FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS
CompRes
THE 458 CHALLENGE MAKES ITS DEBUT.
ISSUE 055 JUNE 2010
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
OULTON PARK Having completed our overseas races for the season, at Zolder (which will be reported in the next edition of CompRes), we are back on home ground, at Oulton Park for a 1-day race meeting on Saturday, 21st August. There will be separate races for the Classic and Open series on the full International course. The track at Oulton Park is the nearest we get to a proper ‘road’ circuit and is always popular with competitors. Supplementary regulations and entry forms have already been despatched to registered competitors and the closing date for Ferrari entries (which need to returned to Anne Swift) is 11th August.
exclusive Ferrari hospitality. Coffee will be served in the morning, a lavish cold lunch at an appropriate time to fit in with the racing, and afternoon tea later on in the day. Hospitality tickets will give access to the roof area of the Centre which gives an unrivalled view of virtually the whole of the circuit. Hospitality and access to the Centre for competitors and their guests, together with Club members, will be available to pre -purchased ticket holders only – for logistical reasons tickets will not be available for purchase on the day. The regulations and entry forms will be going out very shortly to competitors together with applications forms for the Ferrari hospitality.
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS
Paula Henderson presented some of the trophies at Knockhill, this one to fellow Scot, Gavin Shirley.
the talented daughter of Stewart Ross’s partner, Linda. CASTLE COMBE This is not an advert for the Paula was responsible for the Hot on the heels of the Glasgow branch of Specsavers design of the little Scotch whisky Oulton Park event, the Castle but a tribute to Paula Henderson, glasses which we commissioned Combe race meeting is on to celebrate our return to the traditional date of Bank Knockhill (reported in the WHAT’S ON Holiday Monday, 30th this issue). Each Ferrari August. competitor at the 6th As usual there will be a JULY 18 Gurston Down Hillclimb Scottish Speedfair was separate race for the PFfc presented with one of these series. Our Open delightful boxed tumblers as 23-25 Silverstone Classic Festival competitors will be catered a memento of their visit. As for by the organisers’ you will see from the photo, 8 Hethel Sprint special race titled ‘Sportscar AUGUST they are not only highly Challenge’ which includes collectable but very useful as our PFO series cars. To add well! 14 MIRA Sprint spice to this contest, our Whilst praising Paula PFO cars will be pitted it also gives me an 15 Curborough Sprint against Porsche and Aston opportunity to thank Stewart Martin cars from equivalent Ross himself, who was a series and championships. 21 Oulton Park: Pirelli Ferrari tower of strength in assisting It worked well last year and formula classic Round 9; me at the circuit. Amongst Pirelli Ferrari Open Round 9 I am sure it will be just as other tasks he helped to successful this time. ensure that the big marquee 30 Castle Combe: Pirelli Ferrari As always in recent formula classic Round 10; I had hired at the circuit was times, we have hired the Pirelli Ferrari Open Round erected in precisely the right Strawford Centre for our 10
GLASSES AT KNOCKHILL
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Photo: SwiftyPix
The commemorative Scotch whisky tumbler we commissioned for the Knockhill event.
location in the paddock. While some have had their ‘Man in Havana’, I like to think of Stewart as ‘Our Man in Scotland’.
ROBIN MORTIMER Like many of his other friends and colleagues, we were shocked and saddened to hear of the recent death of Robin Mortimer. Nicky Paul-Barron has kindly sent me the following obituary to Robin that he has written for publication: Robin Mortimer’s connection with the marque Ferrari started working on the sales floor at Graypaul under Ivan Bishop. He was clearly a talented salesman, and after a while he left the comfort of the dealership and started trading on his own. Working from the kitchen of his home near Worcester, Robin became one of the most successful used Ferrari dealers in the UK. He loved “the deal” and worked tirelessly to join together car and buyer, leaving a decent profit for him, of course. His father, Charles, was a famous racer in his time, and his brother,
Chas, raced bikes at a high level. Robin too raced bikes successfully, and it was whilst doing so that he met wife to be, Bridget. As I recall, Robin crashed and broke his leg at Brands just a few minutes after meeting her, which must have made a real impression. Despite his racing background it was not until 1989 that Robin tried car racing. His first ever foray was in a 328GTB (forever after known as “Rosie”) with the Ferrari Owners’ Club. As may be expected he found his feet pretty quickly and became our ‘O’ class champion in 1991. He then progressed to a modified 308 GTB and won the ‘M’ class champion the following year. He loved winning almost as much as he loved a deal. He also raced the modified car at the Macau Superprix, with podium finishes in successive years. Robin subsequently raced F355 Challenge cars, but by then had become perhaps more interested in hiring his race cars to others than driving them himself. Whatever Robin did, he did flat out. When he took to historic Formula 1 racing he didn’t have one car, he owned several. One garage at home in Worcester was full of DFV engines and parts. I am not sure that he enjoyed Formula 1 much though, and in time all the cars and engines were sold – at a profit of course. He was encouraged to start an official Ferrari dealership, and this he did by forming MHT Ferrari at Northleach, in partnership with long time friend Andrew Turner and Bob Houghton. I always felt that this was a dealership as it should be. All three partners were steeped in Ferrari. They knew the cars, the history, the romance, etc. However the corporate nature of the dealership, and the rules imposed on it, did not suit Robin’s personality and he moved on. A short period owning a big British Ducati Superbike team sponsored by Old Spice followed in 1996. He supported son Alex’s karting career with great
enthusiasm, and likely did a few deals there too. He set up his own race team: RPM Motorsport. In a few short years they became one the UK’s leading race teams. By now son Alex was on the team as No1 driver and co-worker. The team raced Porsches, just missing the UK title with Tim Harvey in 2004, were multiple Radical championship winners, entered cars in Formula Renault, and raced Ginettas, Porsches, Vipers and a Ford GT in British GT, FIA GT and most recently in International GT Open. One of Robin’s proudest days was when Alex became British GT champion in 2007 along with team mate Bradley Ellis, racing one of the Team RPM Vipers. Viv and I were privileged to sit with Robin and Biddy at the British GT awards dinner that year, which, having known Alex since he was three years old, was a great thrill. To visit Robin in the race paddock, usually in the smartest motor home or race truck, was always an experience. It was like watching a great leader holding court. There seemed always to be an endless succession of people wanting to see him and the phone never stopped ringing. Robin was regarded as a tough business man, with an eye to the bottom line. This is true. But he also had a great sense of humour and fun, and was capable of spontaneous acts of incredible generosity and kindness. Although I didn’t see much of Robin in recent years, we did stay in touch. He was rightly very proud of his team, and of course Alex. He worked far too hard, mostly under great pressure, and didn’t look after himself at all. So maybe he would never have lived to a grand old age, but to lose him now is too soon. The shocking nature of his passing will not in any way diminish the regard with which he was held by his family and many friends. He was a very special man, and will be greatly missed. We send our condolences and deepest sympathy to Biddy Mortimer and Alex at this time of their great loss and sadness.
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Scotland The Brave is very much in the news in this edition of CompRes, with reports of no less than four days of Ferrari motorsport, at Doune and Knockhill over successive weekends. We ran a Club Track Day at Knockhill too, with all these activities being supported by our very enthusiastic Scottish Area Groups. The scenery and hospitality are worth the long trip north and there was time for some socialising as well, with special dinners organised at The Dunblane Hydro Hotel for the Doune weekend, and Keavil House Hotel at Dunfermline for Knockhill. On both occasions it was great to enjoy the company of the Scottish Area Group Organisers: David Jackson, Mike Shakspeare and Gavin Struthers. It seems appropriate therefore to express our great appreciation to Chris Butler and John Swift for organising the Doune and Knockhill Ferrari Dinners respectively.
