Langford racing driver Roger Orgee kept his lead in the Formula Ford Championships at Castle Combe in bizarre circumstanes.

LANGFORD’S Roger Orgee did well to keep his Formula Ford Championship lead intact at Castle Combe.

Qualifying is so important and with around 30 cars competing, disaster struck with an engine misfire after just three laps. Luckily the third lap was good enough for a fourth row grid slot.

The team worked wonders on the Weston College team car and repaired the engine in record time, but there were doubts whether it would still be competitive.

As the lights changed, Roger made up places on the first lap. The top six cars split into two groups of three, as the pole sitter was not going as fast as he had in qualifying and was making life difficult for the cars behind.

Try as he could, Roger could not find a way past and when he did, a mistake let him past again.

Calculations in the pits showed that fifth wouldn’t be a disaster, but suddenly the leader received a penalty for exceeding track limits and Roger gained a place.

Next time round, the second and third drivers get the same treatment and Roger was able to cross the line in second place.

Three rounds remain, Roger has an eight-point lead and dad has no fingernails. The next round is on August Bank Holiday Monday.