Compres 012 by CompResults

FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS

CompRes

THE FACE OF PIRELLI THROUGH THE YEARS

ISSUE 012 MARCH 2006

CompRes Chevy Chase, Leeds Road, Selby, North Yorkshire YO8 4JH T: +44 (0) 1757-702 053 F: +44 (0) 1757-290 547 E: cs.man@btinternet.com

CompRes is available by subscription and is published 10 times a year for the FERRARI OWNERS’ CLUB

FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS THE SEASON STARTS HERE

RACING HARNESSES

The winter hibernation is over and this issue of CompRes sees the first events of the season being reported: the annual pre-season karting extravaganza at Thruxton and the first round of the hillclimbers’ PFHC Championship at North Weald. Circuit racers have a little more time before they get into their stride: PFfc drivers at Brands Hatch on 1st May (entries close on Saturday 8th April) while the first event in the Pirelli Ferrari Open (PFO) is not until the beginning of June.

Competitors in PFfc and the new PFO series should note that their harnesses, like most things controlled by the MSA, have a finite life. The age of the harness and the date by which it is no longer valid is shown on a label stitched into one of the elements of the harness.

MALLORY PARK Next month sees the Pirelli Ferrari formula classic cars in action for the second time, at the prestigious 50th Anniversary meeting. The event is a Ferrari double header and there will be many famous motor racing names in attendance to watch the racing. APRIL For this one-day meeting, on Sunday 21 May, I have hired the Chris Meek suite – an all glass rotunda in the paddock which affords terrific views of virtually the MAY whole of the circuit. We shall be arranging buffet style catering and a little nearer the time we shall be sending out pro-formas for pre-ordering your hospitality package. Competitors in PFfc have already been sent their entry forms and it should be noted that the closing date for entries is Tuesday 2 May.

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FIRE EXTINGUISHERS We dealt pretty exhaustively with plumbed-in fire extinguishers in the last edition so if you still haven’t fitted yours in order to comply with the MSA’s 2006 regulations you need to get your skates on. My spies in Norfolk tell me that PETER EVERINGHAM has fitted a Lifeline system to his 328GTB and has made a beautiful job of it. We understand that apart from the intrusion of the

red cylinder in the passenger side of the cockpit, the fitting is so neat that you wouldn’t know it was there. Peter reports that it took rather longer than I had suggested for fitting in the earlier 308 tipo and he sustained a couple of grazed knuckles requiring treatment with Elastoplast. We had an enquiry from someone who asked if there is any set interval for the servicing of fire extinguishers. The MSA advise that there is no dating system for extinguishers (as with helmets and harnesses) and providing the gauge shows ‘green’ it should pass muster with the safety scrutineer. Having said this we feel it is wise for cylinders to be checked at the frequency indicated by the manufacturer – usually every two years.

MASERATI IN THE UK

WHAT’S ON 11

FOC Donington Park Track Day

Bouley Bay hillclimb

22/2 3

FOC Spring Ball (Sat) and AGM (Sun) Whittlebury Hall

Brands Hatch: Pirelli Ferrari formula classic (double header)

6/7

Prescott hillclimb

FOC Bedford Motorsport Sensation Day 1

Harewood hillclimb

FOC Snetterton Track Day

Mallory Park: Pirelli Ferrari formula classic (double header)

Curborough Sprint School

MIRA Sprint

Continuing Maserati’s disengagement from Ferrari, at the end of last month the UK importers announced that the new name will be Maserati GB Ltd. The company will continue to operate from its shared premises with Ferrari GB at Slough. The md is Andrea Antonnicola, who joined Ferrari in 1994 as Far East Area Manager and then in 1998 transferred to America as General Manager in San Francisco. From 2003 he was Sales and Marketing Director for Ferrari Maserati UK. The new Maserati team at the Slough headquarters was also announced. John Kemp, who joined Maranellos in 1993, is the new Aftersales

Director; Mike Biscoe (ex-Alfa Romeo Brand Manager) is the Head of Marketing; Peter Denton (15 years with Porsche) is Head of Sales; Silvia Pini continues as Head of Communications; Robert Smeeton is Head of Finance. Tony Willis will carry on supporting Maserati GB with his wealth of historical knowledge and is in charge of VIP liaisons. Despite the change of name, Maserati here in the UK will continue with the existing collaboration with Ferrari GB in a number of services including logistics, event management, customer care and technical training.

BIG MAC

GranSport, as pictured here, fitted with a 4.2 litre engine producing 415bhp coupled to the six-speed gearbox from the standard road car. Pirelli are the sole supplier for the series, which uses Pirelli PZeros specially developed for the car. If you want to see Phil in action, the series visits the UK at Silverstone on 7 May as part of the FIA GT package.

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS Charlie White, seen here with Club Chairman Jack Sears at the recent Pre-Season Karting races, attempted to insulate himself from the rain by donning a dreadful seethrough plastic raincoat. His girlfriend likened him to ‘something for the weekend’ from the London Rubber Company.

