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report by Steve Burns
photography by Sam Mitcham
As the spiritual home of the Ferrari Owners’ Club, Prescott Hillclimb provided the perfect setting to host the National Ferrari Owners’ Day. A total of 217 Ferrari’s descended on this historical motorsport venue set in the picturesque Cotswold countryside, and 11 of them formed the entry for Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2026 Superformance Ferrari Hillclimb Championship. Both days benefitted from dry and sunny conditions, which offered perfect track conditions to ensure that the Ferrari hill record got lowered and a number of drivers set new personal best times along the way.
Reigning Champion Dave Snelson (488 GTB) set the early pace with a first practice run just 0.14 seconds shy of the hill record, which was set by Dave the previous year. The record was unofficially broken during second practice with Dave recording a time of 46.23s, but since only times set during the official runs count, we would have to wait until the afternoon to see where the record would stand leaving Prescott. Hot on the heals of Snelson, was Rob Samuels (458 Speciale), 2nd overall after the morning’s two practice runs. Not fairing so well was Simon Jefferies whose 308 GTS QV had developed a misfire immediately prior to the 2nd practice run. Sadly, despite some tinkering and suggestions from fellow competitors as to the possible cause, this would be the last we would see of the 308 as Simon & Helen resigned themselves to the role of spectator before limping their poorly car home.
The afternoon saw two timed runs and it didn’t take long for Dave Snelson to officially lower the hill record with a time of 46.54s which would be the fastest official run of the weekend, albeit some 0.31 seconds slower than his practice run. ¾ of a second behind came the very consistent Rob Samuels who was 2 seconds clear of Nick Taylor (F430) in third. Nick was leaving nothing on the table in his bid to match the newer machinery, the scuff marks on the side of his car being testament to just how close he was getting to the Prescott barriers! Once the PEP adjustments were applied only 1.35 seconds separated the leading trio, with Nick carrying the additional SEP following his Round 6 victory at Harewood.
Fifth overall was Paul Hicks (F430) who was improving with every run securing him the days Best Improver award. Completing the F430 and ‘modern’ runners was Steve Nunney in sixth overall before the ultra-competitive battle for ‘classic’ honours fought hard over the remaining positions. Coming out on top was Pauline Goodwin (328 GTB) from Brian Jackson (308) and Stuart McCabe (328 GTB) with Ian Affleck (328 GTB) rounding out the finishers.
Sunday saw the entry bolstered by the beautiful F8 Spider of Tim Dickinson. With the weather and track conditions being very similar to Saturday, it was no surprise that the times and leaderboard were also very similar. Dickinson slotting into 4th overall behind Snelson, Samuels and Taylor before the PEP adjustments were applied. The drivers put on a great show in front of the hundreds of Ferrari Owners’ Club members who were enjoying the sunshine from the exclusive members enclosure which overlooked the hairpins. Maybe we will see one or two of them joining the Hillclimb fraternity in the future? Looking particularly splendid was Brian Jackson’s 308 which had attracted the attention of the Scrutineer’s who awarded Brian the Superformance Scrutineer’s choice for Best Prepared Car. Steve Nunney was the day’s Best Improver.
With Snelson carrying the additional Success Equalisation Percentage (SEP) for Sunday, and Taylor losing his, the PEP adjusted times were much closer than the previous day, with a mere 0.65 seconds separating the top three protagonists. The additional SEP demoting Snelson to 3rd and elevating Samuels to the top step of the podium and handing him a 2-point lead in the Championship heading to the next round at Loton Park in July.
Photos from the weekend can be found here, with a video summary available below:
