The Curborough Sprint was a very exciting day as there was a possibility that the championship might be decided between Tony and Pauline.

The day started sunny and pleasant, but rain was threatened as a strong possibility after lunch. All eyes were on the weather.

There had been a 6-hour endurance pedal car race the day before, and some pedal cars were still about – wow, 3 people teams peddling for 6 hours around the sprint course – sounds fun, the pedal cars were fab! On Facebook – pedalcarracing.info/Curborough link is https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063560529572

For our Championship, there was a small, but quality turn out, sadly Dave Snelson was unable to join us, and we missed his usual flair, but John Kennedy was able to take his place and get runs in his RS Ford and parked up with us so we could all socialize. 😊

Tony made a great commitment to his championship chances by arriving after globetrotting adventures and travelling from Aylesbury with little sleep! Good effort Sir!

Steve Nunney had another adventure losing bits from his door mechanism during practice – he said – ‘I’ve lost my left side nut!’ but at least you have one on the other side Steve 😊

The latest expensive lawn mower move was beautifully executed by Gary Mullins whose 360 came back intact but more green than red!

We were delighted to see Mr. Mark Wibberley back to help out with decision making and making sure all regs were being followed – to that end all our chassis numbers and specs were checked – ensuring a level playing field.

Sadly, due to the weather we only managed to achieve 2 practice runs and 1 timed run.

P1 – Chris got out of the gates and secured the fastest first p1run in 69.47 seconds with Pauline putting in a great second fastest run at 74.56 seconds.

P2 – Chris improved further with 69.44 seconds fastest p2 run with Gary Mullins and Rain Hitchman hot on his heels with joint second fastest p2 runs at 71.09 each!

The rain started and it got colder and wetter which meant everyone’s times slowed.

T1 – Rain took advantage of being first in the rain and although slower got the better track conditions and pulled in a 72.33 second run which turned out to be the fastest – followed by Chris Hitchman in second fastest with 74.73 seconds.

After this the rain really hit and soon the track had standing and running water on it. So sadly, after Mark conferred with all the participants, and looking at the weather forecast, it was decided by mutual consent that it was too dangerous to continue and that we would close out proceedings. Many of the other competitors from the other classes had already left at this point. It turned out to be a good decision as the rain did not abate until 4.30 pm and so it would have been a wash-out.

Due to this early stop, existing results had to be taken which meant that Rain Hitchman took the win, with Chris Hitchman in second and Pauline Goodwin in 3^rd with Tony Attwood taking the Most Improved Award.

Chris was delighted for his wife who had he said stolen his car and his win as he had never been able to come first. Rain refused to accept she was the Rain-meister saying that it was the luck of the draw but of course delighted to take the miracle win and be the first Wife/Husband team to take first and second place at a single round!

There was then much debate around what this all meant for the championship – it looked like Pauline was going to become Champion but of course there was still Prescott to come!

I must say I feel honoured to have been asked to provide the report of the final day of the 2023 FOC Hill Climb Championship. To be honest though, it is with some trepidation, I just hope it’s as entertaining as previous reports. There were a grand total of six participants in 5 tipos’ at Prescott on the day so it all went by quite quickly – or so we hoped.

The weather reports predicted an unseasonably warm day ahead so it augured well for some great end of term performances. With the Championship in the balance it was down to the line between Pauling Goodwin and Iwan Attwood with just 5 points separating them at the start of the day. It could go either way.

Scrutineering started bright and early and as the Ferrari cadre were to lead off on the days first practice run, all checks were completed promptly in the paddock.

Being first away meant everyone needed to take care at the start and on the rest of the hill due to the morning’s moisture still being on the track until it had dried off, and some rubber had been put down. As a consequence there was a bit of slithering and sliding away from the start at first practice and nearly everyone recorded a slower first 64 feet than usual. Your scribe in a 348ts was fastest away from the start line but crossed the finish line at 59.37. Iwan Attwood recorded a 57.37 behind Nick Taylor with 52.69, Pauline Goodwins 60.68 matched by Chris Hitchman who was taking the hill for the very first time. So it was game on.

