Castle Combe1

CCC Action Day (1) - Castle Combe Circuit 26th April 2003
The background to this event is that anyone can arrive and drive their car on the circuit provided they pass the 100bd sound test. The CCC stands for Cars & Car Conversions a magazine everyone reading this will be familiar with. Up until 11am only clubs are allowed on the circuit to use their allocation of free tickets, after that the general public can have a go. All drivers have to attend a briefing and sign the usual disclaimers and are issued with a wristband before being allowed onto the circuit. Each session allows 34 cars on the circuit for 5 laps at a cost of £20 after which a chequered flag is waved to instruct all the cars to return to the paddock ready for the next 34 cars.
Ken Robson, (AO for the Bristol & Bath area) arrived in the paddock at around 8.30am with my mobile ringing loudly. Chris Goodchild and Nick Cook had been there since 7.50am and were at the front of the queue. They needed me to sign for the free track passes otherwise they would have been put to the back of the queue which was now quite long. I parked up obtained the tickets and decided to jump into Nicks V8 Lowcost for a spin around the circuit. Now Nick's car is quite an unusual spec, Rover 3.5L V8, Auto box and drum rear brakes, also the chassis had been modified to accept the V8 rather than designed from scratch. I buckled up ready for a spin.


Spin was the operative word. The track was slightly damp with a few patches of standing water. Nick caught one of these on the second lap and spun but as there was nothing behind us and we were on the far side of the circuit no damage was done. Not content with that as his confidence grew Nick pushed on exploring the limits of his car and we spun again, this time it was much more spectacular. From exiting the chicane at Bobbies you can pick up speed for around half the lap before having to brake for Quarry Corner. There is a slight kink at Camp Corner before going onto the start/finish straight at which a slight dab on the brakes is required. It was at this point that we spun again but this time carrying a lot more speed. The scenery went by in a flash and we ended up facing the wrong way right in the middle of the circuit with about 6 cars coming straight for us. I remember thinking how low and small we were against the road cars and seeing yellow flags being waved frantically all around. This happened at the start/finish straight right in front of all the stewards and track officials, I managed to convince Nick that they would pull us in if we stayed out and we headed for the pits. We were instructed to go to the "Sin Bin" area where Nick was given some useful advice on his (dubious) driving skills and issued with the yellow card pictured here.
After his ticking off we headed for our Paddock area to be greeted with cheers and whistles from our so-called friends and fellow members. This was a source a great amusement and Nick was immediately entered for a "Black Award" where the member who displays the most stupidity and/or incompetence wins a prize at the end of the year. For some reason Nick decided not to take to the track again even though we still had a few more free tickets.
We then entered into the social aspects of the event meeting new people from other areas kicking tyre and talking bollocks. Other clubs were also well represented from older Capri's, Cortinas to TVR's and the like. We all had a good look around the paddock at other clubs and cars and found people very friendly and more than willing to talk about their pride and joy.

At around 3pm it started to rain and all the Westies headed home. I went back to Camp Corner but this time as a spectator to witness many more spins as the track got wetter and wetter. Needless to say the driving standards reduced significantly during the public sessions and some cars were written off whilst others blew up. Overall considering the entrance tickets and the track passes were free and the slush fund paid for the refreshments we had a great day out with a lot of laughs for just a few quid spent on lunch. Where else can you get such entertainment for so little money. We have another CCC Castle Combe day on the 14th June which promises to be even better if the weather is favourable.