Castle Combe Autumn Classic 2025

 FISCAR Inter-Marque

Castle Combe Autumn Classic  - 20, September, 2025

Preamble

It seems like no time has passed at all since our last visit to Castle Combe in the Autumn of last year, but here we were again after another season of racing. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year for the first time, mainly for medical reasons, but I stayed in touch throughout the course of the day. I am advised that FISCAR was allocated the space to the left of the Competitors entrance which seems to have generated mixed reviews but at least provided the benefit of keeping many of our cars together.

We had a strong entry of 28 cars, slightly down on last year, but it should be noted that last year’s entry contained a number of invitation cars, and we had none this year. Most of the entries were FISCAR stalwarts but Read Gomm in the smart Jaguar XK140 was new to us and it was great to see the return of Jason Kennedy in the rare and splendid Lancia Aurelia B20GT. Harry Naergar brought the Jowett Jupiter out with us for the first time this year as he had ‘saved’ the car for the Le Mans Classic and then had mechanical issues that had prevented him from entering our BDC race.`

Qualifying

Heavy cloud hung over the circuit for qualifying but the track was dry. The anticipated battle for pole did not really materialise as David Alexander clocked a 1.23.461 to annex it in his Lotus Elite, over a second clear of Jonathan Abecassis in his Austin Healey 100/4. Jonathan’s time of 1.24.571 was itself over a second ahead of the LECo of Scott Quattlebaum who recorded a 1.25.887 although the gap to 4th placed Rory Tollett in the Austin Healey 100M was much smaller, less than a tenth behind on a 1.25.975. Half a second back in 5th with a time of 1.26.480 was Andrew Mitchell in his Lotus Elite which he was sharing with Mark Morgan, this pairing now performing consistently well. Another driver pairing was in 6th, the AC Ace entered by David Cottingham and shared with Adrian King with a best time of 1.26.668. Marc Gordon (Jaguar XK150) and Tim Stamper (Aston Martin DB2/4) shared the 4th row with times of 1.26.799 and 1.27.704. In view of past performances, I would have expected Marc to be a little higher up the grid but Tim’s time was pretty good considering that, historically, he has tended not to worry too much about his qualifying position. Andy Shepherd’s time of 1.27.781 kept him ahead of what appeared to be a slightly subdued Brian Arculus in his Lotus Elite, another who I would have expected to be a little higher up the grid. Brian’s time was 1.28.122 and I do wonder whether, despite a dry track, there was a certain degree of wariness on the part of the drivers to push too hard on this challenging track. Save it for the race!

Mark Daniell was next up in his MGA Twin Cam, on 1.28.361, sharing row 6 with Mike Henney in the Turner Climax in a very close time of 1.28.448 and this had all the makings of a close encounter. Mark Hoble was 13th on the grid, in a time just half a second off Mike’s time on 1.28.984, in his Morgan +4 whilst alongside was Chris Mann, even closer on 1.29.053, in the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante, a car that is now so familiar to us, we sometimes overlook how incredibly special it is. In 15th, Barry Dye had his Lotus Elite in 15th, with a time of 1.30.278 on what in effect is his local track, although I use the word ‘local’ advisedly since it’s still a bit of a trek from Cornwall! He shared row 8 with Peter Baker’s lovely Aston Martin DB2 and it was good to see him back with us, on 1.31.047. Tristan Bradfield had qualified his Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans in a time of 1.31.047, but had pulled in early with oil pressure concerns. Alongside Tristan, Chris Bates had put Harry Naergar’s Jowett Jupiter in 18th position with a 1.32.576. Ed Shah was 19th on a time of 1.33.254 and only a very little slower on 1.33.358 was Gareth Evans in his Sunbeam Alpine. Unfortunately, after two hard years of opposite lock cornering, the rear nearside hub on the Alpine cried enough and decided to part company with the rest of the car, bringing Gareth’s qualifying to an early close and preventing a race start. Were we to be short of Sunbeam Alpine representation in the race?   

Newcomer to FISCAR, Read Gomm in his smart Jaguar XK 140 clocked a 1.34.741 to occupy the 11th row with Mark Shears alongside, 22nd in his Flat Rad Morgan +4 in a time of 1.34.445. Jeremy Woods was 23rd in the Triumph Italia on 1.35.479 and 24th, Jason Kennedy in his Lancia Aurelia B20GT on a time of 1.35.774. On the 13th row sat the Aston Martin DB Mk III of Simon Jefferies having recorded a best time of 1.36.162, with Stuart Dean alongside in the MG DJS Coupe on a time of 1.37.941. On the final row, we had Andy Cox in his Triumph TR3 Falcon, in an unexpectedly low grid position, with a time of 1.37.687 and Mark Campbell on a 1.40.620 in his ex Le Mans privateer Aston Martin DB2. Altogether another splendid grid of FISCAR cars for our season finale.    