Second practice promised to provide more realistic timings as the track had come into better condition after the rest of the field had run completing their first practice. Starting 64 feet times were much improved with Nick leading the way with 2.56 followed by your scribe and Pauline.

Final finish times were headed by Nick in his F430 with 49.95, an improvement of 2.74 seconds. Your scribe managed to achieve a personal best of 55.85 just ahead of Iwan in the Dino 308GT4 followed by Pauline on 59.32, Chris and Peter Hitchman were close behind.

The weather was still holding and it looked like we might get our first timed run in before lunch but it wasn’t to be. After our break for lunch we were first off again, trouble was there had been a spill of motor oil along the start straight and underneath the bridge and part round towards the first bend “Orchard”. The spill had been cement dusted off but it was clear everyone was going to take this on board with careful anticipation of their lines. So it was heads down and a Championship to be decided.

Chris in the shared F430 was first up recording 57.07, a great improvement on his practice times as he learned the layout. Iwan followed, capitalising on his great start by registering 55.24. Then it was the Champion in waiting’s turn, who said that she felt like a wet lettuce under the day’s pressure. Beating Iwans start in her red 328 back up steed she crossed the finish in 56.60, so it really was game on. Your scribe was next up, made a great start over the first 64ft, but managed to under steer the exit of “Ettore’s” taking to the gravel on the left hand side before the “Crossover” just for a moment before going down to the “Pardon” uphill hairpin. Even trying to make up for the error the resulting time was in excess of the days new PB – oops. Nick followed on and was definitely not perturbed by the cement dust, he made a great start off the line with 2.49 to the 64 feet marker and made a masterful and rapid accent to set the pace for the day at 49.40 and look good for 20 points. Peter Hitchman had improved on his practice times too.

So it was all to play for on the first official – and as it transpired – final run of the season. Chris now fully up to speed on his first time at Prescott recorded an excellent 55.11.  Iwan then set a blistering PB of 54.94 putting him in a position to potentially haul away 17 points in the Championship. If Pauline who ran next had a failed run it would be a shared Championship. But with a previous PB of 52.17 it looked as though there would no doubt about the result, if the formbook was to play out. Pauline shot of the line with a good sprint making it to the top in 57.32 putting her behind Iwan Attwood. Your scribe only managed to slightly better the first run but her time ensured Pauline took third place on scratch overall. Nick had a gear box problem on the way up but still made it across the line with a 55.86.

After our second run everything went downhill, rather than uphill….. red flags galore and to top it all a damaged Armco safety barrier, the barrier took the impact and the driver emerged unscathed, but repairs couldn’t be made in time which brought the whole proceedings to an abrupt end. The organisers decided positions would be decided and declared based on competitor’s first timed runs only.

It was at this point the calculations were frantically made to confirm the winner of the day and the 2023 FOC Hillclimb Champion based on the first (and only) timed Competition runs.

The days scratch winner was therefore Nick followed by Iwan in second and Pauline in third place. Of course we all wanted confirmation of the championship. With PEP’s and best of eight rounds points to calculate we had our first lady to take the FOC Hill Climb Championship, Pauline Goodwin, who was hailed as the deserved 2023 Champion with 132 points, followed by Iwan Attwood on 128 points who beat his father Tony Atwood into third place on 125 points. It couldn’t have been much closer!

There was not a soul amongst us who thought any winner could have deserved it more. The new FOC Hillclimb Champion provided a round of drinks and crisps for all and the day ended on a high with balmy, almost summer evening weather. Well done everyone who competed this season making it a brilliant year.

The day turned out to be fine and dry which was a real bonus this year, especially at Curborough where let’s face it, there isn’t much shelter unless some superstar remembers to bring an awning 😊

We had a nice turnout of different tipos and guest appearances from our Spaceman Jon Goodwin fresh from the outer atmosphere regaling us with extra terrestrial adventures and looking resplendent in his Virgin Galactic uniform. We were also delighted to welcome Anne Swift and Paul Booth to our event, how wonderful to see them and they took over the running of the times and scoreboard. Thank you!

Tony Attwood and Sue also came along straight from a military honours ceremony at the Arboretum which was fascinating to hear all about.
Finally, it was such a pleasure to see Christian Mineeff, our Club chairman, and his lovely lady at our meeting, cheering us all on.

