Tag Archives: Radical

Grand Finals – Castle Combe

On Saturday I popped along to Castle Combe for the Grand Finals meeting where the sun was trying in vain to dissipate the clouds, but the fine quality of the racing made up for it’s inadequacies.

Reynard/Fisher Spectrum/Moyers, FF1600, Castle Combe

The afternoons racing got off to a scintillating start with the Drive Soutwest and Empire EV Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600, Kent engines, Championship, in which Josh Fisher starting from third on the grid in his 1989 #81 Reynard engaged in a thrilling battle with pole sitter Michael Moyers driving the #125 Spectrum 11c that was twenty years younger than the Reynard.

Josh took the lead on lap six, relinquished it for the next two laps before grabbing it for good on lap 9, Josh is seen above exceeding track limits as he takes the flag after 15 thrilling laps by just 0.212 of a second from Michael, Roger Orgee clinched the championship, 41 years after his farther Roger Snr, won the same championship at he same track, with a third place finish.

BMW 320i, Swaffer, Wileman, Palmer, Davison, Castle Combe

The penultimate round of the Toyo Tyres Production BMW championship saw Gary Feakin and Harry Goodman storm away from the rest and leaving the #145 of Matthew Swaffer, #131 of Matthew Wileman, #8 of Mark Palmer and #17 driven by William Davison to squabble over the final place on the podium in another entertaining race.

When the dust settled William finished third behind Harry but ahead of Matthew Wileman, Rob Cooper and Mark while Matthew Saffer retired the #145, Gary’s win sealed the championship in his favour with one round, run later in the afternoon, to go.

Spire GT3, Tim Gray, Castle Combe

Nottingham’s Tim Gray drove his #96 Spire GT3 to set a pole time for the Castle Combe Sports Racing Series race over three and a half seconds ahead of fellow front row starter Robert Gillman in his #66 Radical Prosport.

It was hardly surprising there for that the closest anyone got to Tim was on the warm up lap when the race ended Robert was 53 seconds ahead of the #12 Radical SR4 driven by Darcey Smith who remained the only unlapped runner, hopefully next year Simon Tilling might bring his Radical out to play in what could be a competitive series.

Audi Hutchings, Volkswagen Scaramanga, Castle Combe

Dave Scaramanga, driving the #6 Volkswagen Scirocco from 9th on the grid, accepted some responsibility for killing Tony Hutchings opportunity to clinch the Class A title of the On Pole Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship after a coming together with the #33 Audi TT a couple of hundred yards after the photo above was taken, leaving Gary Prebble to win the class championship unchallenged in his SEAT Leon 20V T.

Earlier in the race Dave missed the same Bobbies chicane where he came together with Tony on the penultimate lap, after 19 years of trying Mark Wyatt secured his first championship with his class B Vauxhall Astra.

Brabham Thompson, March Armer, Castle Combe

Like Dave Scaramanga, Simon Armer also misjudged Bobbies chicane on the opening lap of the first of two HSCC Historic Formula 3 Races, Simon driving the #22 March 703 is seen making up time as he looks to deprive the #65 Brabham BT21 driven by Peter Thompson of the second place on lap 3 on his way to victory.

Legendary club motorsports journalist and racer Marcus Pye in the commentary box informed us that the Simon’s March belonged to Tom Walkinshaw, who went on to found Tom Walkinshaw Racing with which he won the 1984 European Touring Car Championship at the wheel of a TWR Jaguar before taking Jaguar back to Le Mans in 1986 which resulted in wins for the marque in 1988 and 1990.

Spectrum/Moyers, Reynard/Fisher, FF1600, Castle Combe

The Formula Ford boys made a second appearance at the meeting for the non championship Formula Ford Carnival which again saw a close battle between Michael Moyers and Josh Fisher, this time Michael did not give an inch and won the 15 lap adrenaline rush by less than a second, for his two entertaining drives in such an ancient machine Josh quite rightly won the man of the meeting award.