Race

At 13.39, I received a message from Richard Winchester advising that our race was due to start at 16.25  and that the meeting was running 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Richard also informed me that Tristan Bradfield was OK to start following his morning concerns around the oil pressure in his Sunbeam Alpine, so that only the Alpine of Gareth Evans was missing from the startline.

In the event our race, race 4 in the programme, started at 16.39 following the 90 minute GT & Sports Car Cup which had experienced rain. Towards the end of the GT&SCC race, a dry line had started to appear and this was the state of the track when our cars left the pitlane. However, the conditions warranted a second exploratory lap behind the Safety Car. The photos show that whilst there was an emerging dry line, the rest of the track was looking pretty slippery.

Not for the first time, Jonathan Abecassis got off the line ahead of David Alexander, the greater power of the Austin Healey 100/4 giving it an initial advantage over the Lotus Elite. As Jonathan crested Folly heading towards Quarry chased by David, third placed qualifier, Scott Quattlebaum tucked in behind the pair, in the LECo. As usual some made good starts, others less so. Tim Stamper made an excellent start from 8th in the Aston Martin DB2/4 and Andy Shepherd also made places in his AC Ace whereas Brian Arculus got a bit bogged down in his Lotus Elite and dropped several places.

The field threaded its way through The Esses, into Old Paddock and charged down towards the daunting Tower bend, all the time some jockeying for positions whilst others played it more cautiously to acclimatize to the track conditions. They then reappeared heading through Bobbies and in no time at all had negotiated Camp to storm across the line to complete the first lap – a magnificent sight. Jonathan had retained his lead, the Austin Healey with a 1.5 second lead over the Lotus Elite and the LECo a further second back. These 3 were already showing signs of edging away but in a superb 4th place was Tim Stamper in the Aston, confirming his great start but had Rory Tollett on his tail in the Austin Healey 100M. Sixth across the line was Marc Gordon’s Jaguar XK150, over a second clear of Andy Shepherd in the Ace. Already 3 seconds behind, in 8th place was Andrew Mitchell in the second of the Lotus Elites just ahead of Mark Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam. Mike Henney in ‘Tatty’ Turner was 10th, Mark Hoble, 11th in his Morgan +4 , followed by Brian Arculus, who had plenty of work to do to recover the ground he had lost both in qualifying and from a poor start.  

David Cottingham was 15th in his AC Ace Bristol followed by Chris Bates, performing his usual act of placing Harry Naerger’s Jowett Jupiter where it shouldn’t be! They were followed by the rest of this big field and it was noted that Ed Shah was down in 26th place from his 19th starting position, so not the best of starts from the Elva Courier. Jason Kennedy on the other hand had made several places in the lovely Lancia Aurelia, 17th from a starting position of 24th!

Through lap 2, Jonathan Abecassis held an increasingly slender lead from David Alexander’s Lotus Elite whilst both appeared to have edged away a little from Scott Quattlebaum in the LECo but all 3 were still pulling clear of a chasing trio of Tim Stamper (Aston DB2/4}, Rory Tollett (Austin Healey 100M} and Marc Gordon’s Jaguar XK150. Already on his own in 7th place was Andy Shepherd in his AC Ace Bristol, 3 seconds behind Marc but 7 seconds clear of Andrew Mitchell’s Lotus Elite which had Mark Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam for close company.  Mike Henney was keeping in touch in Tatty Turner and Mark Hoble was battling hard to keep Mike in sight, whilst Brian Arculus was finally beginning to get into his stride and was gradually closing on Mark’s Morgan. Chris Mann was 13th in the Disco Volante, not quite on the pace that he had displayed at Silverstone but it should be noted that lap times all through the field were still a few seconds off proper dry track times. Chris was clear of Read Gomm’s Jaguar XK140, going well in his first race with FISCAR and he had a stream of great cars strung out behind him book ended by Mark Campbell’s Aston DB2. Just ahead of Mark, Ed Shah was, at this stage, making little headway in the Elva, but would surely soon be pressing Jeremy Woods in the Italia, one second ahead of him.      

David Alexander took his Lotus Elite ahead of Jonathan’s Healey 100/4 on lap 3 but of the leading trio, Scott Quattlebaum had posted the quickest lap and the first 3 were covered by less than 1.5 seconds as they completed the lap. Less than 3 seconds behind them, Rory Tollett had gone even quicker to overcome the resistance from Tim Stamper’s Aston Martin DB2/4, to take 4th, and Tim was now to come under pressure from a former winner of this race, Marc Gordon in his Jaguar XK150.  Three seconds down, Andy Shepherd, in 7th place was pretty much matching the pace of the cars ahead but unable to make inroads. He was less than 9 seconds behind the leader but now over 10 seconds ahead of 8th placed Mark Daniell in the MGA Twin Cam. Mark was followed in fairly close order by Mike Henney’s Turner, Andrew Mitchell’s Lotus Elite, Mark Hoble’s Morgan +4 and Brian Arculus still in 12th and yet to make the expected move up the order.

