27  Race Report - Castle Combe 3rd October 2015

And so we came to the final race of our season. Castle Combe had once again booked fine weather, it being warm and dry. Thirteen cars were in attendance, represented by 8 different marques, including the interesting Kieft Mk 1 Prototype in the hands of Steve Edwards. In addition, a further five cars made up a display, the stars of which were the Mk IX Coopers originally driven by works drivers Ivor Bueb and Jim Russell. The cars are now owned by David Woodhouse and Tim Ross respectively. The Bueb car raced recently at Goodwood and the Russell car races today. There was a small delay in getting under way for practice, as a car in the previous session had laid a good long trail of oil around the circuit. Once underway, not surprisingly, Xavier and Darrell led the way recording 1:31's followed by lead JAP driver Andy Turner. He was in close company with the ex Jim Russell Mk IX driven by guest driver Ted Williams, some three seconds adrift. Further back, Stuart Wright was a little off his normal pace whilst seasoned campaigners Nigel Challis and Brian Jolliffe had troubles which put them at the back along with Steve, who had clutch and fuel issues. Mike managed a mid 1:44 before the crank-case split asunder, ending his day. The race began with the usual rolling start. Andy Turner made a meteoric getaway from row 2 and at the end of lap one he held a 4.6 second lead from the fast starting Roy, who was being harried by Xavier. Pole man Darrell had slipped to a distant fourth. By lap 3 having disposed of Roy, Xavier and Darrell got their heads down and slowly began to reel in Andy. Further back, Martin, JB and Stuart seemed to be tied together, covered by no more than a second for the entire race and it was only on lap 8 that Stuart managed to squeeze past JB. On lap 9 Xavier managed to get the better of Andy and was just able to hold on until the chequered flag a lap later. Despite recording several fastest laps, Darrell could only manage third, all be it less than a second behind the winner. There may only have been 12 starters, of which 10 ran the full distance and finished, but the crowd were treated to some wonderful close racing during the 17 minutes the cars were on track. Congratulations Xavier on your first 500 win. Thanks to Andy Ford - Milli-Union, Fin Mackintosh - Cooper Mk VI, Tim Ross - Cooper Mk IV, Ted Sharpe - Kieft CK52 and David Woodhouse - Cooper Mk IX for bringing their cars for the display.

Results Pos Class Name Car Time Laps Best 1 P2 Xavier Kingsland Staride Mk 3 - Norton 15:22.869 10 1:30.814 2 P3 Andy Turner Cooper Mk VI - JAP 15:23.271 10 1:30.856 3 P3 Darrell Woods Cooper Mk XII - Norton 15:23.808 10 1.29.841 4 P3 Roy Hunt Martin - Norton 15:34.843 10 1:31.370 5 P3 Ted Williams Cooper Mk IX - Norton 15:.59.127 10 1:34.392 6 P3 Martin Sheppard Bryfan Tyddyn Special - Norton 16:07.689 10 1:35.787 7 P3 Stuart Wright Cooper Mk IX - JAP 16:08.455 10 1:35.388 8 P3 J B Jones Cousey 2 - Triumph 16:08.715 10 1:35.698 9 P3 Nigel Challis Petty - Norton 16:53.597 10 1:39.089 10 P3 Brian Jolliffe Cooper Mk VIII - JAP 16:53.886 10 1:38.965 DNF Steve Edwards Kieft Mk 1 Prototype – JAP Simon Hewes Cooper Mk VIII - Norton DNS Mike Wood IOTA CB2 – JAP Words by: Mike Wood Photos: James Wadham Images & Angie Kingsland

A special thank you to James Wadham for supplying two images for this report, please visit his website where a comprehensive range of photos can be purchased. www.jameswadham.zenfolio.com/ccac15

 

 

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Race Report - Castle Combe 3rd October 2015

©James Wadham Images  

©James Wadham Images