Rat Car meets Scottish some photos for press release Girls (see pic). Some of you will purposes with my car and a 360 know that my 328 is known as Modena they have on site. He the ‘Rat Car’ – not because it is a said there were some girls rat, rather that many years ago involved and they may have to some very big super rats built a lean on the car, which all seemed huge nest in the engine bay and very fair to me. went on to eat quite bit of the John Albiston is a Club car, including the wiring loom, member who lives in Elgin, well which caused some nigh on insoluble problems. In Scotland I had decided to stay with some friends after Doune rather than come all the way back to Suffolk, especially as I was due at Knockhill on Thursday pm for track day prep. I asked Stuart Gray, the Circuit Manager, whether I could Old friend. John Albiston is the latest owner of leave the 328 there the ex-Ward, ex-Spicer, ex-Whitman 308GTB. in the meantime, and he said yes, but would I up the east Scottish coast. His come over Tuesday as he wanted 308GTB was parked next to the
Scottish totty. RA didn’t need much persuading to cooperate with Knockhill’s PR department when he heard that some local beauties were involved with publicity shots of his ’Rat Car’.
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PFHC cars at Doune - not running with us but in the event organiser’s Classic class. His car looked very familiar to me – a sort of French blue with white stripes - and it was of course the ex-Robin Ward, ex-Mike Spicer and ex-Sam Whitman machine, still very much in Ferrari Formula Classic trim. Turned out John Albiston bought the car off a used lot on Scotland and had no idea whatsoever of its chequered history! He was fascinated when I mentioned the 308’s great success in the Club hillclimb championship and, subsequently, Formula Classic series. My 328 was parked next to John’s 308 and I reminisced on the great amount of track time that our two cars had been in very close company. Regrettably he only wants to do hills at present (and only Scottish ones as our PFHC
Photo: Mark Buckland
RA’s HILLCOMMENT
Photo: Francis Newman
factory fitted leather trimmed roll bar. The car is aching for some competition and Mike feels similarly. Whilst not keen on Shelsley or a similar high risk venue, he reckons he will be out later this season at Curborough.
At the Sytner/Jackie Stewart bash at Tower. Seen here L to R: Jack Sears, RA, Roger Penske and Sean Bealey.
rounds are all too far away from Elgin). Maranello’s 50th Anniversary - a most notable occasion not only for Maranello Concessionaires Ltd, but also for Ferrari SpA as it represents 50 years of Ferrari in the UK. The business at Tower Garage, now called Maranello, is one of the Graypaul Ferrari dealerships that are part of the Sytner Group which is now owned by Roger Penske. On the evening of Wednesday, 7th July around 200 people gathered at Tower to celebrate. As you would expect there were most of the movers and shakers in the Ferrari world present. Ferrari’s Chief Executive, Amedeo Felisa, and new Commercial Director, Enrico Galliera, were present along with F1 Test Driver, Marc Gene, over from Italy for the occasion. Also in attendance was Matteo Torre, who heads up Ferrari North Europe in Slough. Graypaul executives were understandably much in evidence, with Howard Rose, the new MD at Maranello, and our old friend Mario Vignali, now Franchise Director at Graypaul Birmingham. Club President Jack Sears was present, along with Mike Salmon, and others who drove for Maranello Concessionaires. A special video presentation illustrated highlights of Maranello Concessionaires history, and then there was
another of those 458 Italia launches – this time with no less than three 458s. After this Simon Taylor, of Autosport and Haymarket Publishing fame, interviewed Roger Penske and then Jackie Stewart – whose Ferrari connections are tenuous, but he inevitably was a star attraction. A Deviation on the way to Tower for the 50th. Anxious to avoid the M25 at peak period I left home early and had time to call in at Mike Spicer’s garage in Windsor. Business is good and Mike looked very pleased –
Proud owner. Mike Spicer poses with his recently acquired 360 Modena.
especially with his recently acquired sparkling red 360 Modena parked outside (see pic). Even though I do not do red personally, the car looks handsome, with the tan competition seats and the superb
Gerry Walton our Club scrutineer put on his PFHC Eligibility Scrutineer’s Hat at Loton Park on July 11th , assisted by fellow scrut, Neil Procter. Gerry had a look over the competitors’ Ferraris and apparently there was nothing suspicious in relation to the interpretation of the Regulations. He did draw attention to a common problem on 328s which was evident on Pauline Goodwin’s and your reporter’s example. The small hose running from the top of the header tank into the engine leans against the oil filter body and becomes quite chafed. Tie wraps were to the fore and all was soon well. Petrol Cans must be a regularly used item by Ferrari competitors and the circuit racers especially - fuel on site at race meetings is usually priced aggressively. I have encountered all sorts of problems filling cans and it seems that the Trading Standards and Health & Safety people are to blame. The rules on people filling Tizer bottles with 95 RON for accelerating their BBQ’s are quite understandable, but I have trouble with my WW2 pattern 5 gallon jerry can. As well as fielding embarrassing instructions to “Cease filling” over the forecourt Tannoy, I have had the cashier at one place abandon her till and come rushing out to see whether the can is inscribed “Petroleum Spirit – highly inflammable”. Mine is, but only in feint marker pen put on by the till cashier on an earlier visit to the same station. If you turn up with a bunch of cans, forget it, as only two may be filled at any one time apparently. Editor’s note: The law in the UK is that the storage of fuel is restricted to either metal containers with a maximum capacity of 10 litres or approved plastic containers of a
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maximum 5 litres capacity. Petrol and diesel fuel must be stored in no more than two 10litre metal containers or two 5litre plastic containers. They must be clearly labelled as to their contents. Petrol filling stations operate under license conditions which do not allow fuel to be dispensed into other types of container. Many jerry cans date from WW2 and are, understandably, riddled with rust. Many drivers illegally carry spare 20-litre jerry cans, which poses a serious risk in the event of an accident.
FOC Concours at Walton Hall recently was blessed by most agreeable weather and the usual splendid turnout of superbly presented Ferraris, including much exotica thanks to the usual efforts put in by Peter Everingham and the Club Office. In previous years we have had rather loose displays of our competitors cars but this time around Nicky Paul-Barron had lined them up in a really impressive central display, with representative cars from Open, Classic and the Hills.
PFHC Season past halfway now and at the time of writing Chris Butler is galloping away with his F355 with what appears to be an unassailable lead for the 2010 series win. At the double header at Loton Park last weekend he was on top form and took a brace of maximum scores. Second overall so far, Richard Prior ran him very close at the Saturday meeting, whilst both of them had to watch Nick Taylor’s 348GTC take the class wins – he went faster than ever to establish a new Loton class record. The full low down on Loton Park will be in the next issue of CompRes.
Photo: Richard Prior
PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 6 SHELSLEY WALSH HILLCLIMB 5th/6th June 2010
Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb
A
S THE MAC WEBSITE proudly says, Shelsley Walsh is the Heart of Motorsport in the Midlands and has been beating since 1905, which means it’s
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older than Indianapolis, Monza and Le Mans, and is just as special as these or any other motor racing venue you can bring to mind writes RICHARD PRIOR. Although this season we have favoured more single-day meetings and double headers to
make our weekends more efficient, the 2-day June event at Shelsley is a traditional Ferrari mainstay, and when you share the programme with the top British Hillclimb Championship runners it really is a fabulous place to be.
