And so to our final event of 2018, the ever popular Figure of 8 sprint at Curborough.

Of the 12 runners listed in the provisional programme, only Bernard van Bunnik was a no-show due to a flat battery. Nick Taylor had, however, managed to get a late entry to keep our class numbers at a dozen. Jeff and Caroline Cooper, now both fully fit, brought out their 360 for the first time this year. It was touch and go, though, as a faulty battery the day before almost side-lined them. Luckily a new battery was tracked down and fitted just in time.  There seems to be a moral here for competitors: make sure you check the Ferrari’s electrics well in advance of the event.

Autumn was now upon us and Curborough was distinctly chilly and the track cold. The previous day’s event had left an oil trail covered in cement dust around the first left- hander; the Clerk of the Course insisted it would not be a problem.

So the word went out the track was cold with little grip, and our runners duly completed their two practice runs 2.5 to 5 seconds off their previous best times. It seemed the news had not reached Dave Snelson, though, who was only a tenth off his best – perhaps he was using different bits of tarmac to the rest of us. Chris Hitchman was the only other runner to find some grip, being only 1.7 seconds off his best.

A short light shower passed over between P1 and P2 but the track quickly dried and we even saw the sun briefly in the afternoon. We had a good turnout of supporters to cheer us on: the Swifts and Skinners were joined by the Preeces, Richard showing off his recently acquired 430 Scud. It was good to see a previous Scud owner and competitor, John Marshall and wife Wendy arrive. Was he passing on tips about how to drive a Scud on the hills?

Phil Whitehead’s F355 was still out of action but he also joined us for the day, as did Richard Dredge with all his hi-tech photographic gear. After lunch at the Curborough diner it was on to the official runs.

First away was Mark Hargreaves, now back in his familiar 308 GT4. His time of 74.79 would be his best of the day, 2.3 seconds off his previous best. Peter Hitchman (430) was a little slower on 75.31 to bring up the rear of the class, again 2.5 seconds off his previous best. Tony Attwood’s first run time of 74.10 was also his best of the day and just 1.4 seconds off his previous best. Jon Goodwin, in his splendid 250 SWB, also peaked on the first run with 73.97, 3.1 seconds off his previous best.

Caroline Cooper, in her first event for 2 years, made an excellent drive in the 360 to get within 1 second of her previous best on 73.59. Jeff Cooper was just 2 tenths ahead of Caroline after the first runs but got down to 72.45 on his second, 2.4 seconds off his previous best. Pauline Goodwin took her 328 around in 70.89, only 0.4 seconds off her previous best and enough for 13 points. Tony Attwood, however, had scored 12 points which was enough for third place in the Championship when dropped scores were taken into account.

Paul Booth had a bad day in his 458 Spider, going a little slower on every run, his best time being 70.87, 3.5 seconds off his previous best. In his first year of competition he has made a good showing, but while learning each new track is held back by the 4.5% PEP tariff which applies to his car.

Brian Jackson had brought out his California T this time and like most others was not finding much grip. His second run time of 69.61 was 2.4 seconds off his previous best, but the 11 points scored were enough to secure second place in the Championship and secure the Essex Challenge Cup.

Chris Hitchman in his F355 got down to 67.46 on his second run, just 0.3 second off his previous best and enough for 3rd in class and fifth in the Championship. Nick Taylor was another struggling for adhesion in his 430, 66.63 being 2.5 seconds off his previous best and netting him 2nd in class. Dave Snelson had no such problems, his time of 64.80 was 0.17 seconds quicker than his time here last year and easily enough for the class win and 20 points. This perhaps shows why he is the champion for the second year in succession.

No beer tent unfortunately at Curborough for an end of season drink, but Pauline Goodwin kindly provided a delicious fruit cake which was shared around to competitors and marshals alike. And Richard Dredge was on hand for the obligatory group photo to bring the day and the 2018 eason to an end.

Perhaps it’s an age thing, but Shelsley Walsh has a special place in the hearts of most hillclimbers.  It’s the oldest motor sport venue in the UK, with a continuous history of 113 years, and it’s the fastest hillclimb course.  Although its tarmac must have been replaced many times during this time (I own 3 sq yds of it myself!) the course is unchanged since it was first used in 1905.  It is 1000 yards of unblinking concentration, with just two proper bends, both of them dangerous.

Add to that the age-old paddock, with its unique bays of corrugated roofs supported by wooden posts, it is a sublime place to enjoy hillclimbing. You can almost sense the ghosts of Jean Bugatti, Raymond Mays, John Bolster and Ken Wharton as you stroll around the competition cars.

With only one more event to come, Shelsley, on Sunday 16^th September, was the last hillclimb of the 2018 PFHC Championship (Curborough is a sprint, remember?) .  The weather was fine and warm, with a possibility forecast of a spot of rain in the middle of the day.  Another thin Ferrari entry of just six cars (it would have been 8 but for unexpected absences) turned up to do battle – all of them with a fighting chance of grabbing the 20 valuable Championship points on offer.

