The 750 Motor Club returned to Castle Combe for a mostly sunny one-day meeting. Combe hosted ten race package for the Club, alongside the CCRC which fielded a further three races, which provided a thrilling days action in front of the biggest crowd of the season.
Demon Tweeks | Yokohama Stock Hatch
The Demon Tweeks Yokohama Stock Hatch and Classic Stock Hatch championships were one of the many highlights of the day’s action as the two series combined for the first time since 2010 to form a huge 39 car grid. Tom Bell and Shayne Deegan shared the first and second spots but the opener was a photo finish.
After making a strong start from pole position Deegan fell behind Bell on the fourth lap before Lee Deegan battled his way passed Shayne after the two brothers went side-by-side around most of the lap – even the two chicanes which is almost unheard of. They did the same on the following lap as Shayne worked his way back ahead of Lee. After pulling out a gap while lapping Bell’s lead was eaten away over the last couple of laps by the Deegan’s.
Shayne managed to pull up alongside Bell on the exit of Camp corner and as the cars passed the chequered flag they were only separated by 0.002 seconds, with Bell taking his debut win of the season by a nose. Lee Deegan crossed the line only a further quarter of a second behind in third place.
Carl Swift had a lonely race to finish in fourth ahead of Steve Powlesland who made a strong start and then managed to hold off Paul Jarvis in the battle for fifth. Toby Bearne was involved in the battle during the early stages but held on to finish in seventh.
The second race was dominated by L.Deegan and he took the victory by six seconds, but after being penalised for exceeding track limits, he finished in fourth. That promoted his brother to take his second victory of the season ahead of Bell and Swift who completed the podium. Jarvis produced a strong drive to finish in fifth as he chased the Regency Autos / TBR cars. After a battle, Powlesland took sixth position ahead of Bearne.
Demon Tweeks | Yokohama Classic Stock Hatch Championship
Lee Scott (Ford Fiesta) ended up in an impressive eighth overall in the combined Stock Hatch/Classic Stock Hatch race to claim the victory after an epic battle with Matt Rozier (Peugeot 205). Edward Cooper (Vauxhall Nova) completed the podium within his part of the race which is his first podium of the season where he returns to racing after a year off.
In race two, Rozier took a convincing victory (also his first win of the season) after contact between Andy Philpotts (Ford Fiesta) and Scott. Scott dropped back to seventh which became sixth when Philpotts was handed a ten second penalty for causing the collision. This promoted Gordon MacMillan (Peugeot 205) to second place ahead of Cooper.
Safety Devices | Gaz Shocks BMW Compact Cup
Stuart Voyce made the most of his pole position in the opening race, leading from the start and gradually built his lead up to seven seconds at the chequered flag, which allowed him time to try out some drifting. Josh Harvey made an excellent start which promoted him to second and held off Mike Tovey and David Drinkwater until lap eight.
Drinkwater, who had passed Tovey on the fifth lap, then moved in front of Harvey and was quickly followed by Tovey. Drinkwater took second place for the first time this season with Tovey and Harvey finishing closely behind him. Steve Roberts beat Alex Dew to finish inside the top five.
Voyce once again produced drive a lights-to-flag victory in race two and nobody could touch him as took a victory of four seconds. Harvey replicated his excellent start from the earlier encounter to be in second on the opening lap, but again couldn’t hold off Drinkwater who took the position on lap two and would hold onto it until the chequered flag to take his seventh podium finish of the season.
Harvey came home in third place which was his first podium in the Compact Cup. Tovey won the battle for fourth after a dice with Dew, Matt Parkes (in his first meeting in the Compacts) and Richard Miles (who had by far his best meeting). Tovey briefly fell behind Miles but took fourth away from Parkes on the penultimate lap and was followed by Dew who also passed Miles on that lap. That left Tovey ahead of Dew and Miles in the battle for fourth as Parkes made a mistake on the final lap which allowed Roberts to finish in seventh.
The Tillotston Formula Vee Championship
Formula Vee provided two cracking races after once again Paul Smith (AHS Dominator) had to pull out. That left Martin Farmer (GAC) and John Hughes (Scarab) to battle it out for the victory.
Despite giving Farmer a tough time, on his return to racing Hughes couldn’t quite pull off a victory as Farmer passed the chequered flag first. Graham Gant (WEV) ended up on the final step of the podium ahead of Ian Jordan (Sheane Jordan) and Pete Belsey (Spyder Mk2).
Farmer took his fourth victory of the season in race two after a battle with Gant until the latter had to straight line the Bobbies chicane. Ian Buxton (GAC/Daghorn) scored a podium finish as he beat Hughes and Daniel Burton (AHS Challenger) who completed the top five. Tim Probert (Sheane) took a convincing double victory in class B.
Millers Oils Toyota MR2 Championship
Matthew Palmer continued his dominance as he claimed another double victory, allowing him to take eight victories from eight races so far in 2014. Mike Wells and Jim Davies both took a second and third apiece.
The Mk3 Roadsters seemed to struggle with the fast circuit which meant Stuart Nicholls missed out on a podium despite pushing hard. Russell Hennessey took over John Wilson’s car and finished an impressive fourth in race one but span out while battling Nicholls in the second encounter.
5 Club Racing MX5 Cup
A double victory for Brian Chandler from a huge 29 car grid in just the third meeting for the series. Ben Short and Will Blackwell-Chambers both finished in second and third respectively in both of the races to make two identical podiums.
James Rogers ran second in the early stages of first contest but after a mistake on lap five could only recover to finish in fourth.