Castle Combe 3rd August

[Patrick]

Booo Hooo! I was unable to get the day off work today to get up to Combe to watch the racing. I have seen the results on MST. Can anyone please help me and give a bit of information on basically what happened. I am especially interested to know what happened in the Castle Combe GT's and Formula Fords as the results look very interesting to say the least.

[Paul V]

The Formula Fords (after a 45min b***ocking from the Clerks post practice, proceeded to have a multi car pileup at Quarry. There were 6 cars left there with (mainly) deranged suspension (one chap needed some tending to tho'). Red flag - restart.
Some drizzle now made the track slippery, Richard Misters spun at Camp when the car in front did - but couldn't get it going and had to leave the car stuck on the grid . Black & Yellow quarters to allow the Marshalls to shift it.
After this Matt Rivet collided with ano (Saunders?) which finished his race. Both were called up to Race Control later on.

[Paul V]

The GT's was just a tad confusing. The 3 Jades led from Bob Light with Dave Green making a demon start (2 wheels on the grass) to slot into 5th at the end of the 1st lap.
Roberts in the 007 Jade Nissan spun when his rear suspension broke at Quarry, leaving his car on the racing line at the exit.
This (eventually) led to a Black & Yellow quartered to move it.
During this time Bob Light had some interesting flag interpretations - as well as (according to the team) taking the Trackstar Jade off, he was docked 1 minute post race.
Sam Allpass also had problems with yellows, this led to him also getting a 1 minute penalty. This led to Dave Green getting his first win ( ). He had got stuck behind the MGF during the B&Y period (which didn't keep up with the rest) and lost a load of time.
Also spare a thought for Jeremy Irwin - he ended up with a cracked block - this after just having to rebuild his gearbox)

[Hamness]

Cracking good days entertainment, but why they took so long to bring out the Black & Yellow Quarters to recover the Roberts Jade which was immobilised on the racing line on the exit of Quarry was beyond belief. The disparity of speeds throughout the field then led to the situation that the front runners, after getting the green flag, had caught up the rest of the field before they themselves had crossed the start/finish line meaning that those of us watching at Quarry saw the hotshoes pass us twice before th e rest of the field! I thought the idea of the caution period was for everyone to form a line behind the lead car at no more than 50mph to enable recovery or attention to a stranded car and/or driver, not for certain cars to virtually stop immediately,(that MGF) thus preventing the drivers who were trapped behind, actually losing distance to the front runners during this period. Can anyone tell me how it is supposed to work?

[Andrew Jones]

Patrick what is MST?

[RMR]

Andrew, MST is the results website
www.mst-group.co.uk/newtesthomepage.asp really useful as it normally give the lap chart aswell.
Congratulations on the win Andrew, on course for a well deserved championship

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by Hamness
I thought the idea of the caution period was for everyone to form a line behind the lead car at no more than 50mph to enable recovery or attention to a stranded car and/or driver, not for certain cars to virtually stop immediately,(that MGF) thus preventing the drivers who were trapped behind, actually losing distance to the front runners during this period. Can anyone tell me how it is supposed to work?

The purpose of the 'battenburg' flag is to use the leader as a 'pace car'. The cars must close up behind the leader & remain in close formation until the incident is cleared

The purpose of the quartered flag or the pace car is to provide a safer working environment for marshals, medics, rescue units, etc., who are working trackside. By slowing the competitors down & closing them up a period of a couple of minutes or so, depending on circuit length, is created during which work can be carried out in the knowledge that no cars will be passing; stragglers totally negate this - as one of the people whose safety they are compromising, I'd like to see any driver who doesn't close up to the car in front immediately black-flagged......

[Quadrifoglio]

As usual at castle Combe the excitement together with the atmosphere created a great day out, although the holiday season meant the crowd was smaller than usual. The races mentioned were both action packed and unusually for me I found myself viewing at the corner where the action was.
the GT race was great until the leader in the Jade Nissan spun in front of me on the exit of Quarry, it took a while to bring out the daft flag system which resulted in total confusion, mainly because a big percentage of the field were stuck behind that apparently standard MGF (I hate them anyway!) During the remaining laps the commentator at Tower was heard to say "I havent got a clue who is leading, actually I have lost the plot of this one" which gave every one a great laugh.
One of the problems seems to be that when the green flag is shown at the start/finish for racing to recommence the control flag was still being shown out on the circuit, so the cars at the rear of the field were still circulating in line, perhaps someone can confirm the correct procedure for a restart.
The Formula Ford crash at Tower corner was between Matt Rivett and Ed Moore. As they are both chasing the championship and were in close formation at the front of the race at the time a tangle was inevitable. I would call it a racing incident 50/50. Matt Rivett seemed calm when he got out of his car, unlike Ed Moore who was fuming and appeared to be intent on telling everyone how hard done to he was.
As always Castle Combe was fantastic, the best racing in the UK for sure and worth my 186 mile round trip.