On parade were two Dinos: the 246GT of Tony Attwood and his GT4 to be driven by his son, Iwan.  Pauline Goodwin was at the wheel of her ‘hillclimb’ 328GTB while Phil Whitehead and John Swift had their regular F355 berlinettas. The entry was completed by Paul Booth in his 458 Spider.

The first practice runs were uneventful except for Phil reporting a shortage of power.  In the final 20 miles of his journey from Wales he noticed a sudden change of engine note accompanied by a loss of oomph, and wondered if it was due to the exhaust bypass valve having stuck closed.  He was understandably pessimistic about his chances.  Booth and Swift recorded sub-40 second times, with the former hitting a rousing 98 mph at the top of the hill.

There was a long delay before P2 after a competing car demolished part of a tyre wall, which had to be rebuilt before further runs could be taken.  This time Tony Attwood reported a misfire with his Dino engine although he was a fraction quicker than the stricken Whitehead car.  Everyone else was faster, with Booth and Swift now in the 37-second bracket.

Black clouds rolled in during the leisurely lunch break and we hoped that the expected rain would manage to miss us (we could see a downpour in the neighbouring hills).  The smart Shelsley restaurant didn’t disappoint, with a good choice of well-cooked fare available.

R1 for the Ferraris got underway at 13.30 although, after watching the others, Phil decided his 355 wasn’t going to clear its throat to enable him to sensibly compete and he set off back home.  Pauline was slightly slower than her P2 time, and Tony Attwood was still afflicted by his misfire.  Very quick at Crossing was Iwan (74mph) who improved to 38.38 with the GT4.  Both Swift and Booth were slower than P2 but retained their relative 2-1 positions on scratch, with the 458 on 37.82.

And then the rain came – not a lot but enough to warrant the use of a leather.  About this time Dave Snelson and Jane called in to see how we were all getting on.  His new 488 stood out like a bright yellow submarine in the adjacent car park.  Dave is a bit handy with his mobile phone’s camera so he climbed up to Crossing to snap everybody’s action.

With another delay in earlier classes, the track for the Ferrari R2 was effectively dry.  By this time Tony had removed all the plugs from his Dino engine and found one that clearly hadn’t been working.  A replacement restored the car to six-cylinder health.  Pauline improved to 39.09 but only just ahead of the Attwood revitalised Dino (39.65).  Iwan was slower, Swift moved briefly into the overall scratch lead with 37.52 but was then demoted to second by Booth’s 36.80.

Championship coordinator Anne Swift quickly clicked her calculator to produce the PEP-corrected times showing that Tony Attwood’s last run gave him the top score of 20 points, whilst also handing him the handicap award as the only competitor to better their target.

Paul Booth generously opened a tab at the bar to slake the thirsts of his fellow Ferrari drivers.  It had been a very close contest (just look at the PEP times) and, apart from the luckless Phil Whitehead, we all returned home with a smile on our faces.  Which is, after all, what it’s all about!

Although the PFHC visits some very attractive venues during the course of the season, few would disagree that Prescott, especially in the spring or late summer, can’t be bettered.  Round 10 of the 2018 Championship was blessed with sunny and warm conditions tempered by a gentle breeze – ideal for dozing in a deckchair or, in our case, getting to grips with what is a testing, technical hill.

For various reasons the Ferrari entry was on the modest side.  Our seven-strong showing was reduced to six after Mike Spicer was unable to take part for personal reasons.  However, what we lacked in numbers we made up for in variety.

Starting with the oldest Ferrari present, Brian Jackson brought his venerable 308GTB which is looking ever more immaculate every time I see it.  Pauline Goodwin was in her familiar 328GTB while Phil Whitehead and John Swift came with their F355s in red and black livery respectively.  More modern machinery was the lovely 360 Spider of Mark Wibberley and the sleek 458 Italia spider of Paul Booth.  The field covered some 40 years of Maranello production and I am constantly amazed that the Championship’s ingenious PEP tariff system continues to work so well with such varying performance potential.

The meeting was heavily subscribed and some of the competing cars had to be accommodated in the Orchard on the north side of the track.  To keep to the timetable the cars had to be ready for scrutineering at 7.45am, and drivers were required to attend a briefing at 8.15.  Since the Ferraris were one of the first classes to practice it was all hell and no notion at the start of the day. The ladies delegated to sign-on duties didn’t appear to be in tune with the haste required and this process took an age, with long queues of drivers fretting about the time it was taking.

Eventually all the checks were completed and the Ferraris commenced their first practice runs.  Whitehead was immediately on the pace, his F355’s engine still hot from its fast trip from Wales.  More leisurely were Booth, Swift and Goodwin – all adversely affected by the somewhat hostile attitude of some of the start line marshals.  Then, after all this early bustle, we had to lounge around for three hours for P2 to begin.

During this spell we were pleased to see Paul and Sue Skinner, followed by John Warner and his friend Marjorie: a splendid 67% attendance by our Championship stewards.  Dave Snelson and daughter Daisy joined us on the Bugatti Terrace, having driven up in his newly acquired bright yellow 488 dream machine. Christian Mineeff also came to see us and I immediately pressed him into service at the controls of my little Lumix spy camera.  You will see from the accompanying photos that he did a pretty good job.

