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FERRARICOMPETITIONRESULTS

CompRes

GLORIOUS GROUP 4 DAYTONA COMPETIZIONE JOINS THE 2012 PIRELLI CLASSIC SERIES

ISSUE 073 APRIL 2012

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 THIS MONTH’S COVER The cover for this month’s issue of CompRes features the mighty Group 4 Daytona 365 GTB/4 of Tim Summers, which has been registered for this season’s Pirelli Ferrari formula classic series. Some of you may remember this car when it was raced by the Swede, Ulf Bowman, in the 1980s. In Ulf’s hands it was rarely beaten and probably the fastest Ferrari of its type at the time. I recall that Ulf was involved in a big accident in the Caribbean with the car but after that I lost track of it. Now, it has been restored to its former glory and is again looking just like its old self, in its original Swedish livery. Take a close look at this magnificent car when it next takes to the track!

BILL BLYTH

JUNE

With great sadness I have to report the death of Bill Blyth who passed away peacefully on 9th May. He was 91. Bill had been transferred to a hospice just the week before he died following a deterioration in his condition due to bowel cancer. He commented to me that he JULY had declined further treatment. He said, “At my age I don’t want to be greedy.” As many of you will know, Bill was a superb mechanical engineer and for many years acted as Ken Wharton's race engineer looking after Ken's Coopers, ERA, BRM and other fast

CompRes 1

machinery. His company manufactured many of the intricate parts for BRM and other F1 teams of the period. He was a member of the BRDC. Bill was an avid Ferrari enthusiast and a great friend of the late Elwynne Owen-Jones, whose pair of Dino 246GTs he often shared at hillclimb events. He was responsible for the conversion to fuel injection of Elwynne’s race Ferrari Dino when this technique was in its infancy. He also loved all things Italian and spent many summer holidays at his favourite hotel at Lake Garda. Anne and I attended his funeral near his home at Kingsley in Cheshire. The hearse arrived at the crematorium at a very unfunereal-like pace. Rupert, his son-in-law, explained that Bill

had given strict instructions that the car taking him to the church should not drop below 70 mph! Bill Blyth will be long remembered by the Ferrari Owners' Club via the 'Ken Wharton/Bill Blyth Trophy' that bears his name.

BEN CARTWRIGHT TRIATHLON

Ben Cartwright, top Ferrari driver and keen athlete, has donned his sporting kit again to take part in his first Triathlon which, for those who understand these things, is the UK Iron Man 70.3. It consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run. Just the description of this gruelling undertaking makes me want to lie down. WHAT’S ON Ben will, of course, be attempting to raise funds for his local Matlock Mencap 2/3 Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb Society for whom he has been a volunteer for several years. 4/5 Brands Hatch: Pirelli Ferrari Any donations from formula classic; Pirelli Ferrari Open [double headers] Ferrari colleagues will be hugely appreciated. Just 14 FOC: Snetterton Track Day send your contribution to Ben at Unit 3/4, Brookfield Park, 16/17 Doune Hillclimb Tansley, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 5FY. 24

Gurston Down Hillclimb

30/01 Goodwood Festival of Speed 7/8

FOC Concours-Boughton House

7/8

British Grand Prix

14/15 Loton Park Hillclimb 17

FOC: Donington Park Track Day

20-22 Spa-Francorchamps: Pirelli Ferrari formula classic; Pirelli Ferrari Open [double headers]

FF CORSE RELOCATE FF Corse have relocated from their previous base at Silverstone to the Silverstone Hangar, formerly famed as the Silverstone indoor kart track and more recently the home of A1 GP before they closed their doors at the end of 2008. The facility has a purpose built workshop, office and a secure storage facility for all Ff Corse client

Happy Birthday!

Loads of space at FF Corse.

managed cars. The new HQ enables all FF Corse preparation activities to take place under one roof. Loading and unloading of the race trailers can now be carried out in the dry. The storage area backs on to the Silverstone security venue which is manned 24 hours a day and the alarm system boasts red care and monitoring facilities usually reserved for banks. The extra space can also provide FF Corse members with additional long term storage.

04 07 09

Nathan Kinch

Joe Billingham Jack Dwane Edward Bourn

Tracey Hayne s 10 12

Ray Hanson Toby Tarrant Keith Godber

10 11

-Willis

Richard Staffo

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS Following our double-header events at Brands Hatch, the next big thing, and probably the jewel in the 2012 seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crown, is our overseas trip to Belgium and that Mecca of circuits, Spa. The date is 20-22 July with testing, subject to confirmation, on the Thursday. I have block-booked all the available accommodation at the superb Hotel de la Source, where we were so well looked after last year, and also arranged a special Ferrari Dinner party at the hotel for the Friday evening. I have managed to negotiate the rooms at the same heavily discounted rate that we paid in 2011. Very shortly we shall be sending out full details of the Spa weekend together entry forms. Make sure you are there!

JUNE

13 15 16 18

19 22 23 24 25 27 28 30

rd Tim Ingram H ill Geoffrey Rolla son Sally Mason-S tyrron Jon Goodwin

Leon Bachelie

13 14

r Bernard Hogar th Peter Hitchm an Gavin Shirley Wendy-Ann M arshall Geraldina Nic kless Dave Clark

19 20 21 24

Ray Ferguson

Martin Hart

Grahame Brya nt Len Watson John Marshal l Ian Hethering ton

29 30

JULY Barrie Wood Nuno de Brito e Cunha Paul Jarmyn John Day Paul Brooks Sue Taylor Jim McWhirte

r Sergio Ransf ord Ian Chadwick Darren Lavert

y Melissa Culve r Steve Farthin g David Cotting ham

Erik Oktner Tony Willis

Bruno Cappu ccini Ayisha Essat Wayne Nickl ess Richard Chest er

Jamie Stanle

Steve Young Debbie Culve

r Julian Playfor d Nigel Jenkin s

Ross Warburt on

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RA’s HILLCOMMENT Jersey turned out to be a lot of fun despite the mostly dismal weather during our visit. Usually it is great when we are over for Bouley Bay hillclimb, with blue sky and even bluer sea. There are, though, still many attractions to appreciate, especially the fuel for 20p a litre less than at home and no hosepipe ban. There was a lot of enthusiastic car washing going on and Shaun Smith (see pic) used at least 50 gallons on his 328GTB. The Bouley hillclimb is always worth the £40 entry fee – the spectating alone is probably better than any other place we visit, and the commentary easily the best. It is also really entertaining to watch the local competitors attack the daunting course with huge brio, even in the wet, as did the Ferrari drivers of course! I think we were all relieved to come home relatively unpunished. A Leisurely Start to the new PFHC season with just one round in March and one in April. Into May and we start to pick up speed with Harewood and Prescott, closely followed by the big Shelsley National early June. I have remarked in earlier years when indulging in punditry, that those with a serious chance of winning the Championship outright can be counted on one hand or even less than that. Presently the big three – that’s Prior, Butler and Taylor, look like they may have to contend with a determined effort from Andrew Holman to join the club. He’s opened his new season account strongly and can be expected to take maximum pointers at most of the sprints, though previously he has been less effective on the hills. All this should make for an

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Water, water everywhere . . . Shaun Smith’s 328 benefits from Jersey’s abundant supply of water.

exciting season, and the Classic Cup looks wide open too, with Jack Hargreaves and Shaun Smith already making their mark. Welcome Back to Philip Whitehead - understandably not seen since his big ‘off’ at the MIRA Sprint last year. You can’t keep a good man down and he is entered for Harewood on May 12/13 with his recently acquired replacement F355. He was fortunate enough to find an early pre-air bag car without the later Vauxhall Cavalier style steering wheel – these variants with the 2.7 management modules being the ones to have. The car is inevitably red, has reasonably low mileage and a good service history. Philip always goes well at Harewood and we look forward to him rejoining the fray.