[Patrick]

Thanks for all the info guys. I will be sure not to miss any of the remaining races season if I can help it.

[ghinzani]

FF's always been controversial at Combe - battles between Bob Higgins, David Davies, the late Ian McCardell, Gavin etc - anyone remember that FF final round when Dvaies and Higgins brought in extra team-mates to boost their chances and they all proceeded to take each other off and Gav sailed serenly thru to the championship... whats happened to all those guys? there was that bloke Dave Morgan with lots of money, and the lad Richard from Falmouth (and his dad). Good local thrash that was, wish I had something from the late 80s with rocker suspension so I could join in the wheel banging!

[N M Ramsden]

I was marshalling at Esses in all day and that is where in my opinion Bob Light punted the Orange Jade off. What happened was.... After the Black and Yellow quarters were withdrawn the Jade had a better run out of Quarry than the Stealth because he got caught up behind a backmarker. The Jade got round both and had the racing line into Esses. the Stealth was on the inside line and hit the Jade on the back right corner. He didn't even attempt to turn in. I can categorically say that because it happened 30 foot from me. Both cars spun but the Jade stalled whilst the Stealth restarted. The driver came to us on the bank and was fuming that when the B&Y flags came out he eased off and was passed by at least two cars. (Stealth and Allpass' Jade). By the way, Dave Green was last but one on the starting grid due to tyre problems and I have so much for that guy in his home built car... and he makes it shift.....

[Peter Scillitoe]

Originally posted by N M Ramsden
I was marshalling at Esses in all day and that is where in my opinion Bob Light punted the Orange Jade off. What happened was.... After the Black and Yellow quarters were withdrawn the Jade had a better run out of Quarry than the Stealth because he got caught up behind a backmarker. The Jade got round both and had the racing line into Esses. the Stealth was on the inside line and hit the Jade on the back right corner. He didn't even attempt to turn in. I can categorically say that because it happened 30 foot from me. Both cars spun but the Jade stalled whilst the Stealth restarted. The driver came to us on the bank and was fuming that when the B&Y flags came out he eased off and was passed by at least two cars. (Stealth and Allpass' Jade).

Did your Observer put this in a report at the end of the race? Was any action taken?

[Dan Friel]

A very good day.. with plenty of drama and confusion... i think the Rivett / Moore crash was unfortunate.. but maybe that's the way it ends in such a competitive race sometimes.. hoping for a clean rest of the year. Thought the HSCC package was mostly excellent and the Classic Clubmans had one of the biggest grids of the year.. Mr Harman making up good ground after turning up late in practice...

Only disappointment was sitting on the edge of the M5 for 2 hours in thunder and lighting after Midget split a fuel line...

[Tony Harman]

Originally posted by Dan Friel
...Thought the HSCC package was mostly excellent and the Classic Clubmans had one of the biggest grids of the year.. Mr Harman making up good ground after turning up late in practice...

er well yes - we had a litte problem with fuel pouring out of the air filters when we fired it up for practice (almost literally !...)
So only managed 1 quick lap after deciding me feet weren't getting wet and the throttles weren't going to jam on like at Lydden, consequently only managed 12th on the grid. Had a good race though, thouroughly enjoyed it, only problem was the new pit board I've got is consistantly 4 secs too slow !
Glad I managed to see you on post Dan, shame didn't get to meet up over lunch, wanted to talk to you about your "project"

[Dan Friel]

They only gave us 30 minutes.. and being out at Tower meant that it was too tricky to get back in time... a real shame.. but a good day anyway!

[Tony Harman]

I thought you were after the chicane before Camp ? - maybe it wasn't you I was waving at....

[Dan Friel]

No.. i was at Tower In and you mostly ignored me as you drove past!! I seem to do quite well at missing fellow Ten tenthers.. maybe next year??

[Tony Harman]

Oops - oh well I definitly recognised whoever it was at Camp too. Things are a bit busy at the entry to Tower so probably didn't see you. Yep maybe next year.
Any further developments on the project ?

[THR]

tsk.. you should wave to all the marshalls as a thank you.

[Tony Harman]

Originally posted by THR
tsk.. you should wave to all the marshalls as a thank you.

I always do and applaud if I can take both hands off the wheel, (after all doesn't seem to make much difference t my driving ! )

[Marshal]

Hi Tony, you did manage to give me a wave (I was flagging on the inside of Tower), but alas, like Dan, no time to make it back to the paddock during lunch. See you next time

[Tony Harman]

Only on the slowing down laps ! - but I DID wave