P2 started around noon.  Everyone improved on their earlier time including Mark, despite encountering a gear change problem at Pardon hairpin. Phil kept a 2-second advantage on scratch.  And then it was the lunch break and most of us adjourned to the Bugatti restaurant.  I have to say that the food was disappointing and Pauline probably did the right thing by bringing sandwiches from home.  Shelsley Walsh’s excellent eatery has nothing to fear.

The main business of the day for the Ferraris started mid-afternoon with R1.  Phil improved by a whisker (50.75 sec) to retain the scratch lead.  Then Booth tried something new: left foot braking.  It was a slightly odd thing to do at this stage of the competition and, as he confessed later, it didn’t work as well as he hoped.  Swift chopped a second off his previous (53.81) but Wibberley was marginally slower.  Then Jackson opened up the throttles on the giallo coloured 308 to record 53.44, which was to be his fastest of the day.  Pauline made a slight improvement on her P2 figure but her 0-64 ft time equalled Phil’s figure.

And then, with barely time to catch our breath, we were called to the start for our final run.  Pauline had stalled on the way back to the paddock after R1 and maddeningly the 328 refused to fire up again.  She parked on a slope and hoped the engine would play ball when it was her time to take the start.

This time Booth eschewed any fancy leg work and blasted his 458 to a second place 51.43 – fastest of the R2 runs and only a soupçon shy of Whitehead’s winning time.  Swift was going great guns until, as he swept into the Esses, an over-aggressive attack on the kerbs caused the 355 to jump out of gear.  Quelle tragédie!  Wibberley was the quickest of us all through Bridge and improved to 52.32. Jackson was marginally slower but as always showed metronomic consistency.  Pauline successfully managed to get her car to fire up and set her fastest time of the day (54.34).

Our Championship Coordinator Anne Swift did all the sums in double quick time and revealed that the 20 points had been scooped by Brian Jackson, with Whitehead and Goodwin runners-up.  On handicap, it was Mark Wibberley who took the honours. 

Curborough Figure of Eight Sprint

After a low entry at Blyton, Curborough looked much more promising with 14 entrants.  Come the day though, this had reduced to 11, back problems side-lining Lorraine Hitchman and Mike Spicer, and an operation on wife Angela ruling out Richard Preece.  As we shall see later, Mike’s no-show had a dramatic effect on his chase of Dave Snelson for the Championship.

A faulty starter motor solenoid had put Mark Hargreaves’ 308 temporarily out of action but he switched to his big gun and brought along his 365 BB, which we have not seen competing since a Sprint at Wroughton in 1998!  A very nice original car still running on tall and fat XWX tyres!  Another with car trouble was Tony Attwood: the gear selection on his recently rebuilt 246 GT had begun to play up again despite recent attempts at a fix.  This is another car not seen competing here since 2013.  If we factor in Jon Goodwin’s classic 250 SWB recreation, the Dino must have been the most valuable Ferrari in the paddock we have seen for several years.

We began to wonder if Dave Snelson would be also a no-show but he turned up just after the rest of us had taken our first practice runs.  After excuses the organisers decided he could still compete and he took his first run as the final car of first practice.  A short light shower passed over between our runs and Dave’s, but the track quickly dried.  Pauline Goodwin was the first to have problems on the run, a lock-up at Molehill saw her take to the grass for a fail.  Snelson, running late, gave us a cheeky thumbs-up as he passed the commentary box, Taylor returned the favour using a different digit as he passed us again to complete his run.  Dave, in his F430, led first practice from the similar car of Nick Taylor.  Chris Hitchman, this time in his F355, was next followed by Paul Booth in his 458 Spider.  These four were all under 70 seconds.  Brian Jackson (308 GTB) on 71 seconds was ahead of Peter Hitchman’s F430, Jon Goodwin (250 SWB), Tony Attwood (246 GT)and Peter Rogerson (360 Modena) who covered the 76 to 79 second bracket.  Bringing up the rear was Mark in his Boxer on 84 seconds.

Second practice saw Booth sneak ahead of Chris Hitchman, while further back Pauline put in a 72 second run to claim 6^th place, just ahead of hubby Jon.  The rest all improved their times except Attwood who fell to the back of the field with his tricky gearbox.

We had been joined by the Swifts and Mark Wibberley during the morning so it was now time for lunch at the Curborough diner.

First away on the afternoon official runs, Paul Booth was just off his practice time on 67.65, enough to hold on to 3^rd place though.         Then Snelson put in a 65.34 to stay ahead of Nick Taylor, a little off the pace on 66.06.  Both Paul and Nick had untidy runs, neither finding enough grip.  Chris Hitchman made a good improvement to 67.82 and Jackson remained outside the 60’s with 70.30 but ahead of Pauline on 72.19.  Peter Hitchman clocked a PB of 72.85 to lead Jon, Tony, Peter and Mark, all now in the 70’s.  Although Tony Attwood’s 76.44 was his best time of the day he decided not to take the second run as his Dino gearbox was not sounding too good.

