Lancashire survives TVR Tuscan battle
Bill Lancashire won the TVR Tuscan anniversary race at Castle Combe in a battle of attrition. Only four of the 10 starters were running at the end and, of those, Martin Short was nine laps adrift after two lengthy pitstops as his ECU didn’t recognise his newly fitted throttle pot. Runner-up Matt Holben was 20 seconds shy, while Graham Walden was a lapped third, suffering from a seized throttle pedal.
Dave Mason had built a commanding lead, but dropped out with a suspected gearbox problem. Other likely frontrunners also hit issues: Tim Davis stopped with his own gearbox woes, having changed the unit just before the race. And Perry Waddams, due to start from the front row alongside Mason, started from the back, then retired with cutting power.
“I wasn’t expecting that!” said Lancashire of his win. “I’ve got a Rover [powered] car rather than the Ajpengined Tuscan, and I normally run in a different championship on road tyres; all the other cars are on slicks. I race it mostly in CSCC events, Future Classics. I will be doing several races there this season.
“I had a sneaking suspicion that I might be leading; obviously the faster cars did go ahead, but then I saw several of them break down. Perry overtook me and then he stopped. So I thought, ‘Maybe I’m doing OK here’, but I didn’t know I was first!”
Darren Dowling won the opening TVR Challenge race in his Sagaris. Dowling broke clear of a three-car battle for second, which was headed by Michael Saunders’s Cerbera ahead of Davis’s Tuscan Challenge. Mason finished fourth, falling back after his Tuscan struggled to get third gear.
Only 10 cars participated in race two, with Dowling among those sitting it out due to a vibration problem. Mason won that contest after a battle with runner-up Saunders.
Josh Fisher won the Combe Formula
Ford race in his Van Diemen, making it two wins from three in 2019. Fisher held off reigning champion Luke Cooper in his Swift. Fisher’s brother Felix finished third after falling back on lap two when his
Ray wouldn’t go into gear.
Adam Prebble eased to the Saloon Car Championship race win in his Vauxhall Astra, making it two wins from two this year. His brother Gary looked set to finish runner-up in his SEAT Leon, but he pulled into the pits at half-distance with no turbo
boost. Alex Kite’s Audi TT finished second, ahead of Class B victor Simon Thorntonnorris in a Mitsubishi Colt. Reigning champion Adrian Slade’s Peugeot 106 topped Class C after Matthew Parr stopped with a driveshaft problem on his 106 late on.
Barry Squibb’s Mitsubishi Lancer E9 won the GT Championship race. Squibb was being chased by David Krayem’s Chrysler Viper when on the final lap
Krayem tried to take the lead after
Squibb lost momentum in traffic, but it ended with the Viper beached.
Sam Stride dominated the Hot Hatch Challenge race in his Honda Civic, beating polesitter Kieren Simmons’s Ford Fiesta home by 16s. Third-placed Tony Cooper got the Class B win in a 106.
Craig Dolby and Nigel Mustill cruised to the Dave Allan Trophy in their GT3 Nissan, winning the 45-minute pitstop race by two laps from Krayem’s Viper, shared with Ben Scrivens.