FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS
CompRes
TREVOR NEAL’S ITALIAN LANDSCAPE
ISSUE 042 MARCH 2009
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 Under normal circumstances at this time of the year we would be commenting on and invariably applauding the successful start to the season of the Ferrari F1 team. But not this time! In a quite unbelievably shambolic showing at the first two grands prix of the season, Ferrari haven’t scored a single point. Poor speed from a far from world beating car has been compounded by reliability problems and inexplicable driver lapses. This is the sort of dire performance one got used to when the team was exclusively run by Italians. We have to admire the amazing double victories by the Brawn team and Jenson Button, who have made some of the established F1 contenders look like amateurs. One doesn’t wish to be disloyal but the sooner the Ferrari team get their act together, the better. What APRIL we want is more brain than Brawn!
TARGETS This month’s issue of CompRes includes all the current Ferrari lap records MAY and hillclimb records at all the venues at which we have competed, both past and present. The colours used in the tables may give the appearance of slices of Battenburg cake but we hope they will assist clarity. And a word for those just starting their Ferrari competition driving who may find these records a bit off-putting and seemingly
1 CompRes
unattainable. Most of them were set after many seasons of experience and practice by the drivers concerned.
Photo: SwiftyPix
THE BEST LAID SCHEMES . .
MAGICAL VENICE Anne and I have just returned from Venice after a wonderful 4-day break courtesy of all the Club’s racers, who so generously contributed to the holiday voucher presented to us at the End-of-Season-Dinner last year. Truman Capote once said that Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one go, and it is not far from the truth. The city’s awesome magnificence makes it quite the most exquisite place to be in the early spring and we were fortunate to enjoy lots of warm sunshine.
Anne enjoys the sunshine in Venice
WHAT’S ON 13
So, with batteries charged, we shall tackle the complexities of the racing season with fresh vitality and renewed vigour. Thanks a million once again!
Bouley Bay Hillclimb
25/26 FOC Spring Ball (Saturday) and AGM (Sunday) - Whittlebury Hall 27
FOC Track Day Silverstone GP
4
Donington Park:Pirelli Ferrari formula classic; Pirelli Ferrari Open
9
Harewood Hillclimb
21
FOC Snetterton Track Day
23
Prescott Hillclimb
29/31 Spa-Francorchamps: Pirelli Ferrari formula classic; Pirelli Ferrari Open 30/31 Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb
HILLCLIMBERS SOCIAL COLUMN Here is a reminder to all hillclimbers. Anne has been sending out entry forms (or exhorting you to download them) thick and fast for this season’s events and it goes without saying that it is essential to get your entries in as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. However, equally important is the necessity to make your wishes clear about those social events which are associated with the competitions. We are organising Ferrari Dinners at Shelsley Walsh (30 May), Doune (20 June), Prescott (27 June), Loton Park (11
July) and Harewood (19 September). When you receive the details of these social events, please make sure you book your places and/or your accommodation with the hotel as soon as you can.
PIRELLI CALENDARS Last month we announced that 2009 Pirelli Calendars would be awarded to three of the first twelve competitors to register for each of our three Club series: PFfc, PFO and the PFHC hillclimb Championship. The drivers who were fortunate to win one of these valuable and eminently collectable calendars are as follows: PFfc:
Jon Goodwin Nicky Paul-Barron Mark Hargeaves
One of the images from the 2009 Pirelli Calendar.
meantime we give our grateful thanks to Pirelli for letting us have these splendid calendars for our drivers.
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
mouth-watering courses, coffee and petit fours, and will be inclusive of wines. The Dinner will be preceded by aperifs. We have block-booked all the rooms at the hotel and the negotiated demon rate will be €75 for a double room per night, including breakfast. If you wish to secure your accommodation at this very special rate you need to mention my name or ‘Ferrari’. The contact telephone number is +32 (0) 87 47 53 93. You can also check the hotel’s website at www.hotel-du-wayai.be The Ferrari race programme is as follows:
Arrangements are well in hand for our foray to Spa at the Tim Mogridge end of May (28-31 May) and entry forms will be posted out to Rory Fordyce all registered PFfc and PFO PFHC: Richard Preece competitors immediately after the Colin Campbell Easter break. This year we are based at a Andrew Holman different hotel from previous Spa As you will see from the race meetings. The hotel we illustration, this year’s production have chosen is the AUBERGE DU is rather different from earlier WAYAI at Sart-Jalhay. ones. We hope the recipients will 09.00 Testing (optional) 20 The hotel is located near FRIDAY be pleased with them. In the mins (€50) junction 9 on the E42 (Verviers10.00 Qualifying 1 Prϋm) and 13.05 Qualifying 2 is 10 minutes SATURDAY 10.50 Race 1 drive from the circuit SUNDAY 10.15 Race 2 and a similar On the Thursday, RMA Ltd, distance from Spa the track day organisation, have town. It has hired the circuit for an open pit luxurious track day. I have arranged for all accommodation our competitors to be invited to and a huge car join this day if they wish, the park. charge for which will be £245 for On the the whole day (with an extra Friday evening we charge of £145 for an additional have arranged the driver and a passenger at £25). traditional Spa For those who wish to Ferrari Dinner at participate in this optional testing the hotel and the prior to the official event, an special menu will application form will be included consist of four The Auberge du Wayai in your race entry pack. PFO:
David Hathaway
CompRes 2
We are delighted to welcome a new sponsor to our PFfc Classic series. Throughout the 2009 season, Chris Compton Goddard’s Hackwood Group will be awarding a trophy at each event to the ‘Classic Driver of the Meeting’. The award will recognise an exceptional drive by a competitor who has exceeded his or her anticipated level of performance, taking account of the potential of the car and/or driver’s experience. The winner may come from anywhere in the field – not necessarily a podium finisher – and seeks to reward someone having ‘the drive of their life’. This award is a welcome addition to the prizes on offer and we are sure will encourage those who, perhaps, cannot realistically expect to take the chequered flag but nevertheless drive their socks off in their attempt.