And so to the final runs which went off without too much drama.  The cars of both Snelson and Taylor had evidence of contact with the first corner marker post, showing how hard they were trying.  Luckily for them, the half second penalty in the regs for striking a marker was not applied.  Dave improved his time to 65.00 to win the class, with Nick just 3/10^th behind but good enough to take the 20 points after the PEP factor was applied. Chris Hitchman edged out Paul Booth by 8/100^th to take 3^rd spot.  Paul had the consolation of a double: best 0-64ft time of 2.37 and fastest finish speed of 105mph over the line.  Jackson finally got below 70 with a 69.92 to take 5^th and 17 points, easing Dave back to 15 points.  Pauline put in a PB of 70.51 for 6^th and 12 points.  Of the rest, only Peter Rogerson improved, his time recording 76.96.

The points tally shows Snelson now on 137.  With only a maximum of 60 points available from the final three rounds, Mike Spicer can at most amass 134 points; he really needed to pick up some points here today to keep the Championship alive.  So Dave Snelson looks destined to win his second Championship, joining the elite group of Robin Ward and Richard Prior who also won two consecutive Championships while carrying the +1% winner’s PEP.  Happily the fight for 2^nd and 3^rd still continues, with at least half a dozen drivers in with a chance.

The eighth round of the 2018 Championship took place at Blyton Park, in Lincolnshire, on Saturday, 11 August. The warm sunny weather we have enjoyed in abundance this summer continued, and everything might have been described as perfect.  Except for one thing: the pathetic Ferrari entry numbers.  Never before, in the history of the Championship, have we experienced such a low entry.  In the last weeks prior to the closing date, competitors withdrew their entries, and on the day just two – yes, two – Ferrari drivers turned up.

To be fair, the entry level for the whole meeting was seriously low, resulting in a substantial loss for the organisers, the Longton & District Motor Club. They have now decided that they will cease to run any future sprint meeting at Blyton in August.

The Ferrari drivers who did arrive ready for battle were Paul Booth in his immaculate 458 Italia, and John Swift (F355 berlinetta). Paul had previously taken part in a track day here but for your reporter it was unfamiliar territory.  The layout in use was the Eastern Circuit, the twistier of the two available courses and, at 2.262 km, the marginally shorter.

A bonus of having low entry levels is that competitors had lots of runs.  In addition to the usual two practices, everyone had 8 timed runs – the quickest to count.  This was a big help for those with zero previous experience since the track is very flat and almost featureless, other than marker cones, white lines and occasional polystyrene barriers.   It was a bit like doing a London taxi-drivers’ test with no Knowledge.

The Ferraris were the first to run after the shared cars and the course, after overnight rain, was decidedly slippery.  Booth’s P2 was flagged after the preceding car slid into the timing lights at the finish; being practice he wasn’t offered a re-run.  Swift, having difficulty with the aforesaid navigational problems, was circumspectly slow.  There was time for two official runs before the lunch break, and it was on the second of these that Booth braked  a thought too late at the last corner and wiped the timing gear out once more.  It was early in the meeting and we weren’t sure how many replacement sets of timing equipment there were, but the amiable marshals just shrugged and said ‘just one of those things . . .’

Despite being out in the sticks, Blyton happily has a decent restaurant – one that Paul had told us was high on his gourmet list.  We were joined for lunch by Championship Steward Sue Skinner and husband Paul, who had arrived in their 11,000 mile (sorry, 111,000 mile) pristine 308GTB.  It was good to have their company, not least because it doubled the Ferrari Owners’ Club presence at the track.

As rubber was laid by the cars, so grip levels increased although experienced single-seater drivers told us the track was “running a second-and-a-half slower” than at its best.  So our times improved throughout the afternoon, punctuated by a failed run by Swift on run 6 when the 355 arrived sideways at the dreaded timing area and took to the gravel area to avoid further technical mayhem.  Booth’s very next run emulated exactly this lunacy, again resulting in a ‘fail’.

When all the times were checked, Paul was found to have not only won on scratch (78.41) and PEP corrected time, but had beaten the Eastern Course Ferrari record set by Dave Snelson last year – a singularly impressive effort considering the track was not at its fastest.  The best thing to be said about Swift’s performance was that he was second.

Due to an unfortunate double booking, Longton & DMC had to engage a substitute timing team who were unable to provide the usual split times and speeds.  Hence, few stats as well as competitors in the results page.

Championship Coordinator Anne Swift had an easy time keeping the scoreboard up-to-date and was mystified as to why we fielded so few cars, when the expectancy was for at least 6 to 8 Ferraris.  We have a suspicion as to why this was, which we shall have to consider when next season’s calendar is formulated.

In conclusion, we enjoyed the sunshine, the friendliness and the hectic action.  Some people don’t know what they are missing . . .

Sunday began just like the previous day: sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and the promise of more scorching hot weather.  Unlike Saturday, we were spared the frenetic sign-on and scrutineering procedures that usually have to be done in double-quick time and, being the last class on the programme, it was all quite leisurely.

