This was the 14th and final round of the 2015 Ferrari Hillclimb Championship. Ok, it was Curborough and it was flat – but try and concentrate on the larger picture.

Final rounds of any championship can take two forms. There is the nail-biting one when the final positions are far from decided and there are usually two stallions in with a final shout. This is the one that attracts slashed tyres, sugar in the tank, WAGs with half-bricks in their handbags, and a lot of missing neighbourhood cats.

And then there is the other sort where everything has already been decided, where the new champion turns up half asleep, there’s lots of smiles and bonhomie, the chip van does a roaring trade and the cats live to fight another day.

And that’s the way it was at Curborough on a positively tropical day (for C’boro), where Phil Whitehead, our new champion, was so laid back we just about had to insert him horizontally into his car. He had sewn up the championship at the previous round, with an electrifying drive at the difficult Shelsley Walsh hill, coming from behind on his last run to defeat both his nearest opponents – both of them highly rated ex-champs, Richard Prior and Nick Taylor.

The Ferrari entry at this Midlands Automobile Club event was excellent, with 16 drivers turning up for the final fling of the season on the quite attractive cross-over course. There were even some scarce faces who had brought their car along for a rare 2015 outing. Richard Preece, previously a prolific hillclimber, had brought his 355 GTB along for its only event of the year; Caroline Cooper similarly joined in with a 360 Modena, and the Hitchman family had a full works outing in their three cars to finish off the season. The paddock also featured lots of hillclimbing glitterati from the past who came along just to watch – stars like Spike Micer, Jacko Jackson, Shawn Boyle and even the fabled Swifty. Mineeff had popped his Enzo into the paddock, just to give the PEPs Central Commissariat their final heart attack. Some of these seadogs might just be back again for the ‘16 season…

First practice run of the morning saw Nick Taylor (430 Coupe) quickest ahead of a now awake Whitehead (355 GTB) and Prior (355 GTB). This trio were way quicker than the others, led by Chris Hitchman (355 GTB).

The second practice runs saw some dramatic improvements, with Taylor now down to a 65.34secs with Prior just one second behind. Whitehead had gone way off the track but still managed a 70sec run, a sliver ahead of the returning Preece in his 355.

Thereafter it was thought there was going to be a nice long lunch-break before the competitive runs started at a comfortable time in the afternoon. But there was none of that.

Surprising everyone who was still deciding whether to have curry with chips or chips with curry, the Ferraris were called down to the start line. Fags were quickly put out, there was a mass stampede to the (awful) loos, and in the midst of all this chaos Jon Goodwin decided to quietly light up a cheroot and have a Hamlet moment sitting in his 250 GT which smelled sweetly of petrol fumes from the open carburettors. A lot of people rapidly moved away.

Caroline Cooper in the family 360 Modena was the first off the start line, got as far as the Mole Hill, and, er, spun. Undaunted she carried on and crossed the finish line to set a 85.06sec time but then saw the red flags in the mirror and promptly stopped, meaning a breathless marshall had to run up to tell her that it was ok to carry on back to the assembly area.

Peter Hitchman (430 Coupe) was next up and recorded a 76.36 and then it was the turn of Nick Taylor. What? He should have been one of the last to run but the confused MAC seeding committee had put all the 430s together and so one of the likely winners had to run this early in the batch. Needless to say Nick went extremely quickly to record a 65.88 and immediately take over the lead of the class.

One of our three lady drivers, Lorraine Hitchman was next up in her 360 Modena and drove hard to record 70.93 which would be an important marker in her battle for ladies honours with Pauline Goodwin who would run much later. Peter Rogerson stroked his 360 Modena around to record a comfortable 76.56 and he was followed by Juan Moreno (proper racing driver name!) in his 360 who was a couple of seconds quicker on a 74.14. Jeff Cooper was next in the 360 which had just been spun by wife Caroline and he was going great – and then did the same… True macho stuff, he insisted his spin was of a much higher quality.

Then we came to one of the quicker runners, Preece in his 355, and he recorded a 68.92 to take second spot behind Taylor. Chris Hitchman (355 GTB) couldn’t quite match this and did a 70.42, and then we all stood back in adulation as our multiple champion Richard Prior (355 GTB) began to prepare at the start line. His tyre burns were precision in themselves, conducted like Swiss clockwork movements, and his placing of the 355 on the start line to point at precisely 9pm on the distant Lichfield cathedral clock tower was just awesome. He blasted away in a cacophony of screaming Ferrari sound, in a cloud of smoke from either his tyres or worn valve guides, and silence descended on the crowd. His time of 66.25 was good, but not good enough to beat Taylor’s 65.88, and so we all relaxed again.

But now it came time for our new champion to have a go. Phil was essentially awake, but was he thinking more about his missed lunch or his newly-appointed responsibilities as the fastest Ferrari hillclimber in the entire United Kingdom? We would soon find out.

His tyre warming started somewhere near Uttoxeter – whoever said he was not motivated! With a champion’s swagger he fired his 355 off the line, attacked the first tricky left-hander with verve and aplomb, smoothly rounded the Mole Hill, was a bit wild through the cross-over but kept it all together to cross the line in…just 67.10 but only good for third place!

After all this we were breathless. The two Hargreaves’s, son Jack and dad Mark, whirled their 308s around in 71.19 and 73.96 respectively and then Tony Attwood took his constantly misfiring 308 GT4 round in a respectable 73.19. Then came the final runner, Gooders in his 250 SWB replica. Far from exhibiting the singed eyebrows and extinguisher foam we had expected he slid the wonderful sounding car around in the excellent time of 70.87 which would give him a good haul of points once the dreaded PEP factors were applied.

Phew! And they all had to do it again.

Not many improved on their second runs, perhaps the track had cooled a little or maybe it was the thought that it had been a long and hard season and now was not the time to do anything silly. At the front Nick Taylor went a smidgeon slower but still kept his overall lead, whereas second place man Prior went a bit quicker but not enough to grab the top spot: the two of them were just 0.17secs apart. Third overall was our new champ Phil Whitehead having joined the cream of the Club’s hillclimbers, and fourth was an excellent result from Richard Preece in his only outing this year. Chris Hitchman was fifth with Gooders a terrific sixth in the only V-12 in the field. And, let’s not forget that PG was just one-thousandths of a second behind her hubby, with Lorraine only five-thousandths behind her in the very tight fight amongst the ladies.

