CHIPPENHAM’S Adam Higgins took a pair of victories in the Startline Formula Ford 1600 Championship at Castle Combe’s Retro Race weekend – but his success was not without controversy.

Championship leader Steven Jensen (Saltford) accused Higgins of dangerous driving in each of the weekend’s two races.

Jensen had a spin while leading race one, but accused Higgins of continually ramming him on the initial run up to Quarry corner.

He had established a comfortable lead, when, on lap 14, while negotiating Tower Corner, class C leader Ian Houston spun immediately in front of him.

Jensen recovered from his enforced spin, but accused Higgins’ brother Richard, who went on to win class B, of trying to force him off the track on the way back to fourth place.

Adam Higgins said: “I’m over the moon. I nearly ran into him (Jensen) into Tower as he was in the middle of the road. To do that twice in one year is throwing it away.”

Sunday’s race saw their battle resume, Higgins making a good start off the second row to slot in behind the pole-sitting Jensen.

A one-lap safety car helped Higgins close the gap and on lap six at Quarry, Higgins made a move to take the lead, with Jensen taking the place back two laps later.

But on the penultimate lap, Higgins took the lead out of Tower and into Bobbies, a manoeuvre most drivers see as impossible.

An unhappy Jensen said: “He just drove into me and forced his way through.’’ A frantic last lap saw Higgins take a narrow win from Jensen, with Roger Orgee, from Langford, third.

A furious Jensen refused to share the ‘winners’ car for the lap of honour and threatened not to return to the championship he still leads.

But his appeal to the officials of the meeting was dismissed due to lack of evidence.

“I’m so despondent. My in-car camera shows what happened but they said none of the observers had seen anything.

“Adam even admitted he hit me as retaliation for me not giving him enough room at the start and that he will put me into the wall next time, so right now I feel like retiring. I just want to race cleanly.”

Higgins said: “Steven’s not very happy with me, but it was hard racing, typical Formula Ford. It’s been my favourite win of the year.”

A beneficiary of Houston’s spin on Saturday was 77-year-old Pete Diccox, who took his first class C victory and his first win of any kind.

Diccox said: “I think they gave it to me in sympathy. It was so hot, it was a struggle to keep going.”

Ed Moore, from Melksham, who had a strong run to second in the first race, was relegated to starting on the grass for race two after clutch problems with his Van Diemen JLO from the front row, but fought back to fourth.

Corsham’s Will Di Claudio took a brilliant win in race one of the circuit’s Saloon Car championship with his class C Peugeot 106 Gti.

With a car which should be out-run by the cars from the bigger classes, Di Claudio held off Bristol’s Mark Wyatt in the class A Astra.

“That was really hard, the track was really slippery,’’ said Di Claudio.

“The car had a misfire at the top end of the revs, I think the heat made the fuel pressure drop. Me and Mark were just looking after ourselves and our class leads, but I really wanted to win outright.”

Rob Ballard, from Melksham, in the SEAT Leon Cupra took third and found his car suffering in the heat too.

“The brakes were going, the tyres over-heated,’’ he said.

“It was a great race though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Sunday’s encounter saw Wyatt and Ballard get ahead of Di Claudio at the start and this time the Peugeot driver was happy to settle for another class win to keep him at the head of the standings.

He said: “The car was a lot better but I wanted to take it easy and just win the class.

“I was happy to sit back and watch Mark and Rob, to be honest.”

Adrian Slade, from, Devizes, took fourth in his class B Peugeot 106 Gti but retired from race two.

Chippenham’s James Winter took a fifth and sixth overall and third and fourth in class in the B class Peugeot 206 GTi. The first of the weekend’s Sports and GT championship races saw former champion Simon Tilling take the flag, Jonty Hair doing likewise in Tilling’s absence on Sunday.

The balance of the weekend’s races were to a ‘Retro’ theme, the highlight being the 40-minute ‘Swinging 60s’.

Charles Marriott, from Ampney Crucis, took fourth overall in his 1380cc BMC engined Turner, the AC Cobra of Robert Bremner taking the victory.

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