Taking a Sabbatical or so we hope, Ian Chadwick, winner of ‘The Hillclimb Trophy’ in 2011 for the best performance against handicap, has sold his 348. He is taking it easy right now with a troublesome knee so I understand, but forces are at work to steer him towards a return before too long, possibly with a 360 Modena. Another New Player - Jim Campbell from Hamilton, a few miles south of Glasgow, owns a blue F355 Spider and will make his PFHC debut at Loton Park in July. With extensive motor sport experience over very many years, he currently races an Aston Martin DB2/4 with the AMOC. Jim knows his way around the hills probably better than most of us having hillclimbed through the sixties, seventies and eighties, primarily

in single seaters. Several times Scottish Hillclimb Champion, Jim was a regular top ten run-off driver competing against the likes of Martyn Griffiths and Roy Lane. Richard Preece having abandoned his ex-Nick Frost Championship winning 348GTC to museum duty, is getting really serious with his recently acquired F355. Now on Challenge wheels purloined from the GTC he has fitted comp seats and full harness. The previous owner had inconsiderately removed the catalytic converters as some do, and getting these put back and functioning correctly with associated electronics has proved troublesome, with repetitive MOT failures. Next step for Richard is a practice day at Curborough so you can reckon he is determined to go well. James Spicer you will recall is the proud possessor of the exRichard Prior 348ts, another Championship winning car. Due to debut at North Weald but thwarted by gearbox problems (now fixed), James will be out at Harewood and should go well if the car shakes off its gremlins. In Richard’s hands the 348 was ultra competitive; James is young, has some hillclimb experience and as it probably runs in the family will make his mark soon! Tony Attwood is still awaiting the return of his cherished 246GT after the recent extensive engine restoration work. He is fairly confident to have the car out for the Loton Park weekend, which he is duty bound to attend – you may have noticed he is providing the cabaret at our special hillclimbers dinner at the Albright Hussey Hotel. Sean Doyle seemed to be off the radar after his first outing at North Weald with the ex-Peter Wilson 348tb, but he will be back soon, and tried to get in to Prescott which sadly was oversubscribed. He will be at Shelsely, Doune and so on, and

looks forward to rejoining the fray even though still unimpressed with his 348 in the ride and handling department. The GT4 engine rebuild proved more difficult than expected, but is now nearly completed. Apparently the engine looks stunning as the car always does, so this should be a great acquisition when it eventually comes up for sale. Silver Bullion Raids were commonplace in Essex where your columnist sometimes admits to once residing, but we encountered one more recently at the FOC’s AGM weekend Prizegiving Lunch, where Chris Butler lifted a truck load of club major awards. I have been at these events for half a lifetime and to my recollection Chris took away the biggest haul ever. You really need to refer to Swifty’s chart in Ferrari News to check these out, and I am not sure where he is going to put them all back home. Evo Magazine you will recall - as mentioned in the last RA column - did a Ferrari V12 special to celebrate the introduction of the superb new F12 Berlinetta, taking a number of the earlier cars to Millbrook. The article came out in the May issue which may still be available, and nice to say they reckoned my 575M monstered the 550 Maranello (their words), and they even preferred it to the 599 GTB too, probably because the 599 is so big and the Millbrook track so small. Your Hobby is a description you may have heard applied to your motorsport activity, and one that really irritates me. I always thought hobbies were making model aeroplanes or similar, so am quick to correct offenders. I suppose it is a pastime or just recreational for those of us amateurs, but it sure ain’t no hobby!

Albright Hussey Hotel where we have accommodation reserved. The booking form for all this has been sent out to you recently and you need to get on to this, together with your Loton Park entry, to ensure you don’t miss out. Club Track Days are always understandably popular with members who lean towards competitive activity, and many of our present circuit racers and hillclimbers first got their taste for driving their Ferraris to the limits at these days. Many of them continue to use Track Days to further hone their skills, and at the recent Silverstone TD on the Arena GP circuit, where it was wet all afternoon, a certain member who shall remain nameless binned his F355 in the gravel on his out lap, which seemed a mad thing to do! With Silverstone and Oulton Park already behind us there is still Snetterton, Donington Park and Brands Hatch to come, so watch out for the booking forms in Ferrari News. These days are a lot of fun, not just driving, but meeting your chums too. If you need it, there’s free instruction as well. Event Entries need planning and organising. Even in these troubled times, hillclimbing is still very popular and I have just heard that one or two of our competitors have failed to get entries at Prescott, basically having left it too late. So you know what to do – get your entries off in plenty of time. Anne Swift produced a simple document that you should have to hand giving all the detail you need for the meetings in the 2012 PFHC calendar.

Loton Park in July is one not to miss – a double header at this terrific hill with paddock barbecue and hillclimbers dinner at the

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PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND 2 BOULEY BAY HILLCLIMB 9th APRIL 2012

Shaun Smith made an impressive debut in Jersey, setting the fastest time by a 328 and winning the Classic section into the bargain.

he Ferrari competitors set out for the island of Jersey on Good Friday reports RICHARD PRIOR. Saturday morning started with rain and brightened up to warm sunshine in the afternoon,

Nick Taylor was out in his 430 for the first time.

CompRes 5

as did Sunday when a quick meet up with the Jersey Classic Vehicle Club led us on a convoy run around the north side of the island where a large group walked a few miles of the coastal path in the sunshine. The serious competition day arrived and it was another wet

photos by Martin McGlone start, this time it was persistent rain all day. No fun for the spectators nor the competitors. Gerry Walton from the FOC came over with us and scrutineered our class, which speeded us through the process. For most of us, first practice was a gentle sighting run, finding the grip and spotting hazards, but not Andrew Holman (355) who was over 2 seconds ahead of next rival Richard Allen (also 355). John Marshall braked late for Radio Hairpin, ran wide, and had to execute a 3-point turn to make the corner in his 308 GT4. After second practice it was still Holman leading, even quicker now on 60.58. No one else was close: RA had 63.56 and Richard Prior was still in the 64â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Newcomer Shaun Smith had a lucky escape on the exit to Radio when he applied the power and executed a spin facing across the track, happily without any contact between the 328 and the solid scenery. It was clear that the exits of the corners were more greasy than the braking areas. During the lunch break there were rumours of only two official runs (and the possibility of just one if the weather worsened) so we planned our strategy carefully. David Hathaway decided to keep his F430 in

Richard Allen gets his F355 seriously out of shape as he exerts maximum effort near the Finish line.