As always, it had been a very closely fought event all the way through the field. It was not just the top runners who get the accolades but everyone had their own tales of fighting their rivals, whether it was someone in the same tipo, or with the same hair-do, it didn’t matter.

With the PEP factors applied Richard Prior got the maximum 20 championship points ahead of Whitehead and Gooders, but the final championship positions were not affected.

And then – in the paddock a celebratory glass of champagne followed, brought along by Tracey Haynes, with some slightly edging away from the warm Castlemaine XXXX which outgoing champ Prior had brought. What was going on…??

See you all for another great season in 2016!

Having breakfast at Shelsley with the two main protagonists of the penultimate round of the Ferrari  championship was a banterous affair. 355 drivers Phil Whitehead and Richard Prior were full of good humour and enjoying ribbing each other – “Don’t go too fast you could win the championship today”, “Be careful in the Esses it will be damp”.

I couldn’t help but wonder when a long hard season comes to an end, with the championship to fight for, where else in the world of motor sport would you find such camaraderie?

At a slightly overcast and misty Shelsley our nine competitors assembled. First off for practice was Iwan Attwood in the 308 GT4 he shares with Dad Tony. Iwan was troubled by the mist in the Esses and did well to set a time at 44 secs when he couldn’t see. By the time the rest of the Ferrari drivers came out for P1 the mist had lifted.

Nick Taylor was straight in with a conservative (for him) 36.00 dead in the 430 Coupe, the only other notables being Tony Attwood on a PB with 39.64 and the currently phenomenal Philip Whitehead with 34.40, a PB I think.

Second practice saw a small improvement from most. Tony unable to match his earlier time. Iwan knocking nearly 4 seconds off (he’s alright when he can see!) and Richard Prior matching Phil’s earlier time exactly.

And so to lunch, always rather civilized here; more banter and a look around the newly opened second bar in the courtyard which is really very nice, of course the drivers couldn’t drink but your reporter wasn’t driving! (first time in 17 years).

On the startline John Moody held a nice little presentation to our old friend Roger Thomas, MAC competition secretary for the last 17 years. Most of us have had dealings with and help from Roger. It will be sad to see him go especially as he is apparently going to spend time on caravan holidays! Poor chap. I walked up to the Top Ess for the afternoon and found it rather more strenuous than when I first came here over 40 years ago!

The official runs started a little late as ever, but this is not a place to clock watch. Nick was disappointed with an improvement over practice of only a tenth, Mark Wibberley (360 Spider) was also a tenth quicker, Peter Rogerson (360) a tenth slower, John Swift (355) nearly a second slower, Pauline Goodwin (328) had her best run of the day on 38.45, but RP was slower although his 34.68 was the quickest Ferrari time. First blood to him!

As for Phil Whitehead, well I want to set the scene for his first run. Just before our guys one of the single seaters had gone off and over and down the side between the Esses flying 6 ft in the air and 20 ft down the bank frightening not only himself but upsetting the hundreds watching.

When he emerged unscathed  there was a gentle round of applause, of course, but when Whitehead approached the same bottom Ess at an incredible 93 mph, nicely controlled through the corner, just like the single seater the back then stepped out but it was caught (to much cooing and cawing from the crowd) and then back the other way, then seemingly locked on to the sleepers outside of the Top Ess but Phil just managed to steer away with a fag paper’s width between the front bumper and the bank.

Well the crowd went wild as though he’d got FTD instead of a 38.50.

But he had another chance on the second runs. He was visibly tense during the break but put in a blistering run of 34.44 to take the lead.

Prior could not match it, he was just too far behind to keep the championship alive, a 34.56 was a gnats whisker behind Phil. Nick also peaked in this final run but his 34.88 was also out of contention. Phil had done it with one round still to go!

Also ending the day on their fastest runs were Rogerson on 41.92, Iwan (39.89) and Swifty with 37.22. Mark Wibberley notched up a new PB with a grand 36.92 and Tony also with a 39.15.

So, for the first time in 10 years we had a new champion who wasn’t named Prior, Taylor or Butler. The Wibberleys provided champagne in the paddock to celebrate both that and Mark’s 50th birthday.

Phil looked a little overawed but soon looked worse when he had to buy yet another large round in the paddock bar. It was an unexpected championship but one that gradually unfolded during the season and he became the man to beat. Many congratulations to him.

A distinctly damp Prescott greeted the small band of Ferrari competitors at what is regarded as one of the most popular Hillclimb venues, though there were only 4 of us initially which suggests otherwise. With 2 withdrawals due to family illness, a no show and circuit racing robbing our Championship of 2 further contenders, we were pleased to see our numbers swelled by our usual latecomers, Messrs Prior and Taylor. Nick in fact even arrived before Richard, some achievement by our Champion…

With absolutely no grip for the early runners, the only dry sectors being narrow tracks after semi-Circle, and their times best left unreported except a very ballsy 52.81 by Philip Whitehead, the later arrivals therefore had a much better experience on a dry track. Richard was 52.78, Nick 51.17. Proper practice and a lie in…

P2 was very different – due to Phil’s helmet being impounded and thus Shaun lending him his, the rest of the field had the benefit of interrogating Shaun about conditions, as he went up considerably earlier on his new Bridgestones. It was remarked that the helmet issue and RP being late could decide the Championship, but neither ha d a bearing in the end. So, Shaun, myself and Jeff Cooper all knocked 5 seconds of our first practice, the leading runners, being 3 of the top 4 in the table, shaving off 1-2 seconds. Phil suffered too much wheelspin off the line yet recorded his first ever sub-50 time at 49.96, Richard was distracted by having to leave his bacon butty with a start line marshal and jumping out of gear on the Esses exit and Nick was asleep when I went to ask him. I hit the rev limiter for the first time on this hill coming into Pardon and messed up my exit but overall, nothing dramatic to report. This left matters finely balanced for the crucial first run, with Phil seemingly on fire and although half a second slower than Nick (49.47), half a second up on PEP. RP was on 51.27.

This was the position at 11:30 – we didn’t go again until 4:15, a massive wait hanging about and negating the benefit of practice when 5 hours passed before another go. This gave us plenty of time to talk about people who weren’t there, for Christian Mineeff to arrive for photography duties and us to wonder at the mounds of kit the single-seater boys have to bring to clutter up the paddock. There was no party atmosphere to enjoy like la Vie en Bleu so we made up our own entertainment.

