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Highlight of the Castle Combe Circuit's first race meeting of the 2008 season on Easter Monday was the very first running of the prestigious Golden Helmet trophy race, won against the odds by local driver Ed Moore.

Run to test the top Formula Ford 1600 pilots from all over the UK, such was the level of entries, a qualification race was run earlier in the afternoon. Bridgwater's Josh Fisher won, his brother Felix taking third place after a great drive. Visitor, Tom Bradshaw took the runner up spot in his Swift SC92, whilst Moore failed to finish after problems with his Van Diemen RF00.

The 15 lap final was scintillating. Fisher senior took an early lead, with Stuart Gough and Tom Bradshaw dicing for the podium position and Felix Fisher just behind them.

As the laps rolled off, it was clear the first four were holding each other up, allowing Bradford On Avon's Moore to close from his starting position at the back of the grid. It seemed inconceivable he would be able to catch them, but the Van Diemen was flying, Moore breaking the lap record time and again.

Once in touch, the top four were now beatable, Moore gradually picking them off, so the by the last five laps it was a straight fight between Moore and Fisher. The latter also broke the lap record by almost three quarters of a second to stay in touch, but this was Ed's day, the reigning local champion taking a brilliant victory, with Fisher 2nd and Gough third.

Castle Combe's Andy Jones took a commendable 4th after a long battle with Felix Fisher, with Robert Hall in the locally run Swift 5th and Fisher Junior 6th.

Josh and Felix Fisher had earlier shown their skills in the opening round of the Melton Concrete Products Formula Ford 1600 Championship race.

Josh was unchallenged from pole position in his Mygale SJ03, cruising to a dominant victory, his lack of challengers allowing him to focus on reducing his lap times and reducing the record, eventually breaking it by over a quarter of a second, only to annihilate it again later.

Behind him, his brother Felix qualified his Swift SC92 4th overall and on class B pole, an impressive feat on his debut. At the lights, it was Felix who made the better start, almost challenging his brother, but settling into second overall before coming under attack from reigning champion, Moore, who had qualified 3rd.

Having succumbed to Moore, Fisher Junior began to feel similar pressure from Chippenham's Adam Higgins, making his class A debut after a strong first season in class C. The Van Diemen had soon found a way through, setting about Moore before long and finding a way through briefly on lap ten, only for Moore to re-take the place as the Higgins car began suffering from a minor top end mis-fire.

So Fisher senior took the flag by almost ten seconds from Moore, with Higgins right behind in third, Felix Fisher in fourth and Andy Jones 5th overall and 4th in class A in the Ray GRS07. Hall was 6th and 2nd in class in the Castle Combe based Swift SC92.

There was a change to the running of the National Mobile Windscreens Saloon Car Championship, with the faster class A four wheel drive cars attached to the Special GT race.

This still left classes B,C and D with a fully subscribed race, Bristol drivers Mark Wyatt and Tim Maddocks in a class of their own at the front. Wyatt's Astra was never threatened, crossing the line almost six seconds ahead of Maddocks in the Honda Civic Type R.

Behind them, Ian Craig's BMW M3 took 3rd. Another Bristolian, David Kift, won class C on the debut of his Peugeot 205 Gti. Reigning double champion, Calne's Tony Hutchings, retired his new Audi TT with a misfire after an encouraging start, which saw him running as high as sixth at one stage.

His Turnpike Racing team-mate, Chippenham's William Di Claudio, took pole, fastest lap and victory in class D in his Peugeot 106 with Yatton Keynell's Jason Cooper an impressive second on his circuit racing debut in his Fiesta.

The class A cars, more at home with the road going saloon and sports cars from class C & D of the savesometax.co.uk Special GT Championship, were amalgamated with them for the first time and provided a cracking race. Barry Squibb took an early lead in his Evo 6 RS, but Gary Prebble chipped away and as the pace of Squibb's Mitsubishi tailed off, Prebble was ready to pounce. Right behind him though was Melsksham's Simon Norris, who took over from Squibb as Prebble's brakes began to fade and set fastest lap on the way to 2nd.

At the front, Nick Williamson's Escort Cosworth roared off to what might have been a dominant victory, but that was not to account for Trowbridge's Mark Funnell. Starting from the back of the grid after a fuel pipe failure in qualifying, Funnell scythed his Lotus Exige through the field and was soon with the Escort. Two laps from the end, Funnell found a way though, going on to pull away and take an impressive victory. Visitor Ross Jonchetti won class D in his unlikely Talbot Sunbeam, beating the Ferraris!

In the race for classes A and B of the Special GTs, Westbury's Shane Marshall was in a class of his own in his new 3.0 litre Chrysler powered Jade. Despite losing several places at the start, Marshall was soon back on the pace, catching and passing Kemble's Ed Lovett by lap four, in the process demoting Bristol's Tony Michael to 3rd.

Taking fourth on his Special GT debut was Josh Fisher again, his third result of the day so far in a class B Mantis Supersport 2 litre.

Cirencester's Rob Clarke was 5th overall in the Radical Clubsport, Yate's Dave Cutliffe 6th overall and second in class on his debut in class A with his Suzuki engined Halsbury GT07.

Bristol's David Kift won his class and was second overall, whilst Leigh On Mendip's David Mears was 7th overall and 4th in class in the Dunlop/Impression Classic Modified Saloon Car race, both driving Peugeot 205 Gtis.

10:38am Tuesday 25th March 2008

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