pristine condition and sat the afternoon out. We had streams of water running across the track and Holman was now the official leader, but with a slower time of 64.69. Nick Taylor (430) with 66.43 was now ahead of Richard Allen on 66.74, but Prior had a nightmare. The start line is on a curve in the road and usually we stop ahead of the line and roll back again until in the right position. However the marshal stopped Prior's 355 directly on the line. Sat in the driving seat he couldn't tell if he had properly straightened up the steering wheel. As soon as the lights changed and the 355 pulled away, it was obvious the steering was one rotation out and the car lurched forward at an alarming angle. Prior hit the brakes straight away hoping for a restart, but the marshal pronounced that the rear wheels had crossed the start line and it was too late. A blown run, but fishtailing up the road could have been a lot worse. Mike Spicer (328) was in close contention behind Richard Allen, separated by just a quarter of a second, but John Swift in his F355 had finished in front of them with 66.39 and also sneaked ahead of Nick Taylor in the F430. Pauline Goodwin (328) had her best run on this attempt: 71.04 would get her 8 points on PEP. The rain continued for the

Mike Spicerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final run turned to disaster when his immaculate 328GTB veered off course and headed toward the grassy bank.

final run. Wendy Marshall improved to 75.65, as did husband John on 67.94. Richard Allen and Nick Taylor had knocked 3 seconds from each of their times and were less than half a second apart, on 63.88 and 63.42 seconds respectively. John Swift was only a second behind this battle, and his performance relative to his personal best gave him the handicap award. Mike Spicer had a perfect start to his run, his split times to halfway showed he was ahead of the more powerful cars of Taylor and Swift, but then a neat exit from the tricky Radio Hairpin turned to disaster when changing up to 2nd gear, the wheelspin put the tail

out to the left and the front headed toward the low grass bank on the right. The unrecoverable slide brought Mike's run to an end and eventually he crossed the line in 92.22. Shaun Smith took advantage and cruelly pipped Mike's first official run by 2 hundredths of a second to be the fastest 328 of the day. Andrew Holman was on track before Prior and clocked the fastest Ferrari start of the day, 064ft in 3.47 seconds, but slower than RA by the time he exited the 2nd corner. He made up time on the top half though and crossed the finish line in 61.78 and into a provisional 1st place. Prior was under pressure to get a score on the board, without overdriving this time he tried to get a banker climb in, but slow and smooth seemed to do the job, ahead of Holman on every split he clocked 61.46 and had beaten Holman by just 0.32 of a second. Although Prior had got the scratch win, Holman had the all important 20 points on PEP and was now leading the Championship with 37 points. Shaun Smith was the winner of the Classic section and received a trophy at the Presentation Dinner in the evening, along with the overall top 3.

Richard Prior was the deserved Top Potato in Jersey.

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BOULEY BAY HILLCLIMB 9 APRIL 2012

Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Round 2 Scr

Driver

Tipo

H/cap

Run 1

Run 2

64 ft

Top Bend

PEP %

PEP time

Pts

F355GTB

64.95

64.19

50.54

77.81

61.46

3.54

53.31

1.0

62.07

F355

62.29

60.58

51.69

64.69

61.78

3.47

53.64

0.0

61.78

F430 Coupe

66.18

69.86

50.04

66.43

63.42

4.63

55.21

2.0

64.69

Richard Prior

Andrew Holman

Nick Taylor

Richard Allen

F355

64.31

63.56

50.93

66.74

63.88

3.80

55.07

0.0

63.88

John Swift

F355

67.71

66.87

52.98

66.39

64.90

3.84

56.88

0.0

64.90

Shaun Smith

328GTB

71.67

90.29

53.50

71.92

66.98

3.86

58.27

-3.0

64.97

Mike Spicer

328GTB

67.19

66.31

53.76

67.00

92.22

3.69

58.21

-3.0

64.99

John Marshall

308GT4

76.23

68.47

52.66

70.08

67.94

3.71

68.96

-4.5

64.88

Pauline Goodwin

328GTB

70.74

71.12

53.73

71.04

71.65

4.56

61.60

-3.0

68.91

Wendy A Marshall

328GTB

74.34

81.50

60.76

78.26

75.65

4.26

66.57

-3.0

73.38

David Hathaway

F430

71.43

72.33

54.82

N/S

---

2.0

---

Times for 64ft and Top Bend corner are taken from the fastest run

Class Awards: 1st Richard Prior

2nd Andrew Holman

3rd Nick Taylor

FOC Handicap: 1st John Swift

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER ROUND 2

[PROVISIONAL]

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Andrew Holman

Nick Taylor

Richard Prior

Mark Hargreaves

Mike Spicer

John Swift

Jack Hargreaves

Keith Anderson

John Marshall

Sean Doyle

Pauline Goodwin

Wendy Ann Marshall

Shaun Smith

Julian Playford

Barrie Wood

David Hathaway

Richard Allen

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

SNETTERTON 14/15th APRIL 2012

HE FIRST RACE of the season is always full of interest. Drivers may have had tweaks made to their cars over the winter and are eager to see if they work writes JOHN SWIFT. A new set of technical regulations may have required changes which would lead to some uncertainty. Whatever the influences, race Number One of the yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s series is a good pointer to the eventual series outcome. Snetterton, on the weekend of 14/15 April, was the first time we had been the guests of the Classic Sports Car Club at this circuit. CSCC, perhaps more than any other race organiser, lives or dies by the success of their race meetings. It follows, in the competitive world we live in, that they need to be extra efficient and professional, which is exactly what they achieve. I have a lot of time for CSCC and, when they agreed to my

two 20-minute races preceded by two qualifying sessions of similar duration. Most of the usual suspects were in attendance. Driver of the Year 2011, Jim Cartwright, was to defend his primo luogo status from wonderkind Danny Winstanley, with accompanying Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

suggestion of using the long 300 circuit on one day and the simpler (but cheaper) 200 layout on the second, it was a no brainer to sign a contract for our first double-header of 2012. A decent sized grid of of 21 Classic Ferraris was assembled at this challenging Norfolk track for

Yellow peril. Flying in from the States, Nigel Jenkins was on top form.

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Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

What the Butler saw. Nick Cartwright (Gp4 328GTB) has his mirrors full of Peter Everingham and Chris Butler in their Gp3 versions.

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

resistance from Nigel Jenkins (who had flown in specially from America) and high-speed fruiterer Wayne Marrs. In the other classes there was similarly an assembly of past and present champions keen to do battle on Snetterton’s high velocity circuit. The big change for some drivers was the introduction of Pirelli’s PZero Rosso road tyre as a replacement for the much loved but now obsolete PZero C MSA List1B motorsport tyre. This season, because we don’t want useable tyres to be wastefully dispatched to the skip, and while competitors’ stocks last of the old rubber, we can legally use either tyre. However, without much knowledge of the Rosso’s characteristics, those who were using them were somewhat in the

dark as to the optimum pressures to use.

Qualifying on Saturday morning, under cloudy but dry skies, saw Winstanley secure pole by a significant 1.651 seconds from Jim C with Marrs a further second and a half behind. Peter Everingham was the second placed Gp3 driver, just ahead of a fired up Peter Fisk. Fred Honnor had forsaken farm tractor for 308GTB and comfortably led the Gp2 brigade while the best of the Gp1 contingent was Tris Simpson in his ever-improving 308GT4. The PZero Rosso runners weren’t finding things much to their liking. Michael Squire (328GTB) spent much of his time spinning harmlessly into the infield and your writer and William Moorwood were disappointed by the lack of grip afforded by the new rubber.