So, first timed runs in very good conditions started dramatically for our class with Shaun Smith taking a very wide line at Ettores, collecting gravel with 2 wheels all the way round and finally crossing the line a tad under 100 seconds. Phil laid down the gauntlet with a stunning 48.96 which left him visibly shaking, and none of the others could catch him this run. Nick was closest at 49.59 followed by Richard on 49.99. Myself next on another rev-limited run of 54.17 and Jeff Cooper 2.5 seconds faster on 57.36.

So after waiting around all afternoon, second timed runs were immediately taken, with no time to analyse or compose. The sheer effort of T1 was too much for Phil who slackened off the gas to 49.74 and Nick could only shave 0.37 off, Richard even less, 0.11, to give Phil Whitehead both the scratch win and the 20 points for the second time this season. Nick was second and for 17 points, Richard was third but didn’t improve his overall Championship score. Once again at Prescott I was 4^th on scratch having improved further to 53.62, a disappointing 0.5 off my target of beating my PB and Jeff again lopped 1.5 seconds off to finish on a best time of 55.97. I was demoted to 5^th on points by Shaun who was distinctly off-colour on 54.37, with Jeff Cooper picking up a very handy 11 points.

It’s now all to play for at the next round, Shelsley Walsh, with Phil leading the Championship by just a single point.  Bring it on !

The 2 lap sprint meeting at Curborough is one I always look forward to, the warm August event organised by the Reliant and Scimitar Owners club as part of their annual meet and Concours is always a friendly and well attended weekend . Unfortunately I came this year as a spectator, still without my 355 I had to watch the other Ferrari drivers enjoying themselves.

Iwan took to the track first, unfortunately the 308 GT4 had a noticeable miss-fire  and used the slower lap to reacquaint himself with the corners. Jon Goodwin took the 250 GT on an extended run when he forgot to use the finish straight to the chequered flag, and instead went through the crossover to start a 3^rd lap. The timekeepers saw this as a failed run for some reason…

Tony Attwood took over from Iwan and with a few more revs made the still miss-firing GT4 sound slightly better and go quicker, unfortunately out braking himself before turning in to the x-over.

Phil Whitehead was clearly quickest so far, the 355 hurtled around the Curborough track in 68.28 seconds, Dave Snelson (430) was next up and trying hard, fast down the straights but braking hard and late for the corners and was noticeably wide out of the molehill, but a good time to start with of 68.26 just slightly ahead of Phil.

In P2 it was starting to warm up a little, Jon Goodwin got it right this time, a good smooth run got him a time on the board of 74.72, Mark Wibberley (360) took 2 1/2 seconds off and hit the rev limiter over the finish line. A good run and obviously trying hard.! Phil had a late turn on the crossover this time but was visibly fast on the return and ended up on about the same time.

Snelson was more ragged on this practice, trying too hard and making more mistakes, but a lot slower. In contrast Nick Taylor was flying in his 430, just 1 second off his PB already with 65.13.

The Paddock office announced the first official runs would start before the lunch break. The meeting was flowing well with very few offs, so we could be in for at least 3 runs.

Iwan started the Ferrari Class 78.39, Peter Hitchman was careful around the corners, but the 430 was fast and howled down the straights for 79.59 whilst Peter Rogerson (360) had a good tidy run with 75.61. Lorraine Hitchman took a wide line into the second lap, the 360 Modena just brushing the white line on the outside of the track boundary, 0.4 faster than her practice run, but there will be more to come. Mark Wibberley (also 360) took a similar wide line to Lorraine, almost running onto the green stuff in front of the commentary hut but had broken into the 70 second bracket. Chris Hitchman (yet another 360) was neater though and was over a second quicker after hitting some perfect apexes on 69.55.

The 308 GT4 of Tony Attwood still wasn’t running right, but 75.26 put him ahead of Rogerson and Hitchman snr. Pauline Goodwin (328) was wide at Molehill and was pushing hard, so a dramatic hairpin exit with tyre squeal made the spectators look up from their chips, as she stopped the clock on a new PB of 72.02. Dave Snelson was still twitching and squealing his way around, a wide line almost on the grass in front of us as he started the 2^nd lap but made it to the finish without further problems in 68.60. Taylor was more precise and took the overall lead with 64.77. Whitehead was trailing behind in 2^nd place on 66.28. At last the lunch break, Pam always does some tasty catering here, whether its hot pork rolls or chicken curry on chips for cold days, and there’s always the ice cream van close by when it warms up like today.

On the 2^nd runs most drivers improved (only Pauline Goodwin, Nick Taylor and Phil Whitehead had reached their peak in the first round). Tony Attwood locked up going into the mole, the clouds of tyre smoke distracted from the misfire for a moment, and he took a lot of kerb on the return through the ‘chicane’ at the crossover.

Chris Hitchman also used the kerbs to knock another tenth off, and Dave Snelson was generally smoother this time, 67.34 would be his best of the day despite understeering around the Fradley hairpin. Nick also had a moment out of the hairpin corner which resulted in him fish tailing towards the crossover on the first lap. Mark Wibberley had got down to 70.13, Jon Goodwin had the crowd’s approval as he stylishly drove the 250 around in their best run of the day on 71.41. So to the 3^rd runs, the top 3 had already tried their hardest on the earlier runs, possibly the tarmac cooling off, but there was still some glory to be had by other drivers.

Chris Hitchman had a superb start of 2.48 seconds to clock his fastest of the day, 68.60 gave him 4^th place on scratch and 12 championship points, Lorraine sharing the car also went quicker in this run, another 0.37 off gave her 71.30 and 6^th overall. Peter Hitchman knocked another fraction of a second off for 77.28 in the 430 coupe, but the last fight of the day went to Scuderia Attwood, where both father and son took a second off their times, with Tony still ahead of Iwan by 73.36 to 76.67.

Nick Taylor therefore had the outright Ferrari win and the 20 points from his first run, with his usual consistency he also had the highest top speed over the line, 103 mph on all three official runs. Phil took 2^nd place and the 17 points, with Dave Snelson also on the podium and 15 points. This had bought Nick back into play in the championship and was closing in on the top 3 now. Thanks to Lorraine’s 3rd run she was presented with Fastest Lady Driver of the day (an award presented previously to Pauline Goodwin) so congratulations Lorraine!