The Ferrari field was the same as before and, with the benefit of Saturday’s experience, we all looked forward to bettering our previous times.  A quick canvas of opinion revealed Dave Snelson was optimistic of breaking Jon Goodwin’s seven-year-old record set in his 458 (58.83 secs).  To do this he reckoned he needed to use his 430’s ‘race’ setting or even, if desperate, dispense with the traction aids altogether.  We offered a word of caution.  Peter Rogerson had set himself a target of a sub-70 second time for the weekend.  “If I don’t do it, I shall retire forthwith.”  We all hoped he would manage it, just as he had the day before.

Richard Preece looked relaxed (a dangerous sign for his competitors) while Lorraine Hitchman, after her altercation on Saturday with a fleet of ducks, hoped for better luck.  Paul Booth is really getting the hang of his lovely 458 spider: each of the previous day’s runs were progressively faster than the last (a sure sign of a good hillclimber) and we fully expected the progress to continue.  Pauline Goodwin decided “more precision” was needed although her Saturday times were very respectable.

Jon Goodwin paid a courtesy call to Loton Park’s landlord, Sir Michael Leighton, who, over coffee, confessed he may have made a mistake by letting the organisers continue with the meeting during the church morning service.  A few parishioners had complained it disturbed their prayers.

And so to Practice. These days, a conversation with the Attwoods usually pivots around whether their GT4 is suffering from a misfire.  Happily, today it wasn’t, with Tony hitting the sub-70s.  Booth took a conservative approach albeit a pretty quick one, while Goodwin J was more rapid than Saturday (perhaps Sir Michael had put a dash of something in the coffee).  The duck-less Lorraine found over nearly two seconds while husband Chris looked very impressive with a pair of 63 secs runs.

Pauline was a little slower than yesterday (too much precision?) while Mark Wibberley wrecked his chances of victory in the handicap by slicing off a handful of time (62.88 and a personal best).  Preece and Swift vied with each other in their F355s with the latter a few hundredths ahead.  Brian Jackson was a model of consistency in his gorgeous yellow 308GTB (which was selected for the Paddock Cup as the day’s best turned-out Ferrari).  Equally yellow and almost as perfect was Mike Spicer’s 328GTB, which gets off the line with unbeatable haste.  At the front, Snelson out-paced Taylor by a whisker but was aware that Nick has a habit of turning up the wick in the afternoon.

There was a variation on the ‘BBQ-that wasn’t a BBQ’ today.  Our good pals at The Old Hand and Diamond pub had done a selection of baguettes for us which, considering the heat, wasn’t a bad idea. Pickles, chutneys, salads and choices of soft drinks completed the fare, and we all enjoyed another excellent alfresco lunch.

Snelson had brought sandwiches from home (he enjoys his porridge for breakfast) and when we all returned to the paddock there he was, sitting in the 430’s cockpit, practising switching from race mode to ‘suicide’ mode with his race gloves on. His plan was to change modes on the way up Cedar Straight.  It looked a bit risky to your observer but his resolve to win was applaudable.  A quiet word with Nick Taylor suggested he might use race mode for a change.  Spicer thought “a high 61” was possible – which would move the bar upwards.  Swift checked his tyres  (5psi above normal) and thought lowering the pressures might pay dividends (it didn’t).

So, around 3 o’clock, we commenced the first ‘officials’.  Iwan Attwood went quicker to get closer to his dad, Booth speeded up by 12mph on the straight (to 84), Chris Hitchman – without any fuss – improved to 61.36, making him 3^rd fastest, and Tony Attwood imposed seniority by 0.14 on his lad.  Jackson continued his Rolex-style performance albeit dipping into the 65s while Spicer rocketed off the line in a class-leading 2.23 seconds.  Taylor was the last to run and stopped the clocks at 59.89 to better Snelson’s slightly slower effort by just 0.12 sec.

The track was cooling – but only slightly – as we lined up for the final assault.  Iwan A was quicker but then again trumped by Tony A by 0.12 secs.  Booth changed his conservative stance to get the 458 almost two seconds quicker, Jon G fired the glorious red 250 up the hill in its fastest ever time (66.94), and Chris Hitchman posted a high 60 – it might have been even quicker but the 430 is his dad’s car, remember.  Richard Preece clocked a very useful 62.83 to put paid to any ambitions your reporter may have had.

But the best was last.  Nick Taylor got everything right to register 58.50 to capture the full 20 Championship points and break the long-standing class record – a wonderful effort.  Again it was a costly time at the bar for Nick as he treated most of the Ferrari drivers a second time but I am sure he felt it was worth it!

The Loton Park weekend will go down as one of the best events of the season, combining stunning weather, ultra-close competition, very enjoyable hospitality, and a great Saturday night party.  What more do you want!

With the continuing spell of indecently hot weather hopes were high for good conditions and fast times at the first of the annual double headers at Sir Michael Leighton’s Shropshire estate and deer park. The field of 15 Ferraris spanned a variety of models, from Jon Goodwin’s re-created 250 SWB to Paul Booth’s 458 Italia, through 308, GT4, 328, F355, 360 and F430 too.

Battles were expected for the outright win between the F430s of David Snelson and Nick Taylor, the latter on his first outing of the season, and between them and Mike Spicer in the 328 for the maximum points. Elsewhere individual tussles for pride and points between the Attwoods and others added spice.