R1 Class winner Tris Simpson proved to be unassailable on both days in his Gp1 308GT4.

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The race, in the middle of the afternoon,

proved to be a benefit for Danny Winstanley, who brought his Gp3 328 home with a 5 second advantage over Jim Cartwright’s Gp4 machine. In 3rd and 4th but well spaced out came the Gp4 328s of Nigel Jenkins and Wayne Marrs (who spun at the first corner, as he had at Donington Park in 2011). Chris Butler was a solid second in Gp3 with Evers and Fisk disputing 6th place all the way to the line. In Gp2, Swift came home the winner after Honnor’s engine disintegrated (and spectacularly caught fire) after 8 laps, while in Gp1 Simpson was virtually unchallenged despite some very effective driving by Nick Whittaker in his similar GT4. Richard Fenny was unlucky when, after just 4 laps, a timing belt tensioner on his 308GT4’s engine fractured, inevitably allowing valves to expensively hit pistons. Swift had an unhappy time with his engine on only seven cylinders. We noted David Hathaway’s unbounded joy at having finished a race in his previously capricious 308GT4.

Q2 Early morning qualifying on Sunday morning, this time on the shorter 200 circuit, saw 18 PFfc cars (the absentees being Honnor and Fenny) take to a damp track. Winstanley was still the quickest

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

“There was some very effective driving from Nick Whittaker in his 308GT4.”

retirement on lap 5. Meanwhile, young Danny had taken over the baton on lap 4 and seemed to be heading for a second victory of the weekend. But Jim never gave up and, on the penultimate lap, Danny suffered a momentary loss of adhesion through Riches corner.

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

although Jim Cartwright was now closer. Again Jenkins and Marrs in their Gp4 cars were the best of the rest. In Gp3 it was Tim Walker, 2011’s Best Newcomer, who out-paced Fisk and Butler while Tris Simpson again was the quickest of the Gp1 drivers. With Fenny’s retirement from the proceedings, Swift was the only Gp2 runner and had now made a change to PZero C rubber. However the engine was suffering from a chronic misfire.

Jim didn’t need a formal invitation card and was through and into the lead like a young jack rabbit. Winstanley recovered and took 2nd overall and another Gp3 victory, this time from Walker and Butler, the latter closing up to less than a second to the 2nd placed Tim. With Swift’s retirement there was no Gp2 winner but in Gp 1 Tris Simpson again proved unassailable, winning by some 15 seconds from Whittaker and hurrah, hurrah - David Hathaway. So what had we learned from this first skirmish of 2012? Perhaps the principal one was that, at least in the dry, the new PZero Rosso tyre is no match for the old PZero C. But, perhaps with different track conditions and better knowledge of the tyre’s characteristics, things could be different. At Silverstone, the scene of the next battle of the Classics, we might find out.

R2 The race proved to be a humdinger. Jim Cartwright was clearly in a hungry mood and led the race from the lights although Winstanley was crawling all over the back of the blue car. Jenkins appeared to have the legs of Marrs, in 4th, while Walker seemed initially to be marching away from 6th placed Butler. Swift, after replacing a defective spark plug during the interval, found his 308GTB was more like its old self and, despite a lowly grid position, was picking off some of the cars in front. It wasn’t to last. Ominous puffs of white smoke started to billow out of the car’s nether quarters and it soon became obvious that oil was being sprayed onto the rear tyres. After one or two interestingly lurid cornering moments, Old Blue Thing was brought into the pit lane and

The podium for the 300 race saw Danny Winstanley on the top step, flanked by Jim Cartwright and Nigel Jenkins.

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PIRELLI FERRARI formula classic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Round 1 SNETTERTON 300 CIRCUIT 14th April 2012 Pos

Driver

Tipo

Group

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

Danny Winstanley

328GTB

20:25.299

2:14.609

2:14.764

Jim Cartwright

328GTB

20:30.271

2:14.307

2:16.415

Nigel Jenkins

328GTB

20:55.576

2:17.115

2:18.331

Wayne Marrs

328GTB

21:25.436

2:17.195

2:17.859

Chris Butler

328GTB

21:30.677

2:20.252

2:23.402

Peter Everingham

328GTB

21:41.936

2:21.565

2:21.556

Pete Fisk

328GTB

21:42.839

2:21.437

2:22.181

Tim Walker

328GTB

21:46.810

2:22.181

2:23.469

Nick Cartwright

328GTB

21:53.117

2:22.433

2:25.660

Ben Cartwright

328GTB

21:54.420

2:22.531

2:22.887

Tris Simpson

308GT4

22:22.092

2:25.794

2:28.347

Richard Allen

328GTB

22:24.457

2: 26.132

2:29.488

Ray Ferguson

Mondial t

20:25.907

2: 27.828

2:26.963

Nick Whittaker

308GT4

20:26.525

2:27.105

2:28.713

John Swift

308GTB

20:41.934

2:29.193

2:35.303

Michael Squire

328GTB

20:42.536

2:23.055

2:27.967

David Hathaway

308GT4

20:53.210

2:32.240

2:34.150

Pauline Goodwin

328GTB

20:58.309

2:29.837

2:37.379

Willliam Moorwood

308GT4

21:14.490:

2:34.932

2:37.497

DNF

Fred Honnor

308GTB

19.30.468

2:22.340

2:25.136

DNF

Richard Fenny

308GT4

13:24.273

2:36.117

Fastest Laps:

Jim Cartwright

Group 4

2:14.307 (79.57 mph)

lap record

Danny Winstanley

Group 3

2:14.609 (79.40 mph)

lap record

Fred Honnor

Group 2

2:22.340 (75.08 mph)

lap record

Tris Simpson

Group 1

2:25.794 (73.30 mph)

lap record

Class Winners

CompRes 11

1st

Gp1

Tris Simpson

Gp2

John Swift

Gp3 Gp4

2nd

3rd

Nick Whittaker

David Hathaway

Danny Winstanley

Chris Butler

Peter Everingham

Jim Cartwright

Nigel Jenkins

Wayne Marrs

PIRELLI FERRARI formula classic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Round 2 SNETTERTON 200 CIRCUIT 15th April 2012 Pos

Driver

Tipo

Group

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

Jim Cartwright

328GTB

20:14.539

1:24.564

1:25.272

Danny Winstanley

328GTB

20:31.826

1:24.922

1:24.365

Nigel Jenkins

328GTB

20:36.983

1:27.026

1:25.910

Wayne Marrs

328GTB

20:39.545

1:26.378

1:26.811

Tim Walker

328GTB

21:09.719

1: 28.695

1:29.024

Chris Butler

328GTB

21:10.402

1:29.181

1:30.146

Nick Cartwright

328GTB

21:25.416

1:29.697

1:29.879

Pete Fisk

328GTB

21:30.953

1:30.489

1;29.355

Michael Squire

328GTB

21:38.682

1:30.715

1:30.414

Peter Everingham

328GTB

21:41.191

1:30.010

1:30.576

Richard Allen

328GTB

20:28.349

1:32.354

1:32.224

Tris Simpson

308GT4

20:43.485

1:32.261

1:32.803

Ray Ferguson

Mondial t

20:57.920

1:34.381

1:33.139

Nick Whittaker

308GT4

20:58.339

1:34.247

1:34.473

David Hathaway

308GT4

21:31.235

1:37.249

1;35.810

Pauline Goodwin

328GTB

21:49.582

1:37.415

1:36.809

Willliam Moorwood

308GT4

20:22.357

1:38.827

1:39.346

DNF

John Swift

308GTB

9:51.627

1:34.218

1:35.430

Fastest Laps:

Class Winners

Jim Cartwright

Group 4

1:24.564 (84.40 mph)

lap record

Danny Winstanley

Group 3

1:24.922 (84.10 mph)

lap record

Tris Simpson

Group 1

1:33.261 (76.58 mph)

John Swift

Group 2

1:34.218 (75.80 mph)

1st

Gp1

Tris Simpson

Gp2

No finishers

Gp3 Gp4

2nd

3rd

Nick Whittaker

David Hathaway

Danny Winstanley

Tim Walker

Chris Butler

Jim Cartwright

Nigel Jenkins

Wayne Marrs

CompRes 12

NETTERTON WAS THE venue for the first Pirelli Ferrari Open race meeting of 2012 – a double-header affair using the new ‘300’ circuit on the Saturday and the more familiar ‘200’ arrangement the following day reports JOHN SWIFT. The weather forecast for the weekend was nothing to write home about and rain was predicted to affect the racing at some unspecified time. Fourteen Ferraris were engaged, with representatives in all four competition classes. Although there was only one driver who was new to us, some of the old hands had changed to different machinery for the new season. Sam Smeeth from Lincolnshire joins us this year

CompRes 13

having acquired Derek Johnston’s Kaye. Nick’s seriously damaged rapid 430 Challenge car which 456GT has been given its last has performed so successfully in rites and been replaced by a the past. Sam is not exactly new silver 360 Challenge, embellished to racing but is having his first in Fosker Engineering livery. Also taste of Ferrari competition. The 360 Challenge mounted was car is again looked after by the James Shirley (the youngest of team from Graypaul Racing. As for Derek, having beaten all comers in PFO last year, he has moved across to GT Cup to attempt a similar conquest - a bit like tackling mountain K2 after having reached the summit of Annapurna 1. Familiar drivers in Well wrapped up against the cool spring weather are Club office heroes Samantha and Sandra, being different Ferraris chatted up by Ray Ferguson. included Nick

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

SNETTERTON 14/15th APRIL 2012

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

They’re behind you! David Hathaway has the full force of the Fosker Engineering team hard on his heels.

R300 The race got underway just after lunch, again with sulky grey cloud cover. From the rolling start things became a trifle too exuberant as the leaders braked

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

the racing-mad Scottish clan of that name) who has taken on Mick Dwane’s car (also in shiny silver). And to demonstrate that 360 is perhaps last year’s 355, Tim Ingram-Hill turned up in a third of these class C2 cars, this time Graham Reeder’s machine. Paul Bailey made a last minute switch from 458 Italia to 430GT2 while Mick Dwane was reunited with his 458 Challenge car that had enjoyed a long period of rest in 2011. Darren Laverty has bought the Shirley F355 Challenge and can now contemplate a season of racing without needing to borrow Vane Kearney’s 355. Both these C1 Ferraris had been smartly dressed in the Fosker white and black uniform.

rear wing of Hartley. Smeeth pressed on with his now slightly disfigured 430 but Hartley’s and Duyver’s cars were too badly damaged to continue. Also pulling out of the race very early was Kearney, whose F355 had developed a fuel starvation problem. Mick Dwane was understandably annoyed when a black flag, hung out for Jacques Duyver, was displayed for far longer than necessary; Mick thought it must apply to him and pulled into the pit lane for a brief but race-spoiling few seconds. Front row man Eastwood was unaffected by all these shenanigans and was never headed, gradually increasing his lead over 2nd placed Bailey until the chequered flag signalled the end of the 25-minute race. Wayne Marrs took third in his rare 360GTC, which made exciting barking noises every

Q300 The weather for qualifying on Saturday morning was cloudy but dry. Paul Bailey used his 430’s potential to the max and posted a pole winning time of 1:57.683 which just eclipsed Gary Eastwood’s best effort with his 458 by half a second. Jacques Duyver impressed with the quickest 430 Challenge time, beating the more experienced Ian Hartley by 1/100th of a second. Shirley and Kaye were on a similar pace with their 360s, with the Scot a soupçon in front. In C1, Laverty beat his mentor by just under a second.

Wayne Marrs in his 360GTC just ahead of newcomer Sam Smeeth in the ex-Gary Eastwood 430 Challenge.

for the first corner, Riches. Despite your scribe’s reminder, at a mid-morning briefing, that the race isn’t won at the first corner but can most definitely be lost there, one or two drivers failed to take heed. Smeeth hit the tail of Duyver causing the latter to ricochet into the brand new picnic table-style

time the gears were changed. Nick Kaye was the winner of class C2 by some 6 seconds from young Shirley while Paul Brooks drove a well judged race in the Fosker 456GT to win C1. Looking at lap times, Bailey showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels in the 430GT2, recording 1:56.098.

CompRes 14

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

Some deft and skilled work on the part of preparers FF Corse and Graypaul Racing got some of the cars involved in the previous day’s gang bang ready for action again. The only Ferrari that was absent for Sunday morning qualifying was the wingless 430 Challenge of Ian Hartley and we were told the driver had returned home to Yorkshire. So that left Paul Bailey and his 430 GT2 were sensational in Sunday’s race but 13 drivers to tackle the his team were unlucky with their choice of tyres. intricacies of Snetterton’s ‘200’ circuit. young daughters are able to use R200 Gary Eastwood was the pick the full panoply of kitchen of the crop, claiming pole with a By the time lunch had been gadgetry to produce colourful cup 1:14.405. He had spent the eaten and the PFO cars cakes of extraordinary perfection. previous night in the luxury of his assembled for their 25 minute Mick Dwane, another truly gobsmacking motor home. battle, the weather had turned impressively substantial mobile Motor home is a poor description nasty. Heavy rain had made the hotel owner, claimed a front row for his 5-star hotel-on-wheels. track exceedingly slippery and, slot alongside Gary, just a second With its side extensions although a strong wind was adrift from pole. Jacques Duyver extended, the interior takes on drying the tarmac, wets were led the C3 brigade and James the spaciousness of The Goring clearly the preferred option. Shirley was again the quickest Hotel and one was slightly However, there were those who 360 driver. Paul Brooks used all disappointed not to see a bowler took a gamble and hoped for dry his 456GT’s prodigious power to hatted commissionaire ushering conditions later in the race. propel him down the long straight visitors inside. Gary’s charming With the drivers mindful, one and record the fastest C1 time. hoped, that a first corner pile-up is not a great idea, the race began in sensible fashion. As expected, Eastwood took his 458 into the lead but right on his tail, from row 2, was Paul Bailey, who had taken a sporting view on tyre choice. Then it was Dwane and, perhaps surprisingly, Kaye with the 360. Marrs, who had taken a chance with slicks, was almost dead last – that ignominious position being taken by Paul Brooks who found his 456GT uncontrollable in the slippery conditions; he abandoned the unequal task and retired on lap Mick Dwane was the unfortunate victim of some confusion over the black flags in 4. the first race. His 458 Challenge is now looked after by FF Corse.

