Compres 035

FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS

CompRes

FERRARIS IN SCOTLAND 2008

ISSUE 035 JUNE 2008

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 FERRARI ONE-TWO

cars from the two series, we have arranged for a staggered start.

The Open cars will go off first on the lights, followed by the separately gridded Classic Ferraris after a 10-second delay.

The latter will be released by the Union flag, which will bring back memories for a few of us older hands.

With a few days to go to the official closing date for entries, the Ferrari field is now over thirty – a tremendous number which is already approaching Donington’s maximum circuit capacity.

British Grand Prix from 2010 came as a bit of a shock to most In accordance with tradition, of us, not least, I would guess, this month’s CompRes cover is the gentlemen at the BRDC. changed to red in celebration of It would seem highly unlikely the Ferrari team’s first and that there will be much racing at second places in the French GP at the circuit next season and Magny-Cours at the end of June. therefore those fortunate to be Both Massa and Raikkonen did a competing there at the 27th July super job in machinery that was meeting may find themselves to clearly superior throughout the be at an historic event. It is weekend. certain that the circuit will never As we write this, we know be the same again. the rain affected British GP was Having said that, I cannot not a happy hunting ground for really get my head round the idea Ferrari so we look to Germany that Donington Park – its track and Hockenheim for better (which will need widening and fortune. Having said that, one extending in length), its paddock, MORE ON DONINGTON can’t help feeling pleased that and the huge up-grading to its Lewis Hamilton demonstrated his The announcement last week grandstands, pits, and other huge talent so successfully at that Donington Park will host the facilities, not to mention the Silverstone, making many of public approach roads – has WHAT’S ON his rivals look like novices in any chance of being the tricky conditions. completed in time for the 2010 British GP. JULY 11-13 Goodwood Festival of Speed DONINGTON PARK Those who have competed at Donington will In last month’s edition 12/13 Le Mans Classic know that it is one of the we gave you the timetable more sensitive circuits to for this meeting at which the noise issues. This suggests 12/13 Loton Park Hillclimb Classic and Open series that there are some combine. To some degree environmental action groups this amalgamation at 16 FOC Rockingham Track Day about who will endeavour to Donington is an experiment prevent any perceived in that we have never before 20 Gurston Down Hillclimb increase in noise - a problem combined the two at a UK already for those living circuit, although last season nearby due to East Midland 27 Donington Park: Pirelli Ferrari the system worked very well Airport air traffic. There are formula classic and Pirelli at the admittedly much Ferrari Open combined race bound to be planning longer Spa-Francorchamps enquiries and we all know course. We shall have to 26/27 Bonham’s Silverstone Classic how lengthy these can be. make sure that drivers are The funding of the very aware that at some AUGUST 11 FOC Brands Hatch Track Day estimated £100m it will cost point they are going to lap or to carry out the work must be lapped, and that the use also be a major headache at 16/17 Brands Hatch: Pirelli Ferrari of mirrors will be even more this time of severe economic Open double header important than usual. downturn in the UK. When However, I am confident that 17 Curborough 2-lap Sprint set against the likely income common sense will prevail. generated from the once-aBecause of the potential 25 Castle Combe: Pirelli Ferrari year British GP, it is difficult speed difference between formula classic

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to see the value of the investment to those speculators who appear to be putting up the funds.

One doesn’t wish the scheme to fail but I will have a bet with anyone who will take me on that the British GP will be held at Silverstone once again in 2010!

know that they can provide a CD of all your heroic moments to date. The cost of this is a very reasonable £25.00.

www.scuderiafotografia.com Alternatively you can reach Mark on his mobile: 07591-666159.

KNOCKHILL TROPHY

Our weekend’s racing at Knockhill is reported in detail in this issue. Before the event, Stuart Gray, the head honcho at the circuit, contacted me to say he had LONGLEAT a rather nice trophy which The Longleat hillclimb the circuit would like to event on 6 July became a present at the Speedfair race victim of the current lousy meeting specifically for the weather that is having an Ferraris. adverse effect on many As the Open series sporting activities as well as have their OMG-sponsored playing havoc with a bumper ‘Driver of the Day’ award I strawberry crop at Chevy thought it would be a nice Chase. idea, for this special It seems that the Clerk of meeting, if we had a similar the Course took the decision prize for the Classic driver to abandon the meeting who had done exceptionally because the standing water well. Stuart agreed and Jack on the lower part of the Sears was asked to The Likely Lads from Scuderia Fotografia, course made conditions adjudicate on the worthy Dave Clark and Mark Buckland, spotted at dangerous. At the time the recipient.

Shelsley chatting to Peter Rogerson. meeting was abandoned the Jack decided that Gary As you see, they are easy to pick out first runs had not been in their Day-Glo apparel.

Culver, by virtue of his signal completed by all competitors successes in both races, so therefore no official results For future events they can should be the winner and this were issued. supply a pre-booked CD for just splendid trophy (see photo) was The bottom line is that no £10.00, which will contain a presented to him on the day.

PFHC Championship points can be graphic collection of all your issued for this event and exploits at a particular venue therefore this year’s contest will including, as they put it, a be reduced to 14 rounds.

‘Flavour of the Day’ collection.

We offer our sympathy to all You can pre-order and pay on the those competitors who took part day without a deposit, and if you in these treacherous conditions. are unable to compete for some Hopefully the weather will be reason, you don’t pay them much better for those events still anything. They assure us that to come. they are only looking to cover their expenses while they keep in SCUDERIA FOTOGRAFIA touch with their Ferrari friends.

We have often complimented Hiding behind this exotic these two on the stunning quality Italian name are our good friends of their pictures – not just the from Northumberland, Mark technical aspects but also the Buckland and Dave Clark. Most flair for the artistry which makes competitors will be familiar with a great photograph. They are their photographic work, which now fully ‘Canonised’ (as opposed appears regularly on the pages of to our other pal, Simon Cooke, CompRes as well as the Club’s who prefers to be ‘Nikonised’) website. and have a collection of They attend as many of our frighteningly long lenses that race and hillclimb meetings as would pick out a bead of sweat possible and produce a on a driver’s brow at a hundred comprehensive visual record of paces. all the action. Mark and Dave For more details you should have asked us to let competitors log on to their website:

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RA’s HILLCOMMENT Seven Rounds of the 2008 PFHC season gone – roughly halfway at the time of writing these notes, and it is still fun to speculate on the final outcome.

As I have remarked before, there are only over half a dozen or so competitors really out for the top spot each year, though I am sure the rest of us would not mind getting there as well! You need to do most of the rounds and obviously pocket some high scores along the way, particularly those maximum twenties.

Andrew Holman, on a charge all season, still leads the chart with 93 points, but unlike his pursuers has contested all the rounds so far. David Tomlin is next, with 83 from six rounds, and it is Jon Goodwin with an amazing 80 from just four events – all with max scores - who now looks to be the man to watch for the charge to the top spot. Chris Butler, too, has scored more per round than both Holman and Tomlin, so he too will be there and really going for the outright win.

Doune reported in this issue was a revelation for most of us there for the first time. I would be the first to admit to being a bit wary as I know most of the Ferrari drivers were. It is the first half of the course that is disconcerting – the track is very narrow winding up the side of a hill with Armco one side and a rocky bank the other. Get it wrong and you could say you have dropped a clanger, or it will certainly sound like it! It is fast too, with a sequence of blind sweeping bends that even now, after six runs, I cannot recall too

clearly. The top half is more open but still has some possibilities for bodily contact with the passing scenery, whilst the view from the top paddock is like Longleat: spectacular and well worth the ride. This was the Lothian Car Club’s 40th Anniversary Doune meeting and all competitors were presented with a nice memento (see The Lothian Car Club’s 40th Anniversary photo). Despite the memento. rain we all really enjoyed this well-run event and the Hydro that they are planning the hill became less of a problem a £15m refurbishment. As this with each ascent. Would I go will more than cover for the again? Definitely, even though it damage we did there should be is a very long way from home. many improvements, so I guess we will have no alternative than More on Doune which like to return there for the next Bouley Bay is much more than Doune outing. just a hillclimb, with the opportunity to take in the splendid Scottish scenery too.

Chris Butler had arranged our accommodation and dining at the Dunblane Hydro Hotel, about fifteen minutes away, which all worked out very well, and was most agreeable besides being very reasonable pricewise. The hotel staff were pleased to have us there and arranged for the Ferraris to be parked in pole position along the front of this monster nineteenth century architectural wonder (see photo overleaf). We enjoyed a splendid dinner on Saturday night in a private dining room and there was, as usual, much frivolity.

There has been news since from

John Shirley is a familiar face around the FOC circuit race scene and made a guest appearance at Doune in his Pirelli Ferrari Open F355 – unusually a road as opposed to Challenge variant. John, who originally started out in the Classic series where he put in some impressive race drives in his outclassed Mondial 3.0, soon made his mark at Doune his first hillclimb, with a sub sixty second run, finishing fifth overall.

John Buchan operates a small Ferrari specialist business called Road & Track Ltd in the Borders region south of Edinburgh. He is responsible for

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The Best Ferrari for hillclimbs was something deliberated in this column recently and you will recall I suggested the F355 to be the obvious choice. Now I appreciate that following recent results, where Jon Goodwin has started to extract the full potential from his F430, plus of course John Marshall’s remarkable performance at Shelsley, that you could say this is the machine to have. By best I did not necessarily mean the car most likely to take class wins – a 360 Challenge Stradale or F430 Scuderia would do that in spades and head the F430 too. The point is that all of these tipos cost six figures and if you wall them then you are talking five figure plus repairs.

Richard Prior obviously agreed with the above analysis as he is casting around for a F355 –

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Photo: Pauline Goodwin

looking after Hector Lester’s F430, a very successful British GT championship car, and is obviously the man to see for race prep on your Ferrari in that part of the world. At Knockhill, my 328 turned sick in the Saturday race and I was unable to contest the Sunday one. A bit disappointing at the time, but my immediate concern was that I was leaving the car in Scotland for the Doune event a fortnight later. I was relieved when Gary Culver and David Preston recommended John Buchan, and David gave him a call to fix things up. Although very busy with his race programme, John agreed to take the 328 in, and I delivered it there Monday morning after Knockhill. He has a very nice facility and, even better, it turned out he is a Club member and also has a 328. It is silver, too, so he and I got on very well! He was able to spend some time on my car the following week and eventually discovered the problem was a load of debris in the fuel tank. I collected the car a week or so later, drove it to Doune and back, and it worked fine. A big thank you then to John and David too!

The Dunblane Hydro Hotel was the base for the Doune hillclimb weekend. “The Ferraris were parked in pole position along the front of this monster nineteenth century architectural wonder.”

he really fancies a GTS variant having enjoyed the fresh air experience with the 348ts.

Remarkably, he has pulled several class wins with the 348, but would undoubtedly add heavily to his class win score with a 355.

Mike Spicer like Nick Taylor fancies a serious monoposto, though for hills not circuits. Right now he is seriously considering the Pilbeam MP58 owned by Jim Robinson. This is the same chassis used by Roy Lane to take a couple of British Championships back in the nineties, though it has a four cylinder 2.8 Hart engine, not a big V8. The Pilbeam MP58 is eligible for the burgeoning Historic Class in the Midlands Championship, though Mike assures me that he plans to do only a few of these meetings and will certainly not be giving up his Ferrari hillclimbing.

Miles per Gallon did not worry any of us much but now, with the very high fuel prices and speed camera prevalence, you might just as well get in to cruise mode, turn up the stereo and go

for economy. Club Finance Director John Warner attended the Knockhill meeting and mentioned he achieved over 30mpg with his 328 on the way up, and now Richard Prior says he managed 29mpg on his 348 going up to Doune. You can bet Jon Goodwin gets less than 15mpg out of anything he drives!

PFHC Prizegiving Dinner is on Saturday, 25th October, and as usual at Moore Place Hotel in Aspley Guise. Sally MaynardSmith, Richard Prior and the writer are going there in August to sort out some good room rates and agree the menu. My personal responsibility will be to choose the wines – a lot of corks will be withdrawn before I am happy!

First at the flag. David Tomlin not only set a new class record but took home the valuable 20 Championship points.

The weather for Saturday’s practice sessions was nice and mostly sunny. Keen types David Tomlin and Andrew Holman were in the paddock first thing to claim the third practice run offered as an incentive to early birds. The rest of the entry rolled up during the day and booked in to the practice batches still available, with local man Andrew Duncan last to arrive.

Last year Consternation in the Prior camp when Richard’s there was a major damage incident to 348tb lost most of his useful gears. one of our cars, and GTCs in action. Newcomers to there is little doubt that over the Shelsley were Wendy Marshall many years of Ferrari (328GTB) and Sean Doyle hillclimbing, Shelsley has been (308GT4) and lucky they are the top contributor to the Ferrari originally you needed a National bodyshops. Indiscretions often A competition licence to compete carry a heavy penalty, but this here, but nowadays this National time around the Ferrari drivers meeting is run on an A/B grade got through both days without Licence. damage. The line-up of our cars

looked terrific in the paddock, creating much interest with spectators as they passed through to the trackside viewing areas, and the best presented Ferrari judged for the Paddock Cup turned out to be Sean Doyle’s 308GT4.

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

Photo: SwiftyPix

HIS IS IT, this is the big one as they say in the vernacular, and little wonder reports RICHARD ALLEN. Midland Automobiles Club’s spectacular hillclimb venue in Worcestershire is the one event not to miss – the place reeks of motorsport history; you can cut the ambience with a knife, and as many spectators turn out as we see at all the other meetings added together. The Ferrari Owners’ Club has been at this June British Championship round for more than 25 years and is consequently very proud of the long association.

This time around, just to show we had not lost momentum, the Ferrari entry - at twenty cars - was the biggest yet seen at Shelsley. A shame there were no V12s but the tipo selection was remarkable, from Dino 246 through to the latest F430. A stack of F355s is the norm, but remarkably we had no less than three of the rare 348

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

PIRELLI FERRARI HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 5 SHELSLEY WALSH 31st May/1st June 2008

Mad Dog Holman was warned off.

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Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

For a very long time the class winning times for the Ferraris were in the thirty five second bracket. A few years back, Jon Goodwin (F355) dipped in to the mid-thirty fours, and then, in 2007, David Tomlin shaded this to a 34.34 with his F355.

Although this place looks like a power hill, several 328s and one or two 308s have also been down in the thirty fives - as long ago as in the eighties and nineties. This year Tomlin looked the most probable class winner, with quite a few F355 and 348 drivers likely to be fighting over the next couple of places. A wild card, perhaps, was John Marshall, out for the first time here with his F430. He was one of those fast 328GTB runners previously mentioned and with the prodigious performance of the F430 – who knew?

By the end of play in Saturday’s practice it was inevitably the Tomlin F355 at the top of the timesheet, cruising along at 35.22, closely followed

by Richard Prior, his 348tb on

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35.43. Nick Taylor (348GTC) was Richard Preece was on the pace there too at 35.48, and then John with his recently acquired Marshall with 35.70 as he 348GTC. Pauline Goodwin was cranked the F430 over the finish fastest of the smaller cars, and line at an amazing 97mph! we regrettably lost Ed Briscoe My F355 was next with 35.13 after just one run when his and felt very strange on the new 308GT4 suffered distributor rear tyres fitted the day before – indigestion. It seems that after on my second practice the recently replacing a broken rotor outside rear wheel hit the bank arm he had neglected to remove exiting Top ‘S’ in an alarming all of the old one. moment that brought out the red flags. Mike Spicer was next with his F355 at 36.52 was just ahead of Geoff Dark (F355) and Andrew Holman (348tb), both tied on 36.52.

Going well and much faster than he had with his 308GT4, Colin Campbell went sufficiently fast to win the Handicap. of course,

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

John Marshall wound up his 430 to an amazing 92mph at the approach to Bottom ’S’ and then went on to zoom over the line at 98mph.

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Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

Photo: SwiftyPix

campaigned was pleased – he went quicker 246GT. You do with each run to wind up with his not see too many best here yet of 38.06, finishing of these Dinos not too far adrift of the speedy competing Mrs Goodwin. This time around nowadays, and Pauline was out in the ex-Dobson whilst not up with 328GTB and at 37.59 was a little the more modern short of her best here, and not cars he went making those usual fast starts. sufficiently fast to Andrew Duncan was just ahead win the Club as he took his 348GTC up in Handicap 37.30 – getting nearer now to his competition. best 328 time at Shelsley.

Wendy A bit of a gap now to the top Marshall (328GTB) half time wise, with John Swift – John Moody, MAC President, surveys the scene peaked on her first his handsome F355 at 36.43 from the confines of the historic Vox Villa run with 41.43 and (down a tad on his best mark) commentary box. crossed the line at but up to 88 mph in the top trap.

The forecast for the Sunday 82mph. Sean Doyle improved Another very good looking Ferrari was not wonderful, but a dull each time with his superb was just a fraction ahead – the start improved and the rain that 308GT4, finally dipping below 348GTC of Richard Preece. He was about elsewhere did not get forty with a very creditable closed out at a very competitive to Shelsley – most of the day it 39.80. Adrian Wilson had his 36.42, but his start at 2.91 was was really quite nice. Running in a fairly early batch, the Ferraris were soon lining up for the start.

Regrettably the organisers had not seen fit to seed our class, and even had Richard Prior running first and other fast people in the middle. There was drama immediately as Richard’s 348 lost several gears on the way up the hill that was to seriously prejudice his chances. His time of 38.81 was remarkable considering he crossed the finish line at 34 mph! Unfortunately he was unable to fix the gearshift selector malfunction that turned out to be an internal problem.

On this first official run it was David Tomlin who provided the biggest drama - putting in a really stunning run, hard on the power up through Crossing, taking his F355 at 88mph through the bottom trap on the entry to the Esses, - and speed here is what really counts. He went on to stop the clock at Shaun Doyle (308GT4) was adjudged to have the best presented Ferrari.

33.95, knocking nearly half a second off his own mark! The F355 on brand new tyres and was tardy and kept him out of the fast rest of the front runners were left not at all comfortable. “Feels like thirty five second band. gasping a long way behind - my a shopping trolley,” he said as he Andrew Holman, on only his F355 next on 35.40, very closely struggled to 38.53. second Shelsley, hit the ground pursued by Taylor with 35.46 and Sergio Ransford always goes running with an excellent 35.85, Marshall at 35.47. well at Shelsley, and his best of and was fast through the Esses Time now for an overview of 38.35 was very respectable for a approach speed trap. Philip the whole class and take account relatively unsorted 308GTB that Whitehead, also on only his of the second run as well. Colin only managed 79 mph up at the second event here, was a little Campbell was out with his well finish. Peter Rogerson (F355) down on pace with 35.83 – his

second place finishers - a very brave John Marshall wound his F430 up to an amazing 92 mph on the approach to Bottom ‘S’ – easily the fastest Ferrari here so far, and then went on to zoom over the line at 98 mph! He netted an excellent 34.30, plus seventeen Championship points, and with a Spicer start would have challenged for the class win.

You read earlier how David Tomlin broke the record on his first run at 33.95. Now, if it had been me, I would have stroked the second run, but not Tommo!

He went even faster, setting another new record at 33.92!

His bravery and skill ‘Make mine a big one and don’t spare deservedly picked up the the topping’. David Tomlin celebrates his win at the ice-cream van. maximum twenty points, and with the Class win and the record he took home “The Triple”. this and bought us all more than Normally shy and unassuming, he a few beers at the bar seemed quite pleased about all afterwards!

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

F355 was good in the bottom trap with 84 mph, but slow at 85 mph over the finish line. Geoff Dark is gradually getting the hang of his F355 and finally topped his 308 Shelsley best with 35.29. He was quick off the line and fast in both traps with 85 and 90mph respectively.

