Our Open racer’s year got off to a very busy start at Brands with all the action taking place on Sunday. An encouraging 13 cars completed the qualifying session, and there were many new names and faces. Open has become somewhat of a feeder series for drivers trying their hand in the fastest cars that Ferrari have made in recent years. Once “blooded” for a couple of seasons they tend to go on to British GT, GT Cup and Britcar, so it is a constantly changing scene. Securing pole position for race 1 was Ivor Dunbar from welcome returnee John Seale (that’s a 10 year break) and Gautam Singhania, all in 458/Challenges. For race 2 the top three positions on the grid were the same The Races As always the Open series cars …read more »
Donington Park – May 31The third and fourth races of this year’s Pirelli Ferrari Open series took place at the reasonably popular Donington circuit. Everybody knows the track well and if something goes wrong there are decent run-off areas before anything hard appears. It was a fairly small meeting and so the Ferraris were mostly tucked up in the pit area garages which is a bit better than being in the vast wilds of the tarmac paddock. The entry was modest and again reflected the fact that the modern Ferrari racers, like 458 Challenges and GT3s, can race in any number of high-profile series in the UK let alone abroad. By the time you bring the car, the team, the transporter and all the rest of the gubbins you might as well try your hand at something …read more »
Zandvoort – Jun 7When racing abroad our two race series, the Open and the formula classic, are combined. This can also be done on the larger circuits in the UK, as in fact we are doing at the MG 90 meeting at Silverstone. It should ensure viable grid sizes. Zandvoort is a great place to visit and the club have enjoyed many great meetings there. The seaside town is lively and the NH Hotel we use is just across the road from the track. The circuit itself is just such fun to drive. It has some truly challenging sections and elevation change etc. It’s got the lot. There tends to be a big crowd too, which adds to the experience. Planning a season of racing must be just the hardest job, and the effort required from …read more »
Silverstone – Jun 21Once again our PFO and PFfc grids were combined for the fabulous MG90 meeting on the Silverstone GP circuit. In the UK at least this has to be our jewel in the crown. The MG Car Club team under Competitions Secretary Steve Carr make us very welcome and the event is attended by many thousands of enthusiasts. The entry for the Open class was poor, just five cars turned up. The 458 GT3 of Arwyn Williams was quickest in qualifying for both races and his time of 2:08secs was 20 seconds quicker than the best of the formula classics and the big gaps would probably look a bit silly in the race. In the classics class Gary Culver was on pole from Jim Cartwright and Nicky Paul – Barron, all in 328 GTBs. …read more »
Spa-Francorchamps – Jul 18For the third meeting in a row both our Pirelli Open and formula classic races were combined. Qualifying for race 1 saw eight cars from Open, 16 from formula classic and an overseas guest in an invitation class. There were no pit garages available which meant that everyone was together in the paddock, and it made quite a display. Quite outstanding was the collection of cars being looked after by RNR. Two trucks brought eight cars and a potential of lots of work for Richard and his team. Qualifying for races 1 and 2 took place on a very hot Friday. In both sessions Wayne Marrs was to be our pole man for Open in his 458/Challenge. Fastest of the classics was a very on-form Gary Culver (328GTB). These days 355/Challenge cars in …read more »
Castle Combe – Aug 25It may have been miserable wet weather at Castle Combe on August Bank Holiday Monday, but with the considerable aid of proper racing wet tyres, and in some cases a fair amount of downforce, our very few Open racers were not deterred. In fact Wayne Marrs, thinking it may get even wetter during the qualifying session, got his 458 Challenge properly fired up from the get-go. He was very soon in the 1.15s and ended the session in pole position with a 1.14.415. Next up was Graham Reeder’s 430 GT3 on 1.16.896. The group of 355/Chs were next, also on racing wets this time. Nigel Jenkins got the nod here on a 1.21.102. With only six starters this may have been a very dull 25 minutes. In the first few laps Marrs did …read more »
Silverstone – Sep 13It’s been two years since the last Ferrari Racing Days event at Silverstone, and very fond memories we have of it too! The Guinness World Record remains unbroken and was one of the highlights of that event, and so the 2014 rendition was eagerly looked forward to although a more tamer track parade would take the place of another record attempt. The FOC was once again invited to put on a couple of races but this invitation was limited to the Pirelli Open series, and there was much gnashing of teeth amongst the Pirelli formula classic racers whose cars (mainly 328s, remember) were deemed just too old to join this particular show. This presented not a small problem, as our Open races were suffering from dwindling numbers this season and so it was …read more »