CompRes 15

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

Q200

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

Nick Kaye, in his newly acquired 360 Challenge, made a fine start to his season with two class wins in C2.

As the track conditions continued to improve Eastwood started to look unassailable. By lap 11 his lead over Bailey was 8 seconds; a lap later it was 18 seconds. Now it wasn’t whether Bailey could win the race but rather whether he could even manage to make the podium, with Mick Dwane’s 458 beginning to get into its stride. F355 team mates Laverty and Kearney were running in line astern, their lap times not very different to some of the potentially quicker Ferraris. They caught Kaye’s 360 but didn’t quite have the straight line speed to get past. At the flag, a jubilant Gary Eastwood took his second win of the weekend some distance ahead of Dwane, the latter setting the fastest lap of the race. Bailey took third ahead of Marrs’s 360GTC. Kaye and Laverty took the honours in classes C2 and C1 respectively. Post race checks revealed that Smeeth’s 430 had been running on Dunlop wets, which of course made the car illegal and led to instant disqualification. It was a rare mistake by Graypaul Racing and one we are sure won’t happen again.

Lap 2 saw Bailey take the were running 6th and 7th overall initiative and proceed to out-pace with never more than a car’s everybody – a really impressive length between them. On lap 6 performance in the dodgy the inevitable happened and they conditions. However, just as tripped over one another, outstanding was Marrs who was Shirley’s car suffering some now the fastest man on the track minor front end damage. and slicing through the field as a dry line quickly emerged. By lap 7, with a third of the race gone, Bailey had pulled out a lead of almost 8 seconds from Eastwood, and in third was Duyver, driving like a man possessed but coming under pressure from the 360GTC. Then, three laps later, Eastwood began to get more adhesion and snatched back the lead. Bailey was hanging on grimly and it was clear that Marrs’s challenge was now fading. While all this excitement was going on at the front, further down the order there were some fascinating battles. In C2, Kaye and Shirley were setting about each other like a pair of Overall winner Gary Eastwood with placemen fighting cocks. They Wayne Marrs (on right) and Paul Bailey

CompRes 16

PIRELLI FERRARI OPEN Round 1 SNETTERTON 300 Circuit Saturday 14th April 2012 Pos

Driver

Tipo

Class

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

Gary Eastwood

458/Ch

25:34.854

1:56.458

1:58.200

Paul Bailey

430GT2

25:42.506

1:56.098

1:57.683

Wayne Marrs

360GTC

26:25.348

1:59.300

1:59.766

Sam Smeeth

430/Ch

26:51.190

2:01.721

2:05.342

Mick Dwane

458/Ch

25:37.069

2:00.150

1:59.918

Nick Kaye

360/Ch

26:10.197

2:08.637

2:09.016

James Shirley

360/Ch

26:16.287

2:06.333

2:08.902

Paul Brooks

456 GT

C1b

26:24.992

2:10.856

2:09.302

David Hathaway

360/Ch

26:25.667

2:08.777

3.30.307

Darren Laverty

F355/Ch

C1a

26:27.606

2:10.654

2:10.145

Tim Ingram Hill

360/Ch

27:03.571

2:11.158

2:10.033

DNF

Vance Kearney

F355/Ch

C1a

6:45.242

2:11.117

DNF

Ian Hartley

430/Ch

2:01.560

Jacques Duyver

430/Ch

2:01.559

Fastest Laps:

Paul Bailey

1:56.098 (92.06 mph)

lap record

Wayne Marrs

1:59.300 (89.58 mph)

lap record

James Shirley

2:06.333 (84.60 mph)

establishes lap record

Darren Laverty

C1a

2:10.654 (81.80 mph)

lap record

Paul Brooks

C1b

2:10.856 (81.67 mph)

establishes lap record

Class Winners

CompRes 17

1st

2nd

Class C1

Paul Brooks

Darren Laverty

Class C2

Nick Kaye

James Shirley

Class C3

Wayne Marrs

Sam Smeeth

Class C4

Gary Eastwood

Paul Bailey

3rd

David Hathaway

Mick Dwane

PIRELLI FERRARI OPEN Round 2 SNETTERTON 200 Circuit Sunday 15th April 2012 Pos

Driver

Tipo

Class

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

Gary Eastwood

458/Ch

26:04.633

1:16.134

1:14.045

Mick Dwane

458/Ch

26:47.156

1:15.699

1:15.151

Paul Bailey

430GT2

27:20.584

1:20.540

1:16.825

Wayne Marrs

360GTC

26:15.914

1:22.731

1:18.239

Jacques Duyver

430/Ch

26:25.531

1:23.000

1:18.208

Nick Kaye

360/Ch

26:29.348

1:21.198

1:23.011

Darren Laverty

F355/Ch

C1a

26:33.444

1:21.130

1:23.916

Vance Kearney

F355/Ch

C1a

26:34.994

1:21.493

1:24.611

James Shirley

360/Ch

27:31.358:

1:25.463

1:21.559

Tim Ingram-Hill

360/Ch

26:32.671:

1:26.761

1:24.114

David Hathaway

360/Ch

27:07.453:

1:26.931

1:25.261

DNF

Paul Brooks

456 GT

C1b

14:44.776

1:40.039

1:23.022

Sam Smeeth

430/Ch

1:18.439

Fastest Laps:

Mick Dwane

1:15.699 (94.35 mph)

lap record

Darren Laverty

C1a

1:21.130 (88.03 mph)

lap record

Nick Kaye

1:21.196 (87.96 mph)

establishes lap record

Wayne Marrs

1:22.731 (86.33 mph)

Paul Brooks

C1b

1:40.039 (71.39 mph)

Class Winners

1st

2nd

Class C1

Darren Laverty

Vance Kearney

Class C2

Nick Kaye

James Shirley

Class C3

Wayne Marrs

Jacques Duyver

Class C4

Gary Eastwood

Mick Dwane

3rd

Tim Ingram-Hill

Paul Bailey

CompRes 18

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

SILVERSTONE NATIONAL 28th APRIL 2012

to boost the numbers. Because they have top billing and contribute a large slice of the meeting’s income, this AMR contest mops up most of the available garages (even though they don’t actually use some of them). The weather gods seemed to have decided that Silverstone and its surrounding area would be subject to the vilest conditions that could be conjured up. On the Friday, when many Ferrari drivers had arranged pre-event testing, the heavens opened and the circuit was awash for most of

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

UST A COUPLE OF WEEKS after the opening rounds of the 2012 series, the Pirelli Ferrari formula classic circus was out again, this time at Silverstone on the National circuit reports JOHN SWIFT. Our hosts were the newly formed Aston Martin Club Racing, which is an organisation a step apart from AMOC. Racing is now in the hands of Duncan Wiltshire’s Historic Promotions who in turn liaise with Jonathan

Palmer’s Motorsport Vision. The declared intention of the new setup is to produce ‘better race meetings without the associated financial risk’. We shall have to wait and see if this goal is achieved. The Silverstone race meeting was a 1-day affair on Saturday, 28th April. The lions’ share of the afternoon’s track time was taken up with the usual 90-minute grind of Astons taking part in the AMR GT4 Challenge of Great Britain. A dozen GT4s were entered for this event together with half-a-dozen make-weights

Making their first appearances of the season were Steve Routledge (308GT4 on the new Speedline wheels and PZero Rosso tyres), and Jack Dwane (Mondial QV), seen on the right dicing with Ray Ferguson’s Mondial t.