There was a healthy entry of 15 Ferraris in our class, including Andrew Duncan at his local venue and Chris Butler making his first ever visit here. Another racing legend (and 5 times Le Mans winner) Derek Bell was also present on the Saturday practice day to give his Bentley Continental Supersports Coupe some demonstration runs up the hill. Of course he wasn’t cruising up the track either (but we did see brake lights come on just before Crossing!) The 621bhp, 590 lb ft standard press demonstrator car was reported to have climbed in 33½ seconds, not too shabby for a car of this size. What a nice bloke Mr Bell is. When signing on I found him in the paddock hut, chatting to enthusiasts and signing autographs. He noticed my FOC membership card and said “I’ve got one of those” although I couldn’t persuade him to join us on track in the near future (but he did tell me off for turning up so late for my first practice!). Butler, Tomlin and Doyle did turn up early though, which qualified them for a third practice run later in the day with the big boys in their single seaters. The practice times were led by John Marshall in the 430 Scuderia (on 34.03 for both runs) and breaking the 100mph barrier over the finish line, 2nd quickest was David Tomlin (F355) with 34.25 seconds in his 3rd practice
run, Nick Taylor used his super sticky List 1B tyres to get his 348 GTC up in 34.40, which was just a whisker ahead of Richard Prior (F355) who clocked 34.41. Chris Butler admitted that incar videos had helped him to learn the track, and he put in an incredible time of 34.49 seconds on his first appearance here in the F355 GTB. Of all these top 5 runners in the 34 second bracket, John Marshall unsurprisingly held the highest speed trap figures, but interestingly it was Nick Taylor who had the slowest mph Pauline Goodwin was in high spirits. readings of the bunch (which just demonstrates Andrew Holman took his how well he makes up time in the gleaming yellow 355 up in 36.74 corners with those grippy tyres) seconds (still short of his best There were lots of notes to time here) and was narrowly compare and techniques to be pipped by John Swift (F355) who discussed over the evening meals was already 0.24 seconds ahead around the hotels and pubs that of him at the 64ft mark and night, as the following day would maintained the advantage all the only have two official runs and way to the top, finishing in 36.46 our intrepid hillclimbers knew seconds. Richard Allen was the that the first run, straight after only driver in the 35 second falling out of bed, could be the band, while Philip Whitehead in a most important. similar tipo had broken into the 34’s, which is a landmark for any
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Photo: Richard Prior
Photo: Richard Prior
Chris Butler (F355) astonished everybody with his extraordinarily quick times on his maiden appearance at Shelsley.
The day started warm and bright and Pauline Goodwin (328GTB) was slightly down on her personal best and also her practice times from the previous day with 38.35, while the 246 Dino of Colin Campbell left the line smartly in 3.09 seconds and finished consistent with Saturday’s time on 52.97. Sean Doyle (308 GT4) had the benefit of the third practice and performed well when it mattered (39.23) beating his PB and his handicap time by over half a second but not enough to threaten Pauline. Wendy-Ann Marshall in the 328 had improved yet again with 45.08, while Peter Rogerson (360 Modena) and Andrew Duncan in the 348 GTC were less than a second apart; Peter had beaten his handicap target with 38.71, while Andrew was the quicker on 37.90 seconds.
driver at Shelsley, his 34.98 also beating his personal best time set three years ago. Nick Taylor was only a fraction down on yesterday’s practice, his best official run in the GTC recorded at 34.58, but Prior had beaten him by less than 2 tenths of a second, the newly acquired 355 working well between the Esses and propelling him over the finish line at 92mph and a time of 34.39. Everybody had their eyes on the showdown between local man David Tomlin in the 355 and John Marshall in the record beating Scuderia. They have both taken class wins here in the past, and David wanted the class record back. Marshall blasted through the finish at 33.08, just short of his record on this occasion by 0.05 of a second but still a great time for a Ferrari on this challenging hill. Could it be beaten by Tomlin? A committed climb with hardly a lift through
Crossing showed he meant business, breaking late into the Esses and clocking a time of 34.03 at the top of the hill. Again another impressive run but the next driver on the track was Chris Butler, who amazed the gathered drivers in the collecting paddock by almost matching Tomlin’s time. His 34.04 time will surely go down as one of the best maiden visits to a track in Ferrari Hillclimbing memory. The second runs were taken in dismal conditions, but there was still pride at stake. Most times were over 20% slower in the wet, except for the following brave drivers: Sean Doyle’s run was only 19.8% slower, with a speed through the Esses approach trap of 59 mph, followed by Nick Taylor who was 18.75% down but with the best speed of 72mph, Richard Prior 17.68% slower and 71 mph but our fearless leader Richard Allen was only 17.61% down on his dry
time in the F355 and clocked 69mph. Prior was the only one below the 41 second bracket where Taylor and Allen were sitting, but it was purely for consolation as it wouldn’t impact on the scratch and Championship scores on the day. John Marshall was again the outright winner, with David Tomlin less than 1 second behind, and Chris Butler incredibly close, just 1/100th of a second behind David. Tomlin went away with the 20 points, Butler 17, Prior 15. John Marshall’s scratch win gave him 13 points, putting him joint 3rd in the Championship alongside Club Chairman Richard Allen. Even in the wet, Shelsley is an amazing place to drive up or visit. If you haven’t been before, put it in your diary for next season. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
SHELSLEY WALSH Hillclimb 5/6 June 2010 Round 6 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship Driver
Tipo
Pract 1
Pract 2
John Marshall
430 Scud
34.03
34.03
David Tomlin
F355GTB
34.63
34.45
Chris Butler
F355GTB
36.28
34.90
H/C
Run 1
Run 2
064ft
split
speed traps
PEP time
Pts
33.03
33.08
42.89
2.39
21.45
91/103
5.00
34.73
13
34.25
33.92
34.03
42.54
2.43
21.55
89/89
0.00
34.03
20
34.49
34.00
34.04
49.39
2.46
21.98
88/93
0.00
34.04
17
F355
35.50
34.41
34.00
34.39
40.47
2.60
22.25
90/92
0.00
34.39
15
348GTC
35.07
34.40
34.25
34.58
41.06
2.52
22.25
85/--
2.50
35.36
11
Philip Whitehead
F355
36.12
36.04
35.39
34.98
43.67
2.61
22.15
86/90
0.00
34.98
12
Richard Allen
F355
36.00
36.19
34.85
35.49
41.74
2.50
22.83
79/88
0.00
35.49
10
John Swift
F355
38.19
38.02
36.14
36.46
48.48
2.67
23.73
76/89
0.00
36.46
9
Andrew Holman
F355
37.70
36.24
35.25
36.74
47.85
2.91
24.11
80/89
0.00
36.74
8
Andrew Duncan
348GTC
39.44
39.50
37.30
37.90
47.90
2.63
24.13
76/77
-0.50
37.71
5
Pauline Goodwin
328GTB
38.25
37.34
37.26
38.35
46.78
2.64
25.09
75/86
-3.00
37.20
7
Peter Rogerson
360 Mod
44.61
41.60
39.50
38.71
50.78
2.59
25.60
72/91
1.00
39.10
4
Sean Doyle
308GT4
40.55
40.27
39.80
39.23
47.00
2.66
25.58
75/77
-4.50
37.46
6
Wendy Ann Marshall Colin Campbell
328GTB
45.59
45.50
41.43
45.08
55.43
2.75
30.13
61/80
-3.00
43.73
3
246GT
52.97
53.27
49.97
52.97
66.99
3.09
34.80
49/60
-6.50
49.53
2
Richard Prior Nick Taylor
MAC Class Awards
Pract 3
39.32
1st John Marshall
