PREBBLE CHARGES TO UNLIKELY SALOON WIN
Gary Prebble turned his fortunes around in the Castle Combe Saloons as, after an initially torrid weekend, he snatched an unlikely victory from the back of the grid.
The SEAT Leon Cupra driver suffered a drivershaft failure in qualifying which left him 25th for race one and 30th – and last – for the second. Things got even worse for the Prebble clan as Gary’s brother, Adam, was unable to take up his front-row start for both races as the crankshaft in his Vauxhall Astra broke, sidelining him for the rest of meeting.
Tenth place at the flag in race one turned to 11th for Gary Prebble after he was hit with a 10-second penalty following contact with Robert Ballard’s VW Scirocco on the run to Quarry at the start.
Overall championship leader Simon Thornton-norris in his Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart, meanwhile, took a comfortable win in the shortened race, after extensive damage was caused to the barriers along
Dean Straight when Neil Greenland’s Colt was forced off by a backmarker.
“Not a good weekend” was Gary Prebble’s summation of proceedings prior to the second race, but after making “radical changes” to his car he was a man on a mission.
He made his way up to third by the end of lap five and second place five laps later in the 15-lap encounter.
With just three tours remaining, leader Thornton-norris suffered a drive-by-wire issue, forcing him to turn his Colt off and on and allowing Prebble to surge into the lead for an impressive victory.
Not to be outdone, the Castle Combe Formula Ford Championship produced two thrilling contests and a brace of wins for 2017 champion Josh Fisher in his Van Diemen JL14.
He held off his brother, Felix, as championship leader heading into the first race and reigning champion Luke
Cooper had to settle for third after suffering gearbox problems.
In the second race, Felix Fisher retired early on when the selector fork in his Ray GR05’S gearbox broke, leaving Cooper and Josh Fisher to engage in a thrilling duel.
Cooper’s Swift SC16 took victory on the road but controversy reigned when he was immediately handed a five-second penalty for infringing track limits, dropping him to second and handing the win to Josh Fisher.
Track limits were at the forefront of the second MGOC Championship race, as the top five drivers all received penalties for infringements.
Steve Mcdermid and William Sharpe held on to first and second respectively, with Stuart Plotnek promoted to third after finishing sixth on the road. Sharpe had won from Mcdermid in the earlier race, both finishing without penalties.
Of the visiting series to Combe, arguably the one which provided the greatest entertainment was the Classic Touring
Car Racing Club’s Pre ’66 and ’83 field.
Featuring an eclectic grid of 30 cars, Mike Luck’s BMW secured victory in the first race as behind Mark Osborne, Stephen Primett, Steve Cripps and Mark Cholerton were covered by just over a second. Luck lost the lead on the final lap in the second race after running wide at Bobbies, allowing Osborne’s Triumph to slip through for the win.
Dean Warren was on for a hat-trick of wins in the Monoposto 1600, 1800, 2000 and M1000 races but was taken out from the lead in race three by Douglas Mclay when he was being lapped, and for which the latter received two points on his licence. Max Hart came through to win in his Leastone 1000.
Ashley Dibden took two wins from three Monoposto Classic, F3 and M1400 races, as championship leader Alex Fores was forced to retire from the second race when his Dallara F301 developed a misfire. He could only salvage sixth in race three as the problem persisted. Jason Timms took victory in the opener in his Dallara 301.
In the Castle Combe Hot Hatch series, Josh Harvey and Craig Tomkinson were in a league of their own and shared a win apiece. Harvey benefited in the first when he pressured Tomkinson’s Vauxhall
Nova off the road with two laps to go, but Tomkinson held on to win in the second.
After winning the opening Castle Combe GT race in his Mclaren GT3, Lucky Khera lived up to his name after he and fellow frontrow starter David Krayem (Chrysler Viper ORECA GT3) touched at 120mph heading up Avon Rise at the start of the second race.
The pair spun in front of the chasing pack but miraculously were avoided, and from the restarted race Kevin Jones in his Noble M12 RSR took the spoils.