CompRes 19

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

Peter Fisk and Richard Allen in their 328GTBs head David Hathaway’s 308GT4 and Peter Everingham, who is playing catch-up after his spin.

driven by a young British GP2 pilot whose name I forgot to note. I understood that the main purpose of the exercise was to

Photos: Jonathan Tremlett

the day. An interesting diversion was the presence of Michael Schumacher’s F1 Mercedes,

Disaster strikes Danny Winstanley as the leaders enter the Pits Straight on lap 3. Top: Danny holds a slight advantage over Tomlin but, Centre, David gets a better exit and sneaks ahead. In the bottom shot, the unfortunate Winstanley slides into the pit wall in the dreadful conditions.

get some publicity shots – I hope they had a waterproof camera. The car was on monsoon Pirelli wets to deal with the flooded track and, because F1 testing is strictly controlled these days, the car made spasmodic one-lap sorties in a blare of exciting sound and a huge rooster tail of spray in its wake. The driver was clearly very aware of his onerous responsibilities: “Michael wouldn’t be at all impressed if I damaged his car,” he told me. It seemed to me that the dreadful conditions made testing the Classic cars rather a waste of time but I suppose if you have paid your money, you feel the need to get some return. One driver who doubtless wishes he hadn’t bothered was Chris Rea. Chris had just finished a successful European tour and wanted to get back in the driving seat of his Ferrari at the earliest possible moment. In the middle of the afternoon he ventured out on to the soaking track in his 308GT4. He had hardly got going before he hit a lake of water on the Wellington Straight. The car skewed off into the Armco and ricocheted across the track and hit a bridge abutment very hard indeed. Mercifully, following a visit to the medical centre, Chris was given the ‘all clear’ although he feared he might suffer a stiff shoulder and possible mild concussion for a short time. He was ever cheerful. “It’s the first time I’ve ever crashed on a straight!” he said. We truly hope that we shall see Chris back again before very long. The entry for the PFfc race was a useful 20 cars. Apart from the unfortunate Rea, there were a few absentees including your scribe, whose car was not quite race ready after splitting its transmission casing at Snetterton. Making his first appearances of the season was David Tomlin, in the ex-William Jenkins Gp2 308GTB, still in its Gulf Oil livery and even the vestiges of William’s name on its rear windows. Also out for the

CompRes 20

Photo: www.simonpics.co.uk

first time were Jack Dwane (Mondial QV), Didier Benaroya (Mondial t cabriolet), Richard Squire (driving ‘Rosie’, the family 328, while son Michael sweated in an exam room), and Peter Everingham (Gp3 328GTB).

Qualifying The Classics were Race 1 on the programme and therefore first out for qualifying, at 9.00am. The track was wet and looked likely to remain so for the rest of the day. As if to demonstrate just how wet it was, Peter Everingham spun his 328 into one of the gravel traps. Danny Winstanley Gp3 328GTB) was credited with the fastest lap in 1:15.036 – some 4 seconds quicker than anyone else. We don’t doubt that Danny was the fastest but the time seems to be an error. Looking at the lap by lap printout his quick lap was over four seconds faster than any of his others. David Tomlin was second fastest, his 308 working well on the new Pirelli PZero Rossos. A couple of seconds a lap slower than David came the rest of the quick boys – the Cartwright brothers, Tim Walker and Wayne Marrs. To underline how effective the Rossos were in the slippery conditions, Tris Simpson qualified 7th in his Gp1 308GT4. In order to accommodate the long AMR GT4 slog in the afternoon the Classics were obliged to have their race before lunch, at midday. At least it meant the drivers could push off home early if they wished.

Giant killer Tris Simpson takes his Gp1 308GT4 into third place, ahead of Wayne Marrs in his Gp4 328GTB.

From the lights, Winstanley took the initiative but Tomlin was right with him despite being enveloped in spray. Then it was Jim Cartwright with brother Ban and Wayne Marrs a little distance behind. Everingham had a spin into the gravel but continued at the back of the field. Lap 2, and the order at the front remained the same but startlingly it was Simpson in the GT4 who had moved confidently into 4th. Ben C had dropped back behind his dad and Tim Walker was getting to grips with the slippery nastiness and had moved into 6th spot.

Race If anything, the conditions for the race were even worse than they had been for qualy. The majority of drivers had elected to fit their PZero C rubber from last season (in many cases with not much more than the minimum amount of tread). Those who made the correct call and were using the 2012 Rossos looked to have a definite advantage.

CompRes 21

Outright winner: a delighted David Tomlin

And then one lap later Winstanley lost his lead to Tomlin as the field headed onto the pits straight. He did his best to recover a lurid slide but unfortunately his 328 clipped the concrete wall and damaged the n/s rear corner. This left the blue and orange Tomlin car with a six second advantage over Jim

Cartwright, who in turn was a similar margin ahead of the remarkable Simpson, who had Marrs attached to his boot lid. Nick Whittaker (Gp1 GT4) was another spinner on lap 4 and became immovably embedded in the gravel, while Nick Cartwright, whose Gp4 328 had been going well, retired on lap 5 with a chronic misfire. Another driver to be caught out by the wet conditions was Benaroya, who retired his Mondial on lap 10. And so the wet procession splashed round, with Tomlin looking unassailable and, disputing 3rd place, Simpson and Marrs re-enacted a scene from a sort of David and Goliath production. Having recovered his composure, Evers was flying in his 328 although with little prospect of getting up with the leaders. When the chequered flag brought the damp proceedings to an end, Tomlin crossed the line to score a notable victory with Jim Cartwright some 14 seconds behind. Wayne Marrs picked up third after having finally got ahead of Gp1 class winner Tris Simpson. The fastest lap of the race was achieved by Tomlin, in 1:20.903, which not only reflected favourably on his wet weather skill but also, to some extent, vindicated the decision to adopt Pirelli’s road tyre this season.