Next round, back to the hills at Prescott.

33.52 secs, 36.49, 49.04, 66.85, 66.77, 82.51 and 142.64 – all winning times this season in the PFHC. Spot the odd one out ? The one with almost two and a half minutes on track – that’ll be Round 10 at Hethel.

It’s certainly a very testing experience on the superb fine Norfolk tarmac and impeccable run-off where Lotus used to test their F1 cars. The organisers had inserted two extra chicanes to slow matters down, plus the half roundabout, but even so the Ferraris were clearing 130mph on the long back straight. The featureless trackside did make braking points hard to assess, despite 50 and 100yd markers, though all our class, none of which sported Rosso paintwork, managed to get round the obstacles safely.

Weather conditions were just like day one at Loton – perfect, in other words, with adhesion improving on the later part of runs as tyres warmed to match the sticky tarmac. We used one and a third circuits of the track so there was time to think as you drove, a rare luxury at other venues where corners come up thick and fast. It was a bit like driving Silverstone I thought. The width of the track allowed experimentation with lines, though conversely first practice times showed the lack of an obvious way to go and subsequent improvements were dramatic.

The paddock was tightly packed with the usual marques, and naturally the very strong Lotus contingent included some wonderful 1970’s single seaters which were very quick indeed. The long wait to start though, cooking in fireproofs and race suit, was distinctly uncomfortable. And no ice cream van.

So, first practice saw Dave Snelson in his F430 lay down a 147.29 – yes, a smidge off two and half minutes, with Pauline Goodwin, this week in her California, more suited to the expanses of the venue, just over 5 seconds slower. Your reporter truly took it easy, feeling my way round in 170.34. As we’d only walked half the track this seemed sensible, and although PG had been here before, Dave hadn’t, but attacked in his usual way.

Second practice saw general improvement, 5 seconds for Dave, 11/100ths for Pauline and a staggering 13 seconds for me. I did mention I had virtually groped my way round.. The all important first timed run saw the running order unchanged, with Dave 24/100ths down at 142.64, Pauline faster at 150.96 and myself improving by a little more to 154.82.

This left in reality a battle for second place on the podium, and unbeknownst to me, Paulines hoped for (by her at least) dip under the 150 level was duly achieved by 19/100ths. I knew I had to go fast, but tried too hard, coming in too hot at the first hairpin and losing time regaining pace and direction. Shame, as the rest of the lap was probably 3-4 seconds faster but I ended up at 155.03. Dave was actually slower too at 144.07, with a sideways drift round the first hairpin losing him time, but his T1 time gaining the scratch win and 20 points. Pauline took second on scratch and 17 points, and I was delighted with my first podium and 15 valuable points.

There’s no doubt it’s a great place to have driven, initially quite scary due to the obvious speed but confidence mounts with each run, and if we get the chance again, more competitors should come and enjoy these fine facilities. Unfortunately due to Lotus restrictions we can’t publish any on track pictures to give a better flavour, but our podium picture shows some happy competitors about to leave early, as for once we weren’t the last class to run.

Six Ferraris and seven drivers were drawn to Gurston and the weather was bright and sunny and, unusually and untraditionally, the Ferraris were not the first on track, which was just as well as our leader RP was traditionally late and nearly had to join a later batch for opening practice. The other competitors were Dave Snelson who had the most powerful car but was new to Gurston, and Doc Tony Attwood sharing a double drive with his son Iwan in their 308GT4.

Pauline Goodwin was in her circuit 328, not her hillclimb car, Phil Whitehead who had the long trip down from up North and your scribe who had dragged his 355 out from the back of the garage, blown the dust off with an airline (yes I did!) kicked the tyres (eight years old, ooer!) and it behaved perfectly all weekend (don’t you just love 355’s).

The first practice began with Dave scorching away with a 37.66secs run! – never been here before he said … Prior was only a few tenths off, followed by Whitehead and Wood, Pauline and the Attwoods. Back in the paddock talk included the 0 – 64’ times – for some reason the organisers had stopped tyre warming before the start line. The three foot square sign at the side of the track going unnoticed by Mr Prior who spun his wheels up anyway.

The writer and others struggled all day with start line traction and yours truly had some of his worst starts in hill climbing, 2.80 seconds x 3! (old tyres plus no wheel spinning had a marked effect).

Second practice started and we could be sure that Snelson’s first practice was no fluke as he went faster at 37.49. Prior knocked a few tenths off and Doc Attwood lopped a huge 1.3 seconds off to record 43.49. Everyone else went faster than their first runs as the track warmed up.

Nice venue, Gurston, the restaurant facilities are excellent and some of the competitors availed themselves of them during lunch whilst others passed the time in the paddock awaiting the official runs in the afternoon.

The handicap figures were set and for everyone except Dave, they are of course, set at your best ever time at the venue. For Dave we had to make something up so Richard set Dave’s HC to 36.80 only for him to go out on the first official and record a 36.49 ten minutes later.

All I can say is it looks like Mr Snelson was sandbagging as that is a new fastest time for an F430 at Gurston beating Nick Taylor’s previous best by half a second! RP did his best in the second official to reel in Snelson but the time was half a second off his best here, a still very creditable 37.24.

Phil Whitehead knocked a few more hundredths off to stay a handy 1.3 seconds ahead of Wood. Both men were a second or so off their best times here. Pauline, as usual, pipped Wood for the points on the last run, this time by three hundredths. I have lost count how many times this has happened to me!

Tony and Iwan both got their best times on the last run. Tony on a 42.74 and Iwan recorded 43.85. Dave Snelson’s best time of 36.49 wasn’t only a new 430 record for Gurston, but it got him the scratch win and the twenty points (due to Prior, as the current champ, being on plus 1%) a fantastic achievement and an excellent drive.

We found out later from the paddock marshall who saw him at Gurston a couple of weeks earlier – for some covert practice – he obviously made good use of it!

We checked the weather forecast before leaving home and the Met Office was sure it would not rain this week end but as we fixed our numbers and timing struts we felt a few spots of rain. However, most of the Ferrari competitors chose to practice after lunch by which time the weather was nice and warm.

