Motor racing driver Roger Orgee finished third in the Formula Ford Championship at Castle Combe.

LANGFORD driver Roger Orgee faced stiff opposition in his quest to pull back to third in the Formula Ford Championship at Castle Combe with just a few points separating third and fourth-placed drivers.

Drama started early in qualifying, with the championship leader spinning off the track, narrowly missing the pit wall, followed by the drivers placed second and third crashing out with heavy damage to their cars and only a couple of hours to complete repairs.

As the grid assembled for the start of the final, only the second-placed car re-appeared, so Roger’s task was to finish in the top four. Following a reasonable start and avoiding another collision, Roger settled for a safe fourth place and third in the championship.

Next up was the annual end of season Formula Ford carnival with additional entries from national series drivers, so a competitive race was promised.

Once more Roger qualified on row two, but on the starting grid his clutch began to fail, and he fell back to eighth while he sorted out the problem. Roger then reeled in the leaders and joined in with a fierce battle for anything from first to seventh place.

The last lap came up with Roger up to fourth and a brilliant move at Quarry Corner saw Roger through to a well-earned third place.

The final race of the season is the WHT world finals at Silverstone on November 2-3, where around 200 cars compete. Last year Roger finished eighth in the final and is looking forward to this unique event.