RACE NUMBER ODDITYS We have a note from RICHARD PREECE regarding competition numbers. He writes: As the start of the season is upon us and working on the PC had reached a particularly boring point, I decided to take a few moments to prepare my race plates for Bouley Bay. I immediately came across a common hillclimber's problem as a result of needing to make up different competition entry numbers for each meeting. Sorting through my three-year accumulation of stick-on numbers I found that, despite having what seemed like hundreds, I still came up short on those I needed to make up my plates. This warranted analysis! Having purchased three race number packs in my time, this meant that I had bought 18 of each number from 0 through to 9. Counting showed that my stick-on ‘2’s have disappeared at an alarming rate with none left, ‘7’ being close with only two remaining. Other low scorers were ‘3’ and ‘8’. Number ‘4’ was mysteriously untouched and the remaining numbers all of a
3 CompRes
muchness! This is a long winded way to pass on a useful find to fellow competitors. Buying a full set of race numbers works out at around 25p per number and having to buy a full pack, when only one number runs out, is a pain. I found a seller on eBay (with the search '9” Stick On Race Numbers') who is willing to make up any combination of numbers, in packs of ten, at around the 30p mark. This way I hope to eventually use up those untouched ‘4’s and not have to ditch them in the bin. Editor’s Note: Merlin Motorsport at Castle Combe (01249-782101) supply self adhesive individual numbers (9” or 11”) at 45 pence each as well as the usual packs containing six of each number plus nine ‘1’s.
MARANELLO CONCESSIONAIRES As already notified to PFfc competitors, Maranello Concessionaires have advised us that they are unable to provide sponsorship for the 2009 series. Current losses, particularly in America, considerably reduced turnover and a number of redundancies are blamed for their decision.
This news is particularly sad since it ends a happy association of 23 years of unbroken support for the Club’s racing programme. We all hope that conditions in the motor industry will improve quickly and perhaps enable Maranellos to once again fly their flag – in the form of the distinctive Cambridge blue sunstrip – on our cars once again. Not all is lost, I am pleased to report. I have made an agreement with Maranello’s Paul Williams that all bona fide registered competitors in our 2009 PFfc series will be given a discount of 10% on parts purchased from them. In order to obtain this special reduction, competitors must ensure in the first instance that they are on Anne Swift’s accreditation list lodged with Maranellos.
LONG DISTANCE KARTERS A full report of the first racing event in our 2009 calendar – the karting enduro at Thruxton karting circuit on 28th March – is included in this edition. The winning team was Kart Ecosse, based in the Scottish Highlands. To get to the race they made an astonishing round trip of some 1200 miles! They thoroughly deserved their victory. Photo: SwiftyPix
NEW SPONSOR
John Shirley’s Kart Ecosse team celebrate their victory at the PreSeason Dinner in Newbury last month. They were presented with a bottle of fizz for their quite amazing efforts.
RA’s HILLCOMMENT On Your Marks as I write these notes, with just one week to go to the 2009 PFHC opener at North Weald on March 15th (reported in this issue). An encouraging fifteen Ferraris are entered including two newcomers to the series. Last year it was Mike Spicer with his F355 taking the class in appalling weather, but this time around you can expect Andrew Holman (348tb) and Richard Prior (348ts) to be heading the time sheet, with Nick Taylor (348GTC) and David Tomlin (F355) giving them a hard time. If the heavens open the winner is still likely to be amongst those mentioned, depending on who has the newest rubber. According to my entry list, Sean Doyle is out in a ‘348GT4 Dino’ – not seen one of these before! After this early season warm up there is a month’s delay before the serious uphill stuff starts at Bouley Bay on Easter Monday, and then on to Harewood (9th May). RAF Honington a place I had never heard of near Grantham, was the venue for a “Shakedown Sprint” run by our North Weald organising club Borough 19MC in late February. The course is very fast and three of our competitors turned out, with the hyper keen Andrew Holman in his 348tb showing huge promise as he finished comfortably ahead of the very experienced Geoff Dark (F355). Sean Doyle was going well with his 308GT4, but his day was cut short when he encountered car problems. Two New Players are debuting at North Weald, firstly Julian Playford fielding a metallic grey F355. He is from Billericay in Essex, has been a member for quite a few years and sold a black F355 he owned earlier to John Swift no less. He tried to buy it
back, but John rather liked the car by then! Julian has no previous competition experience but has done club Track Days and, more importantly, the first of our Curborough ITSE events some years ago. Joe Billingham from Worcester has a red 360F1 Modena, and is a new Club member with several Ferraris including a 612 Scaglietti. Like Julian, he has not done anything competitive - just track days. Around the Hills there is usually some interesting news. Harewood continue to strive to improve their facility and have been busy over the winter. Their Comp Sec, Chris Seaman, says they have done nothing to cause more damage to Ferraris, which is reassuring. Much work has been done up at Quarry to make the run-off gravel area both more arresting and less injurious. There is even going to be an additional split time making five altogether – not bad as most places only have just one! Alterations have been made to the venue entrance and approach as well. Seaman’s parting shot
was “We always look forward to the Ferraris!” Over at Loton Park they are holding their fire for the venue’s fiftieth anniversary and Hagley&DLCC’s seventy fifth in 2010. They are building a permanent bar and catering premises fairly soon, and Club Secretary Dave Parr proudly told me that in June they won The Norrie Galbraith Trophy for the Best British Championship Event in 2008 – for the second year running apparently. Anyway we are expected to be included at their Anniversary meeting in 2010. They will probably arrange a celebratory Ferrari driver bollocking too! Not much has changed at Shelsley – the lovely old buildings around the site are well advanced in their restoration programme and there will be a new driver shelter in the top paddock. Curborough is a pretty useful venue as we all know, not just for competition but for practice too. As a purpose built sprint course it is unique and justifiably popular. Sad to relate, the clock is running out for
Peter Rogerson’s new acquisition for the hills this season is this 360 Modena. His grandson Oliver shares the excitement.
