CHIPPENHAM’S Formula Ford racer Adam Higgins was happy to come away with a third-placed class finish at Castle Combe's Howard’s Day, after struggling to get to grips with the new surface at the circuit.

Two-thirds of the 1.85mile track had been relaid, getting rid of many of the notorious bumps - and a lack of pre-season testing meant reigning champion Higgins could only finish fifth overall in the Formula Ford 1600 race.

The blue-ribbon event was won by pole-sitter Jonathan Hoad by 3.366 seconds from Roger Orgee with Nathan Ward rounding out the top three.

Higgins, who started the race ninth and has previously won the Castle Combe Championship twice, said: “I’m just getting used to it again to be honest because I ran out of budget having to buy a HANS device and that was my budget for testing and I’ve only done two test sessions since November.

“The track is also completely different from last year because they’ve re-tarmaced the circuit so the braking zones are different and it was a very steep learning curve so I’m happy with the result.

“It all got a bit manic at one point with some back markers, there were four of them and no one knew where everyone was so it was very close to a crash.

“I learnt quite a bit though so next race we will be in a much better position.”

Higgins spent much of the earlier part of the race battling with Melksham’s Edward Moore who finished seventh after suffering from engine problems, one place ahead of Chippenham’s Luke Cooper.

Moore, who qualified eighth in his Van Diemen JL013k, said: “I’m disappointed, it’s not why we’re here to finish where we did.

“We did a fairly fast lap time it’s just the engine started to overheat and we dropped away and I was just glad to finish.

“In the early stages I thought we can have a go here but that clearly wasn’t the case.

“We are going to do some testing before the next round in May and hopefully discover the engine problem.”

Pete Diccox from Chippenham finished 20th while the Wiltshire College-run Spectrum, driven by Stephen Billet, finished 17th overall.

Calne’s Tony Hutchings withstood enormous pressure from his main rival to take a fine victory in the season-opening Saloon Car championship race.

In front of a huge crowd, the biggest for some years, Hutchings powered his unique Audi TT into a substantial lead but Southampton’s Gary Prebble, the circuit’s most successful driver and a formidable former champion in his newly-acquired SEAT Leon Cupra Turbo, was right on his tail.

Prebble set a stunning new lap record on lap three but by lap ten, his car developed a soft brake pedal, forcing him to drop back, allowing Hutchings to take a clear victory. Bath’s Dave Scaramanga demonstrated the potential of his new VW Scirocco by taking third place, whilst Charles Hyde-Andrews–Bird, from Ditcheat, had a lonely drive to fourth in his Renault Megane Turbo.

Oliver Bull was another surprised and surprising winner in the circuit’s Sports & GT championship race, which saw the Bristol driver qualify his brand-new Vauxhall Tigra Silhouette only fourth.

The circuit’s two Sports Racing Car races, were won by Simon Tilling in his Ligier, but Weston’s Josh Smith ran him close in his Radical PR6. Smith's father Darcy from Wrington retired from race one but fought back in race two to take third, albeit over half a minute behind his son.

The Howell brothers from Radstock, Olly and Julian, were the focus of much attention with the debut of their stunning new Mini, built to ultimate specification.

The duo entered the visiting Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship as a test for their forthcoming year in a national classic championship.

Against formidable opposition in a car which had not previously turned a wheel, Olly qualified a stunning ninth overall and first in class, taking the beautifully prepared car to seventh.

Race two saw Julian take the wheel, starting from the back of the grid. Making swift progress through the field, a coming together between two other competitors, eliminated Howell on lap two as the track was blocked in front of him as he came into Camp corner, resulting in a badly damaged Mini.

WATCH STEFAN MACKLEY'S VIDEO FROM CASTLE COMBE