Castle Combe Prepares for The Big One

06 June 2003

The visit of the British F3 and British GT Championships represents the biggest event of the year for the Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire. Over the course of the weekend of 21/22 June, more than 20,000 race fans are expected to pack the circuit for the John Guest Speedfit Festival meeting.

Away from the British Grand Prix and Champ Car events, the F3/GT meeting at Castle Combe will draw one of the biggest motor racing crowds of the season. In fact, in 2001, when over 24,000 people attended, the weekend was heralded as the biggest sporting event of the year in Wiltshire!

Having hosted its first race meeting in July 1950, Castle Combe circuit has grown into a successful business since being taken over by Howard Strawford in the early 1970s. Significantly, the circuit is calculated to inject around £15 million into the local economy, and the F3/GT weekend is the big event in the circuit calendar. The fact that Melksham-based AVON Tyres backs the British F3 Championship gives the event even greater local significance.

Uniquely, the Castle Combe meeting offers fans the chance to see all of the F3 and GT track action, including the all-important test sessions that are normally held mid-week at other venues. On Saturday morning at Castle Combe, dedicated F3 and GT test sessions will be held, before official qualifying on Saturday afternoon. With a host of F3 drivers that are new to the Wiltshire track, including title contenders Jamie Green and Nelson Piquet Junior, the test sessions will be supremely important to the final outcome of the pair of races on Sunday.

For John Guest Speedfit, 2003 represents the third year in a row that the company has sponsored the event. With more than 1000 customers expected to attend the event, it is a key part of the company's promotional campaign. As title sponsors of Mike Jordan and Mark Sumpter's FIA GT Championship campaign, the company has also arranged for Jordan's Porsche 911GT3RS to contest the British GT Championship race.

The previous weekend Jordan will be racing at Le Mans as part of the DeWalt TVR team, while the weekend after Castle Combe, Jordan and Sumpter will be back on the FIA GT Championship trail at Donington Park.

Adding to the quality provided by the F3 and GT features will be rounds of the Carlube TVR Tuscan Challenge and the Powertrain Caterham R400 Challenge, both of which feature two races and will be tremendously popular with the enthusiastic Castle Combe crowd.

But it is not just the visiting events that will capture the imagination of the local fans. In the National Mobile Windscreens Formula Ford 1600 Championship, no less than four former champions will be in action. Incredibly, this quartet of champions has taken the title a total of 13 times between them! Quadruple champions Bob Higgins and Gavin Wills should line up against triple champion Kevin Mills and recent double champion John Hutchinson. A round of the Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship completes the programme.

See series calendar for British GT Championship | British F3 Championship

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