CompRes 4
Curborough. If you have been going there as long as some of us you will have noticed Lichfield’s new commercial developments moving ever closer down the road. Word has it that the sprint course will be engulfed within five years – a bit like coastal erosion really. Pirelli have improved the tyre supply situation for our competitors for 2009, and just recently their man Carl Naylor has been busy shipping out supplies of the very popular PZero in time for the new season. I know of at least three new sets out at North Weald and there may well be a few others. It was these tyres Andrew Holman was using to such great effect at the recent Honington Shakedown sprint. Peter Rogerson has used his F355 extensively on the hills over many years. Many of you may not know that this car has also had the wheels driven off it at most of the Club Track Days over the same period by Peter and some of his DCS Business Systems colleagues. Inevitably
Peter has now gone for a 360 Modena - his fetching dark blue example is seen in our picture with his grandson, Oliver, who has F355 hill experience at our Club’s Prescott Picnic event. Philip Whitehead that quiet young man who so often surprises us with his very fast F355 times, never looks to me like a spanner swinger, but then I recall he once mentioned he had put a new clutch in the car. By profession an accountant, surprisingly it seems we must get a look at his fingernails, as he has been doing more work on the car over the winter, and is even putting in a passenger race seat – just to save weight as they are bloody uncomfortable! John Marshall took delivery yesterday of his new 430 Scuderia from Lancaster in Colchester. This has to be potentially the quickest road legal Ferrari yet seen on the hills and we look forward to seeing John out with this ultimate weapon. Should be a great car for Doune – John is not keen on this I understand, but maybe Wendy could drive!
Light the blue touch paper and retire immediately. John Marshall surveys the engine room of his rocket ship, a brand new 430 Scuderia. This will be the quickest road-legal Ferrari yet seen on the hills.
5 CompRes
The mysterious 308GT4 gizmo spotted at the NEC Autosport Show in January. RA is offering a small prize to the reader who can identify what it does.
Jon Goodwin fresh back from his tour of New Zealand took a look at the 2009 PFHC revised PEPs and, seeing the Lusso and 430 were less advantageous, he decided to look in his locker for another weapon and, hey presto, what about a 550! Sean Doyle’s immaculate and usually beautifully presented 308GT4 overheated at the Honington event, caused, he thought, primarily by the fans not coming on. However he has since had to replace the radiator as well as the fans – on cars of this age the core usually gets gunged up. Since then the starter motor has packed up too, none too handy as Sean is desperate to get in to the North Weald meeting. He has recently worked the GT4’s suspension over thoroughly, then had the car set up by QV, and is looking forward to checking out the handling changes. 308GT4 Gizmo was spotted at the NEC Autosport Show in January. In the Coys auction was this red 308 GT4 with gold wheels that claimed in the blurb to have been campaigned in the late great PMFC race series none of us could recognise it though. We did spot an amazing device in the boot, the purpose of which was unfathomable. Study
the picture and let us know what you think. The 2009 PFHC Social Scene is all framed up nicely, and we start in vengeance in Jersey at Easter, which you should be all signed up for by now. Over at Shelsley, on Saturday May 30th we are running the usual fine dining dinner at The Elms just outside Abberley. We are expecting to be joined as usual by John Moody, President of Midland Automobile Club, and those of you who have been before will know what a special occasion this is. (a booking form for The Elms will be out to you soon). In June, it is Doune and you have already been emailed the booking forms detailing the accommodation and dinner arrangements for The Dunblane Hydro. Chris Butler is very kindly handling these and it would help if you can deal with these promptly. Jon Goodwin, meanwhile, has made accommodation and dining arrangements for the second Prescott in late June at the splendid Corse Lawn Hotel. The information you need is going out any day at the time of writing. Area Groups are a very important part of our Club scene,
The magnificent Corse Lawn Hotel is the focal point of our Prescott weekend in late June. The hotel is owned by the Hine family of Cognac fame.
though for many years we have not had any in Scotland. Now though there are three and all champing at the bit, especially since we asked then to support the PFHC Doune round. Signs are that they will turn out in force, so we must make sure we put on a good show for them! The FOC AGM Weekend (April 25-27) is not to be missed even if you cannot take it
Birthdays in April
all in. The Spring Ball on Saturday evening is always very popular, and if you are a serious member and competitor you can take in the AGM and Prizegiving Lunch on Sunday – a great chance to applaud our competitors. Finally, on Monday, we are over at nearby Silverstone for the Club’s Track Day on the GP circuit. I hope to see you there.