Chris Mann was 13th, a little way ahead of Read Gomm’s Jaguar XK140 which was 2 seconds clear of Tristan Bradfield’s Sunbeam Alpine and Chris Bates in the Jowett Jupiter. In 17th place and at the front of a good 4-way battle was David Cottingham in the AC Ace Bristol, chased by Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite, Jason Kennedy in the Lancia Aurelia, and Peter Baker in the Aston Martin DB2. A further few seconds back, Simon Jefferies in the DB MkIII was holding off Stuart Dean’s MG DJS Coupe with a subdued Andy Cox in the TR3 Falcon staying in touch. There was no change in the order of the cars behind them.        

Any thoughts of David Alexander romping away were initially quashed by Jonathan Abecassis who grabbed the lead back on lap 4 and so busy were the pair squabbling that Scott Quattlebaum had closed right in, less than a  second covering the Austin Healey, Lotus Elite and the LECo at the completion of the lap. Going quicker still was Rory Tolllett in the 100M, now less than 2 seconds behind and threatening to make it a 4 way battle for the lead. Rory had quickly pulled away from Tim Stamper’s Aston and Marc Gordon’s XK150 whilst Andy Shepherd was now slowly catching both in his Ace. 10 seconds covered the top 7 but there was now a substantial 12 second gap to Mark Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam in 8th. Mark was still leading a small gaggle of cars, one of which, the Lotus Elite of Brian Arculus had finally made a place, having overtaken Mark Hoble’s Morgan +4. Brian, for once was not the first to take the mandatory pit stop, as both David Cottingham and Simon Jefferies (Aston DB MkIII) headed for the pits, David handing the Ace Bristol over to Adrian King. Apart from the place changes resulting from these stops, no other positions changed.

David Alexander completed his 5th lap in a time of 1.27.110, the quickest lap of the race to date and it took him passed Jonathan Abecassis and back into the lead. Could he make it stick this time? They had both moved away from Scott Quattlebaum in the LECo, but Scott was still maintaining a good pace and Rory Tollett had not got any closer. Marc Gordon had also worked his Jaguar passed Tim Stamper’s Aston and it was now Andy Shepherd’s turn to home in on the fast starting Aston. The gap back to the chasing group was getting ever larger, and making little headway in the group, Brian Arculus dived into the pits with his Elite, hoping to emerge into clear air! There was again little change in the placings behind although some close dicing continued.

The Lotus Elite in the hands of David Alexander finally started to make good its escape and completed lap 6 almost 3 seconds ahead of Jonathan Abecassis. Scott Quattlebaum’s LECo still loomed large in the mirrors of Jonathan’s Austin Healey, with the second Austin Healey of Rory Tollett closing in on the pair. Marc Gordon’s Jaguar XK150, in a strong 6th place took to the pits for his mandatory stop. He was joined by Mark Campbell’s Aston Martin DB2 and the Jowett Jupiter driven by Chris Bates. The fine run of the Jupiter was not to continue however, as the marshals felt that the car was dropping too much oil to be allowed back onto the circuit – it was our first retirement, and unfortunately, not to be our last.

Jonathan Abecassis had a poor lap 7 and dropped behind both the Leco and the Tollett Austin Healey. Lapping cars may have played a role in this outcome, as it is noted that the leader’s lap time had also dropped off by 3 seconds. Stuart Dean, going very well and ahead of some cars that he might normally not have expected to be, took the lovely MG DJS Coupe in for his stop, but was the only one to do so on that lap.

David Alexander picked up his pace to complete lap 8 nearly 8 seconds ahead the LECo which now had the Tollett Austin Healey for company with Jonathan Abecassis also closing back in. At the same time, Andy Shepherd took to the pits in his AC Ace Bristol.

The leader headed for his stop at the end of lap 9, and it signalled the beginning of a busy period for the pits, for, as Jonathan Abecassis charged over the lone to take the lead, the LECo of Scott Quatrtlebaum followed the Elite in and over the next a minute or so, they were joined by Jason Kennedy’s Lancia Aurelia, Mark Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam, Mike Henney’s Turner Climax, Mark Shears Flat Rad Morgan and Mark Hoble’s later Morgan +4. They were not all on the same lap.

Jonathan completed lap 10 with a 2.5 second lead over Rory Tollett’s 100M, the two Austin Healeys now making hay in the absence of the Elite and the LECo and they had an 18 second lead over the superbly performing 3rd placed Aston Martin DB2/4 of Tim Stamper who was over 11 seconds clear of Andrew Mitchell in the second of the Lotus Elites. Four more cars now pitted – the TR3 Falcon of Andy Cox, Ed Shah’s Elva Courier, Chris Mann’s Alfa Disco Volante and Read Gomm’s XK140. The true race order was, as it always is during the pitting phase, ‘all over the shop’ and there were still plenty more stops to come.  At this point just 12 cars were on the lead lap.

To be continued.