FORMULA Ford frontrunner Luke Cooper believes wins won’t be possible until later in the year as he gets to grips with a new car in this season’s Castle Combe championship.

The 22-year-old Chippenham racer, who claimed seven class wins last year on his way to winning the B-Class Championship, will race a Swift SC16 at this weekend’s meeting.

Designed on a 2010 car and built over the last few months by his dad and brother, Cooper’s charger made its appearance at the opening round of the National Formula Ford 1600 Championship last weekend.

“I raced it at Oulton Park and it didn’t go well. We’re a long way off where we want the car to be,” said Cooper.

“The biggest difference is we have a completely new suspension and the shock absorbers are different to anything we have used before.

“It’s a case of finding out what works and what doesn’t because it will affect the balance of the car and how it handles.

“We’re starting from scratch and learning what helps and doesn’t help.

“The goal really is to get wins towards the end of the season and when we are on top of the car, hopefully we are still going to have a chance at the championship.”

This weekend’s racing at Castle Combe will be the first meeting of the year after the Howard’s Day Easter Monday event was called off due to flooding – the first time in the circuit’s 66-year history that a race meeting was cancelled.

“For my championship position, a wet race this weekend would help a lot more,” added Cooper.

“I’m not sure wh