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Motorsport: Simon Norris is prepared to quit racing at Castle Combe after his second horror-crash at the circuit in eight months.

The 31-year-old driver, who lives in Melksham but grew up in Corsham, walked free from his wrecked Mitsubishi Evo 6 last October after clipping a back marker and being sent spiralling into the air at 80mph.

Norris returned to the track on Monday in the class A and B race of the Saloon Car Championships but deja vu struck as his brakes failed going into a corner and he smashed hard into the tyre wall, causing £15,000 worth of damage to his Evo 9 car.

The former Corsham resident staggered free from the crash with only minor injuries but he is now considering cutting his losses at the circuit -unless the regulations are changed.

Norris said: "It was a big crash -I had total brake failure into the Tower corner at 110mph.

"It was potentially a worse accident than last year but fortunately I managed to turn viciously onto the grass to avoid hitting the tyre wall head-on. I was second at the time and I side-skidded into the leader Gary Prebble and we both spun into the barriers.

"It has made me think about giving up, but only in this competition.

"The Castle Combe thing is getting so difficult because you've got to run on road tyres and you're not allowed aerodynamics, but you're travelling at 150mph.

"I'll see if they change the rules for next year before I decide whether to enter."

An investigation into the crash ruled Norris had not been at fault and mechanical failure was to blame.

Ironically, Norris revealed the race had been his most enjoyable ever before the crash. He said: "It was the best race I've ever had because me and Gary were overtaking each other and jostling for the lead all the way through. They ruled the crash wasn't my fault but in some ways that makes it worse because there's nothing you can do to prevent it happening again."

Combe veteran Brian Cox inherited the win in his Evo 5 and Mark Wyatt (Vauxhall Astra) won Class B.

The best of the Wiltshire competitors was Tony Hutchings, the 2007 champion from Calne taking seventh place overall in his smartly prepared Turnpike Racing Audi TT.

With more than 50 cars entered for the National Mobile Windscreens Saloon Car Championship two races were allocated, with the smaller capacity cars from Classes C and D taking to the track first.

Bournemouth's Carleton Williams took the honours in his Vauxhall Corsa GSi.

9:24am Thursday 8th May 2008

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