Silverstone, 12^th April 2026 by Pete Fisk

So, we found ourselves at a cold and windy Silverstone for the 2026 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic opener – not ideal!

As always the start of term had an air of excitement about it, and adding to that was the prospect of our racers heading out onto the magnificent GP circuit with a pack of Scottish racing enthusiasts driving the most eclectic array of race cars one could imagine!

Unusual for the Ferrari racers was the one day format that is so familiar for other clubs; turn up, drive like a lunatic, pack up and trailer home.  The lack of paddock camaraderie was tangible without the usual FOC corral of motorhomes chatting late into the night.  This meant most turned up more bright-eyed than usual…..

There were some new faces on the start list; Georgie Fisk at just 17 in her first ever race (the youngest racer ever in the series I think?), piloting the ex-William Moorwood 308 GT4 and Harrison Compton-Goddard in his dad’s lovely 308 GTB, both in Gp2.  Also new were John Danby with his V12 456 in Gp5 and Philip Holme in Gp6.  Adding to the exciting list of participants were the GTO Engineering racers; James Crossland in his 308 in Gp2, and the two stunning 250 GT recreations driven by Kevin Jones and Laurent Saglio running in Gp1. Even the visiting Scottish contingent had entered into the Cavallino spirit as their entry list featured Mario Ferrari in his lovely looking 308 GTB/C.

It was great to see James Little back in his 355 after what seems an eternity and, as he is always fast, it was guaranteed to be entertaining watching him drive.  It was also nice to have Nick Taylor back running in his trusty Mondial 3.4 looking Mondial-shaped once again, and Phil Connell in his bright yellow 355 now looking….err…355-shaped once again!

The Scottish Classic Sports and Saloon Car Championship lads were a real all-sorts bunch, with everything from a very classic looking A40 to some crazy TVRs and Escorts.  With them starting just 20 seconds behind the Ferraris it was always going to be interesting.  And so it was…..

Qually was dry, ending with Wayne Marrs (Gp6) topping the Ferrari grid on his 4th lap in a time of 2:27.602, but he was actually looking at the bumper of the Escort of Castaldini…. luckily that didn’t count!  Simpson and Mogridge (Gp5) made up 2nd and 3rd, in their 355s.  To be honest I had trouble tracking such a large grid, and watching from the pit lane gave a limited perspective, but all our racers, even the real novices, seemed to cope well with the heavy traffic, speed differentials and variety of driving styles.

As qualifying finished Biesbroek was looking truly impressive (after his intense simulator training), and topped Gp4, Butler lead Gp3, Harrison C-G was fastest in Gp2 and Kevin Jones headed Gp1.

Race 1 – of course it got damp!  Lights out and the Ferrari grid all sped into Copse; Simpson leading Marrs with Danby running 3rd followed by Little and Mogridge fighting each other for 4th.  Poulton and Biesbroek had clearly had too may espressos in hospitality and both made blinding starts, taking a host of cars before turn 1.  By lap 3 Danby’s stunning 456 was sadly out with a broken drive train.  Lap 4 and suddenly there was coolant down on the entry to Copse (Macfarlane’s 328 I think), and cars were sliding wildly on exit.  Despite frantic shouts from the Ferrari supporters watching from the Copse bank, the marshals were slow to put out any warning flags.  Evers then arrived too quick for the slick conditions and executed a beautiful spin in front of a pack of cars.  I don’t know how, but they all missed him, and he calmly grabbed 1st and took off like the proverbial scaled cat.  Nothing like watching a wily old racer cope with a crisis….

By lap 5 Little had made it to the front.  Not sure what happened, but Marrs seemed to slow for a fraction giving James the opening he needed.  Mogridge too had capitalised and put his 355 up to 2nd, but most impressive was Kearney arriving in 3rd from who knows where!  That is how the order remained at the chequered flag. In Gp 3 Buter had put up his usual sterling drive, finishing ahead of Evers and Sayles.  Biesbroek won Gp4 in his bright yellow 348, closely followed by Poulton and Taylor.  In Gp 2 Compton-Goddard junior came home first, followed by Robin Fisk and then Georgia Fisk – taking 3rd in class in her debut race (not bad, not bad at all…)  Gp1 was won by Jones with Saglio coming home 2nd.  Somehow, Crossland seemed to pick up a disqualification in post-race scrutineering which was unfortunate. and that followed him into race 2 as well.

Just keeping the cars on the black stuff was a challenge, and it is testament to the high driving standards in our series that everyone coped so well.  Not sure what our lead sponsor Sowter was up to though, but I suspect he had more spins than he was admitting to!  Possibly something about rain on the inside of his windscreen….

There was however an unfortunately high attrition rate during race 1, with 5 Ferraris failing to finish.  In addition to the 456’s early failure, Chris Compton-Goddard suffered significant damage to his 355Ch during contact with one of the Scottish TVRs which had spun at Village in the tricky conditions. George Macfarlane retired due to fluid loss, Sharman had an “incident” in his 348 (suffering some damage after contact with one of the 250s) and Mario Ferrari brought his 308 to a halt just before the finish.  Not quite carnage, but not far off.  Clearly mixing it with the Scottish grid provided its challenges, and there were plenty of spinners and a few “wild” moments out on circuit.

