Castle Combe: Ford Anglia Track Day
Classics | 31 Oct
On Wednesday 31st October we headed to Castle Combe Circuit for the inaugural Farer Track Day
Castle Combe Circuit is steeped in history - having started life in 1941 as a Second World War airfield, later housing Polish refugees before becoming a race track in 1950. The original circuit ran around the perimeter of the decommissioned airfield and in its first year it saw Stirling Moss win the 2.5 litre race.
Over the years the circuit has hosted huge crows and witnessed countless British motor racing legends, from John Surtees the only man to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels), future F1 Champion Mike Hawthorn and motorcycling's Mike Hailwood.
During the 1970s Castle Combe saw more greats like Barry Sheene, Nigel Mansell and Jody Scheckter. In more recent years, Ayrton Senna and David Coulthard both won Formula Ford races at Castle Combe before noise complaints from some local residents effectively ended the running of the British GT and Formula 3 championships at the track.
Now Castle Combe is home to club racing and track days, so we headed down with some Farer customers, a selection of suitably fast cars and our trusty Ford Anglia to test out the famous 1.85 mile track. Set in the Wiltshire countryside, the run off areas are little more than fields and the first corner has been described as one of the hardest in Britain.
So, following a hearty breakfast and a thorough briefing from the wonderful Castle Combe stewards, we put our helmets on, started our engines and readied ourselves for a day of racing in the glorious sunshine. Alongside the Ford Anglia, resplendent in Farer livery, we had a stunning new blue Alpine A110, a speed yellow Porsche 964 RS and a number of our customers' cars.
Taking turns to embark on increasingly quicker laps, we had and entire day of navigating the famous track. The opening obstacle, at the end of the start/finish straight has been described as "perhaps one of the hardest corners in Britain" since you come over the brow of the Avon Rise hill at full speed and have to make a short left before a sharp right hand bend into Quarry corner.
You are then flat out down to the first chicane and on to Tower Corner before you almost immediately encounter the second chicane which catches you by surprise. You are then foot down until the final right hander into the start/finish straight and past the onlooking crowd.
Blessed by amazing weather and the joys of an empty track, everyone raced to their heart's content - allowing experts and amateurs to experience the thrill of racing the same track as some of motor racing's true heroes. It was an epic day out, captured as ever by our Farer photographer Amy Shore and cameraman Mackie.