Our fellow competitor John Kennedy was also there but in a different class (Ford Focus RS). And David Snelson arrived in his beautiful 488 Spyder and Rob Samuels in his glorious F458 Speciale. Lots of friends and family came along to watch and chat during ‘down time’ and it was great to talk and take pictures with all the ‘Fans’ an opportunity to showcase the Ferraris and gain more superfans (encourage others to join in.)

We were blessed with 2 practices and 3 runs which was fantastic.

Runners on the day were:
David Snelson
Rob Samuels
Pauline Goodwin
Steve Nunney
Lorraine (Rain) Hitchman
Chris Hitchman
Peter Hitchman

1st Practice

Dave Snelson was straight out the blocks in his 488 and set the fastest time followed by Chris Hitchman in his ‘new’ F430 F1 and Rob Samuels grabbed the third fastest in his 458 Speciale. It turned out that this was Chris’s fastest time that day and he couldn’t improve.

2nd Practice

The majority of the field improved their times, and there was some contention about Steve Nunney being classed as a fail, for 4 wheels on the grass, even though nobody saw it happen! Not even him!

The Main Event

We went straight into the 1st timed run without stopping for lunch to get the extra runs in, and nobody was complaining 😊 Dave Snelson turned up the dials and put in the fastest time a sizzling 62.57.

Then we all took a breather and took a break for lunch; an opportunity to chat to everyone and grab some ice-cream.

The second timed run saw Dave Snelson make us all skip a heartbeat as he locked up his wheels over the line doing 111 mph. An expensive lawn mower me thinks as he took to the grass. Thankfully all was well, and he caught it. Nobody else improved and Dave decided that ‘discretion was the better part of valour’ and exited the field to go home, probably a good idea as it turned out he was uncatchable.

On the final run only three people improved, there were comments about the weather turning cooler and the track going off and possible oil having been spilt as it felt less ‘grippy’ …….

The final results saw Dave Snelson coming in first, with Chris Hitchman in second and Rob Samuels an excellent third.

Rain Hitchman took the cup on the day for the fastest Lady and went up with Pauline, Jon and Steve Nunney to pick up all the trophies on behalf of the Ferrari Club Members.

Pauline did a great job and managed to snatch third in the PEP adjusted times, which was a great achievement. 😊

The prospect of late summer sunshine at the iconic Shelsley venue attracted a fine field of FHC entrants including the two leading Classic Cup and overall Championship contenders Pauline Goodwin and Tony Attwood.

Nestling in a scenic valley in rural Worcestershire, competitors had enjoyed the hospitality of local accommodation, and the arguably the best start line in our season beckoned.

Sounds fabulous – except it was rather grey and overcast throughout, with the spectre of early afternoon rain showing on forecasts for days before. So track temperatures weren’t going to help set blistering times, but MAC had set out to provide the first competitive run before lunch. So, no pressure to put in a good time there then…

It soon became apparent that Johnny Kennedy wasn’t coming, and Rob Samuels probably wisely decided not to risk his fabulous 458 Speciale too. But making his debut was seasoned campaigner in all manner of exotic race events, Simon Jeffries, in his powerful new Roma.

First up was Iwan Attwood to report back on track conditions – cool, slippy, variable… but safely back down in 44.14. Your reporter was up next, in only his 2nd outing of the season, recording a cautious 42 dead, with Pauline Goodwin in her red 328 only 0.74 behind. Peter Rogerson took it easy, too many rounds under his belt to push it on the first run, at 51.43, the ever improving Steve Nunney in his 348 returning a 44.20. The car and driver combo everyone wondered about, Simon plus Roma, also ran cautiously, exploring the best settings in its arsenal for later. But it was Doc Attwood who set the best time, 41.17 in the dual driven GT4.

P2 duly arrived, Iwan pushing harder for 41.66, and Mark Wibberley sliced a similar time off his first practice to record 39.04. Pauline got more into the groove with 41.42 in a car that she was clearly not totally happy in – even seemingly identical hand-built era Ferraris vary a lot in handling and response. Peter’s lovely TDF 360 came in at 48 dead, and Steve’s 348 under 42 at 41.91. Tony Attwood reasserted his usual advantage over son Iwan with a determined 40.51 and Simon figured out the settings to wipe 7 seconds off P1.