Nick Taylor, maybe chastened by his Top ‘S’ incident with the Mondial in 2007, was smooth and safe at 35.20 and the fastest of the 348 variants. Mike Spicer, meanwhile, pulled out a very good final run. He did the 0 -64ft in 2.33 seconds - easily the fastest Ferrari startline performance - and went on to 35.08, crossing the line at 92 mph. Before the meeting on Sunday I managed to grind a bit off my 355’s new rears and the car felt secure for my second run and despite my caution through Crossing, a 34.85 was enough for third overall.

The really big story, though, was provided by our first and

SHELSLEY WALSH Hillclimb 31 May / 1 June 2008 Round 5 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship Driver David Tomlin John Marshall Richard Allen Mike Spicer Nick Taylor Geoff Dark Philip Whitehead Andrew Holman Richard Preece John Swift Andrew Duncan Pauline Goodwin Peter Rogerson Sergio Ransford Adrian Wilson Richard Prior Sean Doyle Wendy Ann Marshall Colin Campbell Edward Briscoe

Tipo

Pract 1

Pract 2

H/cap

Run 1

Run 2

Speed traps

64ft/ split

Hcap Pos

PEP %

PEP Time

Pts

F355 F430 F1 F355 F355 348GTC F355 F355 348tb 348GTC F355 348GTC 328GTB F355GTS 308GTB F355 348ts 308GT4 328GTB 246GT 308GT4

35.72 35.70 36.13 36.93 35.91 36.56 39.25 37.67 38.24 39.55 38.27 39.68 39.62 39.40 40.78 36.27 43.71 44.51 52.48 42.88

35.30 36.30 36.30 36.52 35.48 36.57 37.70 36.56 36.61 38.08 38.76 38.21 39.40 39.60 39.62 35.43 41.42 42.57 51.52 --

34.25 35.00 35.00 35.75 35.00 35.75 35.50 36.00 36.00 36.00 37.50 37.00 38.50 37.50 38.50 35.00 40.00 41.75 51.00 ---

33.95 35.47 35.40 36.44 35.46 35.86 36.28 36.22 37.09 36.43 37.30 37.99 39.19 38.54 40.04 38.81 40.83 41.43 49.97 NS

33.92 34.30 34.85 35.08 35.20 35.29 35.83 35.85 36.22 36.82 38.33 37.59 38.06 38.35 38.53 NS 39.80 43.39 50.39 ---

88/89 92/98 83/92 80/92 83/87 85/90 84/85 81/-82/87 75/88 77/82 76/85 77/88 71/79 74/85 84/34 73/76 63/82 52/63 ---

2.45/21.70 2.76/22.25 2.39/22.52 2.33/22.63 2.49/22.32 2.41/22.71 2.64/22.77 2.49/23.00 2.91/23.84 2.54/23.57 2.55/23.75 2.65/24.39 2.50/24.94 2.73/24.92 2.53/25.24 2.59/22.74 2.75/25.85 2.62/27.87 3.52/33.75 ---

6 1 =10 3 13 4 15 =10 14 16 8 17 5 18 12 19 8 7 2

2.25 3.50 2.25 2.25 1.50 2.25 2.25 0.00 1.50 2.25 1.50 -0.50 2.25 -2.00 2.25 1.00 -2.00 0.50 -4.50 -2.00

34.68 35.50 35.63 35.87 35.73 36.08 36.64 35.85 36.76 37.25 37.86 37.40 38.92 37.58 39.40 39.20 39.00 41.64 47.72 ---

20 17 15 11 13 10 9 12 8 7 4 6 3 5 1 1 2 1 1 1

NB: Speed traps, 64ft and split times all relate to the fastest run time

MAC Awards:

1st David Tomlin

2nd John Marshall

FOC Handicap:

1st Colin Campbell

2nd Mike Spicer

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3rd Richard Allen

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

FERRARIS IN SCOTLAND HE RATHER GRAND TITLE we chose for our raid on Scotland, on the weekend of 6th to 8th June, was ‘Ferraris in Scotland’.

We had been threatening to take the Club’s race series north of the border several times in the past, but for one reason or another it never happened.

Perhaps the principal explanation was the sheer distance of Knockhill from the south of England. People took one look at the map, saw it was around 420 miles north of Watford to the circuit, and promptly asked for the sal volatale. They were probably unused to a journey to a UK track that would take them over eight hours to complete.

However, this year there was a bit more perseverance with the notion. Stuart Gray, the energetic moving force behind Knockhill, was enthusiastic about us bringing the red cars to the circuit. And the equally keen competition secretary of the Scottish Motor Racing Club, Chris Edwards, was cooperative in agreeing a special fee to compensate for the extra travelling costs our competitors would need to meet.

‘no’ and a further 15 couldn’t be bothered to reply. The PFO vote was quite encouraging and so we decided to go ahead. (As an aside, these advance lists aren’t all that reliable – of the 17 PFfc drivers who said they would compete, over 30% didn’t actually submit an entry form when the time came!)

A huge help in organising this event came in the form of Scottish FOC member Stewart Ross who, rather like a modern day ‘Our Man in Havana’, became ‘Our Man in Knockhill’. Stewart not only made countless journeys on our behalf from his home in Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

T

We did a recce last September to check the facilities at the circuit at the time of the BTCC Knockhill rounds (when your reporter was whizzed round the track for a few laps during the lunch break) and sampled one or two likely hotels we might use.

And, just to make sure the event would be viable, we carried out a bit of market research at the beginning of October last year. We sent out a questionnaire to all our PFfc and PFO competitors to see if they would support racing at Knockhill.

The Classic result was 17 ‘yes’, 2

We prudently hired a massive pavilion style marquee just in case Stuart Gray’s optimism about the weather proved unjustified.

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Photo: SwiftyPix

Glasgow to the circuit and the offices of Scottish TV, but also made all the detailed arrangements to fly our President, Jack Sears, and Diana from Norfolk to Edinburgh as well as loaning them his pristine 550 Maranello for the duration of their stay.

The character played by Alec Guinness back in 1959 was given an OBE and we wish we could reward Stewart for his services in the same way in 2008.

In conjunction with the circuit and the race meeting organisers, SMRC, the weekend was awash with track time for the

Our man with the Nikons, Simon Cooke, with PHR member Chris Hellier and his son.

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Ferrari competitors. On the Friday we were given three separate sessions of testing: a 55 minute period shared between PFO and PFfc cars followed by two 35 minute slots exclusively for PFO and then PFfc. On the Saturday morning, each series was given a further 20-min test session and this, combined with the 20-min qualifying period, meant that most drivers were familiar with every blade of grass on the circuit by the time the first of the double header races arrived on Saturday afternoon.

Knockhill, we were told, can be a wee bit inhospitable if the weather turns nasty. Stuart Gray had assured us that this rarely happens but with tongue in cheek he said that if the local sheep are standing up it is going to rain; if they are lying down it is already raining. Knockhill’s paddock infrastructure is a little on the Spartan side so I felt it prudent to hire a marquee just in case Stuart’s optimism proved unfounded. The size of the tentage had to be generous and I finally agreed on a massive pavilion style marquee 52m x 12m in size which I thought would comfortably house all our cars.

Friday’s testing session saw many of the Ferraris out on track, with their drivers keen to get acquainted with the many tricks

and foibles of the Knockhill circuit. Since all the competitors, with the possible exception of Scot, John Shirley, hadn’t seen the track before, we set off with that rare thing: a level playing field.

THE CIRCUIT A few of us were lucky to have a demonstration of how to tackle the track by the circuit manager, Ian Forrest. Ian, a former competitor in the BTCC championship, knows every wrinkle of the course and was extremely helpful in guiding us as he flung his diesel engined Seat around the track.

Due to the undulating nature of the course, many of the corners are blind so it is key to know what exactly is ‘round the corner’. And talking of corners, most of these seem to have been renamed this year. Duffus Dip, the S-bend after the start, is now Seat Curve followed by Leslie’s.

The 90º McIntyre has become Scotsman, and the blind trickiness of Butchers/Glenvarigill is now called Butchers/John R Weir. The famous Clark righthander has given way to the less than famous Carlube, and the left -hand sweep that was Daewoo has succumbed to Hislops. The hairpin, at the lowest point on the circuit, has changed its name from Taylors to the difficult-to-

Photo: SwiftyPix

The ever cheerful David Tomlin got to work with yards of tank tape to re-fashion the nose of his Ferrari.

straight (Brabhams) which, by TESTING Knockhill standards, gives the So, back to Friday’s testing. rare luxury of checking the The weather was fine, warm and instruments and getting your sunny. We noted that Chris breath back. Carlube follows, a Goddard (308GTB) had a couple fairly straightforward rightof spins and even the normally hander where the entry needs to bullet-proof Nicky Paul-Barron be over on the extreme left and (328GTB) made an off-course the clipping point is a late assault excursion (which he hoped I on another white bollard. would forget about!).

Hislops is a fast left-handed sweep with the throttle foot buried to the floorboards and the brain engaged in working out the strategy for the hairpin (Real Radio nee Taylors). To avoid trouble it is best to approach the hairpin well over to the left, swing across to apex twothirds of the way round the inner kerb, and power out using some (but not all) of the exit kerb. The approach is a definite overtaking opportunity but if you try to take the opposition on the inside, be very careful that “Jack Sears was zooming around the paddock on a small electric truck.” you don’t find yourself way over the kerb coming out, Tris Simpson inconveniently with your car sideways to the selected two gears at once in his preferred direction.

Open series 328GTB, wrecking If you have got all this right, the gearbox as a result. David it is then foot hard down again up Hathaway caused the red flags to the hill to the start/finish line appear as he plunged off the again. track in his F355/Ch, clouds of dust and gravel blowing across

CompRes 11

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

spit-out ‘Real Radio Hairpin’.

There must be sound commercial reasons for all this renaming, but one can’t help feeling many Scotsmen must have gnashed their teeth when they heard about it.