The Ferrari hospitality truck proved a welcome refuge from a chilly Silverstone wind, and there were plenty of conversations regarding the race 1 antics to provide amusement.  A few cars looked the worse for wear, including Jones’s 250 GT which was now sporting a very un-aerodynamic nose.  Shame to see beautiful cars a bit bent, but there again, none of us bought them to go shopping in.

And so, suitably fortified by food and coffee, our brave racers prepared themselves for race 2, now knowing the conditions they faced…..

Race 2 – again the track conditions were mixed.  Damp/drying with fluids down at various locations – scary stuff.  Undaunted, our cohort of Ferrari lunatics lined up ahead of the Scottish lunatics for the second time, with Marrs and Simpson on the front row.  Little was AWOL, but I did not manage to find out what the problem was.  Perhaps Simpson had switched James’ race jerry cans for diesel ones?  Macfarlane was out (fluid loss), Chris Compton-Goddard had put some of his car in a black bin liner, Danby was still looking for gears and Mario had broken his alternator.  With a number of Scots also broken, the grid was looking slightly thinner than before.

Lap 1 and Marrs led (less ballast in his car than the top 3 from race 1) with Kearney just behind him, this time impressively followed by the war-torn 250 GT of Jones and then Sowter and Simpson.  Again the espressos had worked for Biesbroek and Poulton who both made lightning starts with their Gp4 cars.  Evers led Butler in Gp3 and in Gp2 C-G junior led Georgie Fisk after her older brother popped a coolant hose on his Mondial on the green flag lap.  Watching Robin push the heavy Ferrari into the pit lane on his own reminded me of the old 70s F1 days when drivers would push cars over the line and then collapse – luckily he didn’t!

By lap 2 things were already changing with Sowter and Simpson making up places, and soon it was Simpson chasing Marrs having demoted Kearney.  By now there was an old escort in the mix at the front (not Vance, but Castaldini).

There were battles throughout the field, with Butler getting ahead of Evers on lap 3 and Biesbroek passing the 250 GT.  Poulton retired with brake issues and Mogridge slid down the order with what I can only suspect was a mechanical gremlin.

Lap 4 or 5 there was a sprinkling of rain – just enough to make it really slippery and the Scots were suddenly in amongst the lead Ferraris making things truly exciting, or frightening, depending on where you were sitting.  In Simpson’s seat I think it was indeed frightening!

At the finish, Marrs still led by a huge margin from Simpson.  Butler somehow squeezed past Kearney for overall 3rd (328s are great in tricky conditions).  Sowter had decided to stop spinning and held 5th followed by Evers, Mogridge, Biesbroek, Sharman and Jones to make the top ten.  Connell brought his 355 home safe and sound in 11th overall, with Sayles, Harrison C-G, Taylor, Holme, Saglio and Fisk G making up the rest of the surviving field.

On the last lap I had the questionable pleasure of watching my daughter enter Copse corner backwards at around 80mph.  Heart in mouth moment, I was most relieved when she got her 308 GT4 fired up, extracted herself from the gravel, and sped off to complete her race – clearly taking secret lessons from Everingham!

Our kilted adversaries had acquitted themselves well, with a number of them managing to make up their 20 second start deficit and get in between the race leader and Tris.  Impressive stuff under the circumstances.

Everyone eventually returned to the Ferrari Club hospitality for coffee and trophies.  Congratulations to all our racers for putting on a great display of talent under what were testing track and traffic conditions.  Big shout out to our junior racers – Harrison Compton-Goddard winning Gp2 twice in his first outing with FOC and Georgie Fisk for taking a 2nd and 3rd in class on her first ever race weekend.  They are the future of FOC racing.  Lovely to see William Moorwood in the paddock providing support.  You might retire from racing, but you can never leave the sport….

Thanks as always to the FOC support team and our new scrutineer for all the hard work in getting us out racing in 2026.

 

 

The ex-racers perspective by William Moorwood

The first race weekend of a new season always generates expectation and this year the entry list looked really good with the very welcome addition of some new drivers bringing with them two tipos which have not previously raced with us before. Seeing the cars filling the pit garages was really enjoyable. I was particularly impressed by the John Danby 456. I had previously seen this car a number of times in the past as a painstaking rebuild was taking pace and the end result looks like a great addition to the series.

The real reason I turned up to spectate was to see how car 31 performed. For those new to the series, and those regulars who cannot remember much about last year, it is the 308 GT4 in the Mondrian inspired colours which I raced for many years. Last year I passed it on to Pete Fisk and this year it is to be raced by his daughter, Georgie, who only started driving on UK roads late last year. The Silverstone GP circuit has a lot of space but with the Scottish contingent joining us there were also a lot of cars to contend with. Georgie seemed very calm waiting in the assembly area and indeed Qualy went well until right at the end when she spun on oil and had trouble restarting the car.

Spectator viewing is a challenge at Silverstone as it is so big and flat so I could not see much of the race from a viewpoint at the exit to Copse. I was though impressed by the six front runners who seemed well matched and enjoying good close racing.  Georgie too went well safely completing her first race.

I did not stay to watch the second race. I should have done as it was left to Pete have the excitement of watching Georgie at the start of the final lap exiting Copse backwards at high speed, a good corner to pick too for such an occurrence as there is an ocean of space to play with. After a quick restart she was able to successfully complete the race, so I say well done. Having decided to stop racing who would have thought that it could be so enjoyable to be a spectator. I hope to see you all again at Brands Hatch.