2 Shaun Powell Robin Ward 3 Mike Haigh 5 Simon Cooke 6 John Miles Swift Peggy Carey Ben Orza 9 Richard Preece 11 Mike Reeder 12 Ibrahim Essat 13 Tony Jones Mark Buckland 14 Lynn Seymour 19 John Taylor Andrew Christopher Andrew Morris 23 Andrew & Robert Berman Robin Mortimer 27 David Edge Didier Benaroya 29 Mike Spicer Sean Doyle 30 Polly Everingham CompRes 6
CURRENT CLASS RECORDS HILL OR SPRINT
DATE
TIME
PEP TIME
BOULEY BAY
12-04-04
2.75%
Jon Goodwin
F355
50.31
51.69
CADWELL PARK
17-06-06
2.50%
Chris Butler
F355
102.46
105.02
CORNBURY PARK
15-09-96
3.50%
Richard Allen
F355
42.29
43.77
CREG NY BAA
27-05-00
3.00%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
41.84
43.10
CRUAGH
02-05.92
0.00%
Brian Jackson
308GTB
52.24
CURBOROUGH (1 lap)
15.08.04
2.75%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
35.02
35.98
CURBOROUGH (2 laps)
17-08-08
3.50%
Jon Goodwin
F430
62.68
64.87
DEBDEN
14-10-90
0.00%
Jeff Simpson
328GTB
65.63
DOUNE
20-06-04
2.75%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
54.50
56.00
GOODWOOD
30-07-88
4.50%
Tony Birch
308GTS
103.47
108.13
GURSTON DOWN
20-07-08
2.25%
David Tomlin
F355
36.95
37.78
HAREWOOD (short course)
21-05-88
4.50%
Tony Birch
308GTS
46.60
48.70
HAREWOOD (long course)
14-09-02
2.75%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
65.16
66.95
HETHEL
07-08-05
2.50%
Nick Taylor
348GTC
78.01
79.96
LARAGH
03-05-92
-1.50%
Brian Jackson
308GTB
83.39
82.14
LLANDOW
18-06-05
2.5%
Chris Butler
F355
87.07
87.07
LHERGY FRISSEL (5Km)
15-05-97
2.00%
Jon Goodwin
Mondial t
140.39
143.20
LHERGY FRISSEL (2 2Km)
25-05-00
3.00%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
72.93
75.12
LONGLEAT
22-09-02
2.75%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
41.25
42.38
LOTON PARK
22-07-00
3.00%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
59.98
61.78
MILLBROOK
02-05-94
2.00%
Jon Goodwin
Mondial t
89.39
91.18
MIRA
14-05-08
3.50%
Jon Goodwin
F430
53.26
55.12
NORTH WEALD (old)
16-10-88
4.50%
Sheridan Williams
308GTB
92.41
96.57
NORTH WEALD (new )
07-04-91
0.00%
Jeff Simpson
328GTB
82.62
NORTH WEALD 3rd
24-03-02
2.75%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
59.44
61.07
th
NORTH WEALD 4
23-03-03
1.50%
Nick Frost
348GTC
64.76
65.73
NORTH WEALD 5th
19-03-06
1.00%
Richard Prior
348ts
56.83
57.40
PRESCOTT (long)
24-05.08
3.50%
Jon Goodwin
F430
48.87
50.58
PRESCOTT (cross over)
02-09-90
2.50%
John Swift
308GTB
51.70
52.99
RAGLEY HALL
27-03-88
-0.50%
Geoff Dark
308GT4
25.99
25.86
ROTHERFIELD PARK
10-06-90
-0.50%
Richard Allen
308GTB
28.57
28.43
SHELSLEY WALSH
01-06-08
2.25%
David Tomlin
F355GTB
33.92
34.68
SLOC
26-05-00
3.00%
Jon Goodwin
F355GTS
41.93
43.19
SOUTH CERNEY
15-10-94
2.00%
Jon Goodwin
Mondial t
78.30
79.87
THORESBY PARK
18-09-94
2.00%
Jon Goodwin
Mondial t
42.16
43.00
WEST MALLING
26-03-89
0.00%
Jeff Simpson
328GTB
77.30
WISCOMBE
08-09-96
2.50%
Geoffrey Rollason
F355GTS
47.44
48.63
WROUGHTON
25-07-99
-0.50%
Robin Ward
308GTB
109.34
108.79
= New Record
7 CompRes
PEP
DRIVER
TIPO
CURRENT LAP RECORDS CIRCUIT
DATE
BRANDS HATCH (Indy)
07:05:07
2
Marco Pullen
Mondial t
58.225
SPEED (mph) 74.133
07:05:07
3
Mike Spicer
328GTB
56.989
75.741
01:05:06
1
Chris Drake
330GTE/GTO
1:00.354
73.14
24:09:05
3
Nicky Paul-Barron
328GTB
1:50.064
79.25
24:09:05
2
Gary Culver
328GTB
1:50.406
79.00
24:09:05
1
Chris Drake
330GTE/GTO
1:55.202
75.71
25:08:08
3
Nigel Jenkins
328GTB
1:20.187
82.20
25:08:08
2
David Tomlin
328GTB
1:21.016
83.05
29:08:05
1
Stuart Anderson
250GT/TRC
1:26.694
76.82
30:09:07
3
Gary Culver
328GTB
1:23.824
84.05
27:07:08
2
Nicky Paul-Barron
328GTB
1:23.053
83.83
27:07:08
1
Steve Tandy
365GTB4/C
1.23.378
83.50
08:06:08
3
Gary Culver
328GTB
1:00.736
75.869
08:06:08
2
Nicky Paul-Barron
328GTB
1:01.224
75.264
29:05:05
3
William Jenkins
308GTB
54.219
89.63
29:05:05
2
Gary Culver
328GTB
54.257
89.57
29:05:05
1
Stuart Anderson
250GTE/TRC
58.511
83.06
26:06:04
2
Nicky Paul Barron
328GTB
1:45.109
76.24
26:06:04
3
David Wild
308GTB
1:46.223
75.44
26:06:04
1
Stuart Anderson