Ferrari Handicap Awards 1st Peter Rogerson
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2nd David Tomlin 2nd Sean Doyle
PEP %
3rd Chris Butler
Photo: Mark Buckland
PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 7 DOUNE HILLCLIMB 19th/20th JUNE 2010
HIS HILLCLIMB VENUE in Scotland must be addictive – it is a very long way indeed for most of us but, like Bouley Bay, if you treat it as extra holiday and take in the local scenery it is well worth the journey reports RICHARD ALLEN. Also like Bouley, this place is a serious and exciting ride in a Ferrari, and you can only marvel at the nerves and skills of the top single-seater fraternity as they zoom up Doune at mind bending velocity. The Lothian Car Club, the event organisers, run a really nice friendly meeting, and greatly appreciate the Ferrari class which adds some extra gloss to this British Hillclimb Championship round. The FOC Scottish Area Groups too think similarly and turned out in large numbers to support us, of which more anon. The Ferrari class totalled ten
cars including guest runners John F355 driving, would be up near Shirley and son Gavin, sharing the front, and Jon Goodwin their Pirelli Ferrari Open F355. sensational here with the Lusso John had competed in this car at last year - was front engined Doune a couple of years back but again, but with 550 Maranello Gavin was out here for the first power this time. time, as was Sean Doyle, The weather was set fair and champing at the bit as always, sunny on Saturday June 19 as with his 308GT4. The rest of the the meeting got underway. At class included most of our fastest the drivers briefing we were runners, with last year’s winner and class record holder, Chris Butler, looking favourite with his F355, though Nick Taylor, running sticky 1B tyres on his 348GTC, and still carrying scars from Prescott, could be a threat. Richard Prior, “Richard Prior’s remarkable second run deservedly rapidly getting netted him the second position on the points chart.” the hang of
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Photo: Mark Buckland
T
DOUNE
advised that the plan was for three practice runs, with a further practice Sunday morning before the two officials. It would be nice to have three and three, but we are playing to British Championship rules here. With all this practising it seems better to look at the cumulative effect rather than a blow by blow account of each run, although I will point out that over these four runs the fastest were P1: Butler, P2: Butler, P3: Taylor, and P4: Butler. At the close of practice Sunday morning, Chris Butler with his F355 had put in a very impressive 51.66, not far from his own class record, but Nick Taylor with the 348 GTC at 52.27 was in touch. Richard Prior, revelling in F355 power over his rather tired 348ts, was down to 52.85. A big gap though from these very quick front runners to John Shirley – he had his F355 on 54.83, and was well clear of the next Ferrari, the 550 Maranello of Jon Goodwin. At 55.48 Jon was just in front of the F355 of Andrew Holman, on 55.83. Your reporter’s 328GTB, at 55.88, was with this group, and then there was a bit of a gap to Gavin Shirley with the shared F355 on 57.39. Pauline Goodwin with her 328GTB, always very competitive, was going well at
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57.72. Sean Doyle meanwhile was improving with every run and at 59.10 looked likely to go even faster in the officials as he learned the course. The scene at Doune in the sunshine was all very agreeable as we busied ourselves running up and down the hill. Apart from the excellent on-site café, of which very good use was made, it was time to appreciate the considerable support of the Scottish Club members – they turned out in considerable numbers and with some very impressive Ferraris lined up in the special display area provided. The Lothian Car Club were so impressed they organised a Ferrari parade up the hill on Sunday lunchtime which our lot joined in. Some forty Ferraris were crammed in to the top paddock and the owners were all very happy! It was all down to these final two runs, Sean Doyle (308GT4) scooped the Handicap award then, for the on his first visit to the hill. real results so
Photo: Mark Buckland
Photo: Mark Buckland
Prepare for blast off. Jon Goodwin launches his 550 Maranello.
let battle commence. The front three runners were hugely quick and we will leave them to last in these notes. Sean Doyle was once again impressive even though he spoiled his final run. His best of 58.45 was an excellent time for a first timer here and especially with a 308GT4. Pauline Goodwin, too, was really on it at 57.69, though this was not enough to head Sean on PEP factored time. He had about a tenth margin here. Andrew Holman, so fast here previously, was mindful of the pinball effect and with his wife Yvonne present was showing understandable restraint at 56.39 – slower than his best practice. Jon Goodwin also suffered with this. His best at 55.78 was three tenths down on practice. I was also frustrated to be a second slower than last year with 55.25, even though I tried very hard. I did bring the wrong pair of glasses though and had difficulty seeing up the tunnel. The two Shirleys made big improvements, especially Gavin - he very creditably got down to 54.72, just a second behind his father at 53.65. Now down to the top three competition. On the first run a determined Nick Taylor put in a great run with 51.34 – not enough to take the class record but sufficient to head Chris Butler – he was a couple of tenths out at 51. 58. Both of them were really flying out of the trap – their 0-64ft times were much faster
than the other Ferrari drivers. Richard Prior, at 52.53, was comfortably third and way ahead of the rest. As we launched in to the final run off the conditions were still good, but maybe there was less heat in the track. Both Chris, who was fastest, and Nick dropped back to the 52 second
bracket, but Richard Prior went faster still to split them. Our congratulations then to Nick, looking chuffed with yet another Ferrari class win, and whilst Chris may have been disappointed to lose the class, he was certainly delighted with the 20 Championship points. Richard Prior’s remarkable second run
deservedly netted him the second position on the points chart besides third overall. We ran the usual Club handicap and Sean Doyle is to be congratulated on scooping the win here for his enthusiastic and very skilful driving of his 308GT4 on this first Doune outing. ď Ž
DOUNE Hillclimb 19/2 JUNE 2009 Round 7 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship Driver Nick Taylor Chris Butler Richard Prior John Shirley Gavin Shirley Richard Allen Jon Goodwin Andrew Holman Pauline Goodwin Sean Doyle
Tipo
Pract 1
Pract 2
Pract 3
Pract 4
H/ cap
Run 1
Run 2
64ft
split
PEP %
PEP Time
Pts
348GTC F355 F355 F355 F355 328GTB 550 Mar F355 328GTB 308GT4
55.75 53.37
52.63 52.72 54.27 55.01 59.50 56.55
52.27 51.66 52.85 54.83 57.39 55.88
51.00 50.75 52.00 53.25 54.75 54.00
51.34 51.58 52.53 53.65 54.98 55.25
52.23 52.07 52.13 54.08 54.72 55.49
2.39 2.32 2.56 2.51 2.71 2.52
18.27 17.82 18.62 19.80 19.20 20.70
+2.5 0.0 0.0
52.62 51.58 52.13
15 20 17
58.04 71.97 57.38
54.76 52.69 54.27 55.40 61.93 56.73
-3.0
53.59
13
60.85 62.82
59.08 57.95 59.99 60.61
55.48 55.89 57.72 60.37
56.14 55.83 59.79 59.10
54.50 53.25 56.50 58.50
56.06 56.95 57.69 58.45
55.78 56.39 58.93 60.36
2.78 2.62 2.51 2.54
20.55 19.82 20.48 20.85
-1.0 0.0 -3.0 -4.5
55.22 56.39 55.96 55.82
12 9 10 11
NB 64ft relates to the fastest run time.
