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 were 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 at 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 closer 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’a 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.  

To be continued.