Situated on the outskirts of the extremely picturesque village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, the race circuit lies in the middle of farmland on the site of an old wartime airfield. Although having been modified a couple of years ago to reduce the speed of the cars it is still a very rapid circuit.

 
Nick Evans battling hard to eventually finish second

On arrival to the circuit the weathermen looked to be correct with the forecast of rain all day. However, within an hour or so the drizzle had stopped and with cars now practising the track was rapidly drying. Due to entries received the organisers made the decision to hold one race and one practice for both class A and B, this move was to prove quite interesting.

Practice
With all thirty-six cars practising at once, the circuit was very busy with Midgets, Maestros and MGBs. When the drivers had any free space they tried their best to set a good time to ensure a high place on the starting grid. As the times were posted by race control it appeared that the slightly slower Class A cars were going to start at the front with the Class B cars having a 20-second delay before their start. During a lunch time briefing this was reversed on the grounds of safety. It was therefore decided that the Class B Maestros would be started first by the lights followed 20 seconds later by a union flag start for Class A competitors. Pole position for Class B was James Perry followed by Paul Naish, Nick Evans, Doug Cole and Nick Arden. Interestingly Darryl Davis set pole time for Class A in his MGF but would have also have been in pole for the Class B grid as well. He was followed by Julie Clark, Gary Smith, and Peter St Barbe all in Midgets with Robin Harris being the first MGB.

 
Robin Harris having fun!

The Race
The Maestros blasted off as the lights turned, a short pause, a wave of the union jack and it was the turn of the MGBs and Midgets to head off into the first corner. However, while Class A were being flagged away the Maestros had a coming together which presented the Class A drivers with two Maestros in their path. Cars scattered in all directions and luckily any contact was avoided. This resulted in the order being shaken up allow the front gaggle to pull out a gap.

Nick Evans got the better start in the Class B race and lead for seven laps while James Perry gave chase. Perry receiving a nudge from Doug Cole on the third lap causing him to drop down the order. At the same time Scott Tanner spun and made contact with the tyre wall but continued. Perry fought hard and made his way back up the running and was back into second place by lap five. During this time Nick Arden slowly moved up the order to slot into third position on lap six just in front of Doug Cole. On lap eight with no brakes Tanner came off at Quary corner resulting in a heavy impact and the need for the rescue ambulance. Meanwhile, with speed abated at this point of the circuit, racing continued with two laps remaining. The order at the top was not to change and as they passed the chequered it was Perry who took the Class B win followed by Evans, Arden and Cole.

 
Class A championship leader Julie Clark with Kevin Bull in pursuit

At the same time that the Class B were being eventful, the Class A battle was not far behind. Davis in his MGF made a good start but had the Midgets of Clark and Smith snapping at his heals. Meanwhile the rest of the grid were fighting for their own positions. Robin Harris was upholding the MGB honours by lying in fourth position. However on lap seven it was thrown away at Quarry corner due to two lines of oil laid down on the racing line. This made it interesting for all of the drivers. It was so slippery that there were very few place changes once the oil appeared, as many thought it was better to reach the end of the race rather than throw a result away. Therefore it was Davis who crossed the line nearly ten seconds ahead of Julie Clark, Peter St Barbe and Gary Smith, with Ian McCormack making up the top five.