Class Awards:
1st Nick Taylor
FOC Handicap:
1st Sean Doyle
2nd Chris Butler
112 89 80 73 71 67 56 55 48 45 29 29 26 22 17
3rd Richard Prior
Championship Points after Round 7
Chris Butler Richard Prior Richard Allen Sean Doyle Nick Taylor John Marshall Andrew Holman Pauline Goodwin Philip Whitehead David Tomlin Jon Goodwin John Swift Chris Hitchman Mark Hargreaves Barrie Wood
Wendy Ann Marshall Jack Hargreaves Peter Wilson Lorraine Hitchman Jeffrey Cooper Peter Hitchman Peter Rogerson Sergio Ransford Adrian Wilson Ian Chadwick Tracey Haynes Andrew Duncan Edward Briscoe Julian Playford Colin Campbell
16 15 13 12 12 12 12 10 9 8 7 5 5 5 3
Classic competitors
Sean Doyle 73, Richard Allen 58, Pauline Goodwin 55, Mark Hargreaves 22, Wendy Ann Marshall 16, Jack Hargreaves 15, Lorraine Hitchman 12, Tracey Haynes 7, Edward Briscoe 5, Colin Campbell 3
CompRes 10
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
KNOCKHILL 5th SCOTTISH SPEEDFAIR 25th - 27th JUNE 2010
W
HAT IS THERE NOT TO like about Knockhill? writes JOHN SWIFT. I asked myself this question both on my way up to Scotland and again as I returned home at the end of one of the best racing weekends of recent times. On my journey north, with the Toyota Previa tow vehicle loaded to the gunwales with paddock bikes, trophies, cases of
11 CompRes
Prosecco and the mountain of other impedimenta we seem to find indispensable for Ferrari racing, I was concerned how our depleted entry – particularly for the Open (the GT Cup races at Snetterton was an unfortunate clash of date) – would work out. Forecasting the probable level of race entries these days is not only an inexact science but an almost impossible one. Competitors’ ticks on their registration forms as a guide to which circuits they might attend
offers no reliable indication. The number of ticks we had for Knockhill was almost twice the actual total of entries we ultimately received. But then my worries rolled away once we arrived in Scotland. The weather – notoriously fickle at this venue – was gloriously sunny, last minute applications for the Friday evening Ferrari Dinner Party had brought the total of guests to an impressive 70+, and the hotel we had chosen proved to be even
CompRes 12
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
much trouble and circuits. Sadly the turnout was a drivers are given a little disappointing. tremendous welcome in Practice refreshing contrast Then, in the afternoon, there to being treated, were sessions for the competing as at a few UK cars in the weekend’s race tracks, like meeting, to which the organisers uninvited tramps had given the title ‘5th Scottish suffering from an Speedfair & Classic Festival’. unmentionable Ferraris were allocated three disease. dedicated 20-minute periods. With an During the lunch break I eye to that fickle arranged with the unchallenged weather I ace of Knockhill, Ian Forrest, to mentioned we had The engine of Chris Rea’s 308GT4 was again not give me some refresher laps of arranged to hire a working properly, leading to yet another DNS. the track in one of the circuit’s large marquee to diesel-engined Seat saloons. better than we had hoped. house the Ferraris in the Mark McAllister, favourite to win For those who haven’t paddock. This worked well, it sampled the circuit at Knockhill let me dispel a few misconceptions they may have. Although the lap length is extraordinarily short – a tiny 1.3 miles – it is in no way a Mickey Mouse track in the way Brands Indy might be so described. It is a distillation of the best features of a number of highly regarded circuits with a few unique features of its own. I don’t know of another chicane quite like the one here, where the cars vault off the tarmac and the only view the driver has is of the sky. There is something happening every split second and there’s barely time to check the instruments as you dance around this demanding track. And the cars suffer extreme torture to their The Ferrari marquee worked well. suspensions and tyres. Another feature of Knockhill was big enough to accommodate the PFO races with his newly is the sheer friendliness of everyone, and as a bonus it kept acquired 430 Challenge, everyone connected with the us all together to both enhance accompanied me. After three or circuit. Nothing seems to be too the display of the cars and the four circuits, with Ian pointing bonhomie of the out all the tricky challenges and drivers and their how to deal with them, we friends. hammered round the track with Ferrari activity all the finesse of a demented began on the Friday ballet dancer wearing Doc morning with an Martens. At the end of the exclusive track day for demonstration we felt a bit more Club members’ road confident and full of admiration cars. We had hoped to for Ian’s skill behind the wheel. attract a large In the first test session it contingent of Scottish was apparent that something was Area members to this, still woefully wrong with Chris since it is such a long Rea’s 308GT4’s engine. It was Richard Fenny exuberantly tests the way for them to attend misfiring, lacked power, and effectiveness of the gravel traps. our regular round of
Photos: www.simonpics.co.uk
clearly in need of some urgent attention if it was to be race ready the following day. Work on this engine has apparently been going on since November of last year so this was not at all encouraging. It was the first time we had seen Tris Simpson’s GT4 and it lacked one or two useful features like wing mirrors and, even more useful, decent brakes. Fred Honnor’s Gp2 308GTB had a slight misfire and an investigatory removal of the airbox revealed a nasty looking puddle of emulsified oil and water. Could it be a blown cylinder head gasket? Fred is not the sort of chap to be fazed by any sort of mechanical problem and he regards this sort of difficulty as simply a challenge to be tackled. “Of course,” he said confidently, “the car will be racing tomorrow.” McAllister had a scare when his 430 caught fire on the first lap of his session. A fuel hose connection was the culprit and his mechanics spent an hour or two making sure it didn’t happen again. The car was little the worse for the minor conflagration. Vance Kearney and his codriver for the weekend, Darren Laverty, had missed their flight from Luton airport and had had to dash to Heathrow to catch an alternative flight to Edinburgh.
The Ferrari Dinner Friday evening’s Dinner at the Keavil House Hotel was held in their Mountbatten Suite, which comfortably accommodated all the Ferraristi. In tribute to our Scottish friends we had named each of the nine tables after a Scottish motor racing venue. This proved to be quite a test: how many names can you dredge up if asked? Knockhill and Doune were easy. For the older drivers (me) Charterhall and Turnberry, Bo’ness and Rest and Be Thankful could also be remembered. But then it took some time to come up with the final three: Ingliston, East Fortune and Forrestburn.
