2024 Archives

Prescott – 6 October

October 15th, 2024

Competitors returned to Prescott for the final round of the 2024 CSA Service Group Ferrari Hillclimb Championship, with a respectable entry despite the less than favourable conditions. Rather miraculously the day remained “mostly dry” however there was a distinct shift from the previous day, autumn was flexing its colder side and there was a noticeable dampness to the air. In the words of a popular TV hero “winter is coming”.

Whilst the championship was already decided there was still glory to be found. Lorraine Hitchman was on track to set a new Personal Best (the Saturday was her first-ever visit to Prescott) and quietly Rob Samuels had his eye on Nick Taylor’s record… if only the conditions would improve!

There was a marked reduction in the competitor numbers at the event as a whole today. The forecast really had put people off.

Running in the same order as the previous day everyone takes to the hill, the key difference however is Nick Taylor is now sporting a rather fetching additional 2% PEP for winning the previous round. He would have to drive hard if he wanted to maintain his undefeated streak at Prescott.

Practice

Whilst conditions certainly seemed unfavourable the times were respectable. As competitors hunted for grip around the track it would seem that there was time to be found for most competitors… only time would tell.

Also on the minds of those in the paddock was the incoming weather… nobody wanted to run in the wet, especially with how much of it was headed our way. I made a quick visit to the event organisers hut to put forward our case to try and get ahead of schedule… it transpires that the event is not sanctioned to offer timed runs before the lunch break, and given the lower number of entrants overall they would look to run a third practice run to maximise time on the hill for everyone.

I make a suggestion to bring the mandatory lunch break forward and start the timed runs sooner. They agree to see what they could do and to the praise of the paddock the lunch break was called early.

Run 1

The weather had marginally improved by this point but to say it was warmer would be misleading, it was just less cold.

Chris Hitchman heads out first and betters his best practice time by half a second, setting the scene for a good drive from all the competitors. Stuart McCabe goes well, very well in fact, setting a new personal best just under a second faster than his previous.

At the front Rob Samuels and Nick Taylor each push one another with Rob being the first to go sub-50 seconds. It’s clear that the boys at the spiky end of the stopwatch are not playing nice today.

Run 2

By this point that the grip on the start line has now been found with drastically improved launches across the entire meeting.

Chris Hitchman leads the charge once more and goes across the line in 56.47 seconds, a new PB. Behind Chris is Rain Hitchman who – after a crash course on Prescott with Richard Preece – squeals her way up the hill in a blistering 56.18 seconds, a new PB with a massive 3-seconds shaved off her previous run and bests Chris Hitchman’s time by just 0.29 seconds. Maximum bragging rights secured for the drive home!

This theme of rapid sprints up the hill continues with all competitors setting their best times on the second run. Most impressive is Rob Samuels who managed to pilot the 458 Speciale up the hill in 47.79 seconds, a new Club record and the first Ferrari in the history of the championship to go sub-48 seconds at Prescott.

Nick Taylor is very gracious in being dethroned as “king of the hill”, his record previously set in his F430 standing just days short of 10-years.

Round 12 from another perspective

The final round: Sunday dawned dull and some rain in early morning, with the forecast for heavy rain late morning or early afternoon.

We were resigned to slower time and possibly a wet race like last years June event where the track was literally a river in places.

Some went straight to the hill and the bacon roll for breakfast whilst others had a more leisurely breakfast at the hotel and rushed for scrutineering again.

Practice was slower that Saturday for all due to the track conditions, slippery in places and the runs were used to find the levels of grip, under the trees at the top remained wet and treated with caution.

Simon Jeffries had another engagement so was absent for Sunday as were Iwan and Tony due to the 308 being out of action but were at the circuit to cheers the rest of us on.

We were still in the upper paddock, so some tired knees were exercised again.

By the end of practice, times were about a second slower that Saturday, but Lorraine Hitchman was consistently getting quicker and quicker, must have been the Weetabix!

Lunch came early as a number of the other classes number were depleted due to the bad weather forecast. The rain still held off, although the skies were threatening.

Timed runs: the first run was strange, the track had become very unpredictable and slippery in places that it hadn’t been before lunch, quite a few told of white knuckles and tails twitching.

The second run for all was much better, Lorraine stormed up the hill to post a faster time than husband Chris, Pauline and Stuart did quicker times than Saturday with Pauline getting into 55 seconds.

Peter Hitchman and Martin Jones kept each other honest with both getting 61 seconds times, both better than the previous day.

In the 430s, Richard Preece was consistently fast and Nick Taylor broke 50 seconds whilst Rob in the 458 broke Nick’s record on the second run at 47.79 seconds .

The record was set in 2014, and Rob becomes the first Ferrari drive to get into the 47 seconds time of any Ferrari in the hillclimb records.

At the end of the day the PEP adjusted results were 1st Rob Samuels, 2^nd Nick Taylor, 3^rd Richard Preece, Best Improver, Lorraine Hitchmann and Rob also picked up the best presentation award.

The rain finally came after the last run of the day had been run, lucky!

Much celebrating by all ensued in the paddock, it was a fitting end to a brilliant season of hillclimb racing!

~ Martin Jones

And just like that it’s all over, the 2024 season of the CSA Service Group Ferrari Hillclimb Championship has come to an end. With the scores on the board it looks like we’ll be in for an enjoyable time at the Club Competition Awards Dinner in November where the ever-dominant Dave Snelson will be crowned once again as our Champion.

After the awards our attention turns to the 2025 season, news to be shared soon!

Prescott – 5 October

October 14th, 2024

Nestled in the Cotswold hills you will find Prescott Speed Hillclimb, the spiritual home of the Ferrari Owners’ Club. An annual pilgrimage for many competitors and for good reason, Prescott offers ascent, descent, tight turns and fast stretches aplenty. A challenging venue, the class record of 48.16 set in 2014 by Nick Taylor has stood for nearly 10 years, a testament not only to Nick’s driving abilities but also the difficulty this course presents.

The day starts bright and early so the scrutineers can do their checks after which point the days running begins. Rather unusually the weather is incredible. Clouds clear in the sky and the early morning sun brings a lovely golden light to the hills, something the competitors waste no time to enjoy.