Little time was wasted before the crucial T1, with Iwan throwing the gauntlet back at his Father’s feet with an excellent 39.42 before handing the car over. With PEPs against him and needing substantial margin for any hope of half decent points, your scribe was up next and a very pleasing controlled run with his best start of the day (the rest were truly awful) was timed at 37.58. Could a first ever scratch win be on the cards ?

Pauline tried to upset the standings, and put in a bid for the points with 40.13, with arch rival Tony to come. Could he put in a better time when it mattered, with rain ominous? Meanwhile Simon had decided that the Roma wasn’t ideally suited to this kind of work and stroked his way up in a similar 43.25 as last time. Mid-run setting changes not advised he noted afterwards. Peter Rogerson recorded a smooth 45.10 and Steve Nunney underlined his increasing confidence in the 348 at 40.29, a PB by 1.5 seconds. Tony put his banker run down, seemingly always 1 run ahead of Iwan, with the 3rd sub-40 run so far, at 38.92 – another Personal Best on a day which seemed against such feats.

Lunch. Cloudwatch. All good. Iwan first up, a smidge faster at 39.29, but by the time the rest of the field were off, as Iwan was in the previous batch, raindrops has started to fall. It didn’t take long – usually the first 64ft in fact, for drivers to recognise a deterioration in conditions, the start line was slippery, and all backed off to the tune of at least 2 seconds.

In summary, Attwood honours went to Tony, and the all-important 20 points, with Iwan taking a very handy 17 to maintain his third place in the Championship table, and 15 going to Mark Wibberley – but most notably, after 12 seasons, my first ever Class win and opportunity to buy the beers. A day to always remember and what a fine venue to achieve that at too.

The Championship will go into the last rounds – it could be settled at Curborough or may go to Prescott. Either way, a new name will be on the trophy…..

As appears to be becoming the norm this season, the weather has not been good and the forecast for the Saturday of Prescott was looking very poor and it got worse as the weekend approached. All the forecast sites were showing rain for much of the day, but the favourable ones suggested that the morning may be OK  with the rain arriving at lunchtime.

Unfortunately they were wrong and the rain arrived early and, although it was not teeming down as it had been at times at Loton, there was also no sun and wind to give back some semblance of dryness. Several of us had first practice out of sequence as a result of taking much longer to get ready with everything so wet.

First practice only had Nick Taylor in his F430 break 60 seconds with Pauline Goodwin, in her 328, second but 10 seconds down.

For second practice, track refamiliarisation and knowing where the surface water was allowed considerable but safe improvement. Nick got almost 2 seconds off and Pauline over 5 but Mark Wibberley, in his 360, surprised everyone, and himself, by recording 61.67, almost exactly 10 seconds off his first practice, to be second fastest. Steve Nunney in his 348, (65.58) came in after Pauline (63.16) followed by Rob Samuels (65.77) and another surprised Tony Attwood (66.31) in his 308GT4.  Martin Jones summed it up when he said he would prefer less power and driver aids to be able to feel in more control.

The rain was teasing everyone as it eased (but didn’t stop) for a while and then retuned heavier again after a longer than usual lunch break.

It was great to see Richard Prior again who came along to support us all. He braved the weather with good waterproofs and a large umbrella that was needed almost the whole time. Even Richard suggested at one point that it might have been more sensible to follow things from home.

The timed runs were all done on a very wet track which had streams coming across the course in various places. The CoC made two track inspections during the timed runs as Marshals reported varying amounts of water across the track.

In discussion after the first run, several of our class were grateful to have completed it safely and got a time in the bank. Rob Samuels (64.32) in his 458 Speciale was struggling with traction control and aquaplaning and very sensibly decided that discretion was better than valour and one run was enough.

