CHIPPENHAM’S Luke Cooper had mixed fortunes in the Formula Ford August Bank Holiday double-header at Castle Combe, after being unable to convert either of his two pole positions into victory but claiming the B Class Championship.

In wet and tricky conditions, Cooper qualified three-quarters of a second ahead of the field but off the line, and in drier conditions than those of the morning, second-place Michael Moyers took the lead.

He remained unchallenged throughout the race despite a light sprinkling of rain late on, finishing ahead of championship leader, Roger Orgee.

Cooper finished third despite holding onto second for a brief period while Chippenham’s Adam Higgins salvaged fourth after starting tenth and keeping his chances of retaining the title alive.

His brother Richard claimed sixth despite a spin while Melksham’s Ed Moore took eighth.

After the race Cooper said: “I think my side of the grid was a little wetter so I got some wheel spin and dropped back a bit.

“It started to rain a bit during the race but it didn’t affect lap times and I was just getting to grips with the car.”

In the second of the day’s two races, Cooper again started from pole but a loss of power and spin in the opening laps placed him down in tenth.

Moyers led from Orgee while Moore, who had made a sensational start from thirteenth, was up to third before falling behind Felix Fisher just before half distance.

He was soon back up to third though as Moyers, under severe pressure from Orgee and others behind him, clipped a barrier, damaged his suspension and was forced into retirement.

Ogree claimed the race win extending his lead in the championship with one round remaining, with Fisher and Moore finishing second and third respectively.

Adam Higgins took fifth after a poor start saw him distanced from the front-runners while Cooper managed to salvage seventh.

After the race Higgins, who is 19 points behind Orgee in the championship, said: “We went with the wrong setup in the first race we thought it was going to be wet but it dried out.

“In the second race someone decided they wanted to stop in the middle of the track and left me nowhere to go so I had a hole in the nosecone.

“I’ve nothing to lose in the final round so I’ve just got to go all out and hope and pray that Roger has a problem.”

Cooper added: “I actually got a brilliant start but by the time I got to Quarry the engine was so down on power I got overtaken by everyone and it was like that through the rest of the race.

“I tried to get someone back into Quarry on the brakes but spun and went back down but I’m happy to have clinched the B-Class Championship and hopefully I should have an A Class car for the last round.”

The overall points lead for the circuit’s Saloon Car Championship was finely poised prior to Monday’s racing, with team mates, Mark Wyatt from Bristol and Russell Poynter-Brown from Compton Martin neck and neck at the head of their respective classes.

Pole man Wyatt was third overall and second in class before a class win and third overall in race two game him an eight-point overall lead over Russell Poynter-Brown, from Compton Martin.

Adrian Slade, from Seend, had a difficult first race in his class C Peugeot 106 but managed 2nd in class, the win going to Weston Super Mare’s Craig Wright. Race two saw Slade take his more customary win, explaining: “It was so slippery in race one I thought I had a puncture and nearly pulled in.”

The circuit’s two Sports Racing Series races were totally dominated by Tim Gray in his Spire GT-3, Wrington’s Josh Smith a distant second in race one in his Radical.

His father, Darcy, took over the car for the second race and brought it home third, a lap down on the omnipotent winner.

The Monoposto races for a variety of single seaters saw Warminster’s Geoff Fern win his class in race one with his teammate, Nigel Davers, also from Warminster, thirrd in class in the wet conditions. A dry race two saw Davers also third in class but much nearer the front, fifth overall, with Fern dropping to third in class.