After a brief wait for the earlier classes to complete their first practice runs it’s our turn…

Practice

Whilst the sun is in the sky the same can’t be said for the mercury, the air has a chill and the ground is cold… each competitor takes it in turns to test the track, learn where the grip is (and more importantly where it isn’t) and test grip levels before picking up more speed.

Iwan Attwood and Chris Hitchman are the first to be released (the shared drives) and initial reports are the low morning sun is causing visibility issues, something that will mercifully relent as the day progresses. Each competitor completes their practice run in turn with little drama, although it is apparent grip is looking limited.

As the morning progresses the times begin to improve with Stuart McCabe making a massive six seconds improvement. Confidence is growing across the paddock and it’s becoming clear that there may be more grip available than the autumn weather would suggest.

Run 1

The sun continues to bathe the track and conditions have improved, albeit the grip on the start line still appears to be absent. Everyone is having a hard time to get off the line in good time.

There are battles throughout the field, with Iwan Attwood besting his father Tony by a mere 0.61 secs. Rain Hitchman makes a massive improvement on her times from practice with Chris Hitchman taking the top spot on the family podium for the time being.

Run 2

A surprise visit from Dave Snelson – recently returning from a trip to Scotland – goes down well with all the drivers and in the sun the sound of the Ferraris is proving popular amongst spectators (with Martin Jones’ 360 Modena proving the loudest).

Times tumble in the second running for most competitors. It seems that grip has been found on the start line and the launches are much improved, although despite the extra grip Nick Taylor proved nothing if not consistent, delivering a run just 0.01 seconds quicker than his previous.

Simon Jefferies threaded the larger Roma up the hill to the acclaim of the commentators, who were quite taken with the shape, whilst Richard Preece continued to deliver a faster drive each time he took to the hill in his F430 – one to watch next year perhaps.

Unfortunately the afternoon was brought to an abrupt end for the group with Tony Attwood suffering a mishap in the 308 GT4 which would see Peter Hitchman’s second run red flagged. Tony was quite unharmed but the car will need to undergo some fettling ahead of the new season.

On PEP 1st place went to Nick Taylor, defending his title as king of the hill at Prescott. 2nd was taken by Iwan Attwood, a fantastic drive to pip Richard Preece into 3rd place by just 0.09 seconds.

With the day ending the championship headed onwards to the Wood Norton Hotel for a meal and to prepare for the final round of the championship in which, whilst it didn’t have a favourable weather forecast, there were still points to be won… and records to set?

Round 11 from another perspective

The final two rounds of the CSA Ferrari Hillclimb Championship were held at Prescott over the weekend of the 5^th and 6^th of October.

Prescott is a wonderful venue, set in spectacular scenery with excellent facilities and a special place for the Ferraris as it is owned by the Bugatti club from which our Club emerged.

The weekend drew an excellent turnout with 10 cars entered for the Saturday and 9 for the Sunday. The Hitchmans and Attwoods had shared drives so that meant twelve competing racers on the Saturday and 11 on the Sunday, and we had Chris Leach from the office team there to support us.

A group stayed at the Wood Norton Hotel near Evesham, our hotel for the weekend, on Friday night to avoid a long early morning drive on Saturday. The Wood Norton is a superb country house hotel and provided us with an excellent meal and a fun evening ensued.

It was an early start to get to Prescott as scrutineering started at around 8.00 am, the welcome bacon and sausage roll in the clubhouse eased the pain somewhat!

Our designated paddock was on the upper levels so provided much exercise for the drivers!

The morning was clear but there had been rain in the night, so the track was damp but drying.

The rest of our competitors arrived, and practice started on time.

A good selection of drivers and tipos were entered, 430s of Peter, Lorraine and Chris Hitchman, Richard Preece and Nick Taylor, 328s of Pauline Goodwin and Stuart McCabe, 458 Speciale of Robe Samuels, Tony and Iwan Attwood sharing the trusty 308 GT4, Simon Jeffries in his lovely Roma and Martin Jones in his 360.

From the outset, practice times steadily improved for all, but Rob Samuels broke the 50 second barrier with his second practice run and record holder, Nick Taylor was down into 50s as well, very quick. Richard Preece was going well, close on the two fast boys’ heels.

The track was mainly dry but the midway and the Esses under the trees still had damp patches, in particular the Esses which never really dried all weekend so many experienced a few twitches there.

The day became sunny to become very warm in the afternoon and the times improved.

Our chairman Christian Mineeff and his wife Liz arrived during practice and Dave Snelson and Jane turned up to cheer us on, in his inimitable style! Jon Goodwin arrived as well to provide Pauline with moral support.

After lunch came the timed runs. Iwan stormed up the hill to an excellent 55.4 seconds by his second run, with Pauline and Stuart each making excellent improvements, but couldn’t catch Iwan.

Mr Attwood senior was close behind Iwan but unfortunately on his second run made contact with the armco and the car was hors de combat, fortunately Tony was quite unhurt but that was the end of the weekend’s racing for the pair. Peter Hitchman’s last run was void as he was off the line when Tony had his mishap.

The Roma of Simon showed its capability with consistently good times, Simon showing great skill, hustling such a big car up the circuit.

Richard Preece went very well in his black F430 down into 51 second times.

All eyes were on Rob and Nick as the fastest on the track, Robs first time hit 48 seconds, as did his second and Nick a whisper over 50 seconds. Rob at the end of the day was 48.83, half a second off Nick’s record of 48.16.

So, at the end of the day the PEP adjust results were 1st Nick Taylor, 2^nd Iwan Attwood, 3^rd Richard Preece. Best improver was Rob Samuels and best car presentation went to Richard Preece

We all retired back to the Wood Norton where dinner for us had been arranged. Excellent food and an evening of many stories and drinks followed and quite a late night for some! Well done to the organisation team, definitely a venue to be used again for Prescott events.