Mark Wibberley (61.87), Steve Nunney (63.90) and Tony Attwood (64.13) got their best times on the first run. Tony was surprised as the run had felt ragged and off line but his second run was 0.3 slower. Everyone else had a faster second run. Pauline improved by over a second to 62.82 and Nick took the class in 56.08. Paul Booth kept his roof up all day and got a 64.42 followed by Martin Jones and Peter Rogerson.

Our top three were Nick Taylor, Mark Wibberley and Pauline Goodwin and a very good result at 4th for Steve Nunney. On PEP the results were Nick Taylor (57.48), Pauline Goodwin (60.94) and Tony Attwood (61.24) 

Sunday was drier than Saturday and we had more competitors joining us. It was good to see Peter, Chris and Lorraine Hitchman in their F430s. Peter continues in his red model while Chris has a black coupe and Lorraine was in her black Spider. Fortunately this year all the cars behaved well and all three drivers improved their times over the day.

Brian Jackson drove up from home in the morning and made the fourth addition over Saturday. Brian had a frustrating day as his beautiful 308 wasn’t performing properly and appeared to be well down on normal power. As a result, Brian abandoned the event after his first timed run, which, despite low power, wasn’t shabby at all and got him 3rd place on PEP.

All drivers were called to a briefing before practice as the CoC had been checking the weather forecasts closely and didn’t want a repeat of Saturday. The result was the decision to have just one practice and start the timed runs before lunch in an attempt to get all runs in before the predicted rain may arrive. This proved to be another excellent decision by the CoC.

Practice was damp and on Sunday it was Tony who was running out of class. Although he still got a good start on a dampish track he wasn’t happy further up the course and recorded 72.14. By the time the main class went off, the track was effectively dry and Pauline (67.40) and Iwan (67.83) were battling all the way. Pauline had a just faster start (2.54) compared with Iwan on 2.56. Everyone else did as expected although Brian wan’t sure about his car and was a surprising 2 seconds down on Pauline in practice.

The first official runs were done in good conditions and the track had dried out in the sun and wind. Steve Nunney and Peter Rogerson got their best times that run.

Tony was annoyed with his start but went well thereafter to record a 67.86 and a speed at the top of Cedar of 75mph with Iwan and Nick Taylor on 75mph through the trap.

Pauline went off well with her usual start of 2.43 matched by Iwan. She was then storming up the hill and had a speed of 78mph at Cedar and Cedar split of 45.86 compared with Iwan at 46.52. Unfortunately that appeared to have caught her by surprise and she overbraked going in to Museum to get a frustrating overall time. Iwan got to the top with a 66.00 so continued to show Dad the way home.

The other interesting first run was by Paul Booth who overcooked the first sharp Left hander at Hall and went in to the slip road but he still recorded a time just 30 seconds slower than his practice earlier!

I was watching and couldn’t understand why Steve Nunney didn’t get a rerun as Paul’s time was clicking up. It was even more surprising when Peter Rogerson had a rerun after Pauline’s incident and she had been only 25 seconds behind her usual. At least the run had made Pauline smile again, as she felt that her mojo had returned and she has more confidence, so it had been frustrating and not all doom and gloom.

For the second runs, as the rain hadn’t come for the earlier competitors, there was quite a marked change in running times but Tony failed to capitalise on a good start. He ended up just 1/100 of a second slower (67.87) than his first run (67.86). Chris Hitchman got a PB in his 430 of 68.10 although he has been faster in his 355 and Peter Hitchman also had a PB in his 430 as did Rob Samuel with his 63.35.

The rain was definitely coming down by the time Nick Taylor went up and his first run time of 59.94 ensured a class win again with Rob Samuel 2nd (63.35) and Iwan Attwood 3rd (66.00)

The PEP results were 1st Nick Taylor (61.44), 2nd Iwan Attwood (63.03) and 3rd Brian Jackson (64.74) beating Tony Attwood by 6/100 of a second.

Iwan and Tony went to the prizegiving and this was Iwan’s first scratch trophy at an event. Iwan will pass on the 1st & 2nd trophies at a future event

The weekend of 8 & 9 of July was the second of the double header weekends in the 2023 Hillclimb Championship.

