Just as the sunshine began to turn into precarious looking grey crowds, the Thermex Classic Saloons grid formed up, anticipating their opening 15 minutes race of the day. Stephen Primett claimed a dominant pole by roughly three seconds in his Ford Escort, whilst David Osborne was second on the grid in his Triumph Dolomite Sprint. Nic Strong and David Howard shared the second row of the grid.

As the lights went out it was David Osborne from second on the grid who rocketed into the lead, closely followed by the Jaguar XJ12 of David Howard from 4th on the grid, leaving Primett well behind as he fell back into the pack after his bad getaway. His bad start didn’t affect him for too long however, as Primett soon passed Howard and then out dragged leader Osborne in his Dolomite Sprint to blast the Escort into the lead up Avon Rise on lap 2. Howard wanted in on the action, relegating Osborne to 3rd at the next corner exiting Quarry.

Primett and Howard were now solidified as the top two, as Osborne was still reeling from going from the leader to third so quickly as he dropped back from the leading duo. Primett was clearly a man on a mission, building his lead to roughly five seconds by lap six. An entertaining fight was going on behind the lead trio, with Nic Strong defending for dear life as Alan Greenhalgh and Mostyn Ritter smelled blood and his 4th place.  After several potential moves failed to come off, Greenhalgh finally breached the valiant defenses of Strong to claim 4th place with a great around the outside move at Tower on lap 8.

Back at the front and Primett was still extending his lead over Howard in 2nd, whilst once again the battle for 4th was not over as Strong took advantage of back markers and Greenhalgh being held up to reclaim 4th position on the run into Quarry on lap 11.This battle refused to die with Greenhalgh taking the right side past a back marker to re-pass Strong at Hammerdown on lap 12, with the battle finally resolved on the final lap as Mostyn Ritter put himself between the two as he took 5th from Strong at Quarry.

This battle was irrelevant however for Stephen Primett romped home to a comfortable victory, with David Howard and David Osborne equally comfortable with 2nd and 3rd respectively. The next trio came home glued together with Alan Greenhalgh finally coming out on top in their race long fight to claim 4th position, with Mostyn Ritter and Nic Strong valiant in defeat with 5th and 6th respectively.

The Thermex Classic Saloon car grid re-formed for the penultimate race of this packed MotorsTV race day, and their second race of the day. This race was unfortunately reduced from 15 to 12 minutes, with intense rainfall only making this race a lot harder for the competitors. With the grid based on the race one results it was Stephen Primett on pole once again, with David Howard sharing the front row with him. David Osborne and Alan Greenhalgh comprised row two.

As the green lights went out it was the heavy Jaguar XJ12 of David Howard which went into the lead, as everyone scrabbled for grip on the treacherous surface. Primett once again made a bad start, but recovered sufficiently to lead by several seconds at the end of lap one. From lap one onwards it was clear that Howard was struggling massively, as John Wright shot up from 9th on the grid to pass him for 2nd on lap two, with Osborne following him through to demote Howard to 4th by the end of the lap.

It seemed Primett was dialed into this track, no matter whether conditions were dry or wet, his built his lead in a dominant fashion. Alan Greenhalgh was challenging David Osborne for 3rd on lap five, although Neil Bray was another driver charging up the field from 7th on the grid, passing both of them over the next few laps to solidify himself in 3rd. As Stephen Primett stroked it home in very difficult conditions for a second victory of the day, the battle for 2nd developed with Neil Bray falling just 0.3 seconds from stealing 2nd from John Wright, although both finished 29 seconds behind winner Primett. David Osborne came home 4th, with Alan Greenhalgh close behind in 5th, whilst Malcolm Jeffs completed the top six in his beautiful Alfasud.

The two races for the Thermex Classic Saloon Car series provided some great battle throughout the field, however Stephen Primett was simply in a class of his own at Castle Combe, winning both races dominantly as the rest fought amongst themselves behind him. For more information on this exciting series please visit their website below.
http://classictouringcars.com/champ_classichistoric.html