~ Martin Jones

Castle Combe Autumn Classic

September 27th, 2024

Well, we arrived at Castle Combe on the Friday afternoon expecting some changeable weather over the weekend and straight away it did not disappoint! Sunshine then a torrential downpour, followed by a bit more sunshine…this was clearly going to be a tricky weekend for getting the car setup right!

Following some graceful declines versus the initial entry list from Nick Whittaker, Phlip Connell and Tim Mogridge, Saturday morning came and our 20 Ferraris headed out for qualifying.

Earlier rainfall meant qualifying proved to be somewhat wet although further showers held off so some reasonable times could be achieved. Colin was going extremely well in his new Italian speedboat following some successful testing sessions, but the forecast had him concerned that a new bilge pump might need to be fitted!

Gary Culver achieved the best times putting him on pole for the first two races with Wayne Marrs and Colin a few seconds off the lead pace. There were a couple of spinners who shall remain nameless but they soon recovered and no harm done! Unfortunately not much could be gleaned from on track action due to the mist on my windscreen and the fog on my glasses causing a total lack of visibility!

But I did see that Robert Greaves was relieved when the marshals handed him back his windscreen wiper at the end of the session in the pit lane entrance which I guess meant he might see out of his windscreen in the forthcoming races.

Race 1

For race 1 things were looking considerably brighter, definitely not sunny but a dry line had emerged. And then as we sat on the grid awaiting the green flag lap the rain came down again. Not just a short shower and sufficient to make the start fairly wet and slippery and so it continued for the first few laps until Chris CG tried out the cushioning properties of the Recticel barrier at Tower bringing out some waved yellows until he got himself going again and headed back to the pits. Unfortunately, Myles Poulton also had to retire early due to some electrical gremlins in his 328.

Racing resumed briefly until Castle Combe decided that the barrier at Tower now needed proper attention and sent out the safety car to moderate proceedings for several laps. The subsequent bunching of the field brought a hard charging Tris Simpson up into the mid-pack from his original penalty position start and he made good use of this opportunity once the green flags came out ultimately finishing a solid 10 places higher than he started.

Up at the front though Gary, Colin and Wayne were setting an impressive pace despite the changeable conditions. Ultimately though it was the safety car and restart that came into play to determine the result with Gary out front in the clear and Wayne taking full advantage of the back markers to slip through into 2nd leaving Colin in 3rd. Needless to say, by the time we had returned to the paddock the sun was back out and the rain a distant memory – typical!

Race 2

On Sunday morning, the weather gods were out in full force and with fairly ominous wet conditions for race two we had 17 Ferraris out assembling on the grid with Ray Ferguson, Robert Greaves and Myles not making the assembly area.

With the rain still falling we assembled on the grid and during the green flag lap it was more than apparent that we would be navigating our way around a lot of standing water for the, now shortened, 15 minute race.

From Gary Culver’s clear view from pole position he took no quarter charging in the lead all the way to the chequered flag. Colin Sowter set-off in hot pursuit but an early spin put him too far back to challenge the lead and ended up taking a well deserved overall 2nd.

Chris Compton-Goddard inched his way through the field eventually passing Wayne on lap 6 to steal 3rd overall and improving 7 places from his start position.

Elsewhere, Jim Cartwright retired on lap 4 apparently suffering from a total lack of visibility and similarly Nicky Paul-Barron came into pits on lap 2. Your scribe struggled onwards to the finish with the car running on 6 cylinders for most of the race.

Race 3

By late Sunday afternoon in time for race 3 the conditions had improved slightly; the rain had subsided leaving a very damp track. Once again Gary Culver aka “the Rain Meister” dominated from pole leading all the way to the chequered flag with a fantastically controlled drive and leaving Colin Sowter hot on his heels and Wayne Marrs never too far behind. Safely navigating their way around the back markers they kept their starting positions all the way to the line giving Gary a hat-trick for the weekend.

This time it was Jim Cartwright who wowed the crowds with some lively drifting to get back to the front runners to finish 4th overall having gained an impressive 12 places from his rear of the grid start.

Overall, the Castle Combe Autumn Classic did not disappoint even with the inclement weather and I think we put on a good end-of-season display for the spectators. I also now have 6 months to dry out my Italian electrics and try to coax cylinders 6 & 7 back into life

Wiscombe Park – 14 September

September 27th, 2024

Wiscombe Park, nestled deep in the south of England was a surprising inclusion into the calendar for 2024, namely because as far as anyone could tell the Club hadn’t competed there for a “long time”. Turns out that it was quite a bit longer than we thought… 28 years in fact. Many would agree that 28 years is too long between visits as Wiscombe Park is a truly beautiful location with a particularly colourful history.

With the journey being a long one, I thought why not continue a few more miles and stay by the coast? With that in mind the Harbour Hotel in Sidmouth was the base for the night before.

With good weather set for the weekend and being at the coast an early trip up the nearby Peak Hill was in order to catch a sunrise too good to be missed. For anyone wondering that was a 0600 alarm and a 30′ morning hike uphill before breakfast.

With antisocial-early starts for your scribe aside, what about the hill? At only 1000-yards Wiscombe is one of the shorter venues we have competed at however don’t let this fool you, the track is surprisingly technical and difficult to master.

As a spectator Wiscombe is now a firm favourite, with wonderful scenery everywhere you look, with a very enjoyable walk along the side of the track through the woods providing excellent viewing opportunities. The only downside as far as I can tell is the very steep and long walk from the public car park to the paddock through long grass, especially when one is wearing inappropriate footwear for the morning dew. By forgetting my boots or wellies I had to make do with wet feet all day and subsequently ruined trainers. Lesson learnt!

Enough of setting the scene (and enjoying the scenery), onto the days competition. The paddock is grass and on quite the incline but dried quickly in the morning sun, and with a small area to warm tyres – or in reality clean them – the start line is positioned against the backdrop of Wiscombe House with one of Wiscome Parks notable features, a stone bridge. Appearing tighter than it really is, I imagine for the drivers this sharpens the senses when the green light is shown to begin ones drive up the hill.