A lap of Knockhill may be useful for those who may be tempted to race here in the future. On a flying lap you are flat out in 4th (in a 5-speed Classic Ferrari) as you go under the bridge in the start/finish area.

Just before the track starts to curve to the right on its downward course, you flick right and make for the flat broad kerb, which is the turn-in point for what follows. And what follows, invisible on the approach, is a another low flat kerb with matting to extend it to the right.

Take too much kerb here and the result is a messy and bumpy trip along the grass which upsets the car more than somewhat.

Precision is called for at the right-handed Scotsman, entering about two-thirds of the way to the left and taking a generous chunk of kerb at the apex. There is a long line of kerb at the exit and the plan should be to run along it without getting too close to its left-hand edge.

You are then faced with one of Knockhill’s unique features: Butchers (named after the circuit’s owners and unchanged, thankfully, in the renaming process). This bit, of all Knockhill’s tricky sequences, really rewards prior knowledge.

You straight-line the first, very steep, uphill section and then aim the car totally off course to the blind right-hand part. There’s a white bollard to deter you from going completely off the track into the Scottish scenery (at the briefing we were warned of penalties if you did) but the best line has you taking your Ferrari almost totally off the black stuff.

Then, safely over the brow, you need to flick the car to the right to maintain impetus. If it sounds complicated, it is! And it’s all over in the blink or two of an eye.

This concentrated bit of excitement is followed by a short

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

later in the day in order to promote the event.

THE HOTEL

some had the rare experience of an eagle sitting on their hand, an owl blinking wisely a few inches away from their face, or a kestrel nuzzling their armpit.

Thriftily, we had brought a couple of cases of Prosecco up from Yorkshire for which we had previously agreed a very reasonable corkage charge. On the day, when the beverage manager heard how reasonable it was, he became apoplectic, telling the writer it should have been a couple of hundred pounds

Although Dunkeld House wasn’t situated too handily for the circuit (about 40 minutes drive, mostly on the M90 motorway heading north) it was far and away the nicest hotel we had found in the area. It is set in 280 acres of pure, dramatic unspoiled Perthshire countryside, and just yards from the River Tay, offering a two-mile beat of anglers’ paradise.

We made a blockbooking of rooms and arranged various extracurricular activities of a non -motor racing nature (but in the best possible taste!).

On Friday Max effort. Mark I’Anson, sometime rally driver, evening we had a set the pace in PFO qualifying. special Ferrari Dinner in the hotel’s private more than we paid. Perhaps it Birnham room on the first floor takes a Yorkshireman to best a for some 50 guests. Prior to Scot. However, we shouldn’t be dinner, we enjoyed drinks on the too ungenerous because local terrace – it was a beautiful warm Ferrari dealership Graypaul gave evening – and a quite astonishing us a handsome contribution to demonstration of falconry given the wines at dinner. by a thoroughly entertaining At the dinner we presented master of the art. The exhibition all the competitors and most of had full audience participation: the guests with a beautiful glass paperweight as a souvenir of the weekend. These were designed

by Paula Henderson, the elder daughter of Stewart Ross’s partner, Linda, and featured a Scottish thistle surround. They were expertly made by a local craftsman.

SATURDAY

Wayne Marrs leads Tim Mogridge in Saturday’s Open race.

12 CompRes

Saturday dawned fine once again – perhaps even hotter and sunnier than the day before.

Organisation in the Ferrari section of the paddock was handled with his usual expertise by Derek Seymour, ably assisted by Chris Hellier and his son. David Tomlin had done a workmanlike job of making his car resemble a 328

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

the heather.

The most serious accident befell David Tomlin as he exited Carlube’s 90º right-hander. His 328GTB careered across the grass and dived head-first into the tyre barrier. The front end of the car looked a sorry mess, with the radiator damaged in several places. The broken car was recovered to the paddock where the ever cheerful and optimistic owner set to fix the damage as best he could. We managed to locate a radiator specialist who would repair the unit overnight (not easy at a weekend) and David himself got to work with yards of red tank tape to refashion the nose section of the Ferrari.

Other than Tomlin’s misfortunes, most of the mechanical problems encountered in testing were fairly minor. Peter Moseley (328GTB) cracked both front brake discs necessitating an SOS call to base for new ones. Wayne Marrs (F355/Ch) suffered a failure on a brake calliper which meant robbing his preparer’s (Mike Reeder’s) car in Wiltshire and airfreighting the components up to Edinburgh for collection. And poor Chris Goddard felt ill with some undiagnosed malady.

Recording all the Ferrari action on Friday were the cameras of Scottish television, the footage being played back

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

A jubilant Wayne Marrs shows off his OMG Driver of the Day award for Race 1, flanked by Tim Mogridge, Mark I’Anson and girlfriend Karen.

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

Marco Pullen won the first Open race in his Class ‘S’ 328GTB.

Saturday’s PFfc sprint race. “Pole man Culver was out of the traps first, hotly pursued by Nicky P-B, Pullen and Tomlin in the disfigured 328.”

again, and the radiator had been collected from the specialists and was already to be reinstalled.

In the morning’s testing, Mark I’Anson had a puncture on his F355 during testing and no fewer than five Classic cars were noted as spinners. Work continued apace on rebuilding the gearbox on Tris Simpson’s 328GTB. Preparer Mike Sweeney had made a marathon run back to London during Friday night to collect a fresh set of gears and bearings. His round trip mileage was a mind boggling 960 miles which he accomplished in record time and with 60 hours without sleep – a quite incredible effort.

Although the car wasn’t quite ready by the time Open qualifying came round, he was allowed to qualify out of session albeit with the proviso of starting at the back of the grid for the afternoon race.

The timesheets for Open qualifying had Mark I’Anson at the top of the page with a rousing 56.211. Then it was Marco Pullen (Class S 328GTB) on 56.503 followed by Gary Culver (56.937). The next four fastest were all in the 57 second bracket, which augured well for a close race.

The PFO event in the afternoon was described as a sprint race of 15 laps duration.

From the lights, front row man Pullen took an immediate lead with I’Anson and Culver latched on to his tail. As the race went on, Pullen looked evermore secure and took the chequered flag some 10 seconds ahead of second placed Culver, with I’Anson a further second behind.

Simpson started off well from his back row position but then slowed, nursing his car home just ahead of David Edge, who was adjudged to have jumped the start and penalised 10 seconds.

Fastest laps – establishing class records for the circuit – were set by Pullen (Class S) in 57.087 and Culver (Class C) in 57.154. These times confirm just how incredibly closely matched these two classes are.

CompRes 13

14 CompRes

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

up a useful gap the food was great and the to his pursuers, company excellent. We didn’t with Tomlin now see too much dancing going on falling back a with the Ferrari group but there little in 4th spot. was no doubt that everyone had Swift moved up a good time. from the back by virtue of SUNDAY Goddard The brilliant weather, after a spinning at the hesitant start, continued on the hairpin.

Sunday, which was the race Pullen meeting’s big day. There were took up the many famous personalities on chase on lap 8 “In 5th, where he had been all the race, was Chris parade, with local BTCC hero after finding a Butler, who was managing to fend off the Gordon Sheddon being way past Paulattentions of Richard Moseley and Fred Honnor.” photographed with our President Barron and four and previous Touring Car meeting’s Guest of Honour, who laps later Nicky dropped a further champion, Jack Sears. There was had been giving interviews all day place when Tomlin got by. In 5th, a spectacular fly past and and zooming around the paddock where he had been all the race, aerobatic display, car parades, on a small electric truck, was Butler , who was managing exhibitions in the paddock presented the trophies on the to fend off the attentions of (including an impressive show by podium. Later, in the confines of Richard Moseley and Fred Stewart Roden’s Scuderia Ecosse our own paddock marquee, Tania Honnor. Richard Allen, his 328 team) – in fact all the fun of the Pullen presented the OMG Driver suffering from fuel starvation, fair. of the Day award to a jubilant was gradually slowing.

Sue and Paul Skinner, who Wayne Marrs in recognition of his At the flag it was Culver, were enjoying this Scottish fine 4th place. with an 11 second lead from weekend in their faithful Ferrari Qualifying for the 16-car Pullen, who just managed to hold ‘DXI’, took over signing-on for Classic race saw Richard Allen on from a last lap surge from the Ferrari parade of road cars, briefly into the gravel at Leslie’s Tomlin, the latter being the first which was proudly led round the and Chris Butler having a spin at Gp2 car home. The race winner circuit by Jack, driving the the hairpin. Gary Culver set the established the new lap record in Stewart Ross immaculate silver pace with a fastest lap in 60.147, 60.759, while Tomlin set a new 550 Maranello (Stewart himself over a second quicker than Marco Gp2 target of 61.573. being in his equally pristine F40).

Pullen (61.235) and third placed For Saturday evening we had We had seen rain cascading Nicky P-B (61.505). At arranged for all the Ferraristi to down on the nearby hills earlier scrutineering, Nigel Jenkins and be placed on adjoining tables at in the day but happily it didn’t Chris Goddard were found to the hotel’s Dinner/Dance. Again, have underweight cars and were consequently penalised by having to start at the back of the grid with a 10 second penalty.

In hot conditions the PFfc 15 lapper sprint race got underway at around 4.30 in the afternoon.

Pole man Culver was out of the traps first, hotly pursued by Nicky P-B, Pullen, and Tomlin in his disfigured 328. As the leaders arrived at the first corner, Seat, all your reporter could see from his mid-field position was an impenetrable cloud of dust. It looked like chaos, with the possibility of a car, or cars, marooned in the middle of the track. So, braking hard to avoid the melee, most of the others slid past and yours truly was safely ‘You could hardly see him for dust,’ as they say. In the re-start to the Long Distance PFO race “I’Anson went off the track in a series of lurid intact but dead last. manoeuvres culminating in embedding his car in the gravel at Butchers.”

By lap 3, Culver had opened

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

PFO and a last corner disaster for Marco Pullen. His 328GTB gets out of shape, letting Gary Culver past to win a truly exciting race.

coincidentally had suffered a puncture, so we had two stranded Challenge cars side by side.