Practice 1 dawned in warm sunshine and cloud cover, providing an already warm track, though we were reminded that this is a wildlife haven with a pheasant on the track and a gaggle of ducks forcing Lorraine Hitchman into a sharp stab on the anchors, making the first run rather entertaining. This was added to by it being Paul Booth’s first run here, Chris Hitchman taking his father’s F430 here for the first time, and Richard Preece sliding off at Loggerheads, one of the first corners. Several drivers were reminded that this is a complex, narrow and technical hill, ‘with too many corners’ according to Mr Booth. As for times, defending champion Trawlerman Dave got down to business immediately with a 60.49, the rest warming up.

The second run before lunch saw competitors trying harder, in some cases too hard, and most thinking that in these conditions they should be going faster. Others should have gone slower in places . . . such as Mike Spicer, over enthusiastic with the gas into Cedar forcing a lock up and 13 seconds slower than in P1. Paul’s 458 also just avoided the cones at Triangle, again due to excess speed (though not hard when you have 585 ponies on tap) but did improve by 3 seconds. I should have slowed too, recording a personal best by half a second and thereby blowing any chance of the Handicap award. The Attwoods’ GT4 wasn’t helping with a misfire restricting outright speed, and Chris Hitchman playing with the seat controls not helping much either. Peter Rogerson was a smidgen off his target time of sub-70 with a 70.6, and others felt they would go faster after lunch, which was a Ploughmans this year due to the tinderbox nature of the estate, banning our usual excellent BBQ.

So – now it mattered. Captain Snelson slapped down a challenging 59.83 to which Nick Taylor responded with a 59.61, and Mike Spicer returned a 62.76 to keep them on their toes for the points. Chris Hitchman dropped into 3^rd on scratch, Jon Goodwin was the biggest improver with his fastest time ever in this car and Pauline lopped off a second. The rest seemed to be content to lay down a banker, apart from Iwan who lost his way at Triangle and created his own cone slalom, going around the back instead of the front of them, though again the car plagued Tony’s efforts to improve much. It seems the run to Maranello for the Dino celebrations didn’t agree with the gearbox. And a re-run for Jon Goodwin after a timing error resulted unusually in his best time of the day, though you always wonder about the one that got away…A wait on the start line ruined John Swift’s efforts, though Preece and Jackson kept steady and your reporter’s run was going swimmingly until an error after Cedar saw a grass cutting expedition which cost a couple of seconds and some frantic action in the cabin.

But worst luck of the day was Lorraine, who exited Loggerheads too fast, and in her desperation to scrub off speed before the fast left of Fletchers Dellow spat off the track left at high speed through soft ground, narrowly missed the pond after deft steering input, with mud and grass sods flying behind in rally style and marshals running for cover. Avoiding the huge trees, she rejoined before Triangle and bravely continued to record a 72.90 – very similar to her P1 time, which was dull by comparison.

Final runs saw the pressure mount as points and positions were tight at the top, and many competitors felt improvements were there to be had. Overall, and thankfully, there was less excitement and incident, no off-road antics and good, sensible hillclimbing.  Cap’n Dave failed to improve, but Nick did and put in his best time of the day at 59.18 to take the headline win. But it was points that mattered, and Mike Spicer, one of the last to run, was the key.

Paul Booth was actually first up and took over 2 seconds off to record 63.41, Lorraine took the tarmac all the way to the top for a steady 68.85, and Tony Attwood, Brian Jackson, John Swift, Pauline, the F355s of Messrs Swift and Preece all recorded very similar times to P1. With an early start for many, the heat may have tired some, as Peter Rogerson, Chris Hitchman and Jon Goodwin all proved slower. Under pressure from disappointing T1 times, Iwan lopped off 3+ seconds but came second to his father, and I managed to beat my P2 time by 1/100^th to set a new PB and 63.34. That lunchtime polishing must have paid off . . .  So, what of Mike S?  As usual, class will tell and our 2016 Champion went up 0.68 seconds faster and thereby took the main prize, the coveted 20 points.

Nick Taylor did the honours by buying the beverages as most competitors adjourned to the searing heat outside our hotel, with our Pimms reception preceding dinner. Joined by Championship Stewards Sue Skinner and John Warner, past competitor Peter Hayman belted out some excellent ragtime and boogie-woogie on the hotel piano before many took an early night. With the forecast even better for Sunday, there was some serious competition to be enjoined . . .

The fifth round of the 2018 Championship was held at Gurston Down, in Wiltshire, on Sunday, 17th June.  Gurston is quite a bit different to other hillclimb venues.  Uniquely, the start and first part of the short (0.967 km) course is downhill, so you arrive at the only really technical section – the viciously twisty Karousel – at a fair rate of knots while giving the brakes a heavy workout.  Like most tracks that we use, Gurston is very rural (it’s a working farm throughout the year) and the competition cars rub shoulders in the paddock with tractors, hay balers and other assorted farm machinery.  BARC operate the weekend activity and it is all very friendly and helpful.