PRACTICE

The morning sun is low to the east presenting a challenge for the drivers to overcome, the transition from sunny to the shaded area in the woods is currently blind. Iwan Attwood goes first in the earlier batch (due to sharing the 308 GT4 with his father, Tony) and upon return declares the hill as “terrifying” and “horrible” due to the sun… mind games are at play! The rest of the competitors complete their practice runs with no drama but all declare the hill is a technical challenge and not as simple as it first appears. Stuart McCabe has a blistering launch in his 328 GTB of just 2.21 secs, something that goes unmatched for the day by any Ferrari.

RUN 1

The track is now dry, conditions are good (the sun is no longer blinding the drivers), time to take to the hill once more. Iwan lays down the gauntlet with 54.61, a time which nobody is able to match with the exception of Rob Samuels with his 458 Speciale. On first glance you might think that with a time of 46.85 the day is already won, but with PEP adjustments Rob is now only 0.89 seconds ahead of Iwan… with two more runs scheduled this could get close!

RUN 2

After a lunch break which included the most-amusing announcement reminding everyone to visit the licensed bar on site, it was time for round 2. With growing confidence everyone goes faster, another new PB for everyone!

Once again Iwan lays down the gauntlet with 52.87 a near 2 second improvement putting Rob Samuels under pressure, who must now deliver a 46.16 or better to secure the top spot after PEP adjustments. Tony delivers a 57.27 with Pauline swiftly crossing the finish line at 54.41. Stuart fails to repeat his blistering start from practice but puts in a very respectable 55.48, a considerable improvement in his first full season with the championship. Rob answers the challenge and goes just under a second quicker, 46.00. With less than 0.2 of a second between Iwan and Rob excitement is building for the third run of the day.

RUN 3

Waiting patiently for our turn on the hill it becomes apparent that there has been a lengthy delay… silence has fallen at Wiscombe Park. No noise on the hill normally means there is an issue somewhere and unfortunately for us due to oil contamination which may or may not have been a result of a vintage sports car and a tree at Sawtooth (the penultimate hairpin) the third runs are delayed… and delayed… and delayed.

It isn’t long before the announcement is made and the day ended, better to end with everyone having had a good time and mild disappointment at the way the day ends vs. someone pushing on their third run and finding a loss of traction where there isn’t any margin for error.

SUMMARY

With that Rob Samuels takes the top spot with Iwan Attwood nipping at the heels, a great effort not only because of the vast performance gap between the cars but also as Iwan was wrestling with a particularly nasty cold over the weekend. If there were a driver of the day award Iwan would have had my vote! Pauline Goodwin takes third with Stuart McCabe beating out Tony Attwood to round out positions four and five.

The final rounds of the 2024 Championship take place at Prescott on 5th-6th October.

Festival Italia: 11 August

September 2nd, 2024

Driving through the gates at Brands Festival Italia is always special. All the stands are built and the FOC gang are in great spirits, looking forward to over 120 cars. Weather looks like it’s going to be good so expectations are high. I’m claiming that by acquiring a set of tyres for a wet race, it is I who has assured a sunny event.

Unfortunately, Vance isn’t in his 355 this weekend, and Wayne hasn’t made it either, but Chris Compton-Goddard is feeling confident he’s going to give us a good run for our money. It great to see a new car on the entry list, or should I say the return of Tim Walker’s old car, now being prepared and entered by Stuart Bitmead of SBR. I was surprised to see a yellow and black X on the back of the car, but Stuart clarifies, although he’s prepared race cars for years, this is his first race. So, a grid of 22 cars is great to see, even with some familiar faces missing. It won’t be long before we see over 30 on the grid, I’m sure. That is a milestone I’m looking forward to reaching!

Tim Shearman and Evers are setting up close to me, with Tony Claringbould and Jago Keen all looking ready for action. It’s also fantastic to see Robert Pulleyn coming out in Swifty’s No 11 308GTB. Pete ‘the professional’ Fisk has rocked up with the full-on Race Team kit with Myles Poulton and Robin Biesbroek ready for action. Jago has pulled out the stops with full team kit also, very much the envy of the Class 2 drivers.

Once setup in the paddock it’s off to the curry house to meet the gang. Looks like everybody is there tonight and great to see Mick Dwayne join our table. Plenty of banter on the plan for the race. Mogridge is confident his car is setup ‘just right’ as it’s been sat in the trailer since Oulton. There is confidence, however what’s the saying ‘fail to prepare and prepare to fail’. Anyway, he’s confident non the less.

Unfortunately, after the starters had just arrived Chris C-G received the news from Rich (RNR) that his 355 cam idle gear had lost its teeth so will be unable to join the party tomorrow. He’s gutted but better to find out now ahead of it failing on the track. However, the good news is he can at least race his Alfa in the Jack Sears cup with Harrison against a lads and dads battle with Myles Poulton and Lex.

Practice

I take it easy in practice with my old tyres, and can see that Tim Mogridge is looking quick. So is Gary Culver and Chris Butler as always. I’m surprised Jim Cartwright isn’t with us, but he’s probably still asleep at this time. Robin Biesbroek is also looking on form. Unfortunately, I see Pete Fisk is utilising his smoke screen again, which he should only really use when needed in the race, but apparently it wasn’t intentional as I peer into his boot full of oil…. Damn. Tim Sherman has an additional catch-tank in his boot to stop such an issue, but Pete is confident there isn’t a big enough tank he could attach to his car to capture all the oil. Maybe he should consider an accusump as per the GT4s. Colin Sowter was noticeably absent from practice in his 355 spider, but confirmed this was always the plan, due to competing enough testing the previous day and also racing in the Bell series today. James Parker had also been testing and building his confidence with his 355.

Qualifying

Due to Pete Fisk’s oil issue, Jim Cartwright gave Pete his Class 3 car, and jumped into Nick’s Class 4 car for the remainder of the meeting. Pete was loving Jim’s car in qualifying however coming up behind Pulleyn into Clearways he experienced another car’s smokescreen usage and hit the oil left by the latter car and ended in the gravel. Oops. ‘Sorry Jim’. Unfortunately, this was the end to Pulleyn’s weekend.