13 CompRes
Classic Race . Top: Jim Cartwright and David Tomlin make contact at the first corner Centre: Nick Whittaker drove well all weekend in his reliveried 308GT4 Bottom: Your scribe’s 308GTB being hounded by Martin Hart (Mondial t) and Richard Allen (328GTB)
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
The imported Prosecco was supplemented by some canapés the hotel rustled up, and from there on everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time. Paula Henderson, Stewart Ross’s partner’s elder daughter, is a designer in London and I had inveigled her into scheming up a unique design for a commemorative whisky glass for the occasion. All the competitors were presented with one and they are a delightful little memento of Knockhill 2010. Among the guests we were very pleased to welcome most of the senior staff of Graypaul Edinburgh including Chris Sainsbury, their top exec. Also up in Scotland for the occasion were Ferrari GB’s John Kemp and Russell Simpson.
warm. The agenda for the Ferraris was a qualifying session of 20 minutes for each of the series immediately before the lunch break. This was followed, just before 5 o’clock, by two 15 lap separate sprint races for PFfc and PFO. Feverish work on the Rea 308GT4 proved to be fruitless and it seemed the camshaft timing was now completely It was the first appearance of Tris Simpson’s Gp1 308GT4. Once the brakes are sorted it should do well. haywire. Thoughts of getting the car out for qualy were claimed pole with a time of abandoned and a bitterly 1:00.318. Just behind were Jim Qualifying disappointed Chris Rea set off for Cartwright and Gary Culver in Saturday dawned sunny and the airport and home. their Gp4 cars. Honnor had The Classics captured the Gp2 honours in were out first and 1:3.867, less than a fifth of a not long into the second quicker than your scribe. session Gary In Gp1, Nick Whitaker was the Culver’s 328GTB fastest (1:05.253), well ahead of headed for the pits his class rival, Tris Simpson. with clouds of Immediately after the Classic steam enveloping Ferraris had done their stuff it the car. The was the turn of the Open cars. diagnosis was a This meant a rapid switch of water pump Ferraris for Tomlin, who had also failure. Fred brought his F355 Challenge car to Honnor had Scotland. When I pointed out the installed a little difficult logistics of this catch tank since changeover to Chris Edwards, the The return of an old friend. Mario Ferrari was out amiable chief honcho of the in PFO in the ex-Duncan McKay 308GTB. The car’s we had seen his car the previous Scottish Motor Racing Club, he rapid pace was hampered by a locking brake.
CompRes 14
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
It was wheel to wheel like this for most of Race 1 for these two Gp3 328GTBs, with Chris Butler (5) managing to hang on to take victory from Ben Cartwright.
day and told us he would just do three laps in order to qualify. In the event he did eight laps at such a pace that it looked like he had cured his emulsion problem. When the marshals spotted that Gary’s car was emitting unidentified liquids they displayed a black and orange flag, albeit without indicating his competition number. Several drivers, your reporter included, thought the flag was meant for them and pulled into the pit lane, only to be told it was not intended for them. By the time this was explained, it wasn’t worth going out again and those affected had their session halved to a mere ten minutes. The timesheets showed that David Tomlin (Gp3 328GTB) had
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
said there shouldn’t be a problem. “The driver can simply leap like a gazelle from one car to the next.” I mentioned this to David, who then tried his best to emulate the grace of the suggested beast. There were few problems with the small number of PFO cars in the session. Paul Bailey’s 430 Challenge retains its original carbon brakes and we blanched when he told us the cost of the pads which his engineers replaced immediately before going out. Mario Ferrari, in the bright yellow ex-Duncan McKay 308GTB, suffered a locking front
brake although he explained that he hadn’t altered the brake balance since buying the car last September. Vance Kearney and Darren Laverty had to do a quick change of driver and competition number midway through in their shared black F355. And since it happens only rarely it is worth mentioning that Mark I’Anson actually bought some new Pirellis for his F355/Ch prior to qualifying. Pole position was hotly contested between the two 430s, with Mark McAllister (56.485) just pipping Paul Bailey. Less than a second behind these two was the quickest class C1 car, the F355/Ch of Mark I’Anson.
Classics Race 1
Mark McAllister leads the similar 430 of Paul Bailey at the start of Race 1, with David Tomlin (F355/Ch) well in contention in third.
15 CompRes
Because the Classic series cars race on treaded tyres, the organisers had assumed we would not need a green flag lap in addition to the installation lap. As we know, the Pirellis work better when properly up to temperature so the Clerk agreed
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Happy Days. L: Hilary Tomlin presented the Classic winner’s trophy to Chris Butler for his Race 1 overall victory. R: The Hackwood Group Classic Driver of the Meeting award went to Nick Whittaker.
to our request for the extra lap. The meeting was running ahead of schedule and the thirteen PFfc cars were called up early. The red lights seemed to be on for an eternity but when the field was finally released we were immediately in trouble. Tomlin and Jim Cartwright collided at the first corner, with Tomlin spinning to the back of the field. Jim C continued in the lead with Culver, Butler, Ben C and Honnor in close pursuit. Jim’s spectacular progress was short-lived and after three laps at the front he headed for the pits with a deflating front tyre. The Cartwright cars are fitted with tyre pressure monitoring devices and the tyre
Mark I’Anson leads Vance Kearney in their identical F355s
valves protrude from the wheels rather more than normal. It was a valve that had been damaged in that first lap collision. With Jim C gone, Culver took over the baton but then after only one further lap, steam billowed from his 328 just as it had in qualifying. This time it wasn’t the water pump at fault but a detached ancillary drive belt. Gary promptly retired, handing the lead to a grateful Chris Butler. From thereon Chris had a monumental battle with Ben C, the two Gp3 328s never more than a length or two apart. Behind these two embattled heroes, Honnor was holding off Cartwright senior but all the time Tomlin was making his way
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
Open Race 1
It was a successful weekend for Paul Bailey, who chalked up two second places in his 430 Challenge.
Because of the change to the class structure sine we had last raced at Knockhill in 2008, all the fastest laps were new records for the circuit. Tomlin created a new target for Gp3 with 1:01.66, Culver for Gp4 (1:02.301, Honnor for Gp2 (1:03.676) and finally Whittaker was fastest in Gp1 with 1:05.118. Hilary Tomlin kindly agreed to present the Classic prizes after we had hastily set up the awards table outside the Ferrari marquee.
No sooner had the dust settled from the Classic race than it was the Open cars on parade. Again it was a standing start which one felt more than usual was the correct procedure with the first corner coming up so soon after the start. The full entry of just seven Ferraris came under starters orders at around 4.45pm. The grid layout at Knockhill is one of the most intelligent we have seen – plenty of space between rows and cars – and something that the people at Castle Combe and Snetterton ought to copy. From the start, pole man McAllister zoomed off into a lead that he would never relinquish although Bailey was always threatening in second spot. Tomlin was a solid third in his F355/Ch which, despite its power disadvantage, was only a second or so off the pace of the 430s. For this race it was owner Vance Kearney who was driving the F355 and he was immediately engaged in an entertaining battle
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
through the field in a desperate effort to make up for his first lap mishap. He worked his way up to a commendable third overall but then lost time when too much throttle out of the chicane caused a spin; and then, for an encore, he spun again at the hairpin. Meanwhile there were some great dices going on throughout the field. Your reporter was having to resist a two pronged attack from Martin Hart (Gp3 Mondial t) and Richard Allen (Gp3 328). The siege was resisted until two laps from the end, when the two assailants managed to get past. Just behind this trio Nick Whittaker was having the drive of his life in his well prepared Gp1 GT4, managing to keep ahead of both 308GT4s of Richard Fenny and Tris Simpson. When the chequered flag signalled the end of the 15 lapper, it was a delighted Chris Butler who took the drop, with Ben Cartwright just half a second behind. Despite his adventures, Tomlin brought his similar car into third, some 20 seconds adrift.
The biggest number of Ferraris ever seen in Scotland paraded on Sunday morning.
