Castle Combe Test Day 1998

By Kieron Winter

This year we were joined at Castle Combe Test Day by the MG Car Club which meant that those who left it until the last minute to enter the event found that all the places were taken. This year we also had the good weather that was missing twelve months ago.

The day saw several new people taking part and some familiar faces in different cars, everyone got a track briefing from an old friend of the Club, Terry Sanger, who was the Instructor for the day. As well as the usual number of Mini Coopers we also had a good selection of sports cars, some classics from the MG Car Club and some modern examples in the form of a Dax Rush with Cosworth Turbo power, a glorious sounding TVR Griffith and the neat and nimble Lotus Elise.

Jonathan Milne was out in his bright yellow ex-circuit racing Honda CRX and was also the passenger when Phi] Boyland left the circuit at Quarry Corner in his more standard CRX. There was some panel damage as a result. There was also to be a further incident later on when Warwick Fortescue could not avoid contact with a Talbot Sunbeam that had lost control at Camp Corner. Thankfully no one was hurt in the incident, and after some panel bashing both cars were driveable.

Apart from these incidents the rest of the day was a great success, the queues seemed a lot shorter this year, which 1 put down to the excellent work of Phil Harris and Tony Smith - thanks guys - and by 4.00 pm most of the drivers had had four runs. Thanks also to Pete Goodman and Tony who did a good job of promoting the Club resulting in one new member joining on the day and several more people taking away membership forms.

Another good event enjoyed by the organisers, participants and the many members who came along to watch and enjoy the sunshine.