Starting its glorious 75th season of motor racing, Castle Combe previewed its 2025 calendar at a Media & Track Day organised by Castle Combe Racing Club, giving drivers and teams an opportunity to test cars and meet motorsport journalists, before the season starts in earnest at Howards Day, Easter Monday 21 April.
It was eighty-five years ago in 1940 that the Air Ministry constructed an airfield at Castle Combe to base a training squadron flying Oxford Airspeed, Miles Masters and Hawker Hurricane aircraft.
Ten years later, the tarmac perimeter track provided a group of enthusiasts from Bristol Motorcycle & Light Car Club the basis for the popular racing circuit that we see today. The first race meeting was held on 10th July 1950 with a program of car and motorcycle races.
Back to 2025 and balmy spring weather provided ideal conditions to test engines, chassis set-up and tyre compounds at the 1·85-mile Wiltshire circuit. Cars representing CCRC’s four resident championships; Formula Ford, GT, Saloon, and Hot Hatch, ran on track arranged in four 15-minute sessions each hour running 6 times between 9am and 4pm and allowing drivers and teams an opportunity to made adjustments in between.
For spiring racing drivers wanting to sample Castle Combe’s challenging circuit Wiltshire College, resident at the circuit, had their Caterham race simulator available which encouraged a steady stream of drivers, eager to test their skills throughout the day and the quickest lap was rewarded with a trophy. Castle Combe TV interviewed several racing personalities with lead circuit commentator Chris Dawes, expertly interrogating.
Using the pre-season test day for his FF racing team was veteran team owner Wayne Poole, who said: “Don’t change anything for next year, leave the format of the day exactly the same, including the weather! This season could be my final year and I’m planning to return to the cockpit myself when I have the opportunity”.
Among the GT cars testing was the striking Carrera Cup Porsche 991 of Bath driver Tim Adams who is registered for the 2025 CCRC GT championship and freely admits to: “finally fulfilling a childhood dream of racing a Porsche Cup car!” For Tim, the 450 bhp Porsche 991 is a step change from the Honda Civic he raced in CCRC Hot Hatches, but he has plenty of experience in faster machinery, having started his racing career in NASCAR Late Models, spending his inaugural year in Wisconsin and the second season in Florida.
Adding another fascinating dimension to the story is that Tim is sharing the driving with his father Nick, entered as a two-driver combination as permitted by the innovative CCRC GT championship regulations for double-header races. Nick Adams was the 1989 FIA World Sportscar Champion racing a Spice C2 and is also a vastly experienced GT driver with 9 Le Mans 24 hours race starts to his credit!
Other anniversaries being celebrated at Castle Combe in 2025 include 30-years of the Saloon Car Championship with a distinguished alumnus of past champions. The Racing Club’s Media and Track Day is now firmly established as an annual feature on Castle Combe’s sporting calendar.
Castle Combe 2023 Race Calendar
- April 21st Howard’s Day Race Meeting
- May 26th Mayday Madness Race Meeting
- June 28th Summer Spectacular Race Meeting
- August 2/3rd Classic race days
- August 25th Combe Countdown Race Meeting
- September 20/21st Autumn Classic Historic Festival
- October 4th Finals Race Day
© Ken Davies and images by Michael Stokes