MASERATI RACING Although we don’t ordinarily interest ourselves with Maserati racing, news just in reports that PHIL BURGAN made his debut at Monza on 2 April in the 2006 Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europe (what a mouthful!) series, finishing 11th in what seems to have been a bit of an accident punctuated contest. The other UK driver, Fabris, finished second. Phil last raced with us in the PMFC in 1996 and 1997 seasons, driving a F355 Challenge. The Maserati Trofeo series features the racing version of the Trofeo

While drivers who engage in circuit racing need to fit proper racing harnesses there is no such MSA requirement for competitors who compete in hillclimbs or even take their Ferrari to a track day. The normal lap and diagonal seat belt offers very little in the way of restraint unless you are actually misfortunate enough to have an accident, when it locks and prevents body movement. If you long to be ‘at one’ with your car, concentrating on driving rather than hanging on to the steering wheel during spirited motoring, you really need something better than a seat belt. This also applies to your brave passenger who doesn’t even have the wheel to help. The CG-Lock is a device which appears to solve the problem without the need to fit a harness. It gives your factoryfitted seatbelt 80% of the control and feedback of a full race harness. It fits in five minutes and can be removed in seconds – just the thing for occasional

hillclimbers and track day enthusiasts. The gadget is a palm-size (approx 75mm x 60mm x 24mm) mechanical device made of highgrade stainless steel. It is simple and quick to install: no drilling or bolts are required and the only tool you need is the supplied Allen key. It costs £45 and the makers offer a full money-back guarantee if not completely satisfied. Installing a CG-Lock allows your car seat belt to work like an aircraft seat belt: when you pull the lap belt tight, it stays tight. You can easily tighten the lap belt by pulling up on the shoulder section of the seat belt. The CGLock lets you remove as much slack from the lap belt as you want, whenever you want, using the integrated release lever. The shoulder section of the seatbelt stays loose (just like normal), so that you can easily reach controls on the dashboard or turn your upper body for reverse parking. The CG-Lock has been crashtested and shown not to interfere with the safety of the factoryfitted seat belt (with or without a pre-tensioner). We haven’t first-hand experience of this device but our old pal Calum Lockie says “For an unparalleled improvement in lap times and performance, look no further . . .” The maker’s website is www.cg-lock.co.uk and retail sales are contactable on 08701245625.

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AMOC INTERMARQUE CHAMPIONSHIP This year’s Aston Martin Owners Club Intermarque Championship extends an invitation to the Ferrari Owners’ Club along with owners of other eligible machinery: Aston Martin (of course), Austin Healey, Jaguar, Porsche, and Sunbeam Tiger or Alpine. For 2006 there are four classes: Pre-1970 mildly modified cars; Post-1970 mildly modified cars; Pre-1970 modified cars and Post-1970 modified cars. The distinction between ‘mildly modified’ and ‘modified’ is not made clear by the technical regulations – for instance weights are free but the degree of lightening will determine the classification. Similarly, the rules regarding brakes and suspension mods are equally vague, while in the ‘modified’ classes engines may be “repositioned”. All the above seems to be at odds with the strict tyre rules, which for all classes requires moulded treaded tyres. The six rounds in the 2006 calendar are as follows: May 1 Brands Hatch June 3 Snetterton July 1 Silverstone August 13 Pembrey Sept 16 Oulton Park October 7 Donington Park The 2006 Championship regulations can be downloaded from the AMOC website at www.amoc.org or alternatively we have copies here if you want them.

THE THINGS PEOPLE SAY Writing in a recent issue of Evo magazine, Gordon Murray, the celebrated designer of F1 cars as well as supercars for the road, has this to say about Ferrari: In the late ’80s all a Ferrari had to be was sexy, have a great engine and sound good – slap the little yellow badge on the bonnet and they sold like hot cakes. In truth just about every ’80s Ferrari had a crap fit and finish, a torsional rigidity equivalent to a plate of damp spaghetti, in some

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cases pretty dodgy handling, and reliability to send an owner’s chequebook into deep shock. I drove nearly all the Ferraris from that time, including the truly dreadful Testarossa, which had the centre of gravity about the same as a double-decker bus, and a centroid axis with the profile of a ski jump, which together produced handling that seemed determined to pitch you into the Armco at the earliest possible opportunity. The Honda NSX was a catalyst for change and Ferraris began to get better and better, particularly under the watchful eye of Luca di Montezemolo, so

makes are pure pleasure. The switchable handling modes and traction control are interesting and probably open up the car’s performance envelope to a wider range of drivers. The E-Diff works well, but I reckon Ferrari is now at a very important junction with regard to its engineering philosophy and electronic aid in particular. The company needs to be seen to be keeping pace with Formula 1 and other sports car companies when it comes to technology, but moving too far in the direction of electronic driver aids could damage the purity of purpose that Ferrari stands for.

that when the 360 appeared in the late ’90s it was a really good little car, although still harbouring tricky on-limit handling and inconsistent build quality. Now enter the F430. I was offered a drive in one and I jumped at the opportunity. I had heard and read that the 430 was a quantum leap forward in every way and, to be honest, I didn’t believe it. It’s all true. The car is a revelation. Apart from some parts of the interior, the build quality is very good and the general fit and finish move Ferrari into a new era. The car’s accessibility and everyday usability are also in a new league, with easy ingress, good visibility, adequate luggage space and a very tractable engine – even the jerky, 360-style F1 gearchange is a little better resolved. Ride and handling are a delight, and the engine’s willingness to rev and the noise it

Negatives? Well, the 430 is pretty heavy at nearly 1500kg and therefore some of the power and torque increase is soaked up from the outset. The car is – and feels – very wide at 2140mm and personally I would gladly give up 40 top-end horsepower and 5mph of top speed to move the ‘kick in the backside’ point down from 4500rpm to 3000rpm. I would also order the car with the manual shift. But the 430 is a milestone in the history of the sports car, certainly the best car Ferrari has made.

LAP RECORDS At the back of this issue we chart all the current PFfc lap records at the various circuits we have raced at. In the next edition we shall publish the equivalent PMFC records, which may be helpful for competitors in the new Open series to set target times.