PIRELLI FERRARI formula classic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Round 3 SILVERSTONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT 28th April 2012 Pos

Driver

Tipo

Group

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

David Tomlin

308GTB

20:40.499

1:20.903

1:19.069

Jim Cartwright

328GTB

20:54.576

1:22.153

1:21.810

Wayne Marrs

328GTB

20:55.612

1:21.193

1:22.981

Tris Simpson

308GT4

21:01.458

1:21.542

1:21.933

Tim Walker

328GTB

21:06.149

1:22.088

1:21.184

Jack Dwane

Mondial QV

21:07.991

1:22.313

1:23.962

Ben Cartwright

328GTB

21:08.699

1:21.573

1:21.003

Peter Everingham

328GTB

21:24.324

1:21.774

1:23.725

Pete Fisk

328GTB

22:02.062

1:25.739

1:26.151

Richard Squire

328GTB

20:47.162

1:26.581

1:26.025

Richard Allen

328GTB

20:47.930

1:26.460

1:28.184

David Hathaway

308GT4

20:48.832

1:25.409

1:31.113

Steve Routledge

308GT4

21:22.817

1:29.734

1:32.471

Willliam Moorwood

308GT4

21:25.913

1:28.424

1:30.316

Ray Ferguson

Mondial t

20:59.323

1:34.232

1:32.361

Pauline Goodwin

328GTB

21:00712

1:33.469

1:34.547

DNF

Didier Benaroya

Mondial t Cab

13:29.712

1:27.645

1:29.890

DNF

Nick Cartwright

328GTB

7:45.343

1:23.918

1:29.149

DNF

Danny Winstanley

328GTB

4:07.248

1:21.254

1:15.035

DNF

Nick Whittaker

308GT4

4:46.091

1:30.919

1:28.345

Fastest Laps:

David Tomlin

Group 2

1:20.903 (72.99 mph)

Wayne Marrs

Group 4

1:21.193 (72.73 mph)

Danny Winstanley

Group 3

1:21.254 (72.67 mph)

Tris Simpson

Group 1

1:21.542 (72.42 mph)

Class Winners

1st

Gp1

Tris Simpson

Gp2

David Tomlin

Gp3 Gp4

2nd

3rd

Jack Dwane

David Hathaway

Tim Walker

Ben Cartwright

Peter Everingham

Jim Cartwright

Wayne Marrs

Richard Squire

CompRes 22

SILVERSTONE NATIONAL 28th APRIL 2012

An outstanding drive by Sam Smeeth (42) in his 430 Challenge secured 2nd place, although he was almost caught on the line by Toby Tarrant-Willis in his sister car.

machinery on the black stuff but it clearly wasn’t easy. The timesheets revealed that Gary Eastwood (458/Ch) had claimed pole in 1:09.641 – a-door-die effort right at the end of the session. His time was just a whisker ahead of the fast improving Sam Smeeth in his slightly older 430 Challenge. Sharing the second row of the afternoon’s line-up would be Wayne Marrs in his raucous 360

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

HE WIDE OPEN SPACES of Silverstone were the venue for the second race meeting of the Pirelli Ferrari Open’s 2012 season, on Saturday, 28th April writes JOHN SWIFT. This oneday event was on the short (1.64 miles) National circuit. Not everybody’s favourite track, the National is essentially a triangle incorporating a twiddly bit (Brooklands/Luffield) at one corner. The weather prospects were quite dreadful and the circuit was saturated for most of the day with standing water in some areas. A reasonable entry of 14 Ferraris went out for qualifying in the middle of the morning, with heavy rain making things tricky. Mick Dwane (458 Challenge) spent some of the session in the gravel while the luckless Darren Laverty aquaplaned into a wall, causing serious rear end damage to his F355/Ch. Toby TarrantWillis (430/Ch) was another to come unstuck, spending the whole of the qualifying period as a spectator after losing adhesion on the opening lap and therefore failing to post a time. The rest of the field managed to keep their

Darren Laverty was out of luck, his F355 Challenge aquaplaning off the track during qualifying.

CompRes 23

GTC and Mark McAllister, who was making his first appearance of the season in his aerodynamically up-rated 458 Challenge. Leading the Class 1 attack, prior to his contretemps, was Laverty, who had recorded a time a split second faster than his team mate, Vance Kearney. The weather conditions for the race were marginally better than they had been in the morning, but a degree of prudence was again called for. Your reporter, sheltering from the elements in the Brooklands grandstand, noted that Graypaul Racing’s Sam Smeeth had a very vocal army of supporters to encourage him. On the opening lap Eastwood kept his pole position advantage but Smeeth was snapping at his heels. Then it was Marrs, Dwane and Duyver, these three trying to keep clear of the car in front’s spray. One lap later TarrantWillis, who had rocketed through from the back of the grid, overtook Duyver to slot into 5th; it took him a further three laps to

Photo: Jonathan Tremlett

get past Dwane and into 4th place. McAllister had already retired his 458 after spinning and being clouted by Dwane. By mid-race, Eastwood had created a useful cushion of around 8 seconds from Smeeth, who in turn had a similar advantage over Toby T-W. Squabbling over 4th were Dwane and Marrs. Lap 18, with five to go, Eastwood had consolidated his advantage to around 12 seconds and second-placed Smeeth had the images of Tarrant-Willis and Tim Ingram-Hill coped well with the tricky conditions in his immaculate 360 Challenge.

David Hathaway enjoyed the day.

Dwane large in his mirrors. This quartet was now well clear of the others (Mick and Toby exchanged

places on lap 19) and barring accidents it seemed this would be the final order. But with the slippery conditions accidents were always on the cards and, with a couple of laps remaining, Dwane parked up after coming into contact with rival TarrantWillis. So Gary Eastwood proved to be the victor once again and underlined his success with the fastest lap of the race. Toby Tarrant-Willis couldn’t quite catch Sam Smeeth to grab second but had the satisfaction of setting the

quickest Class 3 lap time (almost equalling the winner’s pace). Kearney was the clear winner of Class1 while David Hathaway had a good deal to celebrate after winning Class 2 in his 360 Challenge and setting the best lap. It wasn’t, perhaps, a vintage PFO race and there was far more damage to cars than we care to see, but it was exciting to watch and at least some of the drivers seemed to have enjoyed their damp day. 

Rain Master Gary Eastwood completes his day at the office, notching up yet another victory.

CompRes 24

PIRELLI FERRARI OPEN Round 3 SILVERSTONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT 28th April 2012

Pos

Driver

Tipo

Class

Laps

Time

Best Lap

Qualify

Pos

Gary Eastwood

458/Ch

25:18.141

1:04.698

1:09.641

Sam Smeeth

430/Ch

25:31.210

1:05.065

1:09.970

Toby Tarrant-Willis

430/Ch

25:34.632

1:05.008

no time

Wayne Marrs

360GTC

26:16.170

1:06.957

1:11.486

Jacques Duyver

430/Ch

26:19.209

1:07.226

1:13.831

Paul Bailey

458/Ch

25:20.515

1:07.582

1:16.694

Vance Kearney

F355/Ch

26:21.025

1:09.781

1:14.379

Paul Brooks

456 GT

25:47.587

1:10.940

1:20.137

David Hathaway

360/Ch

26:03.705

1:11.894

1:18.527

Tim Ingram-Hill

360/Ch

26:13.331

1:15.229

1:27.513

Nick Kaye

360/Ch

25:46.041

1:12.329

1:13.945

DNF

Mick Dwane

458/Ch

23:31.897

1:04.763

1:13.756

DNF

Mark McAllister

458/Ch

2:36.879

1:13.602

Darren Laverty

F355/Ch

1:14.179

Fastest Laps:

Gary Eastwood

1:04698 (91.27 mph)

Toby Tarrant-Willis

1:05.008 (90.84 mph)

Vance Kearney

1:09.781 (84.62 mph)

David Hathaway

1:11.894 (82.14mph)

Class Winners

CompRes 25

1st

2nd

3rd

Class C1

Vance Kearney

Paul Brooks

Class C2

David Hathaway

Tim Ingram-Hill

Class C3

Sam Smeeth

Toby Tarrant-Willis Jacques Duyver

Class C4

Gary Eastwood

Paul Bailey

Nick Kaye

CompRes 26 27

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