SIMON Norris endured a hairy moment on his way to collecting the Saloon Car Championship title at Castle Combe's Grand Finals race day on Saturday.

Having amassed a perfect score of class wins and fastest laps this season, Norris only needed the most modest of results to be crowned champion for the second year running, but showed no signs of easing off the throttle.

On the front row of the grid with pole sitter Southampton's Gary Prebble, who still had an outside chance of being crowned joint champion, Norris continued to push his rival, despite receiving a warning flag for exceeding track limits.

With the vital point for fastest lap in the bag and the chequered flag just half a lap away, the local man made his move but his Mitsubishi Colt left the track and possible retirement loomed, before Norris came home in fourth place, before being demoted to eighth after penalties for the track limit exclusion were applied.

“My car’s always been stronger on the brakes into Tower than Gary, so I went for it” said Norris.

Prebble took the outright win with Corsham's Will Di Claudio just a second behind and a clear class C champion after his rival Geoff Ryall from Sturminster Newton was eliminated in qualifying after spinning on coolant dropped from the Grant Motorsport VW Scirocco of Bath’s Dave Scaramanga.

Bristol’s Oliver Cook was third in his Megane despite a track limits penalty. Mark Wyatt from Bristol was fourth and second in class B.

Bill Brockbank, from Stonehouse, was fifth in his SEAT Ibiza Cupra with Peasedown’s Ayrton Anderson sixth in his class C Saxo.

Further down the field, Brixham’s Mike Good, the only other man capable of taking the crown from Norris, was having his own battle, qualifying well clear of his rival Alex Kite from Stroud but finishing just a quarter of a second ahead of him after a ding dong battle.

Bridgwater’s Josh Fisher faced a similar situation to Norris in the circuit’s Formula Ford 1600 championship title.

After two particularly high-profile altercations with his main rival, Wellingborough’s Michael Moyers this season, Fisher elected to start from the back of the grid, despite qualifying fourth fastest.

Moyers needed to win and set fastest lap to retain a chance of taking his first title, his only hope being that his rivals would fail to score.

Despite immense pressure from Yatton Keynell's Luke Cooper, Langford's Roger Orgee and Awbridge's Michael Eastwell, Moyers crossed the line ahead of the rest, but all except Orgee were given 15 second penalties for their transgression, just 10 going his way.

Once applied, Coventry's Nathan Ward was declared the official winner, with Orgee second, Moyers third and Cooper fourth.

Fisher's eighth was enough for the overall title win for a second time - the previous being in 2008.

Bradford on Avon’s David Vivian was fifth in a one-off outing in the Wiltshire College Spectrum, with Cooper’s brother Jason sixth in a rare outing in the family-run Swift SC16.

The traditional end of season carnival saw the four drivers still furious after their penalties and their team managers delay the start while expressing their dissatisfaction with the situation.

Once underway, the 12-lapper gave Moyers a genuine win, with Eastwell second, Orgee third and Cooper fourth. Vivian took fifth and Jason Cooper sixth.

For Hove’s Ilsa Cox a straight run to a class win was all she needed to take the outright GT championship title honours.

Cowbridge’s Bradley John was equal on points with Cox going into the event, he would be denied the title in his debut year, despite a maximum score as his number of wins was less than those of Cox.

The biggest grid of the year saw Torquay’s Barry Squibb dominate with his Evo, but as is often the case, a result was denied him when his car was pushed off the track with a blown head gasket before the race was red–flagged due to a huge accident befalling Gillingham’s Steve Hall.

Newcomer to the circuit Dale Gent took the win in the restarted second half, but was not eligible for points, meaning Cowbridge's Bradley John’s second place saw him take class A.

Fifth place overall and a class win for Cox gave her another title, 20 years after her last, the Saloon Car version.

Gent’s impressive performance continued with another win in the season ending ‘Sports v Saloons’ race, with Salisbury’s Tony Bennett second in his Caterham and Plymouth’s Steve Putt third in his seven-litre Mazda RX7.

Di Claudio rounded off his successful year with a one-off outing in the circuit’s ‘Hot Hatch Challenge’ race, taking a dominant win from fourth on the grid in his 106.

Westbury’s Josh Harvey was second in his Honda Civic with Wyatt third in the Astra.