last update 13/04/2015

2015 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship

Castle Combe.  Howards Day race meeting - Monday 6^th April

Report by Rob Allender

 Martin Davies goes for it! (photo thanks to Stephen Carpenter SPC Photography spc_photo@yahoo.co.uk www.twitter.com/@spc_photo )

Race 2 – 15 minutes + 1 Lap

Martin Davies wins 2 lap dash to the line after red flag stop

The Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championships’ 2^nd race  was  to close the meeting and set off on the Green Flag lap just after 6.00 pm, but with the circuit curfew due to start at 6.30 pm, there should be enough time to finish the race, barring accidents! This time the grid was in good order as they made their way to the start line. As in race 1 As the light changed Keith White held half a cars length lead over Martin Davies, but once Martins turbo spooled up, he led away into the distance and re-appeared in the lead,  but again had Keiths’ BMW in close company!  However the real story was the exit of several cars all at once on the first lap! Down at Camp corner Glynne Jones, Julian Howells and Susanne Jones got all tangled up and end up with all 3 cars locked together at the edge of the track! Who caused the accident might have been up for debate, but Glynne ‘Fessed up’  that it was him who had spun!  With varying degrees of body damage all 3 cars were able to untangle themselves eventually and were able to drive slowly straight into the paddock! However this meant Martins’ lead was protected to some degree by Yellow Flags at Camp, but unseen at Tower hidden by the dreaded spectator unfriendly, solar panel array, Peter Hills’ Mini was stranded in the middle of the track, after his brakes locked on!  How the rest of the pack missed him, was a mini miracle worthy of Easter! However as the car was unmovable there was no option but to red flag the race with only 3 laps run!

Race 2 re-start The Grid gets ready to go! (photos by SPC Photography) 

As the clock ticked on towards the 6.30 Curfew the grid re-formed minus Peter, Glynne, Julian & Susanne. (Roger Dowden actually didn’t start race 2). To avoid any delay in starting behind a pace car, the starter entrusted the task to the front row men, Keith White & Martin Davies. He could hardly have chosen 2 more experienced or 2 more genuine drivers, than Keith & Martin, to entrust with the task! After shepherding the grid around the 1.85 miles lap, they brought the grid out of Bobbies and down to the start-line in a tight formation, gradually winding up the pace, for a perfect start! As by now was predictable, as the lights changed Keith White held half a cars length lead over Martin Davies, but then led Martin away into the distance and re-appeared in the lead,  with  Keiths’ BMW in close company. However as they crossed the line on lap 1, the marshals were showing the ‘Last Lap’ board! Up until then Martins fastest lap had been a 1.14.96 (in race one), & Keith Whites was 1.13.03 in practice! However this was different with only a 1 lap dash to the flag, and both drivers were going for it in Spades! In the end Martin defend his lead to win by 0.429 of a second, having got down to a lap time off  1.12.954! Keith tried as hard as he could, but even after setting a new WSSCC lap record time of 1.12.903 he could not wrestle the lead from Martins grasp in one of the most exciting finishes to a Welsh Championship race in recent years,( and there have been a few crackers over the years!) Keith Butcher was also caught up in last lap fever and set his fastest time in his new car to finish 3^rd. Dave Scaramanga  also set his fastest lap of the day too to finish 4^th! Fabio Lufferelli  had taken up his allotted Grid place for race 2 and moved up to finish 5^th just ahead of Sam Summerhayes., who was the Class At Winner)  Unfortunately Tyrone, who got up to 12^th before the red flag, didn’t make it to the finish of race 2. Mike Edgell was also a DNF. Craig Wright was 7^th and won Class BT again but this time with fellow BT men, Daryl Radford, and Nick Rocke keeping him company! Chris Morris won Class AS again, but this time increased his Class points lead, as he was the only AS finisher! Tal Lambert was 11^th and won Class BS, but as like, Fabio Lufferelli , as he was also the only starter in his class, he was only going to score ½ points! BT class runners Dan Burt, Colin Dunn, Giles Beck and Huw Morgan, occupied 12^th to 5^th places after some tight battles!  Andrew Williams was 16^th  in his MGZR ahead of Verity in her MG. Verity had Hollys dad Graham Welch for company as they battled at the back.  Graham finished 18^th, but was un-lapped! So the day wound to it’s close with the prize-giving.  Martin was revelling in his win, and modestly putting his quicker lap times down to the cooler late afternoon air allowing his turbo to work more efficiently! Son Jason was probably closer to the mark when he said  “A lot of that came from within himself!’ (Shades of Jochen Rindt in the 197O Monaco Grand Prix)  Keith was sure he’ would have got past Martin given one more lap, which is a moot point, but at least he was assured of a full Class D points haul!

Race 1 Keith White wins the first ever WSSCC race at Combe

WSSCC Entry & Qualli report.

2015 WSSCC Overall Points after 2 rounds

Castle Combe Results courtsey of www.tsl-timing.com