Ginetta Krayem, Mazda Putt, Castle Combe

Bristol’s Oliver Bull driving a Ford powered Vauxhall Tigra Silhouette in class B of the Avatar Sports Cars Castle Combe Sports and GT Championship managed to secure the overall title with an incident free drive to second overall from pole. Claimants for the win included Barry Squibb who took the lead on the opening lap only to retire his fire belching Mitsubishi Evo on lap 3 which handed the lead to the fearsome 7 litre / 427 cui V8 powered Zilla Killa Mazda RX7 driven by Steve Putt who started second on the grid.

4th place starter David Krayem, driving a 3.5 litre / 213 cui V8 powered Ginetta G50 is seen above at Quarry having just taken the lead, which he held until the end of the race, from Steve with three laps to go.

BMW 320i, Feakins, Goodman, Wileman, Davison, Castle Combe

Gary Feakin #2, Harry Goodman #4 and William Davison #17 again deprived Matthew Wileman of a podium as they finished the second Toyo Tyres Production BMW championship in the same order as the first, Matthew held third place in the #131 until lap 5 before giving way to the William in another event full of close racing through out the field.

March 703, Simon Armer, Castle Combe, Castle Combe

Simon Armer made no mistakes in the second HSCC Formula 3 race in which he smoked the field and led from start to finish to win by just over 3 seconds, although the finishing order with Peter Thompson and Michael Scott finishing second and third the battle was never certain until the checkered flag was shown.

Ginetta Kraymen, Audi Hall, Castle Combe

Finally the Castle Combe Sports and GT’s came out to play with the Castle Combe Saloons for a bit of end of term fun, Steve Hall in the #19 Audi TT starting from 5th on the grid made the move on David Kraymen seen above as they approach the The Esses stick and led the opening lap before relinquishing the lead back to David who won the race by 2.5 seconds from the Audi with Adam Prebbles steel bodied Rover Tomcat a highly entertaining 3rd ahead of the Audi TT driven by Tony Hutchings.

With another full day of motorsport planned in Wales for the following day I declined the kind invitation to all to attend a party at the Strawford Centre where no doubt a good time was had by all.

Thanks for joining me on this “Grand Finals” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Plymouth. Don’t forget to come back now !

Securing The Boondocks – Hullavington Wessex Sprint

Air-time – Cholmondeley Pageant Of Power

RIP Peter O’Shea – Castle Combe August Cup

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Thanks to the generosity of Simon Lewis I was able to see five, of the ten, races at Castle Combe this weekend in between looking after two otherwise empty houses and a dog called Zed, who naturally was not permitted to come with me to the race track.

You could have heard a pin drop as I arrived at the Circuit around mid day on Saturday, as I got out of the car and looked across Dean Straight and saw a large accumulation of circuit vehicles 2 ambulances and a police car the reason soon became clear, there had been an incident.

It transpired that a Formula Ford car had left the circuit at Bobbies Chicane and come to a rest in the infield during the 2nd lap of the Formula Ford qualification race. Seeing the driver motionless the race was immediately red flagged and marshals arrived at the scene seconds later to find the driver had suffered a heart attack, neither the the marshals, the circuit medics or the crew of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance were able to do anything to revive Peter ‘Pete’ O’Shea’ who was pronounced dead on the scene.

An hour or so later the time table for the weekends activities was hastily rescheduled with the planned Formula Ford races postponed for a day and racing resumed with Chaterham 7 Super Graduates reminding us why we were all at Castle Combe with a thrilling race.

Pole sitter Chris Rome was immediately swallowed up by a pack including Toby Briant, Luke Tzoufrou, Reece Somerfield and Neil Shinner who entertained us with a thrilling battle in which at least three of the Caterhams lost rear wings in an otherwise fair and good natured 4 way dice.

Neil Shinner seen here in 5th place eventually took a well earned win, with the top six finishers being covered by just 2 seconds.

The Sports & GT Championship proved a bit of a disappointment for Ian Hall who got bogged down at the start and was eliminated when he was clipped by Jeremy Irwin. Both Halls fearsome Darrian Wildcat T98 – GTR and Irwin’s Jertona 85/09 were eliminated on the spot. Pole sitter Simon Tilling did not get away cleanly either which allowed Andrew Shanley, in his #86 Radical Prosport, a few short laps of glory before Simon in his orange #23 Radical SR3 got up to speed and back into the lead and a comfortable race win.

