Roger wins championship title from the pit lane

Langford racing driver Roger Orgee faced a dramatic showdown in the final race of the Castle Combe Formula Ford Championship, but no one was expecting the story that unfolded.

Qualifying went well and Roger qualified a competitive third, the only problem being that his only rival (Michael Moyers) was on pole position.

The race started well with Roger trailing Michael for the first lap, until an accident caused a red flag race stoppage and the grid lined up for a restart.

At the restart, the front row drivers both made poor starts and caused a mix-up, so by the first corner Roger was fourth and Michael fifth. This was perfect for Roger but disastrous for Michael.

As the pack flew round the first lap, Michael tried to pass Roger, totally misjudged his braking distance and crashed into the back of Roger’s car, spinning him round but crashing his own car so badly that he was out of the race.

Roger dived into the pits to have a damage check, the car was running but looking unsafe to continue when it was confirmed that Michael was out and Roger was champion.

In the post final carnival race, Roger ran in the leading group but there was a legacy from the first race shunt so he settled for fifth place as this was a non-championship event.

Next year, Roger is hoping to move up to racing sports cars, already having an opportunity to test a works Porsche Carrera and a Ginetta GT4, all subject to sponsorship.