Gary Culver is presented with the Race 2 OMG Driver of the Day salver by Tania Pullen (after beating her son!).

It took some time to pick up the Marrs 355, by which time Reeder was able to fit a

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

reach Knockhill. By the time Sunday’s Open race was due to start the clouds had rolled away and the circuit was bathed in sunshine again. The race was scheduled for a rather longer 25 laps. With only one qualifying session, the grid was the same as the previous day’s race so that I’Anson and Pullen were again on the front row.

At the start, Marco Pullen leapt into an immediate lead from Mark I’Anson, with third place occupied by a fast starting Graham Reeder. Behind Reeder the rest of the field were closely bunched up, in the order Mogridge, Culver, Marrs and Bourne.

It was clear that Reeder was preventing the expected attack from Culver – it really isn’t straightforward getting past at Knockhill! – and it wasn’t until lap 6 that Gary found a way through.

Once past, Culver was visibly gaining on the second placed I’Anson. Simpson, in the 328 Class S car, pitted on lap 7.

Then, one lap later, disaster hit Wayne Marrs’s 355. As he negotiated the hairpin – having just passed Reeder for fourth position – all the studs failed on his left rear wheel. He almost managed to reach the pit lane access ramp before the wheel came off and the back of the car graunched onto the tarmac.

With the pit lane effectively blocked the red flags came out to stop the race. Reeder’s car

Simon Bartholomew (328GTB) and Richard Moseley (308GTB) gave each other a good seeing-to in the second PFfc race.

replacement wheel. Eventually the race was restarted with the grid formation in accordance with the order immediately before the stoppage.

The re-started race distance was shortened to 14 laps and this time Gary Culver made no mistakes with his start and immediately tucked in behind Mark I’Anson’s 355. However, perhaps reverting to his previous rallying experiences, I’Anson went off the track in a series of lurid manoeuvres, culminating in him embedding his car in the gravel at Butchers.

Tim Mogridge claimed third but was being hounded by Charlie White, whose car had originally started from the back of the grid due to being underweight at the post-qualifying scrutineering checks.

Initially Culver seemed to have no answer to Pullen’s pace but as the race progressed, so the Dunlop tyres on the leading car appeared to be going off.

With three laps to go, Culver was inches away from the 328’s engine deck and, as your scribe remarked to Gary’s father-in-law, this was a period of concentrated psychological warfare.

As the field started the final lap it looked as though young Marco might just last out but on the very last corner – the hairpin – the 328 veered to the left, did a tank slapper, and Gary was past.

Marco sorted things out

CompRes 15

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

Swift and Cartwright pass a rotating Hathaway.

16 CompRes

got the drop on Tomlin as the field surged off the line, with Paul -Barron snatching third from Culver. Your scribe made a pathetic start – the revs dropped to tickover when they should have been at 5,000+ - and the old blue car was again near the rear of the field. But at least this

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

commendably quickly but at the flag was just a second and a half in arrears. What excitement!

White wasn’t far behind, in third, just ahead of Mogridge and Bourne. DNFs were recorded by the aforesaid gravel bound I’Anson, Reeder (who feared he had the same wheel stud problem as his stablemate, Marrs) and Edge (another victim of the gravel traps).

The fastest laps were quicker than the previous day’s, reflecting the step-up in intensity of the race, although the two drivers were the same: Pullen in 56.231 and Culver in 56.758.

The hard working Jack Sears was again on hand at the podium to present the prizes. There was some confusion by the organisers as to who had won what, but this was quickly sorted out and each winner – we hope – received his rightful award. Back at base, Tania Pullen was again in kissing mode to hand the PMG Open series Driver of the Day award to the deserving Gary Culver for his memorable last corner victory.

There were some delays to the start of the Classic race due to the parades and other activities taking rather longer than programmed. However, at around 3.00pm our 16 cars assembled on the grid for the long distance (25 laps) race.

Again Nigel Jenkins and Chris Goddard were despatched to the back of the grid (but this time without the 10 second penalty) due to being found under the minimum weight in qualifying.

This time it was Pullen who

had a gravel experience off the track which sent him out of contention.

At the back, Swift was having his work cut out trying to get past a determined Benaroya, whose Mondial t cabriolet was getting concentrated destruction testing to its brakes (the discs were completely worn out after the race). Allen was again suffering fuel starvation bothers (the 328’s filter possibly hasn’t been cleaned since it left the factory!) and pulled in to retire.

Lap 9 was when Culver managed to slip past Pullen to take the lead, and from thereon he was never headed. However Pullen’s problems were not over and he had to fight off a fierce attack on his nether quarters from the battling Nicky P-B and Tomlin (these two being contenders for Gp2 honours).

Razzle dazzle. Nicky Paul-Barron switches on his headlights just in case Marco Pullen hasn’t seen him. Marco finished ahead by a car’s length.

gives a great reporter’s view of what’s going on ahead!

N P-B and Culver were slogging it out for third behind the flying Pullen and Tomlin but on lap 3 their positions were reversed. Two laps later Culver had relieved Tomlin of his second place and set off after the leader.

In a solid 5th spot was Butler, heading a stream of closely packed Ferraris consisting of Honnor, Bartholomew, Moseley R, and Hathaway. The last named

A little further back there was some really exciting racing to watch, with everyone doing their very best. Nigel Jenkins was coming through the field in impressive fashion from his back row start, and by mid-race was challenging Chris Butler (who had been overtaken by Fred Honnor) for 6th place. Also exciting was the duel between the Moseleys, with father (Peter) being only a smidgeon slower than son (Richard). Simon Bartholomew

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

“When the flag finally came out it was to greet Gary Culver notching up another fine win on his rifle butt.”

remained the filling in this entertaining Moseley sandwich.

Swift had aspirations of getting past Ben Cartwright but to his credit Ben made no errors and it never happened. Twentyfive hectic laps on a demanding track like Knockhill is pretty hard work on a hot day, and the last few laps seemed to be gruelling for some, not least your reporter who has to confess to a certain amount of wilting towards the end. I was quite sure the man at the finish line had forgotten to wave his chequered flag!

However, when the flag finally came out it was to greet Gary Culver notching yet another fine win on his rifle butt. He came home some eight seconds ahead of Marco Pullen, with Nicky Paul-Barron less than a car’s length to take third and a win in Gp2. As with the earlier Open race, lap times were marginally quicker that they had been on Saturday, with new records set

by Culver in Gp3 (60.736) and Paul-Barron 61.224 in Gp2.

We had brought some Scottish quaiches with us as appropriate prizes and there was

the usual confusion on the podium until the man from SMRC (in charge of awards) had his

Tomlin proved to be a bit handy at spraying the fizz on the Gp2 podium.

paperwork corrected by Anne Swift. Again, the indefatigable Jack Sears handed over the silverware to the worthy winners.

EPILOGUE There are a number of people one would like to single out for special thanks for what was undoubtedly a highly successful weekend’s racing.

Stuart Gray of Knockhill circuit and Chris Edwards of SMRC had done everything possible to meet all our needs, and the race officials had been hugely helpful and enthusiastic. Stewart Ross had also given the event his full attention and pulled out all the stops to make Jack and Diana Sears’s visit such a pleasure for them. Derek Seymour and his PHR assistants worked hard with the paddock arrangements. And the hotel staff at Dunkeld House had impressed with their friendliness and efficiency, and the food they served us was to a very high standard (particularly the delicious porridge served at breakfast!).

We loved Knockhill and the welcome we received. We shall be back!

CompRes 17

KNOCKHILL 7th June 2008 Round 4 Pos

No

Driver

Tipo

Class

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

1

13 Marco Pullen

328GTB

S

15

14:28.712

57.087

56.503

2

2

34 Gary Culver

F355/Ch

C

15

14:37.171

57.154

56.937

3

3

30 Mark I’Anson

F355/Ch

C

15

14:38.226

57.286

56.211

1

4

60 Wayne Marrs

F355/Ch

C

15

14:39.649

57.552

57.881

7

5

70 Tim Mogridge

F355/Ch

C

15

14:40.258

57.295

57.669

6

6

23 Graham Reeder

F355/Ch

C

15

14:45.555

57.601

57.445

5

F355/Ch

C

15

14:45.875

57.514

57.400

4

F355/Ch

C

15

15:06.088

58.910

58.577

8 9

7

**76 Charlie White

8

6 Edward Bourne

9

4 John Shirley

F355

C

15

15:11.295

59.357

59.413

10

46 Tris Simpson

328GTB

S

15

15:18.240

59.601

*

11

85 David Edge

F355/Ch

C

15

15:34.677

59.783

59.626

10

12

19 David Hathaway

F355/Ch

C

14

14:47.216

1:01.569

1:01.054

11

*qualified out of session Fastest Laps:

**underweight - started at back of grid with 10 second penalty

Marco Pullen

S

57.087 (80.719 mph)

Establishes Track Record

Gary Culver

C

57.154 (80.624 mph)

Establishes Track Record

KNOCKHILL 8th June 2008 Round 5 Pos

No

Driver

Tipo

Class

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

1

34 Gary Culver

F355/Ch

C

14

13:25.274

56.758

56.937

3

2

13 Marco Pullen

328GTB

S

14

13:26.938

56.231

56.503

2

3

**76 Charlie White

F355/Ch

C

14

13:29.800

56.840

57.400

4

4

70 Tim Mogridge

F355/Ch

C

14

13:34.261

57.024

57.669

6

F355/Ch

C

14

13:42.372

57.597

58.577

8

F355

C

14

14:16.253

59.277

59.413

9 11

5

6 Edward Bourne

6

4 John Shirley

7

19 David Hathaway

F355/Ch

C

13

13:46.117

1:01.863

1:01.054

8

46 Tris Simpson

328GTB

S

13

13:59.968

1:02.224

*

DNF

23 Graham Reeder

F355/Ch

C

11

11:12.842

57.822

57.445

5

DNF

85 David Edge

F355/Ch

C

7

7:24.969

58.828

59.626

10

DNF

30 Mark I’Anson

F355/Ch

C

56.211

1

DNS

60 Wayne Marrs

F355/Ch

C

57.881

7

*qualified out of session

**started at back of grid

● Red flag lap 9 – race restarted over 14 laps Fastest Laps:

18 CompRes

Marco Pullen

S

56.231 (81.948 mph)

New Lap Record

Gary Culver

C

56.758 (81.187 mph)

New Lap Record

ROUND 6 KNOCKHILL Saturday 7 June 2008 Pos

No

Driver

Tipo

Group

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

1

34 Gary Culver

328GTB

3

15

15:25.298

1:00.759

1:00.517

1

2

13 Marco Pullen

328GTB

3

15

15:36.313

1:01.609

1:01.235

2

3

6 David Tomlin

328GTB

2

15

15:38.873

1:01.573

1:02.320

5 3

328GTB

2

15

15:38.938

1:01.871

1:01.505

5

*54 Nigel Jenkins

328GTB

3

15

16:01.642

1:02.233

1:01.871

4

6

5 Chris Butler

328GTB

2

15

16:01.675

1:02.753

1:02.641

7

7

20 Fred Honnor

328GTB

3

15

16:05.284

1:03.287

1:03.843

13

8

22 Simon Bartholomew

328GTB

2

15

16:07.312

1:03.449

1:03.207

9

9

16 Richard Moseley

308GTB

3

15

16:10.285

1:02.748

1:02.474

6

10

15 Peter Moseley

328GTS

2

15

16:19.167

1:03.337

1:04.021

14

11

72 Ben Cartwright

328GTB

2

15

16:22.159

1:03.931

1:04.073

15

12

45 Richard Allen

328GTB

2

15

16:22.459

1:03.177

1:03.776

12

13

19 David Hathaway

328GTB

2

15

16:22.996

1:03.931

1:03.614

11

14

11 John Swift

308GTB

3

14

15:27.224

1:04.095

1:03.348

10

Mondial t Cab

2

14

15:44.026

1:05.605

1:06.111

16

308GTB

3

13

16:14.994

1:03.877

1:02.943

8

4

17 Nicky Paul-Barron

15 16

4 Didier Benaroya *44 Christopher Compton Goddard

*underweight - started at back of grid with 10 sec penalty Fastest Laps:

Gary Culver

Group 3

1:00.759 (75.841 mph)

Establishes Track Record

David Tomlin

Group 2

1:01.573 (74.838 mph)

Establishes Track Record

ROUND 7 KNOCKHILL Sunday 8 June 2008 Pos

Tipo

Group

Laps

Time

1

No 34 Gary Culver

Driver

328GTB

3

25

25:46.390

2

13 Marco Pullen

328GTB

3

25

25:54.319

3

17 Nicky Paul-Barron

328GTB

2

25

25:54.617

Best Lap 1:00736

Qualify

Pos

1:00.517

1

1:00.758

1:01.235

2

1:01.224

1:01.505

3 5

4

6 David Tomlin

328GTB

2

25

26:05.325

1:01.459

1:02.320

5

*54 Nigel Jenkins

328GTB

3

25

26:37.762

1:01.897

1:01.871

4

6

20 Fred Honnor

328GTB

3

25

26:42.380

1:02.568

1:03.843

13

7

5 Chris Butler

328GTB

2

25

26:44.900

1:02.927

1:02.641

7 6

8

16 Richard Moseley

308GTB

3

25

26:45.265

1:03.033

1:02.474

9

22 Simon Bartholomew

328GTB

2

24

25:50.885

1:03.485

1:03.207

9

10

15 Peter Moseley

328GTS

2

24

25:53.849

1:03.385

1:04.021

14

11

72 Ben Cartwright

328GTB

2

24

25:55.708

1:03.413

1:04.073

15

12

11 John Swift

308GTB

3

24

26:07.970

1:03.535

1:03.348

10

13

19 David Hathaway

328GTB

2

24

26:45.280

1:04.456

1:03.614

11

14

4 Didier Benaroya

Mondial t Cab

2

23

25:49.667

1:05.601

1:06.111

16

308GTB

3

20

26:00.065

1:03.223

1:02.943

8

328GTB

2

1

3:57.211

DNF

1:03.776

12

15 NC

*44 Christopher Compton Goddard 45 Richard Allen

* started at back of grid Fastest Laps:

Gary Culver

Group 3

1:00.736 (75.869 mph)

New Track Record

Nicky Paul-Barron

Group 2

1:01.224 (75.264 mph)

New Track Record

CompRes 19

PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 6 MIRA 14th June 2008 This event provided a sort of PFHC sandwich: a wide, flat, open sprint between two narrow, steep and twisty hillclimbs, Shelsley and Doune, writes GRAHAM EASTER. Not that they could be likened to bread and cheese really, but you get what I mean it was a contrast.

MIRA has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for 355 owners, though Jon Goodwin did take the maximum points a couple of years ago with his 250GT Lusso, but it was generally expected that it would be his 430 coupé that would spoil the other drivers’ fun this time. F355 pilota Mike Spicer was also sharing a Caterham with his son, James.

There was mild consternation when someone vaguely remembered something about being ineligible for PFHC points if you drive two entries at the same meeting, but Richard Prior looked it up and this is only the case if it's two entries in a Ferrari.

The day was bright and sunny and glinted suitably off the Ferraris as they proudly rolled out for their first practice run. One of the features of the track is a fast 90º corner, Tower, which follows a fast straight, and many were braking too early at first.

Dave Tomlin's 355 was misfiring which turned out to be due to fuel starvation. In an effort to save weight he'd run it with the fuel warning light on for 86 miles! After duly gaining the permission of the Clerk of the Course, he nipped out to get some more gas. Chris Butler and Phil Whitehead, both in 355s, were very fast through the speed trap, but it was Andrew Holman who had the quickest run in his 348tb. What was amazing about this was that he'd installed his 4th/5th gear-blocker as per normal and you need 4th here!

Gooders was slow and the 430 looked a bit wayward, but he found that his tyre pressures were too high.

When P2 came around there was a veritable heat haze shimmering over the track. Sean Doyle was one who'd braked too early for Tower on P1 and

20 CompRes

obviously was determined not to do it next time. He cranked his GT4 up to 97mph through the speed trap, had to really stand on the brakes and round she went!

Fortunately MIRA is just the place for that sort of thing as most of the scenery is a long way from the track. Fireman Sean told me the story of his acquiring his beautiful car, which was the realisation of a life-long dream to own a Ferrari. This was made more so because he'd first come across this particular car some years before when it was owned by someone else. He fancied it but never thought he would be able to buy it. Just goes to show what you can do if you have sufficient determination and that Ferrari life is not the exclusive preserve of the few.

Holman had the use of 4th gear this time, but there was a large gap in between the howl announcing his departure from the start line and his arrival at Tower; it turned out he'd spun exiting the fast lefthander. In the event, it was Tomlin who was quickest with both Butler and Gooders left scratching their heads.

By now everyone was worrying about what had happened to Nick Taylor, so Richard Prior phoned him, and found they were at Nice airport about to fly back to do MIRA the following day. After a few expletives Nick and Fiona went off for lunch and probably a nice bottle of wine or two.

The first competitive runs came around with Holman the first major contender. He hit 100mph through the speed trap and possibly braked too hard for Tower, which may have unsettled the car; so he was still slower than P1. He was not alone in this as the track is more difficult than at first seems. It looked like the correct technique for the Tower complex was to brake fairly gently, change down smoothly, and get the throttle open again before the fast right hander.

Other competitors in Westfields were taking it in a big tail-out slide.

Jeff Cooper's 360 emitted a lovely blip-up on changing down, which he told me was his dexterous heel-and-toeing and nothing at all to do with the F1 electronics. The left-hand exit of the complex was tighter than it looked, most using second gear.

It surprised a few including Adrian Wilson (355) who got into a bit of a tank-slapper on R1, but he held it all together well to record 61.36, his best time.

Richard Preece (348GTC) went very well to end the first run seventh overall and was absolutely delighted to head Richard Prior (348ts). Phil Whitehead hurtled through the speed trap fastest of all at 112 mph. When Tomlin asked him how he'd done it he said "I don't know, I just shut my eyes".

Spicer and Butler looked quick, but Tomlin looked quicker, carrying lots of speed into Tower.

The clocks confirmed the impression, stopping on 54 seconds dead, knocking four tenths off Chris Butler's record.

All waited for Goodwin in the 430.

The run didn't look comfortable, 54.76, over three-quarters of a second slower than the 355.

Colin Campbell's 246 Dino, the only six cylinder Ferrari in the field, led away for R2 and he beat his best MIRA time by 1.5 seconds. Sean Doyle's GT4 looked a bit lively and he confirmed the impression that the shockers probably need some attention, this being the first place fast enough to really show it up. Nevertheless he improved by over 2 seconds to 64.55.

Tracey Haynes too improved well to 65.83, chopping a whopping 4.5 seconds off her previous best MIRA time.

The back end of Pauline Goodwin’s similar 328 stepped well out in the right-hander, she caught it well, but had to do it all again due to timing gear problems. On her re-run she drove equally vigorously to record her best time of 58.56.

Holman borrowed one of Tomlin's excuses - fuel starvation - so was delighted to get a re-run due to another timekeeping error.

This may have become a run too far as he was well sideways in both corners of the Tower complex, which was highly entertaining and he still improved to 56.73.

Richard Prior made a big improvement to 56.21, which after Peter Wilson had improved to 61.95, Richard Preece could do nothing about. He modestly said "Every dog has his day and this was my 10 minutes". Geoff Dark recorded 111mph through the speed trap, but was a tad slower than his first run, as seems to be the norm for him. Phil Whitehead must have had his eyes open on this run as both his trap speed and run times were slightly worse. Barrie Wood (355) didn't improve, unlike Charles Haynes (348GTC), who took off over 2 seconds.