RA’s HILLCOMMENT 2006 PFHC Opener at North Weald reported in this issue was a bit of an eye opener, with one or two surprising results. As an observer of the scene for very many years I can normally predict the likely outcome with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Looking at the North Weald entry it seemed probable that Nick Taylor would take his 348GTC to a scratch win, with the F355s of Chris Butler and David Tomlin making this hard work for him. Sure, I thought Richard Prior would be amongst them, but on the day he went out there and blitzed the opposition with his 348ts. Amongst the smaller tipos it looked likely that Geoff Dark and his 308GTB would finish top of the heap as he has done many times before, but even though he was very strong it was Mike Spicer who upset the form book, placing his 328GTB third overall ahead of Chris Butler. New Pirelli Door Panels were to be seen for the first time on the Ferraris at North Weald. I would like to express great appreciation, on behalf of all of us involved with the series, to Peter and Chris Hitchman, and of course their company Daytona Visual Marketing, who produced these panels.

Illustrated here, they are better quality then last year’s and should stand up to rigorous use. Please make sure you make a nice job of your competition numbers on these panels to

ensure the cars look really professionally turned out! Talking Pirelli you may recall that Nick Taylor won the hillclimb Championship in 2004 on PZeros, but then rather unfortunately Richard Prior took the 2005 title on Bridgestone SO2s – not surprising really Richard Prior: totally converted to Pirelli. as prior to our tie-up with Pirelli splendid dinner was enjoyed and many hillclimb competitors had the usual copious amounts of been using this brand. The week champagne and wine were before North Weald Richard fitted consumed to celebrate the start new Pirelli PZeros to his 348, and of the season. Notably Dave was a little anxious to be on Clark, our series photographer brand new rubber as this can and very keen supporter, had often be a disadvantage – but not flown down to Essex from on Pirellis apparently as Richard Northumberland to join us - even won the Ferrari class convincingly though I warned everybody about by a big margin. He is now fully North Weald! brand-converted! Technical glitches at North Weald for Pauline Goodwin with her 328 meant a ride home courtesy of RAC Recovery. It seems the fault was just a loose baffle in the exhaust and she could have ridden the thing home, though both Mike Spicer and the writer were convinced the rattle from the engine was something more sinister. David Tomlin decided against trucking his 355 back, having spoken to his tame expert. He subsequently made it back home ok on his “F177” at reduced speed. Apparently the problem was as we suspected: catalyst related – the thermocouple had failed. It would be better if these things could be by-passed to a get-you-home mode on eight cylinders rather than four. More on North Weald as Sally Maynard–Smith and Andy Grier very kindly provided accommodation at Hazeleigh Lodge and hospitality for many of the long distance runners. A

Lord Strathcarron is a name to conjure with – an octogenarian famed in recent years for riding his big BMW motorbike around London, sometimes with a parrot on his shoulder.

He served with Coastal Command during the latter part

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Big Brakes are handy, particularly on circuits, and the newer Ferraris at last appear to have brakes that can cope with track day work. Along with many people, I rate the 550 Maranello as a truly great car and superb value now they are getting old. On the road the brakes are fine, but it is necessary to brake early on circuits in order to avoid alarming moments at Stowe and similar corners, approached at around 150mph. I thought the 575 had better brakes, but not really; they are just the same with different pads. The real problem is size : the 550 has 330mm for the front and 310mm on the rear. Interestingly, and as an example, Ford’s new Focus ST has 320mm front and 280mm rear. Look at the new F430 and 599GTB – these have massive rotors. Brake Pad choice can make a big difference, and a popular pad in Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic is Pagid Blue. I use these on my 328 and on the road they feel and work just like ordinary pads – a remarkable quality. They are, of course, great on the circuits and I now have a set fitted to the 575M. At RAF Marham last year they made a reasonable job of pulling this big heavy car down from 180mph. After this speed you tend to think at 100 mph you have just about stopped and still expect a lot from the brakes.

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Photo: SwiftyPix

of the war. piloting Stirlings on air sea rescue work. He has since had a long and illustrious association with motoring, circuit racing in the late forties and early fifties, and very much more besides. In 1976 he was the first person to pass the IAM Motorcycle test, and has also completed over forty Brighton Veteran Car Runs. You could write a book about Lord Strathcarron and maybe someone has. I mention him here because I have twice sat next to him at lunch, and as you can imagine he is a fascinating character. President of the Guild of Motoring Writers, he shares my distaste for Jeremy Clarkson’s style of motoring journalism! Au revoir John Dobson. After countless seasons of Ferrari hillclimbing John has sadly decided to part company with his immaculate 328GTB.

Welcome to another new player, and, remarkably, one with a F430! David Jackson from London, previously a 360 owner, has only recently taken delivery of his red Berlinetta. David is new to motorsport, has done some track day work, and plans to debut the car at Prescott in May, which I guess could well be the first appearance of one of these tipos in a competitive event in the UK. Jersey at the time of writing is just two weeks away and there are now fifteen Ferraris entered. Besides the Bouley Bay hillclimb on Easter Monday we have arranged to meet up with the local Ferrari owners on Easter Sunday for a drive around the island and a splendid lunch. Stuffed with a mostly 30mph limit, these Jersey chaps like tunnels and plate glass windows as we discovered on our last visit to the Island! The full low-down on Bouley Bay and the Jersey trip will be in the next issue of CompRes. John Dobson is moving to a big old farmhouse in Gloucestershire that needs much time and resources. Regrettably he has decided he must give up Ferrari hillclimbing as a result. John, together with wife Viv and son James, has been around the

scene for more years than I can remember, and used to be a very active competitor with the 308GT4 now owned by Mark Buckland. We shall miss them a great deal although John, who is supporting James’s activities, reckons he will still meet up with the Ferrari hillclimbers at some events. In his e-mail John says “It has been a tough decision as it has been eighteen years of enjoyment, especially the social side with so many sincere friendships developed which I am sure will endure . . .” This means John will have to part with his 328GTB - a very standard, very nice car that has not seen much detrimental action! Give me a call if you are interested and I will put you in touch with John. Richard Preece—presently one of our Championship Stewards and, of course, a Club Committee of Management member - has for some time been hankering after joining in the Ferrari hillclimb action. He owns a very nice 512BB, knows this is not really the best car for the job, and would like to add a 308GT4 to his stable for the hills. If you know of such a machine for sale please give Richard a call – tel: 01908 690898. 