The final race I saw on Saturday was for the Caterham Sigma and Classic Graduates the two classes started on separate grids 10 seconds apart with the Ford Sigma powered cars going first, each of the six starters led the class with victory going to John Gil this time the top 4 finished within 1 second of each other. The Caterham Classic Graduates race also had an interesting battle with the odd wing being lost in combat, John Parker won the class from James Carvey by over 3 seconds which did not reflect the close fought competition during the opening 10 laps of the 15 lap race.

On Sunday I arrived at the Circuit just in time to catch the main event of the weekend a one hour race for Sports 2000 cars. These vehicles first seen in the late 1970’s were an extension of the thinking behind Formula Ford and Formula Ford 2000 open wheel series but with closed bodies and like FF2000 used crate Pinto motors. I believe all three categories got started thanks to former Brands Hatch promoter John Webb.

Nowadays SRCC runs a championship for these cars in original Pinto form and for later Duratec powered cars which run with more sophisticated aerodynamic packages. This round of the series took the place of the cancelled round at Donington Park, due to problems with the local authorities regarding number of days permitted for racing. Sports 2000 teams can run either one or two drivers and must make a scheduled 4 minute pit stop during which refuelling is permitted.

After long time leaders Sherrington and Jenvey experienced suspension failure, Craig Mitchell driving the Duratec powered #22 Lola T88/90 won the event overall,

with Peter Williams and David Pittard coming second in the #88 MCR despite this early indiscretion at Bobbies chicane.

Mike Barnby won the single driver Pinto powered class in the #7 Tiga SC80 despite ignoring repeated black flags towards the end of the race which earned a formal reprimand from the stewards and 2 points on his racing license.

Peter and Harriet Needham won the two driver Pinto powered class in this Tiga SC82 ahead of

the Royal RP42 of William Howe and Formula Ford 1600 star of the 1970’s Wil Arif.

My own retro paint job of the day award went to Mike Johns Duratec Royale RP42 which looked good, but was not classified being 22 laps down at the finish.

Twenty Formula Ford 1600’s came out on Sunday and put on a splendid show in memory of Peter O’Shea, Petes Swift Cooper team mates all carried decals remembering their recently departed team mate and all FF 1600 drivers wore black armbands.

Rob Hall, seen leading above from Felix Fisher and eventual winner Ben Norton, were joined by Steven Jensen in an entertaining four way shoot out that was reflected all the way through the field, from the green flag all the way to the checkers

as evidenced by Adam Cooper, Edward Moore, Roger Orgee and Luke Cooper seen here entering Bobbies Chicane as one in an ultimately vane pursuit of David Vivian in 5th place.

Towards the back of the FF1600 race Pete O’Shea’s friend Darren Hamlen driving the oldest car in the race, the 1980 #74 Royale RP36 managed to pass the #21 Vector of Mike Madge for 12th.

Peter O’Shea was born in Ireland in 1958 and drove in Formula Ford races for three years most recently with the Swift Cooper Team, I hope you will join me in sending condolences to Peter O’Shea’s team, friends and above all his family.

A thread has been started in memory of Peter on this Castle Combe Forum.

My thanks to TSL Sports Timing for the results of all of the weekends races which can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on the Peter O’Shea memorial edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at last weeks action during a test day at Mallory Park. Don’t forget to come back now !

Endurance Record – Castle Combe

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Thanks to the hospitality of Simon Lewis sponsor of the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES I found myself attending the British Endurance Championship Racing Weekend at Castle Combe on Sunday.

As I got out of the car and prepared myself for a long afternoon’s racing there was a demonstration of Smart cars in progress including this neat 3 axle combination of car and caravan. Not exactly what I had in mind when I made up my mind to retire from camping in favour of wheeled temporary accommodation, but this combo would certainly cut a smart dash in the Le Mans camp site.