Nick Taylor had the start line light turn red just as he started, so he stopped and then realised the red was not for him, but it messed up his start and he took over six seconds for the first 64 feet and a time of 41.40 which was slow for Nick, even with the 4 second start line delay taken off. It just shows how much a small hiccup at the start can affect the overall result.

Mark Wibberley brushed the bank after Crossing and gave himself a fright and Wendy Ann was pleased with her first run, but not with her second. As she left the start line the car jumped out of gear. She got it back together quickly but you can never make up time on a hill, only lose it so even though her split times were good, she was still two seconds slower than her first run.

Richard Allen was entered in his 355 but, due to a delay at the service centre, he had to dig out his old faithfull 328 and put in a pair of pretty respectable practice times which he was far from pleased with.

Philip Whitehead also brushed the bank on his first run, but got it right next time and put in two good solid runs in the mid 35s. Swifty was a little slower but pleased with his 90 mph finish.

Richard Prior had a long wait on the start line as the car before him had a big off and left the track a bit dusty, so after a cautious first run he got into the 34s, the only driver there so far apart from Marshall in the Scud, who, with his PEP needs to go about two seconds quicker than anyone else. His 34.26 was not really good enough, and so that was about it.

But where is Pauline.Goodwin? She arrived eventually having had fuel problems in the car the day before. It was only thanks to Nick Cartright that the car had been sorted and she arrived in time to practice with minutes to spare.

So off to the Talbot Inn where most people met up for a sociable meal together, except that we learned too late that there are two Talbot Inns, several miles apart.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny but there was no rush as the Ferraris were running last in the program. There was no need to arrive before about 11 am by which time the scene was buzzing and everything looked good and exciting in a way that only Shelsley can.

As we prepared the cars I looked up the hill and could see Buzzards circling, which always puts me in mind of vultures waiting to pick the bones of any intrepid climber who fails to make it. Fortunately at hill climbs there are well trained marshals to keep the vultures away…

With a few offs during the morning and only the Top Twelve runoff to follow it was almost lunch time by the time the Ferraris lined up.

Mark W had a good first run seven hundredths under his PB and then Nick Taylor set the hill smoking with a 33.89. Pauline got too much wheel spin at the start and was disappointed with her run but Philip didn’t and wasn’t. His 2.42 start was the fastest of the weekend so far and he was one of only three drivers to go under 35 seconds. Swift, Marshall and Allen all put in good steady runs which would have pleased many drivers but these old timers were well off their PBs and not satisfied.

Up in the top paddock I could hear the commentator getting very excited as Richard P messed up gears in the middle of the Esses and the car got well out of shape. But Richard kept it in check and arrived safely at the top with a mid thirty five having lost a second or two. Last up was Wendy Ann who made her best start of the weekend and came within hundredths of her PB with 39.19.

Without a calculator it looked close for the maximum points between Whitehead and Taylor with Marshall third, but Richard P being a wild card if he could get it right next time.

So with the sun scorching the tarmac and barely a cloud in the sky it was all to play for as we waited for the final runs. and we waited, and we waited, and we waited. With a full entry and a slightly late lunch stop the time dragged on and a steady stream of cars being brought back to the paddock on the recovery truck saw the sun sinking lower and the temperature dropping before the Ferraris were finally called.

Sitting in the queue I could just see the digital timer on top of Vox Villa, the start line commentary box where Murray Walker started his career. I watched the seconds click up and they stopped at 34.46. I didn’t know who had done it but it seemed significant.

Then it was my turn and I got a good launch. As the speed picked up a bit of wheel tramp developed so I short shifted into second and floored it. For a few yards everything was fine and then the car slewed violently sideways. I had that horrible feeling you get just before a crash but somehow it didn’t happen. The car stayed on the very narrow black stuff and I carried on, but it was too late. I had blown a fuze in my brain and drove gently to the top still shaking.

But Richard P wasn’t shaking and stormed up in 34.51 just five hundredths behind Philip W.

So back down the hill, wave to the marshals and now for the inquests.

Most drivers had gone slower on the second run, probably as the temperature was falling, which makes Philips run all the more remarkable as he was the only driver get under his PB, which he did by a massive four tenths and he also scored the best 64 ft time of the day on that run.

So in the end it was Marshall first with Taylor second and Whitehead third on scratch, but Philip was the real winner and very deservedly took the 20 points.

La Vie en Bleu is a very different event to our usual hillclimbing rounds, as not only is Prescott in a delightful spot, with steam trains whistling through nearby amidst pretty stone Cotswold villages, but it’s also the HQ of the Bugatti Owners Club. They put on quite a show, with a sound stage featuring Can-Can girls (which is not ideal preparation immediately prior to taking a run up the hill), singers, accordion players and wandering mime performers in archetypal French costumes of stripey shirts, onions and berets.

Round 5 of our Championship saw the Ferraris arrive to specially ordered weather for this year, making up for last year’s deluge dubbed ‘La Vie en Pleut’ – strong sunshine warming the track which we were to grace well into the programme, removing concerns about conditions under the trees which can be very different to opening and closing sectors for early runners.

First practice runs then around 10:30, with a range of performances from a ‘gauntlet thrown down’ run of 50.22 from Championship leader Richard Prior, a useful opener at 51.70 from Phil Whitehead, both of whom arrived uncharacteristically early, and John Marshall a surprisingly leisurely 55.01. My own time of 55.89 was surprisingly low for a ragged, error-ridden tale of poor lines, readjustment and reminders than it really is rather tight in the Esses. Iwan Attwood remarked upon this sector too – there is a lot of Armco at Prescott, pretty though it seems, and Semi-Circle with its infinite view of blue sky gnaws at the brain when willing the engine to give maximum power when pushing hard up to it and braking late whilst holding a line close to the edge of a long slide down the grass. [Very technical, all that – Ed]

There were some very short people around

Sunshine continued, bacon butties were despatched, chatter passed the hours till the second practice runs before lunch – this really is a most sociable series, with almost every competitor happy to share notes and tips. Practice Two then… all improved, notably Phil Whitehad who notched up a personal best of 50.19, the gloss of which was taken off by Prior also talking over a second off to remain leader of the field on 49.03. John Marshall concluded that his experiment of using Auto wasn’t working – in fact, the first corner had proved that on P1 but he persevered to see what damage it caused. Quite a lot in fact – he was over 4 seconds quicker to tuck into 3rd on scratch, followed by myself on 54.25 and Attwood Jnr who improved whilst his father didn’t quite get it together and fell back a little. Wendy-Ann picked up time and all in all, practice fulfilled its job as the track continued to warm.