250GTE/TRC
1:56.893
68.55
13:09:08
3
Gary Culver
328GTB
2:01.251
79.92
15:09:07
2
Nicky Paul Barron
328GTB
2:01.448
77.79
24:04:05
1
Stuart Anderson
250GTE/TRC
2:12.674
73.04
15:07:06
3
Gary Culver
328GTB
1:09.359
85.07
15:07:06
1
Chris Drake
330/ (GTO Rep)
1:10.537
83.65
15:07:06
2
Peter Everingham
328GTB
1:11.471
82.55
08:06:07
3
Mike Spicer
328GTB
2:18.798
82.84
08:06:07
2
David Tomlin
328GTB
2:21.115
81.48
10:06:07
1
Steve Tandy
275GTB
2:26.581
78.44
17:07:05
1
Oliver Bryant
365/GTB4/C
1:22.919
84.74
17:07:05
2
Gary Culver
328GTB
1:23.219
84.44
04:05:08
3
Gary Culver
328GTB
1:22.089
85.60
SPA FRANCORCHAMPS (new Bus Stop)
2:10:05
3
Nicky Paul-Barron
328GTB
3:03.375
*136.952
2:10:05
2
Didier Benaroya
Mondial t Cab
3:23.555
*123.375
SPA FRANCORCHAMPS (new revised Bus Stop)
18:10:08
3
William Jenkins
308GTB
3:02.175
*137.696
19:10:08
2
Nicky Paul-Barron
328GTB
2:59:853
*139.474
ZANDVOORT
18:06:05
2
Gary Culver
328GTB
2:05:.773
*123.292
18:06:05
3
John Pogson
328GTB
2:07.253
*121.859
19:06:05
1
Stuart Anderson
250GTE/TRC
2:14.485
*115.305
BRANDS HATCH GP (revised)
CASTLE COMBE
DONINGTON PARK (National)
KNOCKHILL
MALLORY PARK
OULTON PARK (Island)
OULTON PARK (International))
SILVERSTONE (National)
SILVERSTONE (Grand Prix)
SNETTERTON
= New Lap Record 2008
CLASS
* = km/h
DRIVER
TIPO
TIME
CompRes 8
CURRENT LAP RECORDS TIME
SPEED (mph)
328GTB
51.899
83.14
Charlie White
F355/Ch
52.481
82.22
S
Alan Cosby
F512M
1:17.624
90.77
30:09:07
C
Charlie White
F355/Ch
1:17.800
90.56
08:06:08
S
Marco Pullen
328GTB
56.231
81.948
08:06:08
C
Gary Culver
F355/Ch
56.758
81.187
OULTON PARK (International)
13:09:08
S
Marco Pullen
328GTB
1:52.625
86.82
13:09:08
C
Gary Culver
F355/Ch
1:51.895
86.61
ROCKINGHAM (Super Sports Circuit)
21:07:07
C
Graham Reeder
F355/Ch
1:30.950
77.146
21:07:07
S
Marco Pullen
328GTB
1:31.458
76.717
SILVERSTONE (International)
25:08:07
C
Tim Mogridge
F355/Ch
1:34.464
85.70
25:08:07
S
Marco Pullen
328GTB
1:35.215
85.03
SNETTERTON
04:05:08
C
Gary Culver
F355/Ch
1:17.210
91.01
04:05:08
S
Tris Simpson
328GTB
1:18.624
89.37
SPA FRANCORCHAMPS (new Bus Stop 2007))
19:10:08
C
Graham Reeder
F355/Ch
2:43.699
*153.237
04:08:07
S
Marco Pullen
328GTB
2:55.127
*143.237
THRUXTON
16:09:06
C
Witt Gamski
F355/Ch
1:25.657
99.01
16:09:06
S
Tristan Simpson
328GTB
1:29.053
95.24
CIRCUIT
DATE
BRANDS HATCH (Indy)
16:08:08
S
Marco Pullen
17:08:08
C
DONINGTON PARK (National)
30:09:07
KNOCKHILL
= New Lap Record 2008
9 CompRes
CLASS
* = km/h
DRIVER
TIPO
No one could catch David Tomlin (F355) at the season’s opener.
348GTC, but his previously campaigned 308GT4 did make an appearance when new owner Martin McGlone turned out to support us. Nick Taylor had driven his trusty Mondial t up from the south of France the day before, as the 348GTC was in the Damax workshops having some special attention ready for an assault on the Championship later in the season.
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
ere we go again for the start of another highly anticipated season of spirited hillclimbing writes RICHARD PRIOR, beginning as usual with a flat sprint at North Weald. Always a good venue to try out new tyres, or car set-up tweeked over the winter (with only relatively harmless cones to throw your vehicle at), this year the course greeted us with a great deal of sunshine for this mid-March event. We welcomed the company of two new competitors for this opening round of the season. Joe Billingham came down from the Midlands in his 360 F1 accompanied by fiancée Emma. Local man Julian Playford was also entered in his F355 but unfortunately was a non-starter due to clutch problems but pluckily decided to come down and spectate, obviously disappointed that he couldn’t make his debut properly. Another competitor lost to car trouble was Richard Preece in the
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 1 NORTH WEALD SPRINT 15th March 2009
A hard-trying Andrew Holman loads up his 348’s suspension while bagging the 20 Championship points.