CompRes 16
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
“Gary Culver enlivened proceedings by demonstrating his ex-Martin Brundle Tyrrell F1 car, the incredible noise from which is clearly designed to make one’s ears bleed.”
mustered for Race 2, a longer 25 second fastest qualifying lap is lap affair described as used to establish the grid ‘endurance’. pattern. This method resulted in In the a grid very similar to Saturday’s morning a splendid although Culver (with a new collection of mostly water pump belt) was now on Scottish owned pole and yours truly had moved Ferraris assembled ahead of Honnor. Our Club in the main chairman, RA, was unimpressed paddock, under the as he had not made the best of militarily precise fists with any of his qualifying direction of Peter times. Everingham and On the installation and green his small platoon flag laps, oil flags were displayed of Derek Seymour at most marshals’ posts following and Simon Cooke. an incontinent MG Trophy race Gary Culver immediately before. This was not There was a terrific scrap between Nick Cartwright (3) in his Gp4 328GTB and Fred enlivened a good start, one felt, on a track Honnor driving his Gp2 308GTB. proceedings by where ultimate adhesion is more demonstrating his than usually vital. and Ferrari established new C1 ex-Martin Brundle Tyrrell F1 car, The cars got off to a good and S class records in 57.633 and the incredible noise from which is start, with Allen’s being so good 60.147 respectively. clearly designed to make one’s that he incurred a 10 second ears bleed. penalty for a jump start. Jim In the absence of a second Cartwright made up for his Classics Race 2 qualifier we adopted the system previous day’s disappointment by often used at Knockhill where the immediately taking the lead, with The local met office forecast rain for Eastern Scotland at some time on Sunday. Knockhill prognosticators differed in their predictions: some said rain straight after lunch, others at about 4.00pm (well after the Ferrari races), and a third group of experts helpfully suggested that if we could no longer see the sheep on the hill, then it was raining. And if the sheep were lying down and not visible, then it was really chucking it down. As it turned out, the second prophesy was the accurate one and the sun was still shining Gary Culver (34) harried Jim Cartwright mercilessly in Race 2 but at the end had to give best to the blue car. What great racing! when the Classic Ferraris
17 CompRes
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
with the similar black car of I’Anson. He managed to get past Mark on lap 5 but then, after a hectic couple of laps, had to give best at the hairpin and for the rest of the race held 5th place. Gavin Shirley drove well in the F355 Challenge-that-isn’t-an F355 Challenge, after a first lap hiccup when he spun into the gravel at the hairpin. Mario Ferrari had a lonely race in the only Class S car, lapping a couple of seconds off the C1 pace due to his dodgy brake problems. McAllister was the winner but the fastest lap of the race was credited to second placed 430 driver Bailey in a resounding 56.382, a new record. Tomlin
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Triple Bypass. Club Chairman Richard Allen (328GTB) got off to such a good start in Race 2 that he was given a 10 second penalty. Here he leads Swift and Hart through the hairpin.
wind and was closing on Allen. This was really exciting stuff, with the cars’ back wheels a clear six inches off the ground through the chicane. The closely pitched battle of 328/308/Mondial came to an end on lap 16 when Swift missed a gear going into the hairpin and then found the Blue Thing’s engine fluttered and lost its revs just when max were needed. Culver overtook Ben at the mid-way point and hounded Jim C mercilessly However, try as he might, the master was unable to quite close the deal and had to be content with the runner-up position albeit only half a second in arrears. Ben C kept Tomlin at bay to take third and an exciting battle between Honnor and Nick Cartwright was settled in the latter’s favour. At the end, Richard Allen lost his place to
Open Race 2 The seven PFO cars assembled for their 25 lapper under a threatening cover of black clouds. Perhaps, we thought, we just might just get through the race before the inevitable rain arrived. Paul Bailey reckoned that sitting on the tail of Mark McAllister throughout R1 had given him sufficient pointers of what to do to be able to come to Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
brother Ben, Tomlin, Culver, and yesterday’s winner, Butler, in the next wave. Then it was Honnor, Nick C, Swift, Allen, Whittaker (after a demon start) and Hart. Fenny slid off into the gravel on lap 2 and spent the rest of the race trying to catch up. On lap 3, Culver and Tomlin exchanged places and a rare skirmish was unfolding between Honnor, Nick C, and Butler – the latter coming out best. Lap 5 saw a determined RA slip past Swift while Hart was also shaping up to attack your beleaguered reporter. At the halfway stage. leader Jim C was clearly in charge and Culver was closing on Ben to dispute 2nd place. At decent intervals now, Tomlin, Butler and Honnor occupied 4th, 5th and 6th overall positions. Further back your scribe had had a second
Martin Hart on account of that time penalty. Despite a few drops of inconsequential rain half way through the race, Race 2 was quicker than Saturday’s sprint event. Culver broke the Gp4 record with a sensational time of 1:00.408, just a thousandth of a second faster than Jim Cartwright. This was clear evidence, if any is needed, of how close this Ferrari Classic racing has become this season. Ben Cartwright was the fastest Gp3 driver, breaking the lap record with 1:01.175, while Fred Honnor decimated the Gp2 time with 1:02.400. Nick Whittaker improved on his Race 1 time to set a new figure of 1:04.248. After we had recovered our breath, Selina Bailey (hopping on one leg due to an accident to her foot a few days before) bravely presented the class awards in the marquee. The coveted Hackwood Group Classic Driver of the Meeting was handed to Nick Whittaker in recognition of his very competitive drives in both races.
“Mario Ferrari – to his immense delight – caught and passed the F355 of young Gavin Shirley.”
Darren Laverty brought the shared Vance Kearney F355 home in third overall to win Class C1.
CompRes 18
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Disaster strikes. David Tomlin heads for the pits and retirement following his shunt with Mark I’Anson.
Bailey was clearly losing ground to the leader on every lap and it seemed, barring misfortune, that that would be the situation at the end. However, the position behind these two was far from clear. Tomlin was making inroads on third placed I’Anson’s advantage and by lap 9 had almost caught him up. The two F355s were side by side as they went up the hill towards the start/finish line. Then disaster struck. As they came to the right-hander down the hill Tomlin went into the corner too ambitiously, lost control, and his spinning car collided with I’Anson’s. The latter’s car was badly mauled, Tomlin’s less so. However, both
Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk
Photo: Jonathan Tremlett
terms with his rival in R2. For this race, Darren Laverty took over the wheel of Kearney’s F355. Mario Ferrari, after a good race in an earlier non-Ferrari event, believed he had mastered the brake problems on his class S 308GTB. When the lights went out, it was McAllister who streaked off into the lead and I’Anson, making a demon getaway, went straight past Bailey to claim second. However, towards the end of that opening lap Bailey used all the 430’s prodigious power to snatch the place back as they accelerated out of the hairpin. Tomlin was in 4th ahead of Laverty, Shirley and Ferrari. As the race progressed
slowly returned to the pit lane to retire. Following this accident the pattern of the race continued as it had begun. McAllister increased the cushion to Bailey, Laverty took a competent overall third place and, right at the end, Mario Ferrari – to his immense joy – caught and passed the F355 of young Gavin Shirley. As in the earlier Classic race, everybody was quicker than the day before. Mark McAllister broke Paul Bailey’s lap record set the day before with a time 55:565. As some consolation for subsequently having his car broken, Mark I’Anson took the C1 record in 57.626. Ferrari improved his class S time to 58.954. At the conclusion of the podium ceremony outside race control, at our marquee the class awards were presented by Paula Henderson, that talented designer of the whisky tumblers handed out at Friday’s Ferrari Dinner. Just to show someone was right about the weather, an hour after the end of the Open race the heavens opened and the track was awash with heavy rain. And no, we couldn’t see if the sheep on the hill were standing up or lying down.
