A FIRST corner pile-up at Castle Combe put paid to Dave Lowe winning the Classic Formula Ford 1,600 Championship.

The Sarnian had a chance of pipping rival Andrew Smith to claim his 13th championship title, but it was smashed in the recent final round of the 2009 campaign at the Wiltshire circuit, where a competitor in wet conditions lost control and took out four fellow competitors, including Lowe, on the first corner of the race.

It was safe to say Lowe was not best pleased as his day was ended and he had to make do with second place in the championship behind Smith.

‘I was a bit annoyed, to be honest,’ he said.

The morning qualifying sessions had been held in heavy drizzle and with standing water on a track that was in a well-used state, cars were aquaplaning seriously.

With minimal run-offs and with this weekend’s historic Formula Ford meeting in Dijon coming up, Lowe decided to take it easy in his Lotus 69 and he qualified seventh out of the 15 cars on the grid.

The conditions slightly improved for the race, but they were still far from ideal and Lowe was slow to get away at the start as his car was standing on sand and oil.