Chris Butler braked smoothly for the right-hander and hard for the left in a typically well controlled run, but at 54.46 it just wasn't good enough to challenge Tomlin. Mike Spicer braked too hard for Tower and had to accelerate into the corner, and his first run time was his best. However, as his second run

was better than Geoff Dark's, with whom he'd tied on the first run, this gave him seventh place on scratch. Mike also had the best 0-64ft time of 2.26 seconds (possibly the fastest ever 355 start) On his second run, Dave Tomlin hurtled through the speed trap fastest of all at 114mph. He looked a bit ragged, but still vaguely under control - after all he is an ex-karter. Even though the run was nine-hundredths slower surely the win was in the bag? Gooders was seen heading towards his 430 for R2 with furrowed brow. On the run he looked to be keeping the 500 prancing horses on a tight rein, somehow as if there was less grip for him than the others. He "only" did 109mph through the speed trap and the complex was well under control, but the clock said 53.26, beating Tomlin by nearly three-quarters of a second.

Jon said afterwards that his first conclusion was to switch off the 430's brain and use D.I.Y. mode. He accepts that this might not actually be optimal but it works for him. His fully manual,

‘Sainsbury's Car Park’ start technique gave him a 0-64ft time of 2.58 seconds, not great but acceptable. Then he'd taken the first never-ending left-hander slower because otherwise the car pushed and it was an age before he could get the throttle open for the straight. This all worked superbly with a net result of 53.26 seconds and another "triple" - the class record, outright win and max. points.

However, as you can see this was no pushover. Gooders stated that it's much harder to get the best out of a 430 than a 355, which is more user-friendly and can be driven with gay abandon.

Goodwin was a delighted winner and Tomlin a disappointed second, but he must have been consoled by second place points giving him the Championship lead. In consecutive meetings the third placed driver outright was also third on PEPs, this time Chris Butler. All in all another highly enjoyable day of great sport and conviviality in the sunshine - shame you missed it Nick!  PS: Photos not allowed at MIRA

MIRA SPRINT 14 MAY 2008 Round 6 Pirelli Ferrari Hill Climb Championship Driver Jon Goodwin David Tomlin Chris Butler Philip Whitehead Richard Prior Andrew Holman Mike Spicer Geoff Dark Richard Preece Barrie Wood Pauline Goodwin Jeff Cooper Adrian Wilson Peter Wilson Sean Doyle Tracey Haynes Charles Haynes Colin Campbell Class Awards:

Tipo F430 F355GTB F355 F355GTB 348ts 348tb F355GTB F355GTB 348GTC F355 328GTB 360 Modena

F355 348tb 308GT4 328GTB 348GTC 246GT

Pract 1 57.08 56.49 56.69 56.96 59.17 56.42 58.45 59.83 59.86 62.13 60.32 64.24 63.92 65.38 64.98 68.28 71.48 75.52

1st Jon Goodwin

Pract 2 55.20 54.89 55.18 55.99 57.21 65.08 57.36 58.23 58.13 59.87 60.36 60.45 60.97 68.73 84.00 66.94 69.13 74.29

Run 1

Run 2

54.76 54.00 54.77 55.19 57.28 57.99 56.91 56.91 57.01 58.41 60.37 61.07 61.36 62.98 66.57 66.63 69.59 75.33

2nd David Tomlin

53.26 54.09 54.46 55.53 56.21 56.73 57.04 57.23 57.31 59.10 58.56 59.14 61.99 61.95 64.55 65.83 67.10 73.69

0-64ft

Speed *

2.58 2.38 2.54 2.53 2.54 2.39 2.26 2.43 2.47 2.58 2.35 2.78 2.45 2.54 2.44 2.61 2.55 2.79

94/109 105/114 108/112 111/106 105/108 100/102 102/95 111/111 108/106 102/100 96/103 99/102 102/96 93/96 83/88 86/89 87/88 74/76

PEP % +3.50 +2.25 +2.25 +2.25 +1.00 0.00 +2.25 +2.25 +1.50 +2.25 -0.50 +2.25 +2.25 0.00 -2.00 -0.50 +1.50 -4.50

PEP time 55.12 55.22 55.69 56.43 56.77 56.73 58.19 58.19 57.87 59.72 58.27 60.47 62.74 61.95 63.21 65.50 68.11 70.37

3rd Chris Butler CompRes 21

Pts 20 17 15 13 11 12 9 8 10 6 7 5 3 4 2 1 1 1

My Motor Sport Jeff is an elder statesman in the Club, a highly regarded member who has tried his hand at most Ferrari competitions with his beloved Dino. As a professional engineer in the motor industry he is always happy to offer advice and encouragement to younger drivers having their first taste of Club events. He continues to be one of the small band of qualified driving instructors at track days and is a keen member of the Club’s Essex area group despite his Yorkshire roots. Together with his wife Barbara he is a demon crossword enthusiast, invariably winning the CompRes annual competition.

Earliest motor racing memory: My father took me to watch a 'Club Racing ' event at a North Yorkshire Airfield in 1953, when I was 8 Years old. I was impressed by the noise and the amount of body-roll of the competing vehicles as they negotiated the circuit marked out with oil drums. I was most impressed by the Ford 100E van with the back doors wedged open and no windscreen glass!

Most memorable motor racing moment: Many incidents with both good and bad feelings. The most spectacular was the sight of the Mercedes Le Mans car backflipping on the Mulsanne Straight.

Worst memory is of the prolonged silence watching RTL live Satellite TV coverage of Imola 1994, a very sad weekend.

First car: A red 1960 848cc Austin Mini ex hire car, bought from my girlfriend’s father, who had just started to race a Mini Cooper. That was the catalyst for my future motor sport activities.

Best personal racing moment: Winning the class at Castle Combe in the Dino in 1992, after the leading 328GTBs collided at Quarry Corner

22 CompRes

and ripped out their tyre valves.

I believe this was the last time a Dino won its class in the Maranello Series.

No strong views as there are so many different series and classes, with regulations that seem to cater for most tastes.

Worst personal racing moment:

What did you enjoy most from being a competitor within the FOC:

Watching my Dino’s left-hand rear wheel, stub shaft, brake disc and calliper assembly overtake me at Sear corner at Snetterton.

Favourite circuit: Zandvoort, closely followed by Brands Hatch GP. Favourite hillclimb venue: Harewood (on a nice day).

Who were your motor racing heroes: Jim Clark, Gilles Villeneuve, Elwynne Owen-Jones.

What change(s) would you like to see in motor racing/ hillclimbing:

Enjoying the company of like minded enthusiasts at venues throughout Europe.

What did you like least from being a competitor within the FOC: The occasional mixed-make races (i.e. Alfa Sud cars on slicks versus Maranello series cars on road tyres). This does not include Intermarque Races which are good sport.

Sporting motto: He who laughs last, laughs and laughs and laughs.

Personal favourite competition car: F355 Challenge. Favourite road cars used in Ferrari competition are Dino 246GT and 328GTB. Which did you enjoy the most – hillclimbs or circuits: Circuits - you get so much more running time.

Current Ferrari(s) owned: Dino 246GT and 330GTC.

PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 7 DOUNE 21/22 June 2008

Fearless lady. It can’t have been easy for Wendy-Ann Marshall to take her husband’s 430 up such a demanding course but she did so with commendable aplomb.

looked alarmingly wide for the track but with smooth driving from both of them, stayed in perfect shape. With warm tyres, Peter Rogerson managed an

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

HE SPLENDID ENTRY of thirteen Ferraris this year included the three who had been to Doune for the 2004 event: Jon Goodwin, Chris Butler, and Richard Prior, who all had a clear advantage on this exhilarating and daunting hill reports RICHARD PRIOR. Barrie Wood had covered over 1000 miles during the weekend in his 308, and Peter Rogerson travelled all the way from Yorkshire in one stint on the morning of the Saturday practice. Whilst there were storms down south, Scotland was bathed in warm sunshine, but it was forecast to reach north of the border for the following day.

This is the only meeting I can think of where novice drivers are given a guided tour of the track from the comfort of a 4x4 by the organisers and other Doune experts, to pass on their wise words. The usual programme of

Photo: Scuderia Fotografia

T

Peter Rogerson’s F355GTS heads the mouth-watering line-up of Ferraris.

events is to have three practice runs on the Saturday with another one on Sunday morning before the two official runs.

Wendy-Ann Marshall led practice away, sharing the F430 with husband John, a car that

excellent 0-64ft time of 2.38 seconds, almost matched by Chris Butler who stayed out in front all day long. Compared to the Ferrari record of 54.50 secs (Jon Goodwin [F355]) he reeled off an impressive set of times:

56.74, 55.60 and then 53.72, which caused the others a bit of head-scratching.

Another big surprise in practice was Andrew Holman (348tb) who set the second quickest time of the day, just a fraction ahead of Prior’s 348, and barely a second clear of Jon Goodwin in the 250GT Lusso.

Guest driver John Shirley (F355) had got to grips immediately with the hill and brought his time down to a respectable 57.14, while Phil Whitehead finished the day by breaking the 60 second barrier.

As Richard Allen sat in the queue to the start line he realised he was missing his glasses. He sprinted back through the paddock to retrieve his specs, but he could then see that his 328GTB had no timing strut, so he again sprinted back to his toolkit to find it and attached it to the car in the nick of time.

We also had the opportunity to watch the top runners in the British Hillclimb Championship at this meeting. It really was an incredible sight to behold as the single-seaters shot their way up the narrow confines of the lower section of the track at speeds in excess of 125mph.

CompRes 23

All the Ferraris returned to the Dunblane Hydro in one piece for a Saturday night Grand Dinner which the hillclimbers always enjoy, everything organised by Chris Butler. After much talk over the dinner table we retired to the bar, and sampled a few more local delicacies (from a range of single malts) The newcomers were comparing their experience of the track so far as being like shot out of a cannon, where the lower section of track, with its blind corners and close Armco and stone walls with dark overhanging trees, suddenly erupts out into the bright meadow before you accelerate through the sweeping righthanders approaching the infamous East Brae, where you hit a sudden 1 in 4 climb that changes into a tight blind right hand turn at the top. Most drivers had experienced a few scares here but no incidents so far. But this was only practice, and tomorrow would mean trying just a little harder than your closest rival when it really mattered.

