Castle Combe Circuit

Castle Combe Circuit at a glance

Location

Chippenham, Wiltshire

Type

road course

Length

2.977 km (1.85 mi)

Turns

12

Direction

clockwise

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1950

Owner

Castle Combe Circuit Ltd

Address

Castle Combe Circuit Ltd, Castle Combe, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 7EY

Phone

+44 1249 782417

Website

castlecombecircuit.co.uk

Track map and layout

Castle Combe is built on the perimeter roads of a former World War Two airfield, RAF Castle Combe, and still has the flat, wide-open feel of a bomber base rather than a purpose-built race track. The lap is short and fast, mixing long straights along old runway edges with a run of quicker corners, and was one of the fastest tracks of its kind in Britain until 1998, when two chicanes were added ahead of Old Paddock Bend and Westway after a fatal accident to a spectator. Those chicanes remain the defining feature of the modern 1.85-mile, 12-turn layout, breaking up what would otherwise be a very high-speed circuit. It sits five miles west of Chippenham, half a mile from the picture-postcard village of Castle Combe itself, in open Wiltshire countryside.

Named corners and sections

• Quarry Corner. A fast right-hander taken near maximum speed, leading onto Farm Straight.
• The Esses. A quick left-right sequence that rewards a smooth, committed line.
• Camp Corner. Site of the fatal 1998 accident that led to the circuit's chicanes; now a slower, reprofiled corner.
• Tower Corner. A tightening right-hander named after a lookout tower from the site's airfield days.
• Old Paddock Bend / chicane. One of the two chicanes added over the winter of 1998-99 to cut speeds through the old paddock area.
• Avon Rise. A blind, rising approach that catches out drivers carrying too much speed.
• Folly. A tight corner in the circuit's slower middle section.
• Bobbies. A fast, committed corner leading toward the closing sequence of the lap.
• Westway chicane. The second chicane added in 1998-99, ahead of the final corners, to reduce approach speed.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Castle Combe doesn't currently run BTCC or British Superbikes - a 2005 noise nuisance order also ended its Formula Three and British GT dates - but it remains one of the busiest independent circuits in Britain, running its own well-supported Saloon & GT, Formula Ford and Hot Hatch club championships across roughly a dozen race meetings a year. The Autumn Classic Historic Racing Festival is the circuit's biggest date, drawing historic single-seaters and saloons, and the season also includes the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club's meetings, motorcycle race days, and static events such as Rallyday car-and-bike demonstrations and car boot sales on non-race weekends.

Getting there and parking

The circuit is on the B4039 five miles west of Chippenham and about ten minutes from Junction 17 of the M4, roughly 20 miles from Bristol. Chippenham has the nearest railway station, on the London Paddington to Bristol/South Wales line, with a taxi to the circuit taking around 10-12 minutes. Bristol Airport is the closest airport with scheduled flights.

• Bristol Airport (BRS) · about 45 min drive
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) · about 100 min drive

Parking

Free spectator car parking is available on-site for race meetings and track days; arrive early for the Autumn Classic and other headline race weekends, when car parks fill quickly.

Check the circuit's own calendar before travelling, as many weekdays are closed track days or manufacturer testing rather than public race meetings.

Hotels and camping near Castle Combe Circuit

Chippenham, four to five miles away, has the widest choice of hotels and is the practical base for most visitors, with the historic village of Castle Combe itself - half a mile from the circuit - offering a small number of upmarket country house options. Bath and Bristol, both under 30 minutes by car, add a much larger pool of hotels for anyone happy to drive a little further. Book ahead for the Autumn Classic weekend and other headline meetings, when Chippenham's hotels can sell out.

Where to look

Chippenham (closest town, widest hotel choice), the village of Castle Combe itself (limited, higher-end country house stays), and Bath or Bristol for a larger selection further afield.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Castle Combe runs a full programme of its own car and motorcycle track days alongside its race meetings, including novice-friendly car days, open-pitlane bike days and even sim-racer sessions, plus ARDS driver training for those wanting a competition licence. National trackday brokers including Javelin Trackdays and Trackdays.co.uk also list dates at the circuit for both cars and bikes.

Who runs days here

• Castle Combe Circuit (own track days)both
• Javelin Trackdaysboth
• Trackdays.co.uk (multi-organiser booking)both

Lap records

Spectator guide

The flat, open airfield site means spectators can see a large proportion of the lap from banking around the outside of the circuit, without the elevation changes some British tracks offer. There's little shelter from Wiltshire's weather, so visitors should dress for wind and rain even in summer.

Best places to watch

The banking near Quarry Corner and Tower Corner gives sightlines across several corners and the main straight.

Weather

• Jun-Aug: mild summer weather typical of Wiltshire, but exposed grandstand areas can still be breezy
• Sep: generally settled for the Autumn Classic, but pack for rain

History of Castle Combe Circuit

An airfield becomes a circuit

Castle Combe airfield opened in May 1941 on land belonging to the Castle Combe estate, owned by the Gorst family, and spent the Second World War as an RAF pilot training station. After the war it briefly housed Polish ex-service personnel before being decommissioned in 1948 and handed back to the estate. With the Bristol Motorcycle & Light Car Club, the Gorst family organised the first race meeting on the airfield's perimeter roads in July 1950, and the layout has hosted motor racing continuously since - motorcycle racing dominated the calendar from 1956 to 1961 before the circuit turned primarily to cars.

Tragedy and reconfiguration

For nearly fifty years Castle Combe ran as a fast, largely flowing 1.84-mile layout with only eight corners, one of the quickest tracks of its type in Britain. That changed in August 1998, when a wheel came off Bobby Verdon-Roe's TVR Tuscan during qualifying at Camp Corner and flew into the crowd, killing a spectator. Over the following winter the circuit was reworked: two chicanes were added ahead of Old Paddock Bend and Westway to cut speeds, spectator areas were overhauled, and the track reopened for 1999 slightly longer, at 1.85 miles and 12 turns.

Noise limits and club racing

A 2005 noise nuisance order restricted the circuit's operating hours and effectively ended visits from higher-decibel national championships such as Formula Three and British GT, which had raced there in the early 2000s. Rather than chase national series back, Castle Combe built its identity around long-running club championships of its own - Saloon & GT, Formula Ford and Hot Hatch racing chief among them - alongside a busy trackday and driving-experience business.

Present day

Today Castle Combe runs roughly a dozen race meetings a year plus regular car and motorcycle track days, with the Autumn Classic Historic Racing Festival as its marquee event. It remains independently run from the same Wiltshire site the Gorst family opened in 1950, one of the few British circuits of its era still operating on its original airfield footprint.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Thruxton Circuit · 53 km · road course
• Circuit of Wales · 79 km · proposed (never built)
• Aberdare Park · 90 km · road course
• Silverstone Circuit · 105 km · road course
• Birmingham Superprix · 111 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Brooklands · 122 km · historic circuit (defunct)