A long wait after lunch, punctuated by various offs – the sheer variety of machinery here made for wildly differing times and entertainment for the large crowds. One such off occurred just as the Ferraris were in line for the first timed run, which really messes with mental preparation and consequently untidy runs by myself and Phil Whitehead failed to record the progress hoped for. Not all runners were affected though, with Iwan Attwoods improvement to 59.92, mostly gained in the latter sector unfortunately failing to keep him ahead of Tony when it mattered. Tony danced a graceful par de deau with his car and the Hill, a rare run of dreamy flow and power, waxing lyrically in the paddock and beaming after an improvement of almost 6 seconds from P2 to 56.84. John Marshall also upped the ante to 49.52, a direct challenge to the Champs’ 49.21, itself a tad slower than P2. Phil Whitehead slowed by 15/100th, but remained in third spot but comfortably ahead of my dogged pursuit with 54.38, 13/100th slower than last practice. With so few shots in Hillclimbing and so much time to flaggelate oneself after a disappointing run it’s a rollercoaster of frustrations for my loyal paddock helper Sarah to deal with.

On the Handicap front, this put Tony 2 seconds under his target, which proved unassailable, though 4 others were within a second of their target so a plaque was still all to play for. This included Wendy-Ann on 58.16, the leading lady driver, 0.6 off her PB here.

Final runs, after a cloudy interlude, lengthened by a TVR slamming into the Pardon rails and gravel, came around 5pm. First up was myself, satisfyingly almost a second better at 53.47, Iwan also improved by a second but finished 2 seconds behind a happy Tony despite his slower run, by a second. No par de deaux this time. Phil Whiteheads combo of still new race suit and new fireproof Everton shirt hauled him to within 8/100th of the 49’s, but John Marshall had to be content with his T1 time as he was a couple of seconds off this time out. Richard Prior however took the scratch win with a run of 49.04, a hundredth off his best of the day, all runs remarkably within a second of each other. Fastest starts also to Mr Consistent, also outgunning the Scud with an almost Class-record 71mph at the speedtrap.

So the final podium was Richard Prior, extending his early season lead in the table, John Marshall and Phil Whitehead, my fourth notably being my best ever result. Our top pair took home some lovely champers glasses, our 20 pointer Mr Prior a bottle of ‘Hillclimb’ beer to celebrate with and Tony Attwood took home an immaculately folded race suit and the Handicap win, a family affair with Iwan second.

Au revoir Prescott. It’s a very British affair at Shelsley next on the calendar.

(Many pics courtesy of Neil Williams whose work can be seen at www.shift-light.com)

You could hardly imagine a bigger contrast with Saturday’s fractious blustery weather; Sunday at Harewood turned out to be a very pleasant day indeed. As the tarmac warmed up in the morning sunshine so the tyre grip improved – all good, as they say.

Whereas the previous day’s meeting was labelled ‘Harewood Open’, this event was more importantly titled ‘The May MSA British Hillclimb Championship’. There is a bit of a downside to this elevation of title as the single-seater pilots get all the best slots meaning that we lesser competitors have our session times adjusted to accommodate them.

There were fewer competitors in the paddock and the rules were slightly different to Saturday. Even if there was time to allow it, MSA regulations dictate that other classes, including our Ferrari championship, are strictly limited to two official runs.

The Ferrari entry list was as the day before except for the absence of Philip Whitehead, who had returned home after impressively picking up the maximum points score at Saturday’s meeting. It was difficult to predict who, of the other big hitters, would take the class although the smart money was split between Richard Prior and Nick Taylor.

After the excellent Ferrari Dinner at the Bridge at Walshford (and its accompanying liquid refreshment) the previous evening, our drivers reported for duty nice and early in the morning – necessary since we were the first batch for the 9am practice. There was one tardy driver: Dave Snelson and Bambi, who were too late to get a booking at the Bridge, spent the night at the Hilton in nearby Leeds and got mixed up with a big Half Marathon event, so missing first practice.

P1 saw a few contretemps. Jon Goodwin spun his 550 at Chippys after applying the loud pedal a thought too early. Tony Attwood was a bit too late on the brakes into the Esses and, rather than spin, went straight on into the infield but returned to the track to complete his run a few seconds later.

Richard Prior headed the P1 times (68.02), 0.63 seconds ahead of Richard Allen’s similar F355, with the 430 of Nick Taylor back in 3rd despite clocking the fastest speed up the straight at 87mph. By the time P2 got underway, Snelson had arrived, made appropriate excuses to the Clerk of the Course, and was allowed two runs in quick succession, the second one a rousing 66.76. This stupendous time was no doubt assisted by having hot tyres for the second run although Dave commented “Didn’t you know my middle name is stupendous?”

Pauline Goodwin experimented with selecting 1st gear out of Orchard on P2 but the California seemed to prefer a higher cog.

The first of the two official Ferrari sessions was late in starting after delays due to numerous ‘offs’ by the single-seater boys. Richard Allen got his F355 seriously out of shape at Orchard but retrieved the situation in masterly fashion. Talking of RA, his and your scribe’s 0-64ft start times, at 2.49 and 2.51 seconds respectively, were the fastest of Sunday’s times. Old guys can very occasionally be best, but it doesn’t happen often.

Taylor was the leader after R1, with 67.18, just 0.4 in front of Snelson. Prior, slower than in P2, was third best at 67.90. Jon Goodwin was now driving more accurately and got the 550 down to 70.88, half a second ahead of Pauline’s California which carries a 2% higher PEP tariff. Lorraine Hitchman was quick in her 328GTS (substituted for the 360 after it misbehaved in its garage on Saturday morning). Shaun Smith, in the only other 328, was 0.9 seconds ahead of her at this point.

Jack Hargreaves (308GTB) was about 0.6 seconds ahead of his dad’s 308GT4 at this time; a suggestion that his pocket money might be reduced if he continued to drive so quickly wasn’t taken up. In the Attwood’s case, the reverse applied, with Iwan around 1.2 seconds in arrears of his father.

