Rounds 8 and 9 of the Championship took place over the weekend of 12th and 13th July at the popular Loton Park.

A healthy entry of nine Ferraris for the Saturday ranging from the yellow 308 GTB of Brian Jackson, to the red 488 GTB of Dave Snelson meant we had tipos showcasing over 40 years of Ferrari taking part for spectators to enjoy.

DAY 1

A warm start to the day, the sun would prove a challenging element of the course of the day as the mercury rises – heat is good for providing a grippy surface but too much of it and suddenly your tyres overheat, meaning overall mechanical grip suffers as a result. How would our competitors manage tyres over what was set to be one of the hottest days of the summer? Competitors had previously moved away from 1B tyres due to the poor wet weather performance, but this year had been exceptionally dry. Would those using 1B tyres (better designed to operate at higher temperatures) find an advantage or not?

Before we could head up the hill there appeared to be a few gremlins at Loton Park around timing, namely how it appeared to be completely absent… this turned out to be an issue with the event not existing online, so no live timing available there… and even a lack of time displays around the venue. This was quickly remedied with a timing display being setup at the start line, meaning for practice I would be sat in the grass with the old-faithful time board on my lap to record our first runs. The old-fashioned methods may not be particularly trendy, but they still have their place. Mercifully this would be rectified by the lunch break with live timing available online in time for the afternoon, meaning I could spectate some of the action too!

PRACTICE

From the outset in practice it was evident that Dave Snelson was not messing around, setting a blistering 56.65 (a new record if it was an official run) right out the gate. The gauntlet was truly laid for Rob Samuels to answer if he wanted to retain his title as record holder from the previous year. Unfortunately for Rob he couldn’t quite match the pace in practice but still delivered a very brisk 62.69 in his 458 Speciale… could he find the time through the day to answer the challenge?

With slightly wonky suspension (2/4 struts worn out) John Kennedy piloted his California T well and delivered a 61.37 to round out our top-3 performers in practice, proving that the front-engine GT focused cars are more than capable on the hills.

Pauline Goodwin put in a stellar practice time of 65.82 in her 328 GTB which was 20-seconds clear of Stuart McCabe’s efforts in his 328 GTB, albeit it was his first time at Loton Park.

Speaking of first-timers, Anthony Smith also joined the championship for his first outing of 2025 in his lovely 360-spider. Having been encouraged into the championship by fellow-360 owner Martin Jones, he was quickly disowned by Martin after going nearly six seconds faster in practice. The battle of the 360s would be one to watch this weekend!

Having returned after remedying hydraulic gremlins which meant he would drive the borrowed F430 manual in the previous round, Steve Nunney put in a solid effort with his F430 to dip under 70-seconds in practice, his first time up Loton Park in the car.

It was clear through the morning that the heat was playing havoc on reliability of cars and drivers as multiple red flags would mean that there would be no further practice runs.

RUN 1

The first to take to the hill in the afternoon would be Martin Jones and his very vocal 360, putting in a consistent performance of 80 seconds, 0.32 seconds within his practice time. Stuart McCabe improved by nearly eight seconds to set a 77.78 time, followed by Anthony Smith with 72.59, nearly two seconds off his practice.

The following runs by Steve Nunney, Brian Jackson and Pauline Goodwin went largely without event (certainly from my vantage point) with all drivers making good progress up the hill and through the trees, with all except Pauline improving on their practice times.

John Kennedy would scramble up the hill and lose his front number plate in the process, his black Cali-T attracting the attention of the commentary team who were quite taken with the driving spirit on display.

Rob Samuels would be the first to go sub-60 seconds in a timed run with a respectful 59.20 but couldn’t quite match the pace of a charging Snelson whom would confirm his practice time was no fluke, delivering a 56.73.

RUN 2

After a somewhat lengthy wait it was time for the competitors to take to the hill once again. The temperature had climbed even higher and tyre pressures were once again adjusted to mitigate the effects of excessive heat.

First up was Stuart McCabe who set his best time of the day at 75.07 securing the Best Improver title for the day with a 10-second improvement.

Steve Nunney piloted well to drive the F430 to a new PB of 67.75, however the experience of Brian Jackson and Pauline Goodwin would prove too much to match. Whilst Pauline would beat Brian on scratch the Championship’s PEP system would cause them to switch, bringing Brian within 4-points of Pauline for the Baracca Classic Cup.

Anthony Smith continued to find speed in his 360 Spider, claiming victory in the “Battle of the 360s” going 8-seconds faster than Martin Jones.

