Twin wins at Castle Combe for Wood and CBT Golf / CBT Classic VW Challenge

The CBT VW Golf, which last raced at Castle Combe in the British GT Championship in 2003, made a successful return to the Wiltshire circuit on 4 May, with Steve Wood scoring two CBT Classic VW Challenge race victories.

Qualifying saw the CBT Golf up against runners from the Classic Thunder Championship and VTec pre-2003 Saloons Championship. Classic Thunder had its own race at Silverstone the previous round but, due to lack of entries at Combe, was combined with the CBT Classic VW Challenge and pre-2003 Saloon Championship, so Steve was up against cars with almost three times as much power. Qualifying was early on Monday morning and lasted for 15 minutes; for the first seven minutes the Golf ran as high as third but dropped to seventh overall as the more powerful cars got heat into their tyres. Steve was the quickest of the CBT Classic VW Challenge competitors with a lap time of 1m 15.1s, which was one and a half seconds quicker than his nearest rival, Andy Thompson, in his Seat Leon. Ken Lark’s Silverstone winning VW Corrado qualified fourth. A total of 25 cars made up the combined grid, of which 11 were running in the Classic VW Challenge.

Race 1: 15 minutes
Unlike Silverstone it was a rolling start, which suited the Classic Thunder Cars as well as the CBT Golf. The Golf works well on cool tyres and managed to stay with the more powerful Classic Thunder Cars for the first few laps. Steve ran in first place among the VW Challenge cars from start to finish, claiming the class win and sixth place overall. Steve’s nearest class competitor was Andy Thompson, who was four and a half seconds behind. He was followed home by Dave Scaramanga’s VW Vento VR6 and Ken Lark’s Corrado in fourth. Steve also set the fastest VW Challenge lap during the race of 1m 15.4s, which became the lap record as this was the first time the series had visited Castle Combe.

Race 2: 15 minutes
Again a rolling start and, with the circuit quite oily from the previous two races, Steve made an excellent start again. This time he was being pushed very hard by the fast-starting Vento of Dave Scaramanga for the first half lap. Once the CBT Golf got its nose in front it led to the end, finishing a place better overall than in race one with fifth. Steve led home the class by 18 seconds from Andy Thompson, with Rob Allum’s VW Golf third. Steve’s fastest lap was another new lap record in a time of 1, 15.2s. Unfortunately Ken Lark suffered mechanical issues on lap 10 and another leading VW Challenge competitor, Len Simpson, crashed his Vento at the very quick Camp Corner, resulting in a small fire. Len was fortunate not to be injured but will have to sit out the next round at Mallory Park (23/24 May) while his car is repaired.

The next outing for Stuart and Steve will be Tour Ireland, 13-15 May, in the mighty CBT Chevrolet Camaro Z28.