MELKSHAM-BASED Simon Norris came through rain and shine to claim two class wins during the BARC Motors TV race meeting at Castle Combe yesterday.

Qualifying sessions for all the races were held in the dry but by the time the cars formed up for the first Saloon race of the day, the track was drenched following a downpour.

Dave Scaramanga started on pole followed by Norris and reigning Saloon champion Mark Wyatt but at the start it was Geoffrey Ryall from fifth on the grid in his Peugeot 106 who took the lead.

Ryall, along with James Keepin who had moved up to second from eleventh on the grid, began to distance themselves from the chasing field before Keepin moved into the lead on lap six which he would keep until the end.

Further back, Norris battled his way to third by the finish and claimed Class B honours with Chippenham’s William Di Claudio finishing sixth and taking the Class D win.

For the second race the track had dried out and it was Norris on pole from Wyatt and Ryall and by the end of the first lap Norris had retained the lead which he would hold until the chequered flag, chased by Wyatt and Scaramanga.

“You didn’t know how much grip you had,” said Norris speaking after the second of the two races.

“I knew the track was going to be a bit green but I just thought I’d see how much grip there was and there was way more than I expected.

“In the first race the car felt fine but the windscreen fogged up and I couldn’t see a thing for the last three laps so I just played it safe.”

In the Formula Ford 1600 race, Chippenham’s Adam Higgins proved the number 13 is unlucky for some but not for him on his return to the Wiltshire circuit after he claimed third-place.

Nathan Ward in the Wiltshire College entry started on pole, followed by Michael Moyers – returning to the circuit following a 120mph accident just two weeks ago – and reigning Formula Ford champion Roger Orgee in third.

Bratton’s Ben Norton started fourth, Melksham’s Ed Moore sixth, Higgins seventh and Chippenham’s Luke Cooper eighth.

At the end of the first lap it was Moyers, Ward and Orgee with Higgins up to fourth but by the time the cars came round to complete lap three, Ward had fallen back following a spin and the safety car was deployed after Cooper hit the barrier.

At the restart Moyers and Orgee began to gap Higgins with the duo eventually crossing the finish line side-by-side with Moyers taking the honours and Higgins rounding out the podium.

“It was my first race since last November and absolutely it was good to be back,” said Higgins, whose brother Richard missed the race meeting after he was rushed into hospital on Sunday with a suspected appendicitis.

“We went for a mad set-up for the wet and it was better than I was, it kept finding grip and every single lap I was getting faster and faster.”