There was a long delay before R2 commenced. The course licence demands that two ambulances and crews are available at all times and one of these was needed to take care of a spectator who had suffered a fall in the paddock. An air ambulance arrived eventually and the unfortunate patient was despatched to Leeds Infirmary by helicopter where later he sadly died. It transpired that he had been a competitor at the hill during the ’60s and ’70s.

During this interval Pauline G found her California’s battery was flat – she had inadvertently left the car’s ignition switched on after adjusting tyre pressures with her little electric pump. The car was slaved off and left running to acquire some juice for R2.

It was now late in the afternoon and track temperatures had fallen when the meeting recommenced. Prior drove the wheels off his F355, attacking the plastic corner marker posts with little respect, but he was marginally slower (68.09) than on R1. Snelson tried hard but again was unable to improve. However Taylor wound his 430 up and clocked his fastest run of the day at 66.77 to take the class, the 20 points, and the BARC trophy.

RA was a commendable 4th overall with a sub-70 second time. The handicap award was won by Peter Hitchman from Tony Attwood.

And so to God’s Own Country for the first double-header of the 2015 hillclimb season.

Many competitors arrived the previous evening, surviving pressure-washer intensity rain, and met in the paddock overlooking the valley – very picturesque, and affording views of the whole track for spectators.

The field was large – 17 cars, less than half of them red, with pairs of GT4s, 360s and three each of the 328, F430 and even more of the hitherto champions choice, the F355.

Scuderia Hitchman was out in full force, fielding a 328 (late substitute for recalcitrant 360), F355 and new F430, driven by its Capo. Despite programme order being advertised, there were long awaits for P1 and P2 under greyish skies and a persistent cool breeze, though thankfully no rain (also advertised).

Straight out of the box, having never been here before, Dave Snelsons 430 put in a cracking 69.49, and 3+ seconds ahead of Nick Taylor. Most competitors were sensibly content to put in a familiarisation run into the high 80s on what is the longest course in the UK. Apart from that then, no real portent of what was to come from the rest of the field, with Phil Whitehead delayed on the M62 and running later. Start times were also sluggish, especially for the F1 paddle-shift cars who traditionally struggle here.

Phil Whitehead duly arrived, put in a brisk first practice of 71.80 but had clearly used his contemplation time to think out a second practice – 68.29, fastest so far, with Prior, Snelson, Taylor and Allen under 70 seconds and everyone else 5 seconds or so better then their previous. Game on.

A first timed run before lunch saw the same top five runners but switched around somewhat – Richard Prior put down a marker at 67.57, Phil Whitehead improved from P2 with 68.02, aided by his new go-faster race suit, and Snelson and Taylor tucked in under 68.5. Richard Allens’ was the only other car under 70. Shaun Smith was the fastest classic at 73.46 amidst general improvement as the track gained traction.

After a sociable lunch came the second timed runs. Prior improved marginally, Taylor by 6/10th to close to second on scratch, Whitehead slowed and Snelson recorded an identical time. Richard Allen was half a second up, still followed by Jon Goodwins first run time in the big 550 Maranello. Jon was the only off-track explorer of the day with a revisit to last years Chippys excursion on T2 forcing a pootle to the finish. So, the usual suspects for the points then.

A notable improver was Lorraine Hitchman, 15 seconds better than T1, which was aided by staying on the track throughout. There were 4 drivers within a second of John Goodwin, another 4 within a second of that group, so the middle runners were all close.

We usually only get 2 timed runs but another was taken, though not all welcomed it with open arms, as the potential for points to change was obviously present. This also involved some unpacking for those too keen to head for the bar.

Dave Snelson, first up, put in his best time of 67.69 to lead until Phil Whitehead came home 11/100ths faster (and with a PEP advantage), Richard Allen marginally slower and Gooders marginally faster than his T1. Pauline Goodwin chopped a second off in the big Cali but many runners were slower. Until Nick Taylor, last up, responding magnificently, knocking a second off to take the scratch win at 66.85.

Second was Richard Prior over Whiteheads identical F355 by 11/100ths, Snelson in 4th followed by Allen, Goodwin, Chris Hitchman, Swifty and Pauline. Next batch was Shaun Smith who led the classics, myself with a satisfying 73 dead after steadily chipping away at times, young Hargreaves, Lorraine in the 328 and Peter Rogerson who had first gear issues. Hargreaves Snr and the Attwoods, in seniority order and Peter Hitchman closed the class.

Then onto the Bridge Inn for a well deserved Black Sheep or whatever your tipple before a very good dinner surrounded by the superb Byron Room’s ornate plasterwork. Thanks to the Swifts for organising that. The points award was announced with Phil Whitehead gaining the maximum 20, followed by Richard Prior with 17 and Nick Taylor for 15. Handicap awards were a family affair, with both trophies being won by the Hargreaves. And I think an early night was had by all residents before battle recommenced on Sunday.

Only the results are available – click on the link above.

Report will be coming soon..

A lovely sunny spring day bought out 10 Ferraris to our first sprint at Rockingham Speedway near Corby. It would have been a good dozen, except Nick Taylor had to cancel in advance, and Mark Wibberley was feeling the effects of Man-Flu before the event.

This event is organised by the BARC and made a change to the usual season opener at North Weald. The new venue bought out some famous faces from the Ferrari Owners Club. Derek Seymour came to keep an eye on us, Simon Cooke brought out his big camera, 2014 PFHC runner-up Mike Spicer and Barbara were passing on their way back from a weekend away, Brian and Jenny Jackson live not too far away and came down to support the newest event in their neck of the woods, and Peter Everingham made the journey from Snettisham in his immaculate blue 308 GTB.

Peter Hitchman had brought along a new car to compete in, treating himself to a Rosso Corsa 430 coupe for 2015. Lorraine Hitchman had bought Peter’s 360 Modena and was looking forward to using it on this fast circuit, while Husband Chris was in his faithful 355 GTS.

Some of the Ferrari class had been here before at FOC track days, but most were in at the deep end, with just some preparation via YouTube and studying track layouts on the Internet. I did a partial track walk around the twiddly bits but the track needed to be cleared by 9:15am, and walking the banking wouldn’t have made much difference anyway.

The organisers had planned a convoy run, but the downside was competition cars were only allowed if they had been scrutineered, and due to the Ferraris being at the back of the programme we had sat back and let the other classes queue up (some taking over 45 minutes shuffling forward until they reached the Scrute paddock building.) We tried to talk them round, and they conceded that road cars would be allowed. Well, the creative PFHC bunch came up with ideas to get around this. A few of us piled into Derek Seymour’s estate car and headed out for a sighting lap and others took their race numbers off the Ferraris and replaced the registration plates, well they are road cars, and some of us went out 3 times.