“Right up at the front, Richard Prior maintained his Alonso like championship form, his 348 mounted on brand new Pirelli PZeros.”

some doubling back and forth around more cones to the finish. This was all a bit disconcerting for chaps like me with suspect vision and, unlike most sprint courses, not that favourable to the higher powered Ferraris. As we prepared for the practice sessions some

Photo: Simon Cooke

n early season start here on the horizontal at this bleak airfield in Essex for the Ferrari hillclimbers writes RICHARD ALLEN. This handy early season warm up sprint attracted a very worthwhile entry, including most of last year’s front runners and two new players. We were pleased to welcome Sam Whitman with the ex-Spicer/Ward blue 308GTB, now nearly obliterated with multi colour American style race stripes, and Stuart Burrage with a comparatively subdued Mondial 3.4t, both of whom have seen some action in Ferrari formula classic. Not the most charismatic of venues, North Weald was blessed on this occasion with some surprisingly nice unseasonable weather, and furthermore a new course not used previously, meaning everybody started equal. Some 1.7km long, this ran left and right through several coned gates, and then went fast for a few hundred metres with an interesting left sweep before

Photo: Simon Cooke

PIRELLI FERRARI HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 1 NORTH WEALD SPRINT: Sunday 19 March 2006

Making his hillclimb debut was Sam Whitman, his blue 308GTB now sporting multicoloured American-style race stripes.

unforeseen problems began to show. Firstly David Tomlin’s F355, which had come all the way from Worcester running beautifully following a winter engine rebuild, went onto four cylinders. This is not unknown on eight cylinder Ferraris and is usually down to loss of one bank of the ignition system. Unfortunately the F355 is loaded with new technology, and items like a malfunctioning catalytic converter can cause the engine management to shut things down. Several of us descended on David’s Ferrari, and at the same time called Robin Ward of Damax on his mobile for advice. We interfered considerably with everything Robin suggested, but to no avail – the 355 proved totally unresponsive to these efforts. A disconsolate Tomlin, who looked likely to finish around the top of the class here, had no alternative than to get his car outside the venue and call the RAC recovery truck. Meanwhile Pauline Goodwin, another driver who had ventured a long way from home, was disturbed by an unpleasant jangle

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Photo: Simon Cooke

from her 328’s engine bay. Mike Spicer said she should not compete in it, but when I listened it sounded perfect! The noise did come back though, and was adjudged to be threatening. At this point Mike very kindly offered Pauline a drive in his 328GTB, which worked out well the competition seat had enough forward adjustment to accommodate the diminutive Pauline. At going home time, Pauline called up the RAC for another truck, by which time I guess they had had enough of Ferraris in Essex! Two practice runs were taken before lunch, giving everybody a chance to find their way around

the tricky track. Several Ferraris went the wrong way (but we won’t name names) and one or two spun wildly too! Richard Prior was fastest on both of these runs with his 348ts, hotly pursued by Nick Taylor’s 348GTC. These two were well ahead of the next runners: Geoff Dark in his dazzling newly painted 308GTB, and Chris Butler in his F355 intriguingly tied on time. The weather remained good and over lunch we were able to admire the interesting planes using the main runway, these including a Percival Provost jet trainer and a WW2 Curtis Kittyhawk, flown I have since learned by FOC club member Peter “one or two spun wildly too . . .” Teischman. I also understand that the Kittyhawk is Not satisfied, and knowing somewhat flawed in Prior was ahead on points, Geoff the handling went really banzai on the second department so Peter run, losing the 308 must be a brave chap comprehensively on the fastest - but we knew that! part of the course. Chris Butler Also to be seen were was only just ahead with a best quite a few Essex FOC of 58.78 and a little off the sort of members supporting pace we have come to expect us with some from him. interesting cars, Right up at the front, Richard “Many a good run I have in my sleep . . .” including a F430, Prior maintained his Alonso like [R S Surtees 1805-64]. Your reporter just Daytona, and 456GT. championship form, his 348 dreams of FTD. mounted on brand new Pirelli

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Photo: Simon Cooke

It was Stuart Burrage’s maiden sprint with his well turned out Mondial t.

The afternoon runs that counted for the money saw Pauline steadily improve in Mike’s 328, which felt a lot different to her own, for a best of 64.83. Stuart Burrage too improved with each run, wielding the big Mondial around the cones to finish at 63.49. Andrew Holman’s Mondial was ahead on 62.72, not far behind the nimble 308s and 328s just ahead, with Sam Whitman at 62.05 just pipping John Day’s 328GTB on 62.36. John was still on his old Goodyear Eagles, had hoped to be on a new set of Pirelli PZeros, but had been shipped some P7s by mistake! Andy Grier, out for the first time on QV uprated suspension on his 328, was well ahead – his best at 60.60. Next up the chart was Richard Allen’s 328GTB on 59.15, very close to Geoff Dark’s 308GTB on 59.05 – a very good time on the first official that was to earn Geoff second on points after PEP application.

surprisingly his first-ever scratch win – he has missed several times before by just hundredths of a second. To cap it all he got a new North Weald class record too, claiming a ‘Triple’ - hard to avoid really as we had never been here before!

Photo: Simon Cooke

Nick Taylor was comfortably second on 57.64, but the big surprise came from Mike Spicer – he suddenly jumped his 328 several places to finish third overall with 58.48, and was very pleased as a result. Maybe Pauline had warmed the seat or something? Richard Prior was even more pleased though - this was

Feeling deflated. Pauline Goodwin’s return from North Weald was courtesy of the RAC.