After Harewood in May, we returned to Loton Park at Alberbury near Shrewsbury. The Hillclimb is held on the estate of Sir Michael Leighton who has family connections with Ferrari through the Marquis De Portago who used to race for the company. Sir Michael has donated a trophy to the Ferrari Hillclimbers for the fastest run on the Saturday of the weekend double header. This trophy is colloquially known as “The Hos” by the winners and is a large (non-prancing) race horse effigy to show connection to Ferrari without contravening Ferrari’s copyright.

This is a report for the first of the two rounds – the great British weather proved troublesome again this year.

On Saturday we had eight competitors in seven cars (Iwan & Tony Attwood sharing the Dino 308GT4) as unfortunately Dave Snelson hadn’t recovered sufficiently following surgery to be fit to compete.

John Kennedy did join us, but not in class, as he was driving a Ford Focus as his Ferrari wasn’t ready. In fact by the end of the weekend he was almost as fast in the Ford Focus (63.81) as he was in his California T (63.80) in 2021.

Newcomer and class winner at Gurston Down Rob Samuel was trying very hard in his 458 Speciale and in first practice got airborne at Museum resulting in a meeting with the tyre barrier. Fortunately no damage sustained that precluded competing over the rest of the weekend. Rob was soon back on track and learning the whole course after having various suggestions made by other competitors, with the result that he came in 3rd on his timed run.

We have missed Paul Booth this year but he hasn’t lost his verve as he powered his scarlet 458 Spider up on Saturday to be 2nd in practice and also on the timed run. Unlike several competitors who also have Spiders, Paul seems to go faster when he has the roof down. Perhaps it is because he wants to get to the finish before the rain.

Pauline Goodwin is still very rapid and consistent with her starts, recording a 0-64ft of 2.43 seconds on three occasions over the weekend – only Nick Taylor was faster on Saturday with a 2.35 and he couldn’t get the consistency as it was 2.39 on Sunday. Iwan had his best start ever match ing Pauline’s time on Sunday and Tony continues to snap at her heels with a 2.47. Other start times seem to be affected by Ferrari traction control as much as personal ability.

This brings us on to the overall fastest, as Nick stormed up the hill on both days but the weather conditions were not conducive to a PB by any regular drivers at Loton.

So, on to the Saturday timed run. Yes, just one timed run on Saturday for the whole competition.

Our class was extremely lucky as we completed our runs just before the heavens opened which was the cause of no 2nd runs. In fact, the rain came down so hard and suddenly that Iwan only just had time to get into the car as Tony stopped in the Paddock and almost everyone sat inside the cars for the next 15-minutes until the deluge stopped. The Clerk of the Course (CoC) then announced that the remaining classes would have to wait a while and there would be no second timed run for anyone.

Iwan had been running out of class at the start of the previous batch. No advantage to Dad (Tony) as the previous batch was quite large and the car could cool down. Iwan loves Loton and he ensured that Dad was well and truly trailing even though he says he didn’t get a good run. The times were 67.32 for Iwan and 2 seconds slower for Tony (69.35).

Nick Taylor took the class with a 61.19, followed by Paul Booth on 66.47 and Rob Samuel on 67.11.

The PEP results give Nick a clear win on 62.72 but elevated Iwan to 2nd (64.29) and Tony to 3rd (66.23)

Everyone returned to the Mercure Albrighton Hall hotel earlier than expected and we had the customary dinner. It was great that so many “other halves” were there and that the Hitchman team arrived in time for the meal and ready for Sunday. Jon Goodwin was in fine form and would have presented ‘The Hos’ to Nick Taylor but Nick had brought it to the hotel as he also won it last year. It was too wet to go back out to the car to collect it just to take it home again. Many thanks to Pauline who had stayed later at Loton to collect the Class trophies which were presented to Nick and Paul at the dinner as was Rob’s from Gurston Down.

The fifth event of this season was held at Gurston Down on Saturday 17 June.

Gurston is the most Southerly of our regular venues being in the Chalke Valley SW of Salisbury. It is also the only hillclimb that actually starts going down-hill and continues down for the first ⅓ of the course. Speed is rapidly gained and the first bend can be taken flat out by most (if brave) competitors.

When we arrived, it had obviously rained overnight and the track was very greasy for first practice.

