Castle Combe Circuit

Location	Chippenham, Wiltshire, England
Major events	Formula Three; Formula Ford
Circuit length	2.977 kilometres (1.85 miles)
Turns	7
Lap record	59.387 (Dan Clarke, Räikkönen Robertson Racing, 2005)

Castle Combe Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Wiltshire, England. The circuit used to be the perimiter track of a World War II airfield, and opened to racing in 1950.

History

The Castle Combe airfield opened in May 1941. The land which the airfield occupied belonged to the Castle Combe estate, which was owned by the Gorst family. The airfield functioned for seven years before being decommissioned in 1948.

Castle Combe Circuit opened in 1950, and the first meeting was staged on July 8 by the Bristol Motorcylce & Light Car Club. Over the next few years, the circuit attracted star names such as Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn, Roy Salvadori and John Surtees.

Castle Combe has staged many different motorsport disciplines over the years. In 1997, Nigel Greensall established a new lap record. His Tyrrell 022 lapped the circuit at 130.93mph. However, this was the last year that the circuit would remain unaltered. A tragic accident involving the death of a spectator forced the owners into installing two new chicanes in order to slow the cars down. The new layout was slightly longer at 1.85 miles, and debuted in 1998.

Formula Three returned to Castle Combe in 2001. However, it would not stay long. In 2005, the circuit was issued with a noise nuisance order, which meant that the circuit had to reduce its noise level. The British Formula Three Championship, British GT Championship and British Touring Car Championship were louder than permitted, and so were prevented from returning.