Race Report - Castle Combe 12 13th August

Qualifying

Events 11 & 12 of the 16-round championship brought us to this fast, challenging West Country circuit, crowded with spectators as usual. A healthy grid of 21 Jaguars entered, including returnees Ian Drage & Alasdair McGregor who received a warm welcome back. Simon Lewis & Dean Sewell experienced pre-qualifying problems with cracked distributor cap & exceeding the 105dB noise limit by 1dB (!) respectively. These drivers had to qualify out of session & thus start the race from the back of the grid

Qualifying – Bright/Dry

Although the records show the track as dry, there were damp patches to keep the drivers on their mettle. One small puddle at the braking point for Camp corner caused a number of lock ups & Patrick Doyle took to the grass, luckily without making contact with the scenery. Lawrence Coppock’s unfortunate season continued with clutch problems, whilst Guy Connew’s XJ6 Coupe suffered low oil pressure. David Howard’s XJ12 was running minus 2 cylinders, resulting in a lowly grid position.

James Ramm (class C) took pole position from hard charging Class B entrant Tom Butterfield. Colin Philpott (C) & Rodney Frost (B), making it an all XJS front two rows. Class D was led by Tom Robinsons, glorious sounding supercharged XJR. Ian Drage, in the borrowed ex-Paul Merrett class A XJS, showed no rustiness from his long racing sabbatical, to head his class.

Castle Combe Race 2

Sunday dawned bathed in beautiful sunshine – too nice to go racing? NO!

Reprising Saturday’s race, Ramm launched off the line & led throughout the race in a display of fine car control. However, this by no means a dull contest. From the back of the grid Philpott passed 10 cars on lap 1 to attain third position, behind Ramm & Butterfield. The normally reliable Powderham XJR pulled off on the opening lap, whilst Philpott’s brilliant charge was curtailed on Lap 7, when a bonnet-securing pin failed, causing the front of the panel to rise, impeding vision and aerodynamics. As if this was not enough, the gear stick also broke off in his hand – somebody up there had it in for Colin! Prior to this, Butterfield fought a mighty battle with him, with 2^nd position changing hands multiple times. On lap 14, when a well-deserved second place seemed assured, Butterfields hard pushed car expired with a major engine failure, the spectacular display of smoke & steam visible from the other side of the circuit. Howard battled through the pack until he reached Chris Boon, who drove an excellent defensive race to hold him off & be awarded Drive of the Day in recognition. Doyle also climber through the pack to finish 7^th. Briefly challenged by a fast starting Stewart, all Class A opposition faded to allow Drage another well deserved crushing Class victory.

Results :

Winner : James Ramm, Runner Up Rodney Frost, 3rd Alasdair McGregor

Class A : Winner Ian Drage, Runner Up Michael Holt, 3rd Simon Blunt

Class B : Winner Rodney Frost, Runner Up Alasdair McGregor, 3rd Chris Boon

Class C : Winner James Ramm

Class D : Winner Tom Robinson, Runner Up David Howard, 3rd Patrick Doyle

Drive of the Day: Chris Boon

The next two rounds are at Donington Park on 9^th/10^th September

Terry Dye

Competitions Secretary

Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club Racing