The Ferrari class was in Batch 2 but Tony Attwood was second car up the hill in Batch 1 because he was sharing the Dino 308GT4 with Iwan. Batch 1 was  done by 08.30 and there were only 3 Ferraris in the Paddock. In fact everyone in the class was actually there as unfortunately Dave Snelson had had to cancel the day before and John Kennedy’s car wasn’t ready.This meant the Ferrari team was made up of Pauline Goodwin, Iwan & Tony Attwood, and welcome newcomer Rob Samuels in his 458 Speciale. It was Rob’s first time out Hillclimbing.

First practice was definitely a careful ‘get your eye in’ run and an invaluable learning point for Rob Samuels who was slowest at 50.22 with Iwan Attwood on 49.50.

Pauline Goodwin showed that the 328 is competent in any condition to record 45.08 and Tony Attwood did 47.58, with the slowest time in the first speeed trap at 60MPH and yet the  fastest time in the 2nd speed trap at 78mph. He was happy going up hill.

Conditions improved throughout the day as the sun broke through and dried the track. Confidence also grew and, for the first time in memory and from records perused, all drivers improved sequentially over every run they did.

Rob Samuels took the class win on scratch with a good 37.36 seconds and 102 mph in both speed traps. Rob’s major complaint was that he just couldn’t get the power down, especially at the start which was shown with a best 0-64ft of 2.67seconds.

Pauline had her usual excellent starts with a best 0-64ft time of 2.4 with Tony snapping at her heels in 2.46. Neither of these are individual personal best at Gurston but close and Pauline is consistent to within 1/10 of a second on all her starts.

Iwan & Tony appear to have the Dino308GT4 sorted at last and it went well with them both exploiting it consistently. There is such a closeness it must come down to bravery and driver confidence. Tony usually gets a better start. Iwan was always faster in the first speed trap (10mph on first practice yet 2 seconds slower at the end on that run!). By the final run Tony got upto 79mph but Iwan was 80mph and they both got 87mph at the second trap. Sector times  were slightly more variable but on the final run Iwan beat his (grumpy) Dad by just 4/100th of a second with a personal best of 41.22 compared with Tony’s 41.26. Tony was only consoled by the fact that his own PB at Gurston is still faster at 41.04! Pauline remains ultra competitive and was 0.8 seconds faster than Tony

Scratch results:

Rob 1st with 37.36
Pauline 2nd at 40.46
Iwan 3rd on 41.22
Tony 4th on 41.26

The most remarkable thing is the PEP scoring… All four competitors came in on 39 seconds:

Pauline 1st (-3%) 39.25
Iwan 2nd (-4.5%) 39.37
Tony 3rd (-4.5%) 39.40
Rob 4th (+7%) 39.98

So congratulations to Pauline on 20 points and to Rob for winning the class, on his first ever run at Gurston (and entry to the championship).  Next, is the double header at Loton Park on 8 & 9 July.

We need many more new entrants now, as this shows everyone can have fun.

From Steve Burns: A special thank you to Pauline, Iwan and Tony for giving a warm welcome to newcomer Rob.

Saturday 3^rd June 2023, was the fourth round of the Ferrari HillClimb Championship at Shelsey Walsh, which saw a depleted number of drivers as John Kennedys, the hot favourite to take the Championship this year, car is still off the road and Paul Booth’s 458 was out of action.

Attendees were Pauline Goodwin, Tony Attwood, Steve Nunney and Dave Snelson.

With the sun shining down at Shelsey Walsh, Tony arrived in his beautiful 246 red Dino, Steve Nunney was in his 348, Pauline in her 328 and Dave Snelson in his regular 430.

There was only one practice run as there was a big attendance due to it being a British Championship Round.

Steve Nunney did well in practice and improved on his time runs, Tony Attwood also had a very close battle with Pauline and Dave Snelson’s first time run had a cooling hose split, covering the tyres with coolant and a big moment going in the S’s and a 100mph!  Luckily no damage, however Dave ended the day having a nice ride in the recovery truck.

After the points and deductions were made, Princess Pauline took the 20 points and took the win.

A good day was had by all.

