Gary Fletcher, a 46-year-old company director and musician from Twickenham, led from start to finish to claim his maiden victory in the fifth round of the one-make Proton Coupe Cup Series at Castle Combe recently.

A grid of Proton 1.8 Coupes with identical sealed engines, suspensions and tyres lined up at the Wiltshire circuit in perfect racing conditions, with Fletcher starting in pole position.

In a keenly-contested 10-lap race, Fletcher was pushed all the way by Dave Porter and Paul Forster, who set a new lap record. Fletcher held off the challenge to take the chequered flag, less than two tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival.

Fletcher and the other entrants in the race series, which carries a prize fund of £25,000, will be hoping for more success next time when the series moves on to the sixth round of the series at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on July 25.

The full results are as follows:

1. Gary Fletcher, 12:33.74; 2. David Porter, 12:33.90; 3. Paul Forster, 12:34.94; 4. Robert Ross, 12:40.62; 5. Richard Grandidier, 12:44.44; 6. Ray Byford, 12:44.44; 7. Robert Aldershaw, 12:52.71; 8. Graham Burton, 13:15.26.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.