Your scribe snatched pole for both races, followed very closely by Colin Sowter, Gary Culver and Jim Cartwright. Very close times, it’s going to be an interesting race. Butler, Biesbroek and Parker followed. Unfortunately, Tim Morgridge had lost some power from his car compared to Practice, and was 9th, with a pack of very closely matched 328s in the 57s. That’s going to be good to watch. Hopefully Tim’s car can be fixed before the race, but nothing could be found on inspection. One bank appeared to be down on power so it was possibly due to the belt jumping a tooth (it later transpired that some gravel from his off at Oulton had done exactly that) and he could not start the race.

Sadly, for Tim that now means that I have taken the Tim v Tris challenge points for 2024 already, even if he beats me at Castle Combe’s final 3 races, he can only score 5 versus my 6 from the first 3 rounds. Better luck next year Moggy.

Tim Sherman is delighted to be in the pack of 328s in the 57’s taking 13th and feeling back on the pace. It’s going to be a busy track for us all I can tell.

Race 1

After the fancy grid walk which was really busy, we lined up for the start of the race. This will be a busy race I can tell, with so many cars so keeping P1 is going to be tough. Thankfully I get a clean start and maintain a marginal lead ahead of Culver and Cartwright, with Colin dropping back behind the two 328s. I see Culver looking for a move, but manage to park at the apex of Clarke before getting good drive. This only releases Jim around the outside of Culver, so now I have Jim on my tail. I repeat the move and they switch a few times, before finally pulling a bit of a gap before the lapping commenced. I wish we had more colour in the field as coming through the fantastic battling of the 328s I can’t tell which red 328 is behind me, is it the one I’ve just passed, Culver or Jim? Anyway, keep it calm and plod on, I think.

I can see the lapped cars are having a great time and enjoy watching their battles whilst hoping for a clean pass.

Coming into the final lap I spot it is Jim gaining fast, but thankfully no trouble before the line. He didn’t even get chance to rub my bumper stickers off this year. So, feel pretty pleased with myself.

Rob Greaves and Charlie Ugo failed to finish, alongside Mogridge, with mechanical issues.

James Parker had a good race with Robin Biesbroek, finally taking Robin and also a class 5 third place trophy.

Pete Fisk was flying from the back, setting the fastest class 3 lap time of the race, whilst gaining 10 places from the grid. ‘I’m delighted I have beaten Chris Butler for fastest time for Class 3, but it’s clearly not me it’s the CAR!’ he sniggered with a typical smirk. He’s too modest, is something I’ve never heard said about Pete, so not really too sure how to take that.

Unfortunately for Chris Butler, he had a very quiet race, with little challenge from behind, other than the charging Fisk. Poulton was next, followed by Evers getting the better of Keen and Shearman and Sayles all close together. MacFarlane only just kept the lead from Claringbould with a gap of 0.333 seconds on the line.

Race 2

Another clean start allowed me to maintain my lead, whilst the cars battled behind. The 328s jumped Sowter again, but the 355 spider is looking very racy, so one to watch in coming races as Colin builds experience in the car. Unfortunately, the race was cut short due to Greaves losing his coolant out of Clearways, catching out the flying Tim Sherman, unfortunately sending him off the track and into the barrier.

Biesbroek and Poulton crossed the line ahead of Butler who dropped 2 places, with Evers on his tail. Jago had a fantastic race, gaining 4 places and successfully held off both Sayles and Clarinbould in a very close finish, with a recovering Parker finishing ahead of a delighted Bitmead to complete his first weekend in his 355.

Another great event. Oh, and for those interested the Poulton’s took the Lads and Dads Alpha challenge it’s the Jack Sears Cup from Compton-Goddard’s. Soon to be repeated at the Silverstone Festival over the Bank Holiday weekend, with a cheeky Studebaker in the mix from Vance and your scribe. Wish us luck. Editors note – Tris thanks for the report, only slightly late, and yes, the Studebaker looks amazing and ran well at Silverstone.

Shelsley Walsh – 10 August

August 27th, 2024

This was your scribes first visit to the famous Shelsley Walsh Speed Hillclimb and also the first time for three of the eight drivers who had entered Round 9 of the CSA Service Group Ferrari Hillclimb Championship.

Shelsley Walsh nestles in a particular rural spot of the Malvern Hills, around 10 miles West of Worcester. Founded in 1905 and run continuously (wartime excepted) ever since, it is one of the world’s oldest motorsport venues. It is also one of the steepest Hillclimbs in the UK with the section between the Lower and Upper Esses having an incline of 16%. Our event again supported the Motorsport UK British Hillclimb Championship as we had done earlier this year at Harewood, and a large crowd had gathered to enjoy the sunshine and excellent facilities offered by the Midland Automobile Club.

The weekend began with an unofficial dinner organised by Tony Attwood at the nearby Talbot Hotel which provided a great opportunity for Shelsley Walsh newcomers Rob Samuels, Stuart McCabe and Anthony Smith to gain some valuable tips from their peers whilst tucking into the Talbot’s legendary homemade pies. This was also Anthony Smith’s first ever Hillclimb event (see panel below) and I got the impression that he was more nervous about the following day than he let on, particularly with talk of how challenging Shelsley can be to master. Anthony had wisely attended a training day at the venue a few weeks earlier so at least he wasn’t starting out with no previous experience, having been introduced to the championship by fellow 360 owner Martin Jones.

Championship leader Dave Snelson unfortunately had to withdraw due to a family commitment so seven drivers headed up the hill at around 9.30am for their first practice run. Rob Samuels (458 Speciale) topping the time sheets ahead of Hillclimb veteran Richard Preece (F430). Unusually the Attwood’s had brought along two cars instead of sharing so Iwan was entrusted with their regular 308 GT4 whilst father Tony campaigned his beautiful 246 GT. Next up was Stuart McCabe in the ex-Tim Mogridge 328 GTB followed by Martin Jones (360 Modena) and Anthony Smith in his 360 Spider.

After a bit of a wait whilst the British Championship runners had their runs, second practice took place immediately before lunch with all drivers managing to shave a couple of seconds off their previous times. Then it was quickly into the serious business with the first official timed run being held shortly after the lunch break, Rob Samuels and Richard Preece setting new personal bests.