The Ferraris were last here in 2015, when a poor turnout of just six cars prompted us to give it a 3-year sabbatical before hoping for better support this year.  We were rewarded with a slightly better entry of eight drivers in a diversity of the usual tipos ranging from ’70s 308GT4 to up-to-the-minute 458 Italia spider.

Dave Snelson, the current PMFC champion, was in his F430 while newcomer Paul Booth was continuing his hectic track learning curriculum in his lovely 458.  Both Dave and Paul had wisely attended the Gurston hillclimb school to sharpen their attack.  Pauline Goodwin was at the wheel of her 328GTB while ‘old hand’ Mark Hargreaves selected his other Ferrari, the GT4, rather than the potentially faster 308GTB.  The Attwoods, father Tony and son Iwan, shared their familiar 308GT4 and your scribe, making his first appearance here for 23 years, was in his mafia black F355.  To complete the line-up was Bernard Van Bunnik, having his very first essay in a UK hillclimb, driving an interesting 365GT 2+2 finished in BRG paintwork.  Although on German plates (the front one inconveniently dropped off on his journey from London) the car is a right-hooker but its instrumentation is in KPH and litres.  The reason, Bernard explained, was it was originally supplied to a customer in Monaco where, apparently, this is the normal configuration.

The weather on Sunday morning was fine after overnight rain and the forecasters promised a dry day.  We had barely taken our places in the paddock (now paved in tarmac rather than the grass of yesteryear) before the scrutineers descended to efficiently do their stuff.  The 365 was found to have a loose battery (black mark for Halfords who supplied and fitted it after Bernard’s non-appearance at Prescott at the end of May) but this was quickly anchored properly.  Snelson was the last to arrive having been delayed in Scotland buying a fishing boat – no doubt to catch mackerel for the fish course before he served the usual venison.

Practice P1 unsurprisingly saw our two school graduates in the lead, the 430 a second ahead of the 458.  Pauline Goodwin was easily the best of the rest while your reporter was quick to realise he had completely forgotten which way the track went.  Bernard was in almost the same position albeit also having to cope with a big and heavy 4-seat Ferrari.  Almost everyone improved their time in P2, Snelson recording a useful 36.51.  Iwan moved ahead of the GT4 battle much to the chagrin of his dad, who had detected a misfire on his run.  Swift found an extra 10mph at both speed traps but was still a couple of seconds behind the flying Pauline.  And Van Bunnik cut nearly 4 seconds off his time as he gained more knowledge.

The leisurely lunch break gave an opportunity for us to look around the paddock at the many interesting vehicles.  This meeting included motorcycle classes and Paul Booth was fascinated by a dangerous looking 1000cc sidecar that had every appearance of a space rocket and was controlled by a pair of experienced bikers who thought it gave more thrills than the Mallock they previously used.  They confessed that they rarely completed the course without a major incident and Paul wondered if they were sponsored by Dignitas.

Other vehicles of interest included an early Volvo – a PV544 I think – which might have taken part in a mid-sixties Monte Carlo Rally, and a special Jaguar Mk2 which had allegedly been used in saloon car racing in the 1960s.

The Gurston restaurant was not as great as some had suggested: the sausage and chips certainly would have its work cut out to be Dish of the Day.  It made one appreciate the strides that have been made at Prescott and Shelsley in their culinary offerings in recent times.

But back to the start of the competition proper, the official runs.  Only two drivers, Mark Hargreaves and your writer, managed to improve on their practice times (perhaps it was those chips).  Snelson kept ahead of Booth, but now only by a second and a half.  Pauline (41.68) was valiantly in third overall with Swift closing to within half a second.  Iwan shot ahead of Tony by two whole seconds leading the car’s owner to blame the difference on the mystery misfire he seemed to experience.  Bernard had an exciting time in the Karousel when his 365 got slightly sideways.

After some delay in recovering broken-down vehicles it was time for the final runs.  Temperatures had cooled and it seemed doubtful whether anyone could go quicker.  First to run was Booth, slower by 0.50 sec.  Then Swift recorded a more respectable 41.17 and the second fastest speed at the top of the hill (90mph).  Van Bunnik kept his big Ferrari on the tarmac this time to improve slightly and Hargreaves set his quickest time of the day.  Pauline gathered up her skirts to post 41.07 and beat Swift’s best effort.  But the star, in my view, was Iwan Attwood, who wound up the GT4 to a glorious 41.45 (and 83mph over the line) to take 17 valuable Championship points and the Handicap.  Finally Dave Snelson powered his 430 to 36.92 seconds (102mph at the Finish) and capture the 20 points.

Championship Coordinator Anne Swift worked the scoreboard in admirable fashion to keep us informed, even managing to recruit a couple of Ferrari-owning spectators to join us next year.

The third round of the 2018 Championship took place on Saturday 26th May at the lovely Bugatti Owners Club’s Prescott hill climb in Gloucestershire. This final Saturday in May has for the past ten years been themed as the La Vie en Bleu Festival, or a ”Life in Blue”,  focusing on mostly French vehicles and all things French. This two day themed event, which has grown in popularity each and every year, now reserves the Saturday for La Vita Rossa, or a festival of all things Italian, which is where we come in!