Following Saturday’s event most of the Ferrari entrants met up at the Bridge Hotel for dinner, where we were joined by entrants for the Sunday event plus one or two others.

A splendid meal was served in the Byron room, and Tony Attwood’s 75^th birthday celebrated in style.

Sunday morning dawned with the rain that washed out 3^rd runs on Saturday still coming down. However, by the time we arrived at Harewood it had ceased although the track was still damp for our first practice run. It was good to see Race series co-ordinator Steve Burns, Anne Swift, Scrutineer Andy Bush, and championship Steward Paul Skinner all in attendance. A warm welcome also to Rob Samuels who is thinking of signing-up for the championship and came along to see what it is all about. With the British Hillclimb Championship cars competing for the hill record and two top-twelve run-offs for them an exciting day lay ahead.

On to 1^st practice which was inconclusive considering the damp conditions, yesterday’s runners being around 5 to 8 seconds off the pace. Dave Snelson F430 led the way a second or so ahead of John Kennedy California T. Then the shared F430 of Lorraine & Chris Hitchman bagged the next two spots, Lorraine ahead by six tenths. Keeping just below the 80 second mark Brian Jackson’s 308 GTB led Pauline Goodwin’s 328 GTB by seven tenths.

The rest of the day was dry, warm, and sunny so 2^nd practice showed more representative times. Snelson and Kennedy remained 1^st & 2^nd, while Jackson moved up to 3^rd ahead of the Hitchmans. Pauline remained 6^th. The Attwoods shared 308 GT4 took the next two spots, Tony two tenths ahead of Iwan.

We were running as last class of the meeting but were due three timed runs against other classes two. So to make this work, immediately after practice we took our first timed run before the lunch break, after which the meeting would resume with class one.

The top four places remained the same over all three runs, with Snelson on a best of 66.11, Kennedy 67.97, Chris Hitchman 70.10, and Jackson 71.42.

5^th swapped between Pauline and Lorraine, with the latter winning out in the end on 72.42 v 73.58.

Steve Nunney 348ts was 6^th on the 1^st run with a 75.65 but this was prove his best time and he fell back to 8^th by the end. Iwan was 8^th after the 1^st run but took 2 seconds off on each of the following runs to end up 7^th on 74.37. Dad Tony swapped 9^th & 10^th places with Peter Hitchman’s F430, Tony taking the place on 76.64 to Peter’s 77.87. That just left Martin Jones who was enjoying himself in his 360 Modena to bring up the rear on 79.41.

The all-important top points went to Jackson, Snelson, Kennedy, and the handicap award to Steve Nunney.

It was a foggy overcast Yorkshire morning, for the start of the 2^nd round of the Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship. With celebrations of our King’s coronation overshadowed by Tony Attwoods birthday!

Numbers were down today due to several competitors rubbing shoulders with royalty, such as John Goodwin.  However, in attendance was Ewan Attwood and dad Tony Attwood, Paulin Goodwin, Steve Nunney, Martin Jones, Brian Jackson and Dave Snelson.

A big surprise of the day was legendary Johnny Kennedy didn’t manage to get an entry, with Johnny being the favourite to take the Championship this year!

The first runs started off quiet damp and people were hesitant due to the track being wet.

Steve Nunney showed continued improvement throughout the day as did Brian Jackson, and Paulin just shy of her best times.

Brain Jackson drove extremely well and came second, earning the maximum 20 points, Pauline came in third and Dave Snelson came first on scratch.

It was nice to see Steve Burns, the championship coordinator, who’s company and expertise in motor sport was appreciated and enjoyed by all.

Celebrations continued well in to the evening, with glasses raised for Tony’s birthday and the King’s Coronation, with Steve Burns presiding over the presentations.

Round 1 of the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship took place Saturday 25th March 2023.

Wet weather created a challenging environment for the opening gambit of the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship. Six competitors took part with a selection of tipos; 308 GT4, 328 GTB, 348ts, California T and a 488 Spider.

Unfortunately through circumstances beyond our control only one practice session would be given to our competitors and with the weather failing to clear only two timed runs were recorded by all competitors (Pauline Goodwin completed a third run without timing).