Castle Combe Autumn Classic.

[HRSTR5]

I had a great day!

I was startled to find myself on the front row after quali, can only assume that the early start found some still 'unbreakfasted' or whatever ... 2nd in Quali turned into Pole when Richard Wilson's Maserati split a radiator ... never been on Pole before ..

It didn't last long ...! The Farrellac and Allard blew past in short order, followed by the two Lola Mk1s ... I'm still learning this car and haven't got a quick getaway sorted, I'm not the world's quickest starter anyway, too protective of my machinery! Finished P5, lapping about the same pace as quali, whereas those ahead had all gone appreciably quicker.

Race 2, starting 5th now, but still with other bigger-engined cars immediately behind, so lost a couple on the run to Quarry, but got them back quite quickly, as well as one of the Lolas. Was running 4th when we were red-flagged, apparently for an offtrack medical emergency, hope all ok ... At the restart again I fell back a couple but recovered the places to finish in 4th.

Very enjoyable day, some friendly faces, beautiful weather, decent crowd, what's not to like?!

Really enjoying this car (thanks Iain!) and this Griffiths Haig series ... grids have been a little sparse, but nice mix of cars, good driving standards, 2 x 20-30 min races more to my taste than a single longer race (yes, even if that gives me twice the chances to mess up the starts!). Thanks to Tony Bianchi for instigating it, and HSCC for putting it on, very much hoping it continues next year. Very disappointed that I can not attend final rounds at Dijon, but work commitments and a funeral combine to make it impossible.

[justracing]

Lovely little car that Elva, there's something about Elvas that set them apart, all the marks look so pretty and purposeful.

[Belmondo]

Fabulous meeting as always, and with fine weather for a change.

[Peter Mallett]

[Mod] Castle Combe specific posts moved from the entry levels thread.[/mod]

[delta]

Originally Posted by Belmondo

Fabulous meeting as always, and with fine weather for a change.

Brilliant photos . Thanks.

[GCCheddaris]

Walked the dog, done my chores, wife is now watching yet another Christmas film so I thought I would post some photos from the recent (well fairly recent...) Autumn Classic meeting at Castle Combe. Despite some disappointing entries, the entertainment was as good as ever, the spectator attendance was very healthy while the Griffiths Haig Trophy brought back memories of Castle Combe's early days as did the 500 cc Formula Three race, Vernon Moore's Bentley MkVI was an unusual interloper in the FISCAR race and an entertaining Group One race saw Ludovic Lindsay take a hard earned victory.

[Peter Mallett]

I note that the HRDC is not going there next year.

[GCCheddaris]

I haven't seen an HRDC calendar yet Peter. Where did you find it ?

[GCCheddaris]

Last and main race of the day was the GT and Sports Car Cup which started in the bright sunshine which had shone all day until halfway through when dark, threatening clouds rolled over. Happily just a few spots of rain fell and father and son team Chris Chiles and Chris Chiles Jnr went on to win in their AC Cobra.

[GCCheddaris]

Last, but definitely not least, to commemorate delta's hectic and very successful season, here is a selection of shots from the Thruxton Historic and Castle Combe Autumn Classic meetings of Iain and his compadres in action.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by GCCheddaris

I haven't seen an HRDC calendar yet Peter. Where did you find it ?

It was sent to me on Friday. Thought I had put it up on the 2023 thread.

[GCCheddaris]

Can't see anything on the 2023 Race Dates thread - but there again my wife says I am as blind as a bat so nothing unusual there. ..

[John Turner]

Just to prove that I am still in the land of the living, herewith a few shots of FISCAR qualifying. The trouble with being part of a motor racing club is that with only a couple of you 'on the ground' you never get to see much of the racing other than your own event:-

[John Turner]

And a few from the race itself. Vernon Moore was indeed a guest driver, as were one or two others. The truth is that we struggle, like most other series, to put decent sized grids together, so we will usually have a few invited cars, these days. Vernon's Mk6 certainly had presence and had a great midfield race with a couple of other cars. For anyone interested, my usual lengthy race report is here and includes about 80 photos, many from a couple of professional photographers. - http://fiscar.org/castle-combe-autum...c-2022new-page
It's pleasing to note that a number of Tenthers were there and I was sorry not to catch up with Iain .... yet again!