The first race of the day was for Smart cars which preceded the Smart car demonstration, the second race of the day was the 2 hour Britcar MSA Endurance Championship Round which included a welcome grid walk for the public before the race got underway.

Javier Morcillo from Spain driving the #3 Mosler MT900R set an electrifying early pace from pole position that only Micheal Millard driving the #7 Rapier 6 SR2 was able to match.

I was rooting, in vane as it turned out, for one of my many racing instructors, Calum Lockie, driving the #6 Mosler who was forced to join the fray from a pit lane.

After an incident requiring a Safety Car, during which Lockie now running in the top six pitted early for fuel, Millard got past Morcillo who promptly indulged in some lawn mowing which forced him to stop with serious overheating issues out on the circuit.

Millard then proceeded to lead for most of the next hour, a lap ahead of the next fastest car on the circuit, who proved to be Lockie, until he pitted to hand over the Rapier to Ian Heward.

By the time the mandatory pit stops had all been completed it was the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 driven by Phil Dryburgh and John Gaw running in the invitational class that was uncomfortably in the lead being chased down by the Rapier of Millard/Heward.

No sooner had the #7 Rapier taken the lead with 25 mins to go then it too spun out, leaving the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari to finish first for the second time in this years Britcar Championship. In the process Dryburgh and Gaw set a new Castle Combe record for the most laps covered in a single race at 96 laps up from the previous record of 95.

The third race of the day was the first of two races in the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES. 2010 Monoposto 1000 cc champion Arty Cameron caused a huge upset by catching those ahead of him asleep at the start and snatched the lead from the third row of the grid driving the chain driven #46 Jedi and held it for the opening lap until the more powerful Formula 3 Dallara Renault F302 of pole sitter Stuart Wiltshire breezed past to a comfortable victory. Arty blew his motor making a race of it with the Formula 3 Ralt Vauxhall RT3 of Jim Blockley which came in second.

Tony Dolley driving a Peugeot 206 GTi drove to a second win of the weekend in the Castle Combe Racing Club Saloon Championship after his main challenger Rob Ballard went hay making in his Seat Cupra at Bobbies Chicane early in the race.

It’s been around 20 years since I last saw a Formula Ford race and though there was a change from using Ford Kent engines to Ford Zetec Engines in 1993 and again to using Ford Duratec Engines in 2006 this race catered for cars Formula Ford cars of all ages but all powered by the early Kent engines. My conviction that Formula One would be a lot more entertaining if the cars were built to Formula Ford regulations was confirmed by the race long duel of Ben Norton seen driving the #111 Spectrum 10b and Rob Hall in the #35 Swift SC10. The race was red flagged after an accident between two competitors on the penultimate lap. So far as I know neither was seriously hurt.

Variety was again the watch word for the Castle Combe Sports and GT Championship which featured a somewhat recalcitrant Rover V8 powered #17 Darrian T98 GTR of Ian Hall seen here about to be overtaken by Simon Tillings immaculate #23 Radical SR3 RS powered by a 400 hp 1300 cc / 79 cui Radical Performance Engines tuned turbocharged Suzuki GSX_R motorcycle engine. Tilling, who starting from the back of the grid, blitzed the opposition recording a new class 103 mph lap record, and fastest overall lap of the day, in his amazingly agile machine.

The final race of the day was another in the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES and in the absence of Arty Cameron it was Castle Combe regular Roger Orgee, driving the #6 Ford Zetec powered Van Diemen RF00 Formula Ford car, who got the jump on Jim Blockley in the #24 Ralt and Ray Rowan in the Formula 3 #23 Dallara F398 and almost completed a lap in 2nd place before the more powerful Ralt and Dallara breezed past the wingless Van Diemen.

Blackley in the Ralt passed Rowan for second but by this time Stuart Wiltshire was long gone on his way to his second victory, concluding an excellent day’s entertainment.

My thanks again to Simon Lewis who made today’s blog possible.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Endurance edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a post war Rover. Don’t forget to come back now !

14 01 12 Amended Britcar record race distance to 96 laps not 97 laps as originally stated, thanks to Tim Murray and Pete Stowe for pointing out the error.

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring