Castle Combe Racing Club’s Midsummer Mania event marked the fifth meeting out of six in the 2026 season for the Castle Combe home championships. A chaotic day with close racing and mixed conditions saw fans enjoy great racing and history made. The raceday ran to a reduced programme after the last three races were cancelled due to an incident in the second BARC Coupe Cup race of the day. It was great to hear that all drivers involved in the incident were okay. Here is a rundown of each of the six categories that competed on the late August bank holiday Monday.
CCRC Nankang Tyres Hot Hatch Championship
Mark Wyatt took a perhaps suprising pole position in Hot Hatch Qualifying as Corey Webber’s Honda Civic was not showing its usually formidable pace. Wyatt’s 1:16.448 was good enough to secure him top spot in qualiying, a full second clear of Todd Carter in second. Webber wouldn’t get out in his Civic for the rest of the day due to his problem in qualiying.
Race one got off to an interesting start, with the light going out very quick which caught out the drivers at the front of the field. After a restart due to a red flag, Mark Wyatt would storm back through the field to take victory. Julian Fisher and Justin Holloway rounded out the podium spots for race one.
The field got off to a much better start in race two and it was Justin Holloway in his Gulf liveried Clio that led the field into Quarry. Mark Wyatt would not challenge for a double victory as his Vauxhall Astra didn’t complete the first lap. Julian Fisher and Justin Holloway shared a brilliant battle throughout the whole of race two for victory. The pair chopped and changed positions plenty of times over the 20 minutes but it was Fisher that took the flag first and claimed his second victory of the season.
CCRC FF1600 Championship
Heading into the meeting all eyes were on Luke Cooper to see if he could make Formula Ford history at Castle Combe and take his 35th victory at the circuit. Cooper tied Ed Moore’s long standing record last time out and looked set to break the record but a fuel pump failure saw his quest for history delayed.
Cooper started the day brilliantly securing pole position in qualifying, almost seven tenths of a second clear of his young teammate Sam Skellet.
– Alfie Gendall
Crucially, Cooper made a good start and survived any attacks from Skellet or Adam Higgins into Quarry. Higgins moved up into second place but couldn’t live with the pace of Cooper up ahead. Skellet fell back to third and battled with Nathan Ward’s Class B Swift SC92. With no such issues or drama this time around, Cooper took the chequered flag and wrote his name in the history books with his 35th Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 win. Nathan Ward prevailed in his battle with Sam Skellet in a result that would crown Ward Class B champion for the seventh consecutive year after race two was cancelled.
CCRC Avon Tuning GT Championship & CCRC South Cerney Saloon Car Championship
The Avon Tuning GT Championship and South Cerney Saloon Car Championships combined once again to provide spectators with some brilliant racing and an incredibly diverse field of cars. Dominant force in the championship this season Dave Scaramanga claimed pole position once again in his Ferrari 488 with a 1:06.039. Dylan Popovic and Keith Butcher kept him honest with circuit ace Will Di Claudio putting a great lap together to put his Peugeot 106 seventh on the grid.
Scaramanga got a good launch off the rolling start but wasn’t able to scamper away from the pack. Popovic and Butcher were still in tow and slipstreaming eachother to catch back up to the back of Scaramanga’s Ferrari. The trio all converged on eachother and you could almost throw a blanket over the top three for the majority of the race.
Butcher’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 eventually passed Popovic’s beast of a Ginetta G50. All of a sudden, Butcher was on the hunt and Scaramanga had to keep a close eye on his mirrors. Coming out of the esses, Butcher emerged in the lead which he would hold to the chequered flag for one of his most impressive drives at Castle Combe. Scaramanga finished only two tenths adrift of Butcher but the result for him was enough to claim the GT Class A championship in 2026. Popovic held on to third position ahead of Craig Sampson’s rapid Westfield. Lea Wood climbed up eight positions during the race to bring their Ginetta G55 home in fifth place.
CALM All Porsche Trophy
The CALM All Porsche Trophy put on a brilliant display at Castle Combe, with a healthy grid of stunning machinery. The championship helps to raise awareness for CALM, (Campaign Against Living Miserably) which is a mental health/suicide prevention charity. A well supported grid walk during the lunch break bought plenty of smiles and the atmosphere was brilliant.
Christian Walker set the pace in qualifying in his immaculate Porsche Cayman S. He set a blistering time of 1:13.714 and claimed pole position by 1.7 seconds. Walker would go on to claim back to back victories in the afternoon. He was able to stretch his legs properly in race two and pulled an almost 30 second gap in just 13 laps.
OT Coupe Cup with Toyo Tires
The Coupe Cup with Toyo Tires is a one make series using the first and second generation Hyundai Coupe. Coupe Cup prides itself on being affordable and close racing and with plenty of long straights and overtaking opportunites, Castle Combe is the perfect venue for these cars. 21 drivers took to the track in qualifying and it was Nathan James Boyle who snatched pole position with a 1:23.942. The top six in qualifying were all within a second of eachother so thrilling racing was bound to follow.
Race one got underway and drivers were instantly battling for every inch of tarmac, and some taking to the grass.
A three way battle for the lead very quickly started to form between polesitter Nathan James Boyle, Matthew Watson and Harvey Cursley. The trio stayed close to eachother for the whole race and put on a great show weaving through traffic. But Watson and Cursley couldn’t dethrone the polesitter Nathan James Boyle as he crossed the line to take victory with the top three drivers all finishing within a second of eachother.
The second Coupe Cup race promised even more action and heroics from the drivers. However, an incident occured at the start of the race which started with four cars all trying to get through the right kink of Folly together. The damage sustained to the barriers was deemd too severe so the rest of the meeting had to be cancelled. The most important thing though was that all drivers involved were okay.
Castle Combe 100 – Bernard Jackson Trophy Race
A quick word on the Castle Combe 100 which unfortunately never got started due to it’s cancellation. An incredible grid of 44 cars were ready to compete in this new race format which would see the majority of cars completing 100 miles during the 45 minute race. Qualifying was probably the most packed I had ever seen the Castle Combe Circuit with all sorts of machinery out there pushing as hard as they could. It was circuit regular and GT Star Dylan Popovic who came away with the quickest time in qualifying. But seeing Ginettas, Lamborghinis and Porsches out there trying to navigate their way around Citroen C1’s and the Hyundai Coupe cars was really amazing to see.
The end of the season approaches
There are just two race events left in the Castle Combe Racing Club calendar in 2026. The Castle Combe Autumn Classic weekend event is just over a week away now. The Autumn Classic is always one of the best events that Castle Combe put on every year with plenty of incredible cars in the paddock and out on track.
The next meeting for all of the Castle Combe home championships will be the Champions Coronation Raceday which will close out the season on the 3rd of October.