With track and weather conditions being similar for the final timed run the improvements were marginal, but most notably Rob Samuels managed to reduce his time to 32.57 seconds, a new hill record! Rob also taking the ‘Best Improver’ award.

Richard Preece’s immaculate F430 caught the judges eye for the ‘Paddock Cup’, his attention to detail in preparing the car being particularly relevant.

Overall a good day was had by all. Good company, good venue, good weather and a good atmosphere.

A Newcomer’s Perspective

I have owned various Ferrari’s over the last 30 years, enjoyed them all, but nothing like this ………..

For my 70^th birthday present to myself, I decided to do a Hillclimb event. I signed up for Shelsy Walsh (10/08/2024). What a fantastic day!

The two highlights for me were how everyone made me feel so welcome. THANK YOU, I have made some new friends.

And secondly the feeling of enjoying my car in a safe controlled environment is definitely something special.

I question myself as to why did I not do this earlier in life? I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to drive these cars as the way they were designed to be driven, and to meet some wonderful people along the way.

I can’t wait for the next event that I can do. I’m hooked! Thank You.

~ Anthony Smith

A Veteran’s Perspective

We arrived good and early on the Saturday after a 6am start from our home, the 105 miles an easy journey compared with some who had set out Friday afternoon and suffered terrible traffic en route.

Practice started on a dusty and lightly damp track so all competitors took it easy to start with until the second runs showed a course in good condition. First timed runs went well with Rob immediately putting in a blistering time. The wait for the second outing saw our group all staring at the hovering clouds and teasing him that rain was on its way making it difficult to build on his success. As if to order, all cleared in time and most Ferraris improved with Rob showing the spectators what his Speciale could deliver – a new class record!

We all had a great time in each other’s company and the commentators made it very clear that they appreciated Ferrari owners who compete with their treasured cars at Shelsley.

Angela & I stayed overnight at the excellent Talbot at Knightwick along with fellow competitors Martin Jones and ‘new man on the scene’ Anthony Smith who had put some excellent times down in his F360 rag-top and really melded with the group. Following a wonderful meal together we all spent an hour or so with a group of local young petrol-heads swapping compliments and ideas.

Many thanks to Steve Burns for his hard work and technical support over the day and to all in our group who made it such a friendly and social event – plus I should mention that Dave Snelson was missed by drivers and commentators alike.

~ Richard Preece

Oulton Park Gold Cup: 28-29 July

August 5th, 2024

29 drivers entered the Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series races at the Oulton Park Gold Cup event on 26/27/28 July 2024. This year marked the 70^th anniversary of the iconic event so it was fitting that our first invitation to support the North West’s premier historic race meeting attracted the largest series entry in recent history, certainly in the 10 years that your scribe has been Co-ordinating the Series, you will have to hunt back through the Club archives to the early days of the previously titled Pirelli Ferrari formula classic Series to find a larger entry list.

As is often the case, some logistical issues meant a couple of drivers had to pull out at the last minute. Robin Fisk’s Mondial still not fully repaired after his excursion during the previous round at Thruxton, the 328 GTB of George MacFarlane delayed in being returned following some routine work and the Club’s Competitions Director, Gary Culver aggravated a previous knee injury incurred whilst playing tennis (better just stick to motor racing Gary), so he had to sit this event out.

Qualifying

25 cars headed out to Qualify during the Friday afternoon session, Jim Cartwright arriving at the circuit as the session ended following a delay navigating the Friday afternoon M6 traffic. Vance Kearney (Group 6 F355 Challenge) failed to complete the out-lap and limped slowly to a halt at Druids with alternator failure. Times continued to improve during the session with Wayne Marrs (Group 6 F355 Challenge) coming out on top ahead of the Group 5 F355’s of Tris Simpson and Tim Mogridge as the chequered flag fluttered. Still getting to grips with his F355 Challenge was newcomer James Parker. The former Mini Challenge racer who made his Ferrari debut at the previous event at Thruxton slid off the track into the Island gravel bed in the closing seconds of the session.

Behind the leaders, Nick Cartwright (328 GTB) took the Group 4 pole following the hurried purchase of a new helmet required to satisfy the Scrutineers. Chris Butler (328 GTB) took Group 3 pole and Nick Whittaker was the fastest of the Group 2 runners in his immaculate 308 GT4 Dino.

Race 1

Cloudy skies and a light rain shower as the cars headed to the Assembly Area caused a flurry of late setup changes, but thankfully the rain didn’t continue and the track was pretty much fully dry as the cars headed out of the pitlane to complete the formation lap. Once the lights went out Tris Simpson got the better start, leading from Wayne Marrs, Chris Compton-Goddard and Tim Mogridge during the early laps. Mogridge moving up to 3^rd on lap 3 and latching on to the back of Marrs and Simpson for what would become a race long battle between the three, Compton-Goddard dropping back into a lonely race in 4^th.

Further down the order, Vance Kearney came charging through the field from the back of the grid and up to 8^th position, his alternator problem now fixed, but frustratingly a gear selection issue hampered his progress on the final lap. Also starting from the back, well pitlane actually, was Pete Fisk (Group 3 328 GTB) but his race was cut short by an oil leak which forced his retirement on lap 5.

Colin Sowter was debuting the much awaited arrival of his newly built F355 Spyder, adding some great variety to the grid. With limited testing this event was very much a shakedown for the car, but an electrical gremlin relating to the pit speed limiter crept in as he completed the 3^rd lap, retiring the car at the start of lap 4.

Turning back to the battle for the overall podium, Marrs managed to squeeze past Simpson on lap 4 with Simpson’s attention then moving to defending from his long time sparring partner Mogridge who appeared to be glued to the back of the number 46 car right up until the final lap when Mogridge, by his own admission, began to overdrive and overheat his tyres. A last lap attempt to snatch 2^nd position with a late braking manoeuvrer into Druids ended with an uncharacteristic visit to the gravel bed, promoting a surprised Compton-Goddard back onto the final step of the podium, ahead of Nicky Paul-Barron (Group 5 F355 Challenge) in 4^th. Chris Butler delivered another sterling performance in his Group 3 328 GTB to finish a commendable 5^th overall, setting a new lap record and beating the more modified Group 4 cars, the best of which was a delighted Myles Poulton (328 GTB) who came home in 9^th overall. In Group 2, Nick Whittaker converted his Class pole position into a Class win, narrowly fending off Jago Keen’s 308 GTB.