Sunday morning and the rain had been steadily falling for hours before the drivers saw the light of day. The Clerk of the Course had concerns about the conditions, but the rain eased as we assembled back at the track.

Everything went ahead as planned and the Ferraris again took to the track. Despite this being another practice run there was close competition between Prior (58.40), Holman (58.42) and Jon Goodwin (58.47) with Butler down to fourth place.

Wendy Marshall produced her best time of the day, but all other drivers were cautiously finding their way again (or maybe still shaking off the hangovers).

This meeting was organised to commemorate 40 years of Hillclimbing at Doune, and during the lunch break there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the Anniversary. We then we had the honour of taking all the Ferraris up the hill in a parade with passengers from the Lothian

24 CompRes

In June 1991, when we first tackled Doune with our Ferraris, your editor wrote the following guidance notes in Competition News issue 51. Some of the details may have changed since then but I am sure this challenging hill is just as exciting now as it was all those years ago.

For the benefit of those who may be planning an assault on the course in the future, let me give you some idea of what Doune holds in store for you. The first 30 yards off the line are straightforward because it is one of the few times you will see in advance where you are heading. The track then disappears to the left and swoops left and right, with menacing Armco and stout timber planks at each side of the ribbon of tarmac. In a forest of trees on the left, a particularly stout specimen marks ‘Oak Tree’ where the brave negotiate the adjacent left-hander with the barest flicker of lift. Coming up rapidly is the next landmark, ‘Garden Gate’, an innocuous name for a devilish blind right-handed bend. You then plunge into the aptly named ‘Tunnel’: very fast, very blind, and canopied from the heavens by dense greenery. Emerging, like a cork from a bottle, three distance boards on the left denote that ‘The Junction’ is coming up fast. Brake at the first, you’re ‘chicken’; at the second, it’s hectic; at the third, do me a favour—you’re set to launch yourself at the spinney on the horizon.

Suddenly, after contending with all that high speed obscurity, the trees disappear and you can actually see what is coming up. An open fast right-hander leading to the steepest section of any UK hillclimb course (1 in 4). But don’t relax because the notorious ‘East Brae’ is at the top of this switchback. As you approach it, the road disappears and all you see is the sky. Turn in at the very start of ‘East Brae’. Six inches too late, forget it because you will likely miss the black stuff altogether and plough onto the grass on the far side of the track.

If you have got it right, the next bit seems comparatively easy. The road twists through more trees but at least you can see what’s on offer, and the bigger trees are padded. And as you snake through the twists you realise the final twist is more severe than the others—get the tail out too much and the formidable Armco on the right is there to punish you.

Suddenly you can see the ‘Finish’ banner ahead and it’s all over. Grown men have been known to shake when they have reached the safety of the collecting area beyond the line. It’s hair shirt stuff alright at Doune, but get it right and it is the most satisfying feeling.

 JMS 1991

Photos: Scuderia Fotografia

Top: John Shirley, running as a guest competitor, joined the ‘quick brigade’; Centre: Jon Goodwin’s Lusso had a rain induced misfire but was still quick enough to score maximum Championship points; Bottom: Chris Butler was the pick of the crop in his F355.

Car Club, with the Goodwins nominated to take the most special of all, Lord Doune and his wife (the Earl and Countess of Moray), at a more leisurely pace (mostly!) and every competitor received a memento of the occasion from the organisers, which was nice!

Then, finally, it was time for racing – and it was still raining.

Doune in the dry is awesome enough but in the wet it is very special indeed. Wendy took the 430 up first, recording 77.37 secs, but the times quickly came tumbling down. Rogerson did a 75.70, clearly trying hard, Phil Whitehead took it down to 59.75, and then Allen set an excellent 59.29. Barrie Wood was a little cautious in the awful conditions to set 65.29, but John Shirley, running as a guest driver because his modified 355 was not within the PFHC regulations, joined the quick brigade with 60.22. The hugely powerful 430 of John Marshall came next and John did well in this pristine car to slither up in 66.10, no doubt with every electronic gizmo turned up full blast.

Then came a fabulous run from Butler, very fast and committed through the bottom section, but at East Brae he slid off, put all four wheels on the grass, but still continued to set a class-leading time of 57.14.

Pauline Goodwin was next in her 328, very brave in the conditions, to set an excellent 60.28 just as the rain increased in intensity.

Next up were Prior and Holman, both needing frontrunning times, but would the worsening conditions spoil it?

Prior, his 348’s engine spluttering a little, could ‘only’ do a 58.50, more than a second behind Butler, but Holman gave it all and stopped the clock at 58.22 – second place so far. Then we had Gooders in the Lusso, and we were all waiting with bated breath, but as they came into view the car had clearly picked up a misfire and to make it worse went all four wheels off at East Brae and recorded a time of only 62.40 which wouldn’t even be enough for the PEPs win. The final runner was Mike Spicer in his F355 who splashed up in

CompRes 25

61.78 to put himself squarely into the tight midfield. Much would depend on the second runs.

During the interval the rains eased, there was even some sunshine about, and the track started drying. But then another sharp shower left the Ferrari boys and gals facing a wet track again, albeit a little less so than the first time. Richard Allen looked extremely quick, knocking threequarters of a second off his first time but just failing to catch Holman and had to be content with fourth. John Shirley was also quicker on his second run and finished fifth, Whitehead and Pauline G brought up the next places, with the times in this midfield bunch very closely matched.

Butler continued where he had left off, took nearly another second off his previous time, and left it to Prior and Holman to see what they could do in response.

Prior gave it everything and, despite knocking more than a second off his first-run time, remained behind Butler although he moved up into second slot.

Then it was Holman’s turn and his run looked the quickest of all but at the final corner, just before the finish, he touched the Armco barrier first on one side and then on the other and, although he continued, the time was blown and he had to be content with third place (from his previous run time).

Jon Goodwin’s Lusso, still with a misfire in the damp

conditions, couldn’t improve on the practice times with 59.57, which was only good enough for 6th on scratch. However it was ahead of Philip Whitehead in the F355 and it did give Jon the maximum points. So Gooders got the 20 points, but 13 points means Holman has regained the lead at the top of the Championship table.

A very big thank you goes to the Lothian Car Club for looking after us all weekend and for being the most helpful and amiable officials that we have ever competed under. Hopefully we will be allowed to return again before another four years have passed.

DOUNE HILLCLIMB 21/22 June 2008 Round 7 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship Driver Chris Butler Richard Prior Andrew Holman

Richard Allen **John Shirley Jon Goodwiin Philip Whitehead Pauline Goodwin Mike Spicer Barrie Wood John Marshall Peter Rogerson Wendy Ann Marshall

Tipo

Pract 1

Pract 2

Pract 3

Pract 4

H/ cap

F355 348ts 348tb F355 F355 Lusso F355 328GTB F355 308GTB F430 F1 F355GTS F430 F1

56.74 62.82 58.13 60.52 62.27 60.02 66.26 61.28 66.28 67.37 65.86 68.27 80.83

55.60 55.90 55.75 58.40 58.19 56.93 60.59 60.28 61.83 62.79 61.20 66.97 79.67

53.72 56.48 55.94 57.64 57.14 58.50 59.20 62.39 67.04 62.43 62.64 63.72 77.88

59.87 58.40 58.42 61.64 62.21 58.47 66.20 62.46 64.35 66.26 66.10 74.19 75.18

53.00 54.50 55.00 55.50 55.00 56.50 57.50 58.00 57.50 61.00 58.00 60.00 72.00

NB 0 - 64ft relates to the fastest run time.

Class Awards: FOC Handicap:

26 CompRes

Run 2

64ft

PEP %

PEP Time

Pts

57.14 58.50 58.22 59.29 60.22 62.40 59.75 60.28 61.78 65.29 66.10 75.70 77.37

56.25 57.46 67.91 58.61 59.22 59.57 62.08 60.87 63.07 63.62 67.57 72.69 75.61

2.94 2.80 2.70 2.66 2.82 2.86 2.75 2.70 2.65 --2.71 2.75 3.07

2.25 1.00 0.00 2.25 ---7.00 2.25 -0.50 2.25 -2.00 3.50 2.25 3.50

57.52 58.03 58.22 59.93 --55.40 61.09 59.98 63.17 62.35 68.41 74.33 78.26

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

** Guest driver

1st Chris Butler 1st Philip Whitehead

Points after Round 7

Run 1

2nd Richard Prior 2nd Pauline Goodwin

Andrew Holman David Tomlin Jon Goodwin Mike Spicer Chris Butler Philip Whitehead Richard Prior Geoff Dark Pauline Goodwin John Marshall Richard Preece Barrie Wood Nick Taylor Richard Allen Brian Jackson

3rd Andrew Holman

93 83 80 78 78 67 59 55 54 40 37 34 33 32 28

John Swift Sean Doyle Sergio Ransford Peter Rogerson Tracey Haynes Peter Wilson Charles Haynes Andy Grier Jeffrey Cooper Wendy Ann Marshall Andrew Duncan Colin Campbell Adrian Wilson Edward Briscoe

21 18 15 15 13 12 12 11 10 9 4 4 4 2

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28 CompRes

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Mike and Graham Reeder Performance and Specialist Cars

Maranello Ferrari Challenge Champions 1998 and 2000 Fixed Price Servicing - Race Preparation and Track Support - Tyres Supplied and Fitted Electronic Wheel Balancing - Personal Service Guaranteed

The Garage North Newnton Pewsey Wiltshire SN9 6JU Tel 01980 630327 Fax 01980 630015 E-mail enquiries: gcreeder@aol.com

Choose from a Turn Key Service to Technical Support On the day.

Various Packages available

WREN CLASSICS

‘The South’s Premier Preparers’ Contact: Steve Farthing Tel: 01747 852899 Fax: 01747 854988 enquiries@wrenclassics.com

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