Rob Samuels and Dave Snelson wouldn’t improve in their second runs; however John Kennedy found an extra half second, securing the second place on PEP by 0.08 second.

With that the day ends and it’s 20-points to Snelson who retains the large “Hos Trophy”, 17 to Kennedy, 15 to Samuels. Returning to hotels we head to the Albright Hussey Manor for dinner and talk quickly turns to Day 2. Will Dave’s new record stand or is there more time to be found…

DAY 2

Clouds in the sky provide a welcome departure from the previous day’s heat and another opportunity for championship points to be scored. It isn’t long however before problems are discovered in the paddock.

Unfortunately for Stuart McCabe his 328 GTB has decided it no longer requires fuel and has begun to discharge petrol. A few pokes and prods and it becomes apparent that this isn’t a simple case of overfilling the tank on the way to the venue but a mechanical failure of the fuel tank or connected hoses. Moved to a clear space in the paddock it isn’t long before the marshals take notice, and a spill kit is deployed along with an impressive number of cones and lengths of hazard tape. Recovery was subsequently called to recover the stricken 328 however it would take most of the day for them to arrive.

PRACTICE

Beginning much earlier than the day before, the practice runs see an improvement in most cases with Martin Jones, Pauline Goodwin, Steve Nunney and John Kennedy going quicker than their best official run from the Saturday.

Out of character is Dave Snelson, who drives so slowly up the hill that the car behind is almost forced to stop before completing their practice run. With a “relaxed” practice time of 84.49 there were questions in the paddock if he had suffered a mechanical fault. After investigation it would be clear that all was well and Snelson was holding back for the official runs, choosing not to show his hand early in the day.

RUN 1

The cooler temperatures are clearly favourable for the cars and tyres, as times continue to improve for most drivers in the championship.

Starting with Martin Jones and his very vocal 360, the hills were once again alive with the sound of Italian V8 music. Martin is consistent and crosses the finish line with 74.52 on the clock. Following is Anthony Smith who continues to improve quickly with the stopwatch showing 73.38 as he finishes his first run. It becomes apparent however that despite being quick he is down on power and cylinders, the 360 sounding more like an American muscle car than Italian stallion. On investigation this confirms to be a misfire, and the car is parked awaiting recovery making this our second retirement of the day.

Pauline Goodwin put in her best official run of the weekend with 66.01, an impressive drive to keep the drivers of more modern machinery honest, with Steve Nunney only 0.11 seconds ahead.

The top-3 continue to battle with Rob Samuels trying to find his mojo from the previous year, driving up the hill faster than his best time from the previous day at 58.92 but not quite besting his PB. John Kennedy scrambled up the hill to the commentary teams delight, his Cali T crossing the line in 60.69 seconds. The top spot however would be dominted by the previously sedate Snelson, who had clearly kept his cards close to his chest. Flashing up the hill in 56.07 seconds, we see another new record for Loton Park (three in 12 months!).

It was now time for lunch before preparing for the final run of the day.

RUN 2

Very much a battle of attrition, just six Ferraris took to the hill for a second official run, with only Steve Nunney and Rob Samuels finding improvements.

Martin Jones fell afoul of a red flag due to particularly large deer on the track, forcing him to return to the bottom of the hill for a restart, finishing his weekend with a time of 75.21.

Pauline would demonstrate incredible consistency manoeuvring her 328 GTB up the hill with a time of 66.45, a variance of only 1.22 seconds across the entire weekend.

Steve Nunney found extra time with his F430 by “cutting the corner” after triangle to secure a PB of 64.27 seconds.

Rob Samuels hurried the 458 Speciale up the hill with an improvement of over a second, to drop his time to 57.85 but not quite enough to best the 488 of Snelson. Speaking of which both Kennedy and Snelson would fail to improve with their final runs with 61.06 and 56.50 respectively.

The PEP results give 20 points to Snelson, 17 to Samuels and 15 to Kennedy to round out the podium. Pauline would prove a 328 is competitive on PEP and secures 13 points, followed by Nunney for 12 points, Anthony Smith for 11 points and Martin Jones for 10 points. Unfortunately by failing to start the event McCabe misses out on championship points this time.

SUMMARY

I’m pleased to report that both McCabe and Smith cars were successfully recovered and will return later in the year.

Another record tumbles to the mighty Snelson who is currently in the top spot of the championship. As we head into the latter stages of the season we now begin to take the best nine results for competitors where required, meaning the top podium spot becomes even more valuable to the chasing Samuels and Kennedy if they want to continue hopes of securing a championship win.

Round 10 takes place at the historic Shelsley Walsh on 9^th August, who will take the top spot next?