PZeros. He improved on each run, was never threatened, not even by Nick Taylor, and won the class comprehensively with a cracking final run time of 56.83 and easily took the maximum points too.

‘The Wrong Trousers . . . sorry, Tyres’. John Day (328GTB) was handicapped by having to run on old Goodyear Eagles after his new Pirelli PZeros failed to arrive on time.

NORTH WEALD SPRINT 19 MARCH 2006 Round 1 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship Pos Scr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Driver Richard Prior Nick Taylor Mike Spicer Chris Butler Geoff Dark Richard Allen Andy Grier Sam Whitman John Day Andrew Holman Stuart Burrage Pauline Goodwin

Tipo 348ts 348GTC 328GTB F355 308GTB 328GTB 328GTS 308GTB 328GTB Mondial Mondial t *328GTB

Pract 1 59.97 61.28 62.28 62.01 61.98 65.96 62.65 66.07 68.70 64.74 79.37 71.39

Pract 2 58.08 58.37 60.01 58.82 59.98 61.36 75.45 64.36 63.94 88.31 66.77 70.99

Run 1 Run 2 57.08 57.64 65.51 58.81 59.05 59.24 60.60 62.05 63.46 62.72 65.34 67.32

56.83 57.78 58.48 58.78 NT 59.15 61.29 65.83 62.36 63.19 63.49 64.83

PEP % +1.00 +1.50 +0.50 +2.50 -1.00 -0.50 -0.50 -1.00 -0.50 -2.00 0.00 +0.50

PEP time 57.40 58.50 58.77 60.25 58.46 58.85 60.30 61.43 62.05 61.47 63.49 65.15

Pts 20 15 13 11 17 12 10 9 7 8 6 5

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MY OTHER CAR IS

hank you to all those competitors who responded – and it was a bumper response – to my request to let us know what your other (non-Ferrari) car is. Like looking through other people’s drawers and rummaging through their waste bins, it is always fascinating to the sinister voyeur instincts in us all to know what others get up to, or in this case get into, when they are not at the wheel of their Ferrari. Starting with the bald statistics, the most popular nonFerrari vehicles of choice (13) hail from Germany. Perhaps surprisingly these days, hot on their heels (with 11) in the popularity stakes are cars built in the UK. The third strong contenders (8 vehicles) are Japanese. As we all profess to be Italian car enthusiasts it is slightly strange perhaps that their ‘A to B’ cars rate lowly (3 cars) in fourth spot in the pecking order, only just in front of Sweden (2), the USA (2), and France, with just 1. So much for the numbers, now to add some flesh to their bones.

LA BELLE FRANCE One could be surprised that with Alonso and Fisichella currently showing the rest of the F1 field the way round the circuits, French cars are not more popular. Only Nick Chester has opted for a Renault – a Clio Cup 182 – but then Nick is a senior

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man in the Renault F1 team so his choice is not so surprising after all. He likes the inexpensive Clio’s nippiness although he says it comes off badly when colliding with Volvos, which almost finished off his previous 172 Cup.

USA One of the American vehicles listed is the Spicer family’s Jeep Cherokee which serves as a great tow car. Barbara Spicer hasn’t too much to say about their Jaguar X-type 2.2 diesel sport estate other than to comment that the mother-in-law can get in and, more importantly, get out again. Their fleet extends to a Bessacar 705 motor home, which is “just the job in the paddock”. The prize for the biggest engined alternative car goes to Witt Gamski, whose American Dodge Ram SRT10 has an enormous 8-litre lump producing 500bhp. Witt finds it lots of fun and, surprisingly perhaps, effective for visits to Waitrose. He is not displeased that Ken Livingstone hates it.

VOLVO LAND Aficionados of Swedish engineering include Gary Culver, whose Volvo (“but please don’t tell anyone”) boasts seven seats and 4-wheel drive. He says his dogs probably like it more than he does. Also a Volvo owner is hillclimb supremo Richard Allen. His seven-year old V70, known as the Swedish Shed, devours Ferrari wheels and the other assorted impedimenta he carts around, and has rewarded its owner with a commendable trio

of attributes: comfort, surprisingly good handling, and exemplary reliability.

ITALIA Italian jobs account for three owners. Club Secretary Peter Everingham has mixed feelings about his mafia black Alfa 156 Sportwagon which goes well despite its very soft suspension. Its design lends itself to its primary function of carting the Club’s equipment about for track days and the like, Peter especially liking its electrically operated tailgate which is useful if your hands are full and the car is dirty. He is slightly less enthusiastic about having to explain to passengers where the rear door handles are, and the handling can be a bit scary (“best not to think about it”). An even more utilitarian Italian vehicle is the Fiat Cinquecento of Jos van de Perre. His 1993 model is “a perfect town car – very nippy, four seats, cheap to run, and knows its own way to Sainsbury’s”. Jos says that the Fiat was cleaned once, several years ago, when he lent it to a friend who couldn’t bear to be seen in a dirty car. Since then it has seen neither a sponge nor a leather. For longer trips Jos uses a Mercedes CLK 320. Moving up several tiers in exclusivity, the third Italian car owner is Ross Warburton, whose daily wheels are a Maserati Quattroporte. The Maser’s assets include drop-dead gorgeous looks, a Ferrari engine (“well almost”) and superlative

comfort. Although it goes like stink it suffers from a lousy gearbox/clutch set-up that requires regular fettling by the local dealer.