[GORDON STREETER]

[QUOTE=John Turner The trouble with being part of a motor racing club is that with only a couple of you 'on the ground' you never get to see much of the racing other than your own event:-[/QUOTE]

Over the years that I raced I would like a quid for every time somebody asked me "do you know Joe Bloggs, he races cars as well" Normally it's been someone that has never been to a race meeting and wouldn't know the difference between a stock car and a F1:

[GCCheddaris]

Originally Posted by John Turner

And a few from the race itself. Vernon Moore was indeed a guest driver, as were one or two others. The truth is that we struggle, like most other series, to put decent sized grids together, so we will usually have a few invited cars, these days. Vernon's Mk6 certainly had presence and had a great midfield race with a couple of other cars. For anyone interested, my usual lengthy race report is here and includes about 80 photos, many from a couple of professional photographers. - http://fiscar.org/castle-combe-autum...c-2022new-page
It's pleasing to note that a number of Tenthers were there and I was sorry not to catch up with Iain .... yet again!

The FISCAR race is always a highlight of the Autumn Classic, attracting large, varied and attractive grids. Admittedly the grid was slightly down in numbers this year (I wonder if the proximity to the Goodwood Revival and Spa 6 Hours meeting didn't help ?) and it was a shame that Richard Wilson's glorious Maserati didn't last longer but the intriguing scrap between the Woolmer family Elva Courier and Jonathan Abechassis' Austin Healey was one of the highlights of the meeting.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by GCCheddaris

Can't see anything on the 2023 Race Dates thread - but there again my wife says I am as blind as a bat so nothing unusual there. ..

It is now on the HRDC website (in case you haven't already seen it).

[GCCheddaris]

Originally Posted by kipper

It is now on the HRDC website (in case you haven't already seen it).

Thanks for that kipper. An interesting calendar with the HRDC apparently going up in the world, appearing at some of the biggest historic meetings in the UK, especially with the Gerry Marshall Trophy. Wonder if it will affect entry fees ? Lydden Hill stays while Thruxton and Castle Combe drop off the calendar. It also appears on the calendar that the Allstars and Alfa series have been combined.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by GCCheddaris

Thanks for that kipper. An interesting calendar with the HRDC apparently going up in the world, appearing at some of the biggest historic meetings in the UK, especially with the Gerry Marshall Trophy. Wonder if it will affect entry fees ? Lydden Hill stays while Thruxton and Castle Combe drop off the calendar. It also appears on the calendar that the Allstars and Alfa series have been combined.

Allstars and Classic Alfa Challenge were combined for the last race of this season at Silverstone, giving a grid of about 50. Can't see that working at smaller circuits. Alfa series has struggled to get more than 15-18 entries except at Festival Italia, of course........

[Mike Crow]

Originally Posted by GCCheddaris

Thanks for that kipper. An interesting calendar with the HRDC apparently going up in the world, appearing at some of the biggest historic meetings in the UK, especially with the Gerry Marshall Trophy. Wonder if it will affect entry fees ? Lydden Hill stays while Thruxton and Castle Combe drop off the calendar. It also appears on the calendar that the Allstars and Alfa series have been combined.

If HRDC are not at Thruxton and nor are MRL, HSCC or CTCRC its becoming hard to see what other grids will fill a two day meeting other than some real clubbie stuff .Though there is nothing wrong with clubbie stuff it’s hardly going to be a major event

[GCCheddaris]

Originally Posted by Mike Crow

If HRDC are not at Thruxton and nor are MRL, HSCC or CTCRC its becoming hard to see what other grids will fill a two day meeting other than some real clubbie stuff .Though there is nothing wrong with clubbie stuff it’s hardly going to be a major event

I was thinking the same thing. Take away the MRL and HRDC races and you are left with the Jochen Rindt Trophy and the Midget and Sprite challenge. According to Pat Blakeney there are many championships wanting to race at Thruxton so I guess we will have to wait and see. Castle Combe had GTSCC, FISCAR and the 500cc Formula Three series, none of which are aligned with any of the major clubs, so maybe Thruxton are going down a similar route.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by GCCheddaris

According to Pat Blakeney there are many championships wanting to race at Thruxton so I guess we will have to wait and see. Castle Combe had GTSCC, FISCAR and the 500cc Formula Three series, none of which are aligned with any of the major clubs, so maybe Thruxton are going down a similar route.

FISCAR will be racing at the Thruxton event.

I did note that on the announcement of the revised format there was the following quote: "We’re not so concerned with the ‘Historic’ label; we’re being open-minded about the content. It’s more important to get a quality retro event together".

I'd interpret this as the meeting featuring a variety of things that may not necessarily be modern, but perhaps don't adhere to the more commonly held view of historics. This is perhaps indicative that the meeting will be more clubbie in character, rather than a 'festival' (perhaps no bad thing).

[Alan Morgan]

We (Historic FF2000) will be there with two championship rounds so there will be one HSCC series at the meeting.

[GCCheddaris]

Great news that FISCAR and the Historic Formula Ford 2000s will be on the bill next year. I was wondering if the Monopostos and Clubmans might fit the bill as most of the cars in those series are approaching historic status.

[Mike Crow]

Starting to look better akready