GT & Sports Car Cup Race Report: Castle Combe Autumn Classic 2023
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR RACE WINNERS
Castle Combe Autumn Classic - 23 September 2023
Chris Chiles & Chris Chiles Jr
AC Cobra 289
Chiles’ Cobra finds autumn equinox equilibrium
The Chris Chiles “père-et-fils” pairing made history at Castle Combe on Saturday, September 23, repeating last year’s victory in their CRC-run AC Cobra, thus becoming the first team to win the Autumn Classic’s GT & Sports Car Cup enduro for a second time.
In the event’s 12th edition, our sixth race here, over 90 minutes, brought 31 starters to the feature grid on a glorious autumn equinox. The second of two days in the year when the sun sits directly above the equator, therefore day and night are of equal length, brought a welcome surprise. That the yellow orb reigned over the Wiltshire circuit was a novelty, but its unseasonably warm presence from dawn to dusk made everybody feel good, and helped attract a record audience.
Three Cobras headed the grid, with series debutant Alex Thistlethwayte - grandson of 1926 Bentley Le Mans racer Tom - on pole in his recently-acquired ex-Leo Voyazides machine (a multiple GTSCC winner with Simon Hadfield pairing), chased by the familiar dark blue Chiles car and local ace Mark Williams, not in the mount in which he finished second in 2018 and third in ’17 and ’21, but in its replacement, the white Hall & Hall-built clone of Peter Austin’s original, in his stable less than a fortnight.
But as another exciting race unfolded, the Lotus Elans of Steve Jones/Ben Tinkler and Graham Ridgway/Tom Smith - neither of which seemed in need of brakes at the chicanes - worked their way through the Jaguar E-types and into contention, to the delight of a big contingent present to celebrate Colin Chapman’s marque’s 75th anniversary. As it panned out, though, the red 26R of Stephen Bond/Cliff Gray, from 16th on the grid, came closest to toppling the Chiles duo.
When the defending event champions were adjudged to have released unsafely from their second pit stop, as Jeremy Welch arrived to hand the fabled Austin-Healey 3000 DD300 back to Christiaen van Lanschot, a penalty was mandated, but the 30-second imposition still left the Cobra 21.583s clear of Gray, who snatched silver from Jones three laps from home.
Closer still was the battle for GT3 honours and fourth overall, resolved on the same lap. Welch, now in Doug Muirhead’s Healey TON 792, chased down Mike Grant Peterkin/Theo Hunt’s turquoise version and clung on by 0.501s.
GT2 was super-competitive as ever, with a trio of TVR Granturas squabbling with Oliver Marçais in the first of seven MGBs and Nick Finburgh closing in aboard Marc Gordon’s Lotus Elite.
Christiaen van Lanschot and Jeremy Welch were named Drivers of the Day, while the Royal Automobile Club Family Award was presented to Ben and Peter Adams, who finished seventh in their Jaguar E-type.
Mention must be made of Beverley and Chris Phillips who, in starting, distinguished themselves as the only competitors to have taken part in all six Castle Combe GTSCC races, a feat recognised by a heartfelt special award - a bottle of champagne - from Flavien and Vanessa, who founded the competition in 2007.
QUALIFYING
Even before scrutineering began, a buzzing paddock, replete with a plethora of wonderful historic cars, presented an atmospheric start to the day. Away from the bustle, competitors, teams and guests enjoyed refuge in our adjacent social hub. The Strawford Centre - named for circuit saviour Howard Strawford (1935-2013), who founded the Autumn Classic with his trusted marketing lieutenant Rodney Gooch (1946-2019) - housed excellent hospitality, sponsored by Automobiles Historiques, and a popular viewing lounge offering a vista over the pits.
As the Q-session evolved, the trio of snakes prevailed as anticipated, Thistlethwayte and veteran mentor John Bussell (“he taught me how to drive”) emerging on top. Their best lap in 1:17.716s (85.89mph) - a qualifying record - was 0.230s quicker than Chiles Jr managed before locking-up into the Esses and flat-spotting all four tyres. He would thus start the race scrubbing a new set of Dunlop Ls.
Williams sat third, the first of five entries in the 1:19s, shading Ben Adams in father Peter’s E-type and the Elans of Ridgway/Smith - welcome GTSCC newcomers learning Dunlop L-section tyres after being used to running Ms - and Steve Jones with new team mate Ben Tinkler (an acolyte of 2020 race winner Andy Wolfe), split by the E-type of Germany’s Rhea Sautter, its time set by regular partner Andy Newall.
Eighth was the sweet-handling Lola-Climax Mk1 of Nick Finburgh/Ollie Crosthwaite - a sister car to those raced here into the mid-1960s by ‘Dickie’ Le Strange Metcalfe, Jim Morley and Jack Paterson - on a strong 1:20.068 (83.18mph), a second and a half shy of Ben Adams’ race best set in 2017 in the ex-Metcalfe car, winner of the final race at Goodwood in 1966.
The GT3 posse was closely-matched, the top four Healeys gridding ninth to 12th, blanketed by a scant 0.362s. Welch claimed class pole with 1:21.459 on his first flying lap in DD300, coming closest in Muirhead’s, with Mark Pangborn/Harvey Woods and Grant Peterkin/Hunt progressively homing in on Jeremy’s target times.
Mark Hales put Guy Grant’s white TVR atop the GT2 tree with a very stout 1:22.753 (80.48mph), good for 13th overall, ahead of Martin Melling/Jason Minshaw (GT3 E-type FHC) and the Healey of dad and lad Paul and George Ingram - destined not to start after an over-rev broke a valve spring. Bond/Gray and Rick Bourne in Malcolm Paul’s red Grantura also lapped in the ‘22s.’
David Smithies/Chris Clarkson’s Healey was a couple of seconds off the GT3 pace in 18th, unsurprisingly once it was discovered that the front dampers contained no oil! David’s time almost matched by Mike Thorne in his gunmetal GT2 100M shared by wife Sarah Bennett-Baggs. Next up were Sir David Scholey’s ivory Jaguar XK120, crewed by Rob Newall, Nick Finburgh and young Oliver Marçais, who set the 1:24.342 time, then came within 0.591s of matching it in his regular MGB, best of the Abingdon runners.
Chris and Nick Thompson clawed past Mark Hope/Jason Minshaw by 0.182s to be second of the Bs, with Marc Gordon/Finburgh’s Type 14 Lotus Elite with them in the 25s. ‘Giuseppe’ and Piers Ward’s blue TVR Grantura had three seconds to find to match its Blackpool stablemates. “I drove appallingly badly because I lack motivation in practice,” offered Joe, promising to perform better in the race. Their mark was fractionally quicker than David Brise - son of Tim, nephew of the late Tony - sharing Dennis and Dan Pickett’s MGB.
Four fifths of a second covered TC1 combatants Alice Locke/Matt Green (Broadspeed GTS) and Ellie Birchenhough/Nick Topliss (Mini Cooper S). The Morgan +4 Super Sport of Simon King/Peter Cole and the MGBs of Beverley, Chris and son Ollie Phillips, Jeremy Rogers/David Green [Matt’s dad] and the Welch sisters, Bath University student Arabella and Denis Welch Racing techie Emily, completed the field.
RACE
Before the pack formed the grid an elated Marc Gordon - one of towards 20 stalwarts who have contested five GTSCC races here - achieved his long-held ambition of scoring a first outright victory, a memorable one in his Jaguar XK150S, over tough opposition in the catchweight FiSCar 50s Inter-Marque race, for which congratulations!
Elated, Marc gave an effusive speech on the winners’ car then trotted back to the Elite, now alone in the assembly area. Once strapped in he was unable to do the green flag lap, but was stopped at the end of the pit lane, from whence he joined in after the rolling start stampede. Set to head home early, this presented a conundrum for Classic Autos team manager Matt King, whose solution was to start Nick Finburgh in the Lola, switch him into the Scholey XK bookended by Rob Newall for the middle stint, then finish the Lotus amid much juggling!
Clearly heeding team chief Gary Spencer’s advice to bed new tyres gently (!), Chris Chiles Jr passed Thistlethwayte at the start and with Williams going with them had a lead of 0.880s at the end of the opening lap. Ben Adams, Ridgway, Jones, Muirhead, Finburgh’s little sports racer, van Lanschot and Gray - storming up from 16th - completed the top 10.
Behind them, Pangborn and Grant Peterkin held station, with Minshaw moving Melling’s Jag up in the company of ‘Meerkat’ Smithies, making good headway. Sautter plummeted from sixth to 15th, ahead of GT2 leader Thorne and Marçais, who had jumped the TVRs of Grant and Paul. From 25th on the grid, Joe Ward was on the rise meanwhile. Within three laps, he had deposed the steadier Paul and Grant, finding his rhythm, to lead the TVR trio.