The startline was behind the scrutineering bay, we go straight away into a relatively tight left-right of Brook Chicane with the usual serrated concrete rumble strips, but with a massive built up kerb inside that persuaded you to keep your distance, they would surely have ripped most of the Ferrari front spoilers off. The track opens out left onto the fearsome Oval start finish straight, 18 meters wide of prime tarmac to play with, it allows you to concentrate on smooth changes until up to 5th gear.

Despite looking easy, the banked corner (turn #1) soon gets here and needs car balance and plenty of commitment to get it right. I’m not sure if it’s flat out in a 328, but a lift on the throttle in a 355 was definitely needed. Once round this curve it was a straight dash down to Deene hairpin that takes you left into the infield from the banked Indy circuit. A short blast again takes you into two 90 degree righthanders then a nice flowing combination of left corners before looking ahead to the braking area for the final corner, another left over a brow heading for the finish line with foot firmly to the floor and using all of the tarmac to run out, and then a bit of green painted runoff for good measure. A speed trap was discovered on the finish line, and was lucky not to have been wiped out by more than a few competitors on a wild end to their lap.

First practice started with Dave Snelson lining up in his 458 (as the 430 clutch had gone before the event) followed by John Marshall in the 430 Scuderia. The organisers had asked for the Ferraris to be in fastest first, to avoid catching up the car in front. And in P1 it was as predicted with new boy Snelson leading the way, first time out on 83.64 seconds. It wasn’t easy with that much power, and stopping was a little worrying too. Both Dave and John were sideways into the hairpin off the banking, and others were also reporting a slippery dusty feeling to the track. Pauline Goodwin (328) made a ‘swerving turn’ into the same corner, and lost a few seconds while she threaded her way through the cones to continue. Tony Attwood stayed on track, thankful that he now had working shock absorbers on the 308 GT4, but Mark Hargreaves (also GT4) came in too fast off the banked Indy circuit and executed a neat 270 degree before getting on his merry way. Prior got the best start with 2.48 seconds over the first 64ft in the 355, but it was never to be repeated in his later runs.

Practice 2 was much more civilised. Not so many excursions off the racing line this time. Snelson knocked another 0.3 seconds off his time and was fastest on 83.31, Marshall over 2.5 seconds quicker than before, and Prior just under a second better off. Chris Hitchman was now down into the 94’s, while Lorraine was getting the hang of her new 360 and reduced the time by more than 4 ½ seconds to sit ahead of him on 93.28.

Jack Hargreaves in the 308 GTB left the startline in 2.60 seconds and had a good run finishing on 91.09 and a terminal speed over the line of 77.1 mph. Mark Hargreaves didn’t spin on this occasion and got a banker time of 97.92, as did Pauline Goodwin on 92.82, but she now had the fastest acceleration from the start, just 2.42 seconds to break the 64ft beam. Tony Attwood nibbled away at his earlier time, and was 1.5 seconds quicker on 98.12 while Peter Hitchman took 5 seconds off his first practice in the 430 coupe.

And so on to the real competitive runs. After a bit of a feeding frenzy at lunchtime, we took to the track to start the 2015 season properly. Mark Hargreaves made his best run of the day, 96.12 seconds while the track was at its warmest, as did Pauline Goodwin (92.21) and Lorraine Hitchman (93.17). John Marshall also got a clean run on 87.81 and top speed over the finish of 86 mph, which would give him 3rd place on scratch.

Jack Hargreaves was in the running for the points today with his minus 4.5% PEP, his time of 91.35 would be reduced to 87.24 as a target for others to aim for. Richard Prior clocked up 85.74 and plus 1% PEP added gave 86.60 and the points lead. But Dave Snelson was so far ahead with a blistering 82.51, and even with 4.5% added to the 458’s time he was now first in the points by 0.38.

It was all down to the last run and the sun was now below the yard arm (I mean grandstand) and the track was cooling off. John Marshall had a very slow start (3.35) which didn’t help to maintain his earlier form, Chris and Lorraine Hitchman were also slower by 2 seconds, and Pauline was down 0.6 seconds this time.

In contrast to that, Peter Hitchman (430) knocked another 2 seconds off for 103.97, and had a spectacular start with 2.34, the fastest of the class all day. Tony Attwood also improved by 2 seconds to finish the day on 93.46 and 4th place on points.

Dave Snelson couldn’t improve on R1 so it was up to the rest of the class to catch him on points. Jack Hargreaves had brought his time down to 90.41, and when adjusted meant a PEP figure of 86.34, and just behind the newcomer. Richard Prior threw everything at it, but too much wheelspin at the start made it even harder. Derek Seymour had been spotting the driving lines around turn#1, and noticed lots of drivers turn in too early making a tighter corner out of it. The only other option is to stay high a little longer, but risk getting on the marbles left by hundreds of tyres. This helped to take ¾ of a second off Prior’s time, and 85.01 made sure of second place on scratch. Quickly whipping out the calculators showed it was just enough to get ahead of Dave Snelson’s PEP time too for the 20 points.
When the official results were released, Chris Hitchman’s fastest first run time (91.24) has been deleted from the TSL timing information. We couldn’t work out why… and neither could the BARC.

Dave Snelson collected the trophy for the scratch win (his 2nd win in just 2 events with the 458), Richard Prior was 2nd (355) and John Marshall in the Scud took 3rd.

With the PEP factors applied, Prior had just snatched the 20 points, Snelson got the 17, and thanks to his last run Jack Hargreaves started the season with 15 points, Tony Attwood was pleased with 13 points.

Next Round (like Formula One) is a long-haul overseas trip to Bouley Bay in Jersey, on Easter Monday.

(roll mouse over pics for caption)

Distinguished visitors included Peter Everingham

Elvis is in there somewhere

Just waiting for the crowds to arrive

Tony Attwood struggles a bit with vision out of his hat

The stuff of Champions

PG wonders why all the fuss about this IndyCar stuff

Peter Hitchman poses with his new set of wheels

No idea who but it’s not Nick Taylor…

For more of Simon Cooke’s pictures please visit our Flickr page.