This event has become a permanent feature on the Club calendar and as such, was well supported by a large Club presence. Chairman Nigel and wife Shirley were there, together with committee member Nicky and Viv Paul-Barron, Communications Director, Christian Mineeff, PHR supremo, Derek Seymour and Club magazine editor, Richard Dredge, who were all seen mingling with members and competitors in the paddock throughout the day. The Club stand was in a prominent position in the main car park, together with reserved Ferrari parking, backing along the main straight and featuring a large number of members’ cars. This fantastic Club support is warmly welcomed by the hillclimbers.

The competitive action included on the Saturday an ERA class and an Italian class, and was also supplemented by feature convoy runs with a Bugatti Chiron, Bugatti Veyron and a LaFerrari together with a Ferrari 488 70th Anniversary special, which is the only one of its type in the world. Lunchtime on the Saturday featured a flypast by a Dakota, together with static displays in the paddock including Ferraris, a Lamborghini Countach and Gallardo, a number of exotic Alfas, together with an interloping McLaren, owned by the inspirational Joy Rainey.  So there was lots to see.

Or was there?   At 9.00am when I arrived the course was shrouded in mist and seemingly nobody could see anything much at all !  Apparently, the marshals couldn’t see the next marshals’ post and therefore on safety grounds the meeting was temporarily suspended. Some wags amongst our number questioned why not being able to see anything was a handicap as it hadn’t seemed to hinder us much in the past!   This situation unfortunately persisted for most of the morning. Our first timed practice was consequently replaced much later in the morning by a convoy run, where the cars followed each other up the course at a respectable but non race pace and at a discreet distance from the car in front.  In order to provide the already large crowd at least some entertainment, low gears and plenty of revs seemed to be in order.

Practice 2 took place around 1.00 pm and, to the organiser’s credit, by skipping the lunch break, most of the morning’s lost time was recovered by the end of the day. The recent overnight rain had left the track dry up to Pardon hairpin, but wet under the trees through the Esses and particularly on the run up to Semicircle. As a result first runs were quite conservative. Most runners were happy to get to the top unscathed and get a feel for where the grip was.  New boy Paul Booth in his lovely F458 spider gave himself a bit of a fright at Worlds End or Semicircle as it’s properly known, but proceeded without further incident to a very respectable 60.25 on his first ever timed run here.

Competition started early afternoon on a drying track with most people taking around 4 to 5 seconds off their earlier P2 time. There were a few incidents to report though. Mark Wibberley,  trying maybe a little too hard, revisited his favoured spot at Prescott, namely the Pardon gravel trap, (which we’ll shortly be renaming the MW gravel trap) and collected a large quantity of pea gravel in his under tray. He’ll no doubt find a use for it in the garden when he gets it all home.

Reigning Champion Dave Snelson made a mess of his gears through the Esses but still managed a competitive time of 51.99. Your reporter pipped this with a 51.83 to take the class lead and now started to pray feverishly for rain.  Meanwhile the yellow perils, the 328 of Mike Spicer and 308 of Brian Jackson, had quietly posted sufficiently good times to get one hand each on the top two provisional Championship points places.

Between runs, Pauline Goodwin had somehow managed to acquire an F1 style pit crew team: at one stage I observed Dr Tony Attwood on windscreen cleaning duty while well-known tyre guru and spanner man Mike Spicer was simultaneously tightening up the last of her wheel nuts. Pauline, meanwhile, was more importantly off looking for a lighter to get husband John’s large cigar back to life.

Final runs were taken late in the afternoon and most people, particularly me, were still a little cautious. Tony won the battle of the Attwoods by just 0.28 secs and cleaned up the handicap award from son Iwan, while Peter Rogerson in his lovely Tdf blue 360 again broke the 60 second barrier with a respectable 59.92. Paul Booth had improved throughout the day and weaved his F458 through the Esses to finish the day on a very creditable 54.22. Pauline, despite the recent service, just failed to improve on her earlier P1 time, while husband John who had to be in Cornwall the following morning had passed on this run, but still had a sub 60 second time in the bank in the glorious and attention grabbing 250 SWB Re-creation.

Meanwhile, the two F355s of Richard Preece and John Swift both managed to knock just under a second off their earlier times. John’s time of 53.41 was good enough for fourth place on scratch, and a nice Bugatti Owners Club memento at the end of the meeting. Mark held it all together this time to finish on 54.36 while Mike and Brian also both improved their times and consequently clinched the 20 and 17 championship points respectively.

Finally up at the front, the prayed for rain had not materialised and despite a small improvement by myself, Dave Snelson kept it all together to break the 50 second barrier and record a personal best of 49.92 to clinch the scratch win and with it the honours at the bar.  So the top Championship points went to Mike Spicer (20 points), Brian Jackson (17) and Dave Snelson (15)  while the Class awards went to Dave in first , myself 2nd, Mike 3rd and John Swift a very creditable 4th .

So another great day’s hillclimbing ended in bright early evening sunshine in the lovely Gloucestershire countryside. Next round is at Shelsley Walsh on Sunday 3rd June 2018.