First practice saw Andrew Holman setting 76.86 seconds in his 348, just ahead of the 355GTB of David Tomlin on 77.40, who could have pushed harder if he hadn’t forgotten to fit the gear blocker to stop him trying to select reverse. Andrew’s form could be mainly due to an inspired tyre choice or lots of pre-season testing on the roads and airfields around East Anglia. Whichever one it is, it’s obviously working! Mike Spicer in the 355 and Richard Prior (348 ts) were fractions apart on 79.50 and 79.56 respectively, and Geoff Dark’s 355 and Nick Taylor’s Mondial were not far behind on 80.61 and 80.90. Other closely matched drivers were Sean Doyle in the 308GT4 on 85.79 seconds, (just a neck) ahead of Barrie Wood’s308 GTS with 86.09. Jeff Cooper was out performed by the good looking and more compact 328GTB of Pauline Goodwin, which was behaving itself this year on 83.58, with Peter Wilson stopping the clock on 90.64. Newcomer Joe Billingham hadn’t realised how fast the 360 had accelerated from the start line and was on the rev limiter while still looking for the route between the fast approaching cones marking out the first chicane. Once through them though he could exploit the 360’s power to its full potential on the long
CompRes 10
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
New competitor Joe Billingham made an impressive debut in his stripey 360 Modena F1.
11 CompRes
car to cones resulted in 81.54, which helped maintain her lead over Jeff Cooper despite having a more confident drive and reducing his time by 2.5 seconds. Joe Billingham was now controlling the power as he left the line, but still found understeer around the hairpin
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
straights, the howling from the exhaust stirring the neck hairs of the assembled Ferrari fans, and a quite credible 87.87 seconds at the finish line. Not bad for a first ever run. Second practice continued with Nick Taylor somehow going slower on 81.54 seconds, while Geoff Dark had now ventured down into the 79 second bracket. Tomlin was now flying after washing his car in the paddock, and recorded the fastest time so far with 75.85, despite a claim he had selected 4th while downshifting from 3rd, and suffering bad understeer at the 180º turns around the single marker cones. We all wondered what he could do if he ever managed a clean run. Holman was still in hot pursuit and determined to keep Tomlin within reach, just half a second between them. Spicer and Prior were almost matching each others improvements, both knocking two seconds off their previous run times, but now Prior had the slight advantage thanks to a smoother getaway. Sean Doyle’s GT4 had recently had its suspension tweaked by QV (although some of Simon Cooke’s photographs still showed a good amount of body roll) but it was helping Sean to pull a 1.4 second advantage over Barrie Wood’s similar engined tipo. PG’s driving was very neat and tidy and accurate judging of distance from
Holmes from rural East Anglia and another hillclimber from the past, Stuart Bailey, who had driven in with a Caterham. Stuart last competed in the Ferrari class using a 246 Dino at Gurston Down in 2001; the only other drivers from that meeting who are still active competitors today are Mike Spicer and Geoff Dark. Richard Preece kept in touch by text monitoring our progress but feeling upset for missing out on the track action. The official afternoon runs began with some excitement (and a little concern) as Nick Taylor had spun his Mondial on the return from the far end of the track, but the red flags didn’t appear for the 355 of David Tomlin following closely behind. As a result they almost ended up facing each other at one of the hairpin turns. This didn’t put Tomlin off too much as he still pursued Taylor towards the finish and a 76.29 run.
Despite having had its suspension tweaked during the winter, Sean Doyle’s 308GT4 displayed an alarming amount of body roll. However, Sean gets maximum marks for trying.
cones but again a steady improvement in the time of 85.46 for the newcomer. As we broke for lunch we caught up with more FOC supporters, including Anthony Shine and other members from the Essex Area group, Bob
Holman had a tank slapper on the return through the chicane and must have clipped a cone with his 348 because the displayed time of 76.59 was amended to 81.59 by the time we had assembled in front of the timekeeper’s scoreboard (5
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Barrie Wood proved to be the quicker of the 308 drivers.
348 in the company of these more powerful 355s. Mike Spicer demoted Holman one more trophy place as he pipped him by the cruellest of margins: just one hundredth of a second! Barrie Wood also got his name on the score sheet this time around with 83.89 seconds, and in the process stole the lead over the other 308 present on the day, that of Sean Doyle, who had led Barrie though every previous run of the day. Sean finished the meeting with 84.05.
Peter Wilson got the 348 around in a time of 84.70 and would be pleased with himself for a good effort on the day. Geoff Dark had now got up to speed in his F355 and produced his best of the day with 77.43 seconds and Richard Prior improved a little to 78.07 but couldn’t match his best time in practice. Pauline Goodwin was indeed ‘well chuffed’ to have broken the 80-second barrier and was only 6 hundredths of a second behind Nick Taylor’s
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
seconds are added for each cone attacked; the wrong direction taken around a marker cone is considered a ‘Wrong Route’ and scratched completely from the records). Barrie Wood missed the gateway on the return from the bottom end of the circuit and lost his time due to this rule, while Geoff Dark had moved into the 78 second bracket in his 355, now joined by Spicer and Prior who had just 4 hundredths of a second between them. The second runs would be all important for Holman, who could either put in a safe run to make sure he bagged some points or go for broke and aim for the jackpot. Anyone who knows Andrew wouldn’t even consider the former an option! Taylor performed well and produced his best time of the day with 79.54 and sixth place on scratch, Tomlin didn’t need any excuses this time as he pushed the lead further with 75.63 seconds - too far for Holman as he turned in a great run of 76.57, which is a fantastic effort for a
With his 348GTC holed up in the Damax workshops, Nick Taylor brought out his trusty Mondial. He won a close battle with Pauline Goodwin by just six hundredths of a second to take 6th on scratch.
CompRes 12
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Most of the Ferrari competitors at North Weald lined up in the afternoon sunshine.