Race 2

A huge crowd gathered at the circuit on Sunday, bathed in warm July sunshine for the main event day. The mid-afternoon race slot allowing plenty of time for our drivers to see the event, meet the fans and enjoy the surroundings of our new Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Race Centre and Driver’s Lounge which had pride of place in the centre of the Paddock.

With the starting grid being determined by 2^nd fastest qualifying times, pole position this time went to Tris Simpson, with Wayne Marrs starting alongside in 2^nd position. Tim Mogridge again qualified 3^rd ahead of Chris Compton-Goddard and series newcomer Philip Connell in an excellent 5^th place in his Group 5 F355 Challenge.

With the pit lane speed limiter Gremlin now deactivated, Colin Sowter made great progress on the opening lap, moving up to 4^th position from 8^th on the grid. Repeating his Race 1 charge from the back, Vance Kearney overtook 11 cars on lap 1, and a further 5 on lap 2, before settling in to his familiar 8^th overall. In Group 4 Myles Poulton made up positions to catch Class leader Nick Cartwright. It was Group 3 though that provided the closest racing. Erstwhile Group winner Chris Butler was missing from the grid, sidelined after his team discovered a crack in the chassis of his 328 GTB, this left newcomer Nigel Sayles (328 GTB) to head a 5-car midfield train of similar Group 3 machinery driven by Robert Greaves, Tim Shearman, Peter Everingham and Pete Fisk.

Up ahead it was all about to come to an abrupt end though when on lap 6 Group 2 leader Nick Taylor (Mondial T) got all out of shape at Knickerbrook, losing several places as he recovered heading up Clay Hill. This caught out Nick Whittaker as the two cars negotiated the blind and tricky left hander side by side. Avoiding contact Taylor dropped a wheel onto the grass but unfortunately from this point on he was a passenger, his car careering through the line of foam bales and colliding heavily with Whittaker at Druids, the two cars coming to rest at the edge of the track. With 8 minutes of the race remaining and at least 10 minutes worth of recovery operation and barrier repairs required, the race was red flagged. Unfortunately the crammed schedule and strict noise curfew at Oulton Park meant that no restart was possible so the cars were directed into Parc Fermé and the result declared at the end of lap 4 with Simpson, Marrs and Mogridge heading to the podium. Fortunately it appears that the damage to both cars is just cosmetic and both Nicks vowed to return for Castle Combe in September.

It was some consolation for Nick Whittaker to be awarded the Superformance ‘Best Prepared Car’ award at the prize giving ceremony with Myles Poulton taking home the RNR Performance Cars Driver of the Weekend award as chosen by the circuit commentary team. Both races were also run for the Chris Amon Trophy in recognition of the former Ferrari driver who finished 2^nd to Sir Jackie Stewart in the 1968 Oulton Park Gold Cup, Wayne Marrs and Tris Simpson shared the race wins this weekend so each have a Chris Amon Trophy to display on their mantlepieces at home.

Next event is our traditional headlining Festival Italia at Brands Hatch on Sunday 11^th August.

Loton Park – 14 July

July 31st, 2024

A new day with a proper weather forecast – sun and lots of it, today there was a sense of anticipation in the air – a new record would be set today.

As the track dried the times tumbled, with a battle for the top spot heating up as the day progressed. Not one, not two but three new class records would be set in a tit for tat battle between Dave Snelson in his 488 Spider and Rob Samuels with the 458 Speciale.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of records however it is important to remember the personal records that are also under threat of being improved upon. Special recognition goes to Iwan Attwood who despite a slight lack of confidence in setting a new record (or maybe playing it cool?) would go on to better a time previously set on a brand new track surface. It would seem some of the excitement from the battle at the pointy end of the paddock was rubbing off on Iwan.

Guest competitor Chris Butler would improve through the day and join the exclusive Club of Samuels, Snelson & Taylor to go sub-60 seconds. Given this was his first time competing on the hills in the 458 Italia this was quite the achievement and one that may have rekindled the ex-champions thirst for hillcilmb… only future years will tell.

The pending Euros final would see a number of competitors opt to leave early to get home in time for disappointment, maybe next time England?

Thank you to Chris Butler for sharing his thoughts on his long-overdue return to the championship:

As a special concession this year and to give further support and profile to our Hillclimb series the Club invited any existing registered Club racer to attend Loton Park and join in the fun. After I joined the Club way back in 2003 the first thing I did was enter my 355 into our Hillclimb series and I subsequently competed the car in nearly 100 rounds across 10 seasons before effectively hanging up my Hillclimb helmet at the end of 2012 to focus more on Club circuit racing. Getting an opportunity to easily return to the fold for a one-off event was too good to resist and so along with my racing buddy Nick Whittaker we were delighted to sign up for Loton. I say easily return because apart from needing to hold an admin based Motorsport UK licence all that is needed to compete is to turn up in a road going Ferrari, throw on some race overalls, put your helmet under your arm and fit a simple timing beam strut to your front towing eye – Hey Presto you are ready to go!

Loton is a one of the best hills in the country and for me well worth the three hour plus drive all the way from the North East in my 458 Italia. It was great to be met by a real diverse spread of cars entered by fellow competitors with everything ranging from an early 308GT4 to a current Roma tipo and everything in between including 328, 348, 355, 430, 458 Speciale and 488 variants. It just goes to show that any member in any car can easily have a go and with the increasing challenges of driving our cars quickly on the public roads I believe Hillclimbing like Track Days are an obvious way for members to get the most out of their cars and in a reasonably safe environment. As with all competition there can only be one winner on the day but what counts is every member enjoying the experience of the event on track and the camaraderie off track while at the same time developing your driving skills in cars that were designed to be driven fast and near the limit. Driving home from a Hillclimb weekend on a Sunday evening knowing you have given it your best and having enjoyed some genuine competition Ferrari fun is a feeling that you can really get used to.