There were celebrations galore. Left: A delirious Nick Cartwright is unable to contain his unbounded joy. Centre: Darren Laverty congratulates Paul Bailey while Mark McAllister occupies the top step of the podium. Right: Mario Ferrari receives his Class S trophy from Paula Henderson.
19 CompRes
PIRELLI FERRARI formula classic – ROUNDS 5 & 6 Race 5 KNOCKHILL 26th June 2010 Pos 1
No
Driver
5 Chris Butler
Tipo
Group
Laps
328GTB
3
15
15:51.867
Time
Best Lap 1:02.358
Qualify 1:01.056
Pos 4
2
72 Ben Cartwright
328GTB
3
15
15:52.458
1:02.320
1:01.241
5
3
6 David Tomlin
328GTB
3
15
16:11.551
1:01.666
1:00.318
1
4
3 Nick Cartwright
328GTB
4
15
16:11.686
1:03.440
1:03.428
6
5
20 Fred Honnor
308GTB
2
15
16:19.990
1:03.676
1:03.867
7
6
31 Martin Hart
Mondial t
3
15
16:33.678
1:04.752
1:04.770
9
7
45 Richard Allen
328GTB
3
15
16:34.614
1:04.367
1:06.081
11
8
11 John Swift
308GTB
2
13
16:36.666
1:05.357
1:04.039
8
9
48 Nick Whittaker
308GT4
1
15
16:39.142
1:05.118
1:05.253
10
10
25 Richard Fenny
308GT4
2
15
16:49.184
1:05.937
1:29.690
12
11
46 Tris Simpson
30GT4
1
13
16:03.365
1:09.035
1:27.145
13
DNF
34 Gary Culver
328GTB
4
5
5:27.191
1:02.301
1:00.787
3
DNF
69 Jim Cartwright
328GTB
4
4
4:19.718
1:02.356
1:00.716
2
Fastest Laps: Gary Culver
Group 4
1:02.301 (73.963 mph)
establishes lap record
David Tomlin Fred Honnor
Group 3 Group 2
1:01.666 (74.725 mph) 1:03.676 (72.676 mph)
establishes lap record establishes lap record
Nick Whittaker
Group 1
1:05.118 (70.764 mph)
establishes lap record
Race 6 KNOCKHILL 27th June 2010 Pos
No
Driver
Tipo
Group
Laps
Time
Best Lap
Qualify
Pos
1
69 Jim Cartwright
328GTB
4
25
25:35.233
1:00.409
1:00.919
2
2
34 Gary Culver
328GTB
4
25
25:35.641
1:00.408
1:00.886
1
3
72 Ben Cartwright
328GTB
3
25
25:53.478
1:01.175
1:01.392
4
4
6 David Tomlin
328GTB
3
25
26:03.925
1:01.454
1:00.982
3
5
5 Chris Butler
328GTB
3
25
26:22.366
1:02.217
1:01.513
5
6
3 Nick Cartwright
328GTB
4
25
26:28.868
1:02.473
1:03.523
6
7
20 Fred Honnor
308GTB
2
25
26:30.242
1:02.400
1:04.248
8
8
31 Martin Hart
Mondial t
3
24
26:06.787
1:03.682
1:04.835
9
9
45 Richard Allen
328GTB
3
24
26:14.932
1:03.878
1:06.313
12
10
48 Nick Whittaker
308GT4
1
24
26:16.979
1:04.248
1:05.875
10
11
11 John Swift
308GTB
2
24
26:29.767
1:03.592
1:04.141
7
12
25 Richard Fenny
308GT4
2
23
26:04.504
1:05.522
1:06.304
11
13
46 Tris Simpson
30GT4
1
23
26:39.056
1:07.422
1:08.408
13
Fastest Laps:
Gary Culver
Group 4
1:00.408 (76.281 mph)
lap record
Ben Cartwright
Group 3
1:01.175 (75.325 mph)
lap record
Fred Honnor
Group 2
1:02.400 (73.846 mph)
lap record
Nick Whittaker
Group 1
1:04.248 (71.722 mph)
lap record
CompRes 20
PIRELLI FERRARI OPEN Race 1 KNOCKHILL 26th June 2010 Pos
No
Driver
Tipo
Class
Laps
Time
Best Lap
Qualify
Po s
1
36 Mark McAllister
430/Ch
C3
15
14:23.302
56.620
56.485
1
2
28 Paul Bailey
430/Ch
C3
15
14:23.622
56.382
56.534
2
3
6 David Tomlin
F355/Ch
C1
15
14:45.718
57.633
57.542
4
4
30 Mark I’Anson
F355/Ch
C1
15
14:56.685
57.846
57.394
3
F355/Ch
C1
15
15:04.458
58.203
59.706
6
308GTB
S
15
15:19.014
1:00.147
59.670
5
F355
C1
14
14:28.246
59.561
59.890
7
5
8 Vance Kearney
6
45 Mario Ferrari
7
9 Gavin Shirley
Fastest Laps: Paul Bailey
C3
56.382 (81.728 mph)
Establishes lap record
David Tomlin
C1
57.633 (79.954 mph)
Establishes lap record
Mario Ferrari
S
1:00.147 (76.612 mph)
Establishes lap record
PIRELLI FERRARI OPEN Race 1 KNOCKHILL 27th June 2010 Pos
Tipo
Class
Laps
1
No
36 MarkMcAllister
430/Ch
C3
25
23:34.597
55.565
56.552
1
2
28 Paul Bailey
430/Ch
C3
25
23:56.276
56.374
56.594
2
3
18 Darren Laverty
F355/Ch
C1
24
24:10.058
58.586
58:825
5
4
45 Mario Ferrari
308GTB
S
24
24:12.286
58.954
1:00.094
7
5
9 Gavin Shirley
F355
C1
24
24:13.241
59.400
1:00.003
6
DNF
6 David Tomlin
F355/Ch
C1
10
10:03.695
57:690
57.588
3
DNF
30 Mark I’Anson
F355/Ch
C1
10
10:32.091
57.626
57.892
4
Best Lap
C3
55.565 (82.930 mph)
Lap record
Mark I’Anson
C1
57.626 (79.964 mph)
Lap record
Mario Ferrari
S
58.954 (78.163 mph)
Lap record
Tailpiece: There was a serious shortage of Pirelli Girls at Knockhill so we had to create our own. These two young ladies are your scribe’s granddaughters, suitably dressed up for the job.
21 CompRes
Time
Mark McAllister
Photo: Stuart Urquhart
Fastest Laps:
Driver
Qualify
Pos
Birthdays in August
2 Lor 17 O d raine H hran M itchman 3 Tim cConne 22 Pe Lewis ll ter Wil 5 Suz s o n 2 3 anne Ev Anne H eringha 6 Mik ughes m 24 An e Edmo ne Swif nds t Vince W Martin oodman R i c h Andrew 25 Dia Holman na Sear 7 Sue s Anderso S tuart R n o d en Janet B 26 An enson ne Leig hton Luca Cia Craig M rdiello ilner Ian Tuit 2 7 M e i k S e t e F r urness ling 8 Joh n Pogso Richard n 9 Wil Prior 28 Br liam Je i a n n k in Jackson 12 Nic s o Koel Alan Co 14 Ro sby 30 Ba bert Ma rry Car cfarlane penter
CompRes 22
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23 CompRes
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