THE RISING SUN Four-wheel drive is a popular choice among our Japanese owning drivers. An Isuzu pick-up truck is the daily mode of transport for Richard AtkinsonWilles, which never misses a beat although is not as well liked as his previous Toyota truck. The Isuzu doubles as a satisfactory lugger of Richard’s car trailer, when its power and ability to swallow his two sons and their possessions come into their own. There are several other useful vehicles in Richard’s extensive stable, including an ancient VW camper which he bought many years ago, and his current favourite, a 900cc VW Lupo which has “so much character and attitude it makes me smile whenever I drive it – just like my Ferrari!” John Day also uses a Japanese maid-of-all-work, an Freg Toyota pick-up which ferries his rubbish to the tip. When he bought it, John asked the vendor if there was anything wrong with it. He replied ‘Yes, you’ll get fed up with gypsies trying to buy it off you.’ Ease of parking, loads of space when the seats are removed, good fuel economy (30mpg) and high ground clearance are some of the qualities of his nimble Toyota RAV 4 that appeal to Brian Jackson. Rather bigger than the RAV 4 is Nick Frost’s gargantuan Toyota Landcruiser Amazon. Nick is a frequent visitor to building sites so the Landcruiser’s 4WD capabilities, combined with its high seating position, legendary build quality, and comparatively low running costs are appreciated. The vehicle is also good in water, useful as his village floods a lot. There aren’t many ladies’ choices in our survey, but Lorraine Hitchman’s is one of them. Her Toyota MR2 roadster, which is described with the

bewildering model designation of 1.8 VVTI SMT (140bhp), is sexily finished in red over black. Lorraine can choose several ways to change gear (the car’s gear, not her’s) from paddles on the wheel to BTC-style semi-manual floor shift. She likes its versatile soft and hard top configurations and the ease of parking. Down sides are its twitchiness over bumps and impracticality for heavy duty shopping. A Nissan 350Z is the choice of Northumbrian Mark Buckland, who likes the “driving experience” and adds that he hasn’t yet seen one driven by a hairdresser. The car’s bulletproof engineering and reliability are two further factors in its favour while a Factory Tour can be had by simply nipping down the road to Sunderland. There were bound to be some owners of those outrageous Japanese turbo-powered 4wd rally cars posing as road vehicles and Tris Simpson’s 400bhp Evo 6 is probably the most extreme. It is finished in black with blacked -out windows and Tris say he feels like a pimp when he drives it. He loves the fun he has when he drives in the snow (Tris lives in the ‘frozen north’ of the country) but the negatives include looking like a 19-year old boy racer. This must worry him because he is thinking of putting a notice in the back: “Call 0800 . . . . if you think I’m driving too sensibly”. Mike Furness is another Ferraristi who is under the same Japanese spell, in his case an Evo 8. Mike likes its stiff Ferrari-like suspension, exceptional roadholding and precise turn-in, combined with unparalleled grip in bad weather. What he’s not so happy about is the car’s dubious looks and ridiculously short service intervals (every 4,500 miles). The aforementioned John Day also has a foot firmly in the Nipponese camp with his Subaru Impreza WRX STi type UK PPP (these initials are doing my head in) which develops a more modest 300bhp but is painted the definitive Prodrive blue with gold wheels. John reports no problems whatsoever in 37,000

miles and although grinning most of the time he drives it, he would like a few more miles to the gallon. Also a Subaru WRX owner is William Jenkins – “fast, fun, never goes wrong, and great on Switzerland’s icy roads”. William also uses his wife’s Lotus Elise 2 – supercharged for the Swiss market – which holds the road as if on rails “but tricky to get in and out of at my age”.

THE BRIT AWARDS After all this Eastern promise, the second most popular form of daily travel comes from the good old UK (although these days one isn’t really sure what is truly British). Naturally Aston Martin is a marque that easily rubs shoulders with our beloved Ferraris, and Simon Bartholomew has a DB9 with auto ‘box which is useful in London’s traffic. He doesn’t like its seats although his 3-year old happily fits in the back. Tim Mogridge’s Aston is a somewhat older (1979 vintage) car for which he has a special affection. A picture of his V8 Vantage adorned his bedroom wall as a teenager and he lusted after one ever since. Tim adores its hand-built qualities from a company that only produced 3 to 4 cars a week. Even today it can carry four people and their luggage at 180mph which isn’t bad for a 27-year old car. The only disappointment is that it isn’t a Ferrari. Also toting an Aston – this time a DB7 Vantage – is Peter Rogerson. Again, automatic transmission was chosen for ease of crawling in traffic jams, and its coupe body offers crypt-like hush for making telephone calls, listening to the radio, and even dictation. When the occasion arises, the excellent Touchtronic performance is appreciated. Loyally supporting the British motor industry is Leon Bachelier who is a long-time Jaguar fan. His current car is from the same stable: a Daimler V8 long-wheelbase model which provides superb comfort in near silence and loads of rear legroom.

CompRes 10

Its Achilles heel is a certain lack of adhesion in icy weather, which Leon counters by loading its boot with logs. When a Frenchman chooses to buy a British car, you know it must be good. Didier Benaroya picked a MINI Cooper which is great if you live, as he does, in Inner London. The car also has plenty of gadgets for him to play with. When winter changes to spring, Tris Simpson puts his Japanese turbo-charged hand grenade in the garage and takes out his beloved Lotus Esprit. He enjoys its fantastic dry weather performance (“better than a Ferrari F355” – now please wash your mouth out, Mr Simpson!) and cool James Bond Spy Who Loved Me Guigaro ‘folded paper’ appearance. Tris is less sure about its lack of grip in the wet, which makes roundabouts especially interesting. He also reports that Mrs Simpson’s VW Toureg provides his weekend transport – “it’s safe for the kids and can drag a Brian James Race Shuttle along at 90mph (ask the Dutch police for confirmation)”. Andrew Holman finds his Silver Shadow MkII ideal for the races or bowling down to the South of France – more comfortable than “rattling around in the Ferrari”. Land Rovers are a popular choice for a number of drivers, including William Jenkins. William’s 13-year old Discovery is capacious for people and things, reliable but rather thirsty. Nick Taylor provides an oldish Discovery for Fiona although “she keeps banging on about wanting a new car”. David Hathaway also drives a Disco, finding its 4wheel drive an advantage on his native Welsh hills. David is another who doesn’t believe in cosmetic attention for his vehicle (“Does anyone clean a Land Rover?”) He takes a little more care with the appearance of his Porsche Boxster which he says he keeps for “tarty” days. By far the oldest Brit car is the 1926 Lea Francis model J 12/22 of Mike Reeder. The car apparently answers to the name

11 CompRes

of Maude Matilda Alice and is attractively finished in primrose and black. Its rudimentary suspension and absence of shock absorbers make it an adventure to drive.

