we say goodbye to the Kawasaki 1100cc engine and hello to a Suzuki Hayabusa engine. With this engine we hope to be at the sharp end of the grid next year and challenging for the championship. Keep an eye on the website for updates over the winter