WINFIELD AND LEY SHARE TCR SPOILS
Isaac Smith consolidated his TCR UK Championship advantage during two dramatic races at Castle Combe Racing Club’s Combe Carnival.
Hoping to eradicate the deficit to Smith in the standings, Chris Smiley lined up on pole for race one, but stalled and rejoined last after everyone avoided him.
Adam Shepherd led until the final lap following an early safety car intervention, but suffered a puncture yards from the finish and was pipped to victory by Bruce Winfield. Bradley Hutchinson held off Smith for third, as Smiley climbed through the field to fifth and fellow championship contender Max Hart retired with a broken driveshaft.
Jac Constable won on the road ahead of fellow front-row starter Matthew Wilson in the reversedgrid race, but both were awarded 10-second penalties for jumping the start. That handed the win to Alex Ley, who had snatched the lead from the pair into Quarry on lap one before slipping back to third. Winfield was eventually classified second after he had two time penalties rescinded, with Constable third ahead of Smiley, while Hart retired with mechanical issues again.
Felix Fisher won both CCRC FF1600 contests ahead of chief rival Luke Cooper to edge closer to his first title.
Cooper dropped to third at the start in both behind Ben Mitchell, who snatched the lead from Fisher into Quarry halfway through race one, before a mistake allowed both Fisher and Cooper to retake him with two laps remaining. The topthree order was the same in race two, with Cooper unable to catch Fisher after eventually getting by Mitchell.
Alistair Camp took a lights-toflag victory in the opening Civic Cup race following a red flag for a startline crash. Dan Thackeray and Matt Luff both passed
Ryan Bensley, who spun and subsequently crashed out, to finish within 1.5s of Camp in second and third.
Mervyn Beckett led the first lap of a wild reversed-grid contest before being passed by Harvey Caton and then spun around at Quarry following contact with Will Redford. Caton later ran wide at Quarry, allowing Redford to get a run into the Esses, but a collision between the pair put Caton out and allowed Morgan Bailey to sweep by into the lead. But a mechanical issue put Bailey out one lap later, with Rob Butler moving to the front ahead of Redford, where they would remain until the finish following a brief safety car period.
Kevin Bird triumphed in both CCRC GT encounters in a Porsche 991 ahead of
Jamie Sturgess’VW Golf. Former British Touring Car Championship driver Lea Wood made a racing return in a Ford Escort RSR, but an electrical issue ended his day early while running sixth in race one.