Mondial. Pauline had improved steadily thoughout the day and her final run was worthy of the 12 points she bagged on PEP, possibly PG’s best ever points haul. There was a close result between the 360s of Jeff Cooper and Joe Billingham. Jeff made the extra effort to keep his car ahead and improved over his first round with 82.80. However Joe,
on the final run of the class, chased him right up to the end and finished just 0.13 of a second behind. A very commendable result for a first time competitor. Trophies were awarded for the top five places, to Tomlin, Holman, Spicer, Dark and Prior, and when PEPs were applied, Holman took the 20 points and became the early Championship leader, followed by Tomlin 17
points who overcame the 2% difference to next man, Prior, who bagged 15 points. Then Spicer on 13, and the overjoyed Pauline Goodwin with 12 points. North Weald is a stark contrast to the surroundings of the next round where the Ferraris will be gathering at the picturesque setting of Jersey’s Bouley Bay on Easter Monday.
NORTH WEALD SPRINT 15 MARCH 2009 Round 1 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship Pos Scr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Driver
Tipo
Pract 1
David Tomlin
F355
77.40
F355 348tb F355 348ts Mondial t 328GTB 360 F1 360 F1 308GTS 308GT4 348tb
79.50 76.86 80.61 79.56 80.90 83.58 84.84 87.87 86.09 85.79 90.64
Mike Spicer Andrew Holman Geoff Dark Richard Prior Nick Taylor Pauline Goodwin Jeffrey Cooper Joe Billingham Barrie Wood Sean Doyle Peter Wilson
WR = wrong route
13 CompRes
Pract 2
Run 1
Run 2
PEP time 75.63
Pts
75.63
PEP % 0.00
75.85
76.29
77.97 76.33 79.30 77.54 81.54 81.54 82.36 85.46 84.49 83.09 91.47
78.36 81.59 78.97 78.40 W/R 80.21 84.66 89.45 W/R 91.15 86.07
76.56 76.57 77.43 78.07 79.54 79.60 82.80 82.93 83.89 84.05 84.70
0.00 -2.00 0.00 -2.00 -2.00 -3.00 +1.00 +1.00 -4.50 -4.50 -2.00
76.56 75.04 77.43 76.51 77.95 77.21 83.63 83.76 80.11 80.27 83.01
13 20 11 15 10 12 6 5 9 8 7
17
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
PIRELLI FERRARI PRE-SEASON KARTING THRUXTON KARTING CIRCUIT 28 March 2009
Neil Reeder. Simon Pics consisted of our ace lensman, Simon Cooke, and his pals, but perhaps surprisingly their machine didn’t feature an in-kart camera. It’s a Family Affair featured most of Classic racer Nick Whittaker’s family whilst Richard Preece’s Red Mist team largely comprised drivers from the Wessex Area Group. There was a military air about Bristol Photo: SwiftyPix
HE PRE-SEASON DINNER and accompanying karting enduro race has become a Pirelli and FOC tradition in recent years, and the 2009 event took place on Saturday, 28th March. The race venue was once again the Thruxton kart circuit, one of the best outdoor tracks in the country. The circuit is 1100 metres long and 7 metres wide, allowing a large field of karts to run. Three or even four karts abreast are possible into many of the corners. The use of banking at some corners coupled with combinations of bends linked together at others, leads to a circuit with many overtaking areas. The karts are Biz Thunderkarts fitted with 390cc Honda Thunder engines producing 13bhp. In dry and damp conditions they are fitted with slicks but if it rains heavily they are equipped with wet weather tyres. This year we created a new record for the circuit by having no fewer than 19 teams of four or five drivers engaged. The event was oversubscribed so that some drivers who were late in submitting their entries were
unavoidably disappointed. Amongst the 80 or so drivers there were many of the usual suspects but it was good to welcome many new faces. Some of the teams’ names were familiar but there were quite a number of freshly dreamed-up ones. Wiltshire Moonrakers were fielding the Moseley and Squires father and son combos under the expert managership of
The Fit Boys lead Shaun Marriott in the Pirelli kart.
CompRes 14
15 CompRes
Photo: SwiftyPix
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk Photo: SwiftyPix
although thankfully exotically titled Sex Bombs they had no girl outfit and Cole Trickle was the drivers in their name of Chris Compton squad. The Goddard’s serious looking 5-man Specialists was team. the team title Fresh and Fruity were chosen by the Nick lacking their principal pilot, Cartwright Wayne Marrs, for unspecified ensemble: sons reasons. Not being able to give it Ben and Jamie plus the full banana, they made a Fred Honnor and hurried revamp to their driver another friend. line-up. London Hopefuls were Fred came close to also down on manpower when being disqualified their team manager, Jos van der by defiantly Perre, failed to make an Chris Butler in the 7th placed Scuderia Rosso Corsa team’s kart wearing a Firestone appearance. emblazoned jacket. The nineteen team line-up Fashion, a smart looking team You’ll have to watch what you was completed by Italian luggage under the command of Col Peter wear, Fred, if you come to supremo Simon Jordon’s CB Go Campbell. Spy Motorsport looked pretty professional and the main man here was Caterham specialist Richard Boughton (we are trying to wean him into Ferrari racing). Five keen young (and some not so young) gentlemen formed The Fit Boys whilst Five Alive saw some regular karters under the experienced management of Derek Seymour. Pirelli, last year’s winners, were represented by Carl Naylor and Shaun Marriott backed up by a pair of young lettuce-eating karting super stars whose combined weight couldn’t have exceeded ten stones. Perhaps the rudest team Simon Pics lead a group of warring drivers. name was Chris Drake’s Team Big Test Icicles which is a bit of another Pirelli-sponsored event in Hell for Leather and a collection a mouthful by any standards the future - we don’t want any of of our Hillclimb Championship that Fxxxxxxxx contenders in the form of Nick nonsense! Taylor, Chris Butler, Richard Prior Tris Simpson’s and Mike Spicer, who called Tristec Ltd team had themselves Scuderia Rosso flown in from Corsa. Newcastle for the day A detailed briefing, including but their 300+ mile a DVD with voice-over by Tiff journey was Needell, was followed by thirty overshadowed by that minutes of track familiarisation in of the Kart Ecosse which all competitors had to squad who had participate. This session also motored to Thruxton embraced qualifying, the best from the Scottish times from which determined grid Highlands. positions. PFO racer Tim Unsurprisingly pole position Mogridge had recruited time was set by one of Pirelli’s some mainly Aston young men, in a breathtakingly Martin Owners Club rapid time of 1:00.011. The Red Mist’s driver hard at work. drivers into his nearest any of the others got to
Photo: SwiftyPix
Eventual winners Kart Ecosse vying with The Fit Boys.