Maybe next time I won’t leave it twelve years before having another go and I would urge all members to call the Club Office and see for yourself how easy it is to give it a go!

– Chris Butler

Loton Park – 13 July

July 31st, 2024

A staple of the Ferrari Hillclimb Championship, Loton Park is a firm favourite of the year, with the picturesque deer park providing the perfect setting for motorsport. As much of your time as a competitior is set within the paddock between runs, it is always appreciated to have a variety of cars present from other championships alongside plenty of spectator spots to enjoy, of which Loton Park offers aplenty.

Loton Park was used by the War Department for munitions storage during WWII. By the time they vacated the site in 1959, the army had laid around 14 miles of roads throughout the deer park. Sir Michael Leighton, who had taken over the estate after his father’s death and members of the Shrewsbury based Severn Valley Motor Club, saw the potential of these tarmac tracks and a course was created. RAC approval was applied for in time for the first meeting in June 1960 followed by another later that summer.

The day started dry however rain was always threatening to slow drivers down. It became apparent early in the morning that Dave Snelson and Rob Samuels had a new class record in sight, although if it would be set on Saturday would be unlikely given the forecast.

Chris Butler made a welcome return to the paddock in his 458 Italia and demonstrated that despite an extended vacation from the hills he still has the sharp edge of an ex-champion. Nick Whittaker was another welcome guest for the day with his wonderfully prepared F355, the gold trim proving a popular touch with other competitors & spectators.

Times continued to improve into P2 however an unfortunate incident at Museum would see Steve Nunney retire the 348ts. Steve remained his usual spirited self over the course of the weekend in spite of no longer running on the hill. Special thanks go to ex-competitor and friend Mark Whibberley for offering Steve a drive in his Fiat 20v Coupe. Being front wheel drive and down on power in comparison to the usual motor would keep Steve on his toes but the weekend wasn’t completely over as a result.

The rains would come halfway through the first timed runs meaning that Tony Attwood in the shared 308 GT4 who ran in the previous batch of competitors would take home the top spot on PEP, despite the best efforts of Dave Snelson and Rob Samuels on a very wet hill. The results speak for themselves as to the challenging conditions the afternoon presented.

The Saturday night meal at the Buckatree Hall Hotel provided plenty of entertainment courtesy of Chris Butler. An evening toast was raised in thanks to CSA Service Group for their support over the season with the camaraderie of the championship clearly on display through the night.

Thank you to Nick Whittaker for sharing his thoughts on his first-ever hillclimb:

Have a go at Hillclimbing, it’ll be fun, they said. Come to Loton Park, its lovely there, they said. It’s in July so it’ll be hot & sunny, they said. Well in the words of the great Meatloaf two out of three ain’t bad… It was fun, Loton Park is lovely, I won’t comment on the weather.

I’ve been an FOC member for 19 years & during that time I’ve attended & participated in various events. The most enjoyable event that the club used to arrange was the Prescott Hill Drive which allowed unlimited runs up the Hill. I had previously thought about joining the Hillclimb Championship but chose to start circuit racing with the classic series instead & have been doing that since 2008.

This year the team at Cavallino House arranged for an open invitation to Loton Park allowing us “racers” to have a go, albeit not for points but for the experience. Disappointingly the only circuit racers to take up this offer were Chris Butler & I, although maybe we were the only ones brave enough?

What about Hillclimbing then? It’s a bit different to circuit racing I can tell you that with the track, grass, trees & curious deer to watch out for, oh & the thought of having to drive the car home certainly focusses the mind.

It was a thoroughly lovely day out with the friendliest people you could meet in a beautiful environment, with lots of nice cars & bikes to look at. What was not to like? …well the weather actually…

Would I do it again? Don’t count me out, I may be back.

– Nick Whittaker

Thruxton Historic: 22-23 June

July 2nd, 2024

The Thruxton Historic Festival has its own special character with its emphasis on single seater races mixed with an eclectic selection of other classic race cars. Our own race series fits in well and it was a pleasure to enjoy the Hampshire sunshine over the weekend.

Qualy

We have not raced much at Thruxton in recent years and last year was a welcome return. The circuit itself needs a bit of getting used to being quite bumpy and for the most part very fast. To put in a good lap requires a combination of commitment and a smooth driving style, possibly the attributes of a successful hillclimber? So perhaps it was not much of a surprise to see the Group Three 328 GTB of Chris Butler on pole for the first two races. In second place was Nicky Paul-Barron with his 355 Challenge with all the other usual suspects lining up behind.

Well up in the placings in eighth place was the Group 3 328 GTB Nigel Sayles, impressive in his first season of racing with us. It was good to welcome newcomer James Parker to the series in a very smart 355 Challenge who lined up in 11^th place.

Race 1

To help out the BARC who run the event, our Series Coordinator Steve Burns also acted as clerk of the course and he is well versed in the foibles of those who race in the series so he was well prepared when the Cartwrights made a later than usual entry into the assembly area such that Jim was not ready when the one-minute board was displayed. The marshals did their best but were forced to delay his entry onto the track and he had to start at the back of the grid.

Chris Butler made a customary good start and shot into a lead which he held for five laps while the chasing pack sorted themselves out. Then it was Tris Simpson who took the lead in his 355 Challenge for four laps. In the meantime, Nigel Sayles had an interesting moment on the fastest part of the circuit when a rear tyre delaminated putting him into a spin forcing him to retire, fortunately avoiding any hard contact with the Hampshire countryside.

In the middle of the pack Nick Cartwright made up places in his Group 4 328 GTB finshing narrowly ahead of the 328 GTB of Peter Everingham. It is possible also to have an interesting time at the at the back of the field as your scribe found that he was being rapidly caught up by the Mondial QV of Robin Fisk who easily passed me coming up Woodham Hill. I sensed a moments hesitation and repassed him on entrance to the chicane but