VORSPRUNG DURCH TECHNIK Finally we come to the most popular German car-owning section. Clearly a BMW fan, Nicky Paul-Barron runs a 2002 330 Sport coupé which has lots of go and, in sport spec, handles really well. This car, which is exTony Jones via the Reeder Brothers’ emporium in Pewsey, shares stabling with Viv PaulBarron’s BMW Z3 2.8-litre roadster which Nicky says is a bit like an E-type Jaguar with brakes. Another owner with a car from Bavaria is Bernard Hogarth, whose everyday transport is a mouth-watering BMW M5 with 500+bhp on tap from its V10 power plant. There is not much that Bernard doesn’t enthuse about this paragon of virtue, with its multiple choice gear shift options, blistering performance and great build quality. However, it isn’t absolutely flawless – “from cold it sounds like a tractor for the first five minutes”. Eschewing the cars from Munich is Nick Taylor who is a serial E-class Merc user. Nick finds it accomplishes everything he needs in a day-to-day car and is enthusiastic about its distancesensing Distronic cruise control which he says is brilliant for today’s busy motorways. Rory Fordyce is another Mercedes man, on his second-in-a-row SL55 AMG. With a superbly impressive 540bhp engine and well-behaved engineering and electronics, it is proving to be one of the best cars in the world. Rory comments that despite its formidable credentials it still won’t top the Ferrari 599 GTB – “I can’t wait for that!”. George Christopher has moved premises to within three minutes walking distance from his home, so now uses shanks’s

pony most of the time. If he needs some wheels he borrows his wife’s C270 CDi Mercedes. In contrast, a high mileage motorist using German machinery is David Tomlin, whose Audi A8 6.0 W12 gives total luxury with complete reliability. The Audi’s dead steering feel is compensated by the 450bhp under the right foot, which always brings a smile to his face. A ‘pocket rocket’ is how John Taylor describes his VW Golf 1.9 TDI. He uses it to commute to the south of France which it does with ease and (remembering the French speed traps) stealth. Porsche drivers are hard to find in the Ferrari fraternity but Robert Pulleyn uses a 911 Carrera 2S daily. He has had the 8-year old car since new and thinks it is the only true supercar you can drive every day while incurring no more costs than you would with a Ford Focus—which also needs only an annual service. He likes everything about the car apart from the dealer who services it. Deadly practical is Charlie White whose Mercedes Vito van is perfect for getting around London and is an integral part of his building and motor racing activities. Finally, in this anthology of car ownership, we come to your reporter’s choice of everyday car. My current BMW – a 523i SE with manual ‘box – is the ninth Beemer I have had and probably the best. It’s fast enough to make police speed traps a constant worry while returning an astonishing 36mpg on a run. It shares a garage with a Toyota Previa and is, if anything, even more reliable than its utterly dependable Japanese stablemate. My wife, Anne, enjoys negative depreciation on her 22year old ultra-low mileage VW Golf GTi MkII, which is built like a little tank, is exceedingly nippy, seems to run on fresh air, and whose only real vice is the lack of power steering which makes visits to Tesco’s an arm muscle building exercise.

Photo: SwiftyPix Photo: SwiftyPix

became progressively heavier towards the end. For reasons unclear, what had been advertised as a 2½hour enduro became a 2-hour slightly-less enduro, but in view of the downpour the deleted halfhour was quite welcome. Photo: SwiftyPix

Thunderkarts and their 13 bhp 390cc Honda Thunder engines, so this time we were asked to limit he start of the 2006 the teams to no more than Ferrari competition season was eighteen. In the event we formally signalled by the annual mustered a total of 17 teams – karting thrash round Thruxton’s some with familiar names and outdoor circuit on Saturday, 25 others we hadn’t heard of before. March, and, later the same day, It was strange that the event the Pre-Season Dinner at an seems to have no interest at all Italian restaurant close by writes for our hillclimbers, which may be JOHN SWIFT. a reflection on their stamina. Last year, the record number For the last couple of outings of karting teams contesting the our hosts, Pirelli, had proved to enduro race put a strain on be a force to be reckoned with, Thruxton’s fleet of Biz taking the top spot on the podium twice in succession. This year there was a clear sign that this supremacy would be seriously challenged, and so it proved to be. Several things were different this time, the most obvious being the weather. Whereas 2005 had been simply stunningly sunny with perfect track conditions, this year the forecast was for It was all very close. Here Badger Racing holds a rain. This started precarious lead from Cray Thrust and the midway through mysterious ATGANI (‘All The Gear And No Idea’). the race and

Nigel Chiltern-Hunt keeps Toy Boyz in contention.

Following the usual briefing and 30-minute practice session, we enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch arranged by Pirelli. Then, with darkening skies, the 17-kart grid was formed up in qualifying order. On pole was the highly fancied QV team, who had set a best lap time of 1:02.370, followed by Ben Orza’s Meals on Wheels (1:02.531) and those lads from the north, Tris

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Photos: SwiftyPix

Left: Damian brings the second placed QV kart in for a driver change. Right: The winning (crippled but ecstatic) team manager, Ben Orza, joins his Meals on Wheels team on the top step of the podium, flanked by QV and PHR + One.