the track before. Following all this preliminary lappery we enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch put on by Pirelli.
Photo: SwiftyPix
this pace was the 1:02.157 of Scuderia Rosso Corsa, a time which we suspect was set by Chris Butler who had never seen
The weather after lunch decided to briefly turn nasty, and shortly after the start there was a hailstorm which turned the track into a bit of a skating rink. However, the sun quickly came out, the circuit dried, and the rest of the afternoon was bathed in warm sunshine. I won’t chronicle the cut and thrust of the two-hour race, save to say the racing was fast and furious, and the lead changed hands several times before the chequered flag signalled a superlative victory for the Scottish drivers, Kart Ecosse, led by Ferrari driver John Shirley and valiantly supported by his two sons, Gavin and James, and David Hughes. The runners-up were the Spy Motorsport team, some 36 seconds in arrears, with The Specialists a further ten seconds behind in third spot. All three podium finishers
Podium finish. On the top step, the ecstatic Scottish Kart Ecosse team crack open the fizz, flanked by runners-up Spy Motorsport (left) and third placed The Specialists
CompRes 16
completed 105 laps while the fastest lap of the day (in a blistering 59.676 secs) was set by the Pirelli team who came 4th, a lap behind. It is interesting to note that the winners completed 23 more laps than last year’s winners, Pirelli, which goes to show just how wet it was in 2008. In the evening around thirty of us, some with aching muscles and the odd bruise, gathered at the Madagascan Gin Palace to
enjoy a first rate dinner lubricated with a plentiful supply of red and white wines. During the course of the evening we ran a sweepstake on the result of the following day’s Australian GP. Tris Simpson, who is not normally this lucky, was the winner after drawing Jenson Button out of the ice bucket. And writing of winners, we were also able to reward the afternoon’s karting victors, the Kart Ecosse team members, with
a bottle of Champagne. Being Scottish and sensibly frugal, they managed to desist from spraying the stuff in the time-honoured Formula 1 fashion. It was the end of another brilliant day of motor racing enjoyment and we thank our sponsors, Pirelli, and all involved. for their much appreciated generosity. It was sad that their team only managed 4th place in the race this year . . . !
PIRELLI/FERRARI KART ENDURO - THRUXTON CIRCUIT Saturday 28 March 2009 Pos
No
Team
Laps
Best Lap
Top Speed
Average Speed
Time
1
12
Kart Ecosse
105
1:01.251
64.0
57.8
01:58:44.95
2
19
Spy Motorsport
105
1:01.910
63.3
57.5
01:59:21.34
3
17
The Specialists
105
1:01.646
63.6
57.4
4
23
Pirelli
104
0:59.676
65.7
5
3
Red Mist
102
1:02.432
6
7
Cole Trickle Team
102
7
9
Scuderia Rosso Corsa
8
29
9
Qualify
Pos
1:02.520
4
0:36.38
1:02.241
3
01:59:31.85
0:46.89
1:03.301
9
57.0
01:59:18.40
1 lap
1:00.011
1
62.8
55.9
01:59:12.20
3 laps
1:03.277
8
1:01.996
63.2
55.9
01:59:18.23
3 laps
1:02.975
7
101
1:00.837
64.4
55.2
01:59:33.13
4 laps
1:02.157
2
Wiltshire Moonrakers
100
1:01.548
63.7
55.1
01:58:36.55
5 laps
1:02.805
5
16
The Fit Boys
100
1:03.624
61.6
54.6
01:59:33.85
5 laps
1:05.260
15
10
5
Team Big Test Icicles
99
1:02.259
63.0
54.3
01:59:13.38
6 laps
1:06.789
18
11
10
Bristol Fashion
99
1:02.889
62.3
54.2
01:59:20.65
6 laps
1:05.449
16
12
18
London Hopefuls
98
1:02.143
63.1
53.7
01:59:21.18
7 laps
1:04.644
12
13
15
Simon Pics
98
1:02.403
62.8
53.6
01:59:32.89
7 laps
1:04.620
11
14
11
Sex Bombs
97
1:02.080
63.2
53.3
01:58:57.00
8 laps
1:02.862
6
15
28
Tristec Ltd
97
1:02.491
62.7
53.3
01:58:58.46
8 laps
1:04.841
14
16
2
CB Go Hell for Leather
95
1:02.787
62.4
52.0
01:59:19.92
10 laps
1:05.767
17
17
13
Fresh and Fruity
93
1:02.799
62.4
51.3
01:58:34.06
12 laps
1:04.208
10
18
1
It’s a Family Affair
91
1:03.890
61.4
49.9
01:59:13.05
14 laps
1:08.240
19
19
22
Five Alive
70
1:02.534
62.7
54.9
01:23:15.36
35 laps
1:04.737
13
17 CompRes
Behind
CompRes 18
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19 CompRes
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