Out front Chiles extended his advantage over Williams to 10 seconds in six laps, by which time Adams had wrested third from Thistlethwayte. Williams hit trouble though, when he speared off into the barriers at Tower on lap 10, the pin locating the transverse rear leaf spring having sheared. “It went sideways, steering from the rear at Quarry, then pulled to the right [on Hammerdown, towards Tower]. I couldn’t make the corner but scrubbed most of the speed off. Fortunately, the impact only damaged a wing.” A six-lap safety car interlude allowed the Cobra to be recovered safely.
As almost 15 minutes had elapsed - with maximum driving stints of 40 minutes and two mandatory stops - Paul, Hope, Nick Thompson and Beverley Phillips were first to pit during the hiatus, followed a lap later by Sautter, Ward, Marçais, double-stinting Gordon (already up 10 places from the back), TC battlers Locke and Birchenough, then King in the Morgan.
First of the frontrunners to pit, still under full-course yellows, was Ridgway from fourth, followed by Gray, Muirhead (doubling-up) and Jones. Adams and Chiles came in a lap apart, leaving Thistlethwayte to ride out the crocodile period in the lead, eager to gain more seat time in his Cobra. Minshaw did likewise before installing owner Melling into his Jag from second, having lost it briefly to Finburgh who relayed Crosthwaite into the Lola just before the track went green.
Dan Pickett (who completed 21 laps) and Thistlethwayte and Minshaw (24 each) were last to make their first scheduled stops, but Andy Newall - dancing Sautter’s E-type round with abandon, and back to 12th - was out before half distance. A broken exhaust had spiked the circuit’s ‘decibelometer’ and, after a meatball flag was replaced by the black, which he missed initially, Andy slunk back into the paddock.
When Thistlethwayte stopped, newly crowned HSCC Classic Formula Ford champion Tinkler moved Jones’ grey Elan to the head of the lap chart, pursued for a few laps by former Historic FF2000 titlist Smith, thoroughly enjoying himself in Ridgway’s blue version. Graham was back on board when the diff carrier broke, but after a fun day will treat the Lotus to a body-off winter rebuild to return in 2024.
When Smith pitted prematurely, Welch - who eight laps into his stint had charged DD300 past Muirhead to retake the GT3 lead in the car he was to finish - was second overall to the long-running Tinkler, who maxed out his contribution to 25 laps after 38 circuits.
Jones clambered back into his Elan, resuming in the lead, but van Lanschot, Grant Peterkin and Chiles Jr were after him, closing fast. “Dad drove a reluctantly elongated middle stint - around 20 minutes - but did a great job and handed the car back in perfect condition,” said Chris, who knuckled down to the task of negating a 59 second deficit in his quest to secure the team’s double victory.
A second safety car interlude, just two laps long, enabled marshals to push van Lanschot's class-leading Healey - running second when it was stranded on the outside of Camp corner by clutch slave cylinder failure - through the Avon Bridge to the safety of the paddock at two-thirds’ distance.
Out the other side of the full-course yellow, Jones’ advantage over Chiles was down to 13 seconds. After a four lap chase the thunderous Ford V8-engined Cobra pounced, gobbling up the Elan on lap 51 of 62, as Chris hacked his own lap record back from 1:17.444 to 1:16.612 (86.93mph).
Thereafter it was plain sailing for Chiles, but Gray was flying in the Bond Elan and overhauled Jones to grab second by 1.641s in the race’s dying embers. Having leapt into Muirhead’s Healey after 37 laps - after setting the best GT3 lap in 1:20.649 (82.58mph) in van Lanschot’s, Welch exited the safety car period seven seconds adrift of Grant Peterkin.
The red car, with its menacing black front wings, eroded the deficit consistently, Jeremy chucking it round beyond the limit of adhesion as he closed relentlessly on his prey. Less than 20 seconds after the Elans’ order changed, so did the Healeys.’ But Welch couldn’t shake Grant Peterkin off and the GT3 stars crossed the line half a second apart.
Thistlethwayte/Bussell were delighted with sixth overall, a lap down on the winner, given their lack of miles in the Cobra. They will be back for more. The Adams family Jaguar, Pangborn and Woods’ Healey and Finburgh/Crosthwaite (Lola) were classified seventh, eighth and ninth, with Smithies/Clarkson 10th, also on 61 laps.
The GT2 fight ebbed and flowed throughout the race. Thorne’s Healey 100M set the initial pace, and Sarah B-B held her own until Bourne and Hales scrambled past. By running longer in the central stint, Piers Ward was ahead of Thorne, who already into his trade regained places quickly. Hales was leading Paul when Grant resumed in his TVR but Bourne’s superb 1:22.073 (81.14mph) class lap record helped them to 11th place with a one lap margin over Thorne/B-B, under 12 seconds ahead of the Wards at the chequer.
There may only have been two starters in TC1 - a category which could build in 2024 with Mini owners disenfranchised elsewhere looking for fun at great venues - but the early tussle between Alice Locke in the ultra-rare Broadspeed GTS and Ellie B in her Dorset Racing Cooper S augured well. ERA racer Nick Topliss’ strong middle stint put them ahead, but Matt Green was catching hand over fist when the maroon coupe’s throttle stuck open and he parked it adjacent to the pit exit. Green’s best lap of 1:25.758s (77.66mph) was almost a second inside his class pole.
After another cracking race, Castle Combe Racing Club chairman and Clerk of the Course summed up the event. “It was superb. After 90 minutes of hard racing, with 31 starters, there were two safety cars, no yellow flag infringements, only five retirements and zero contact. The GTSCC is a quality promotion, all credit to the competitors and Vanessa and Flavien. We look forward to the series returning next year, when the Autumn Classic will be run over two days.”
The final stop on the GTSCC tour is a traditional one to the wonderful Algarve Classic Festival near picturesque Portimao in Portugal on October 27-29. The entry is spectacular for the Sunday morning race, so book now to secure your slot and avoid disappointment.
MARCUS PYE
GTSCC WINNERS
Chris Chiles & Chris Chiles Jr
GTSCC CLASS WINNERS
GT2 Class Winners - Malcolm Paul & Rick Bourne, TVR Grantura MkIII
GT3 Class Winners - Doug Muirhead & Jeremy Welch, Austin Healey 3000
GT4 Class Winners - Chris Chiles & Chris Chris Jr - AC Cobra 289
SP1 Class Winners - Nick Finburgh & Ollie Crosthwaite - Lola Mk 1
TC1 Class Winners - Ellie Birchenough & Nick Topliss - Austin Mini Cooper S
GTSCC 'Drivers of the Day' - Christiaen van Lanschot & Jeremy Welch - Austin Healey 3000
Royal Automobile Club 'Family Award' - Ben & Peter Adams, Jaguar E-Type
Castle Combe Attendance Award - Beverley, Chris & Ollie Phillips
Terry Sanger Trophy for 'Fastest Lap' - Chris Chiles Jr
GT2 Class Winners
1st Malcolm Paul & Rick Bourne
2nd Mike Thorne & Sarah Bennett-Baggs
3rd Joe & Piers Ward
GT3 Class Winners
1st Doug Muirhead & Jeremy Welch
2nd Mark Pangborn & Harvey Woods
3rd Mike Grant-Peterkin & Theo Hunt (kindly deputised by Mrs Hunt as the pairing were back out on track)
Podium & GT4 Class Winners
1st Chris Chiles & Chris Chiles Jr
2nd Stephen Bond & Cliff Gray
3rd Steve Jones & Ben Tinkler
SP1 Class Winners
Nick Finburgh & Ollie Crosthwaite
TC1 Class Winners
1st Ellie Birchenough & Nick Topliss
2nd Alice Locke & Matt Green
GTSCC 'Driver's of the Day'
Christiaen van Lanschot & Jeremy Welch
Royal Automobile Club Family Award
Peter & Ben Adams
(deputised by Nick Finburgh)
GTSCC Castle Combe Attendance Award
Chris, Beverley & Ollie Phillips
The Terry Sanger Award for Fastest Lap
Chris Chiles Jr
GT2 Class Winners - Malcolm Paul & Rick Bourne, TVR Grantura MkIII
GT3 Class Winners - Doug Muirhead & Jeremy Welch, Austin Healey 3000
GT4 Class Winners - Chris Chiles & Chris Chiles Jr, AC Cobra 289
SP1 Class Winners - Nick Finburgh & Ollie Crosthwaite, Lola MkI
TC1 Class Winners - Ellie Birchenough & Nick Topliss, Austin Mini Cooper S
GTSCC Castle Combe Autumn Classic 2023 Results HERE
The closing round of the GT & Sports Car Cup is our end of season race taking place at the Algarve Classic Festival - 27/28/29 October
__________
30-minute Free Practice Session - Friday 27th
40-minute Qualifying Session - Saturday 28th
120-minute, 2/3 driver endurance race - Sunday 29th
Beach-side Accomodation & VIP Driver Hospitality included within the race entry.
E-Mail - cars@automobileshistoriques.com for entries