Simpson’s Tristec (1:03.110). Bob Houghton Racing (1:03.191), Maranello Marvels (1:03.319) and Pirelli Power Pack (1:03.369) were all tightly bunched behind. Promptly at 1.00pm the lights changed to green and the lead drivers from QV and Meals on Wheels set off at a furious pace with Meals slightly in the van. Following the first driver change, Meals were in trouble when their kart’s starter mechanism broke and they dropped to third place. A vigorous appeal resulted in reinstatement to the lead once again. At around 2 o’clock a drizzle started to fall and the rain

Pos

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

01 26 04 06 28 17 22 13 08 30 02 23 19 15 12 17 09

Team Meals on Wheels QV PHR + ONE Moonrakers Mill Lane Engineering Kart Ecosse Pirelli Power Pack Bob Houghton Racing Toy Boyz Tristec Ltd Yorkshire Puds Maranello Marvels Circuit Guides.com ATGANI Cray Thrust Solos Plus Badger Racing

13 CompRes

became increasingly heavy. In an effort to keep dry Charlie White, signed up by Badger Racing for the day, donned a see -through plastic raincoat which made him look remarkably like a giant (but perforated) condom. Impressive in the wet was Neil Reeder (son of Graham) in the Moonrakers team. Towards the end the conditions were really vile and adhesion, on slicks, was minimal. It is a testament to everyone’s skills that they managed to keep their karts pointing in the right general direction. There were spins galore but no contact of consequence. The race ended at 3.00pm, with Meals on Wheels taking

the chequered flag, just seconds ahead of QV with Derek Seymour’s PHR + ONE in third. The fastest lap, set by Meals in 1:00.890, was only fractionally slower than the quickest time of 2005, despite a slower track. Pirelli’s Martin Pallot presented the prizes on the podium. In the evening we took over the ground floor of the Valle d’Oro restaurant in Newbury, where we enjoyed a super meal, lots of very agreeable wine and, of course, splendid conversation. On behalf of the Club we thank Pirelli for their generous assistance with yet another memorable event.

Laps

Best Lap

Top Speed

Av Speed

Time

Behind

Qualify

Pos

95 95 92 91 91 90 89 89 88 88 87 87 86 85 85 85 83

1:00.890 1:01.672 1:02.698 1:03.192 1:01.868 1:03.430 1:02.774 1:04.756 1:02.743 1:02.846 1:03.168 1:01.170 1:03.107 1:03.001 1:04.431 1:03.764 1:03.208

64.2 63.4 62.4 61.9 63.2 61.6 62.3 60.4 62.3 62.2 61.9 63.9 62.0 62.1 60.7 61.3 61.9

51.5 51.1 49.3 48.9 48.8 48.3 48.0 47.7 47.6 47.5 46.9 46.8 46.1 45.9 45.9 45.5 44.8

2:00:18.35 2:01:11.57 2:01:31.07 2:01:15.04 2:01:36.03 2:01:19.53 2:00:45.42 2:01:34.55 2:00:29.29 2:00:48.76 2:00:45.91 2:01:14.19 2:01:26.95 2:00:39.03 2:00:41.98 2:01:45.03 2:00:37.62

+53.22 +3L +4L +4L +5L +6L +6L +7L +7L +8L +8L +9L +10L +10L +10L +12L

1:02.531 1:02.370 1:03.628 1:04.865 1:04.405 1:03.994 1:03.369 1:03.191 1:03.682 1:03.110 1:05.298 1:03.319 1:04.119 1:05.285 1:06.384 1:05.150 1:04.703

2 1 7 13 11 9 6 4 8 3 16 5 10 15 17 14 12

LAP RECORDS TO 2005 CIRCUIT

DATE

CLASS

BRANDS HATCH (Indy)

4:07:04 4:07:04 4:07:04

2 3 1

Nicky Paul-Barron John Swift Chris Drake

328GTB 308GTB 330GTE/GTO

BRANDS HATCH (GP) (revised)

24:09:05 24:09:05 24:09:05

3 2 1

Nicky Paul-Barron Gary Culver Chris Drake

328GTB 328GTB 330GTE/GTO

1:50.064 1:50.406 1:55.202

79.25 79.00 75.71

CASTLE COMBE

30:08:04 30:08:04 29:08:05

2 3 1

Gary Culver William Jenkins Stuart Anderson

328GTB 308GTB 250GT/TRC

1:21.046 1:21.071 1:26.694

82.17 82.15 76.82

DONINGTON PARK

9:05:04 9:05:04 9:05:04

3 1 2

William Jenkins Grahame Bryant Nicky Paul-Barron

308GTB 365GTB4/C 328GTB

1:25.560 1.25.913 1:26.100

82.35 82.01 81.83

MALLORY PARK

29:05:05 29:05:05 29:05:05

3 2 1

William Jenkins Gary Culver Stuart Anderson

308GTB 328GTB 250GTE/TRC

54.219 54.257 58.511

89.63 89.57 83.06

OULTON PARK (Island)

26:06:04 26:06:04 26:06:04

2 3 1

Nicky Paul Barron David Wild Stuart Anderson

328GTB 308GTB 250GTE/TRC

1:45.109 1:46.223 1:56.893

76.24 75.44 68.55

OULTON PARK (International)

24:04:05 24:04:05 24:04:05

3 2 1

Nicky Paul Barron Gary Culver Stuart Anderson

308GTB 328GTB 250GTE/TRC

2:02.398 2:03.446 2:12.674

79.17 78.50 73.04

SNETTERTON

17:07:05 17:07:05 17:07:05

1 2 3

Oliver Bryant Gary Culver William Jenkins

365/GTB4/C 328GTB 308GTB

1:22.919 1:23.219 1:23.848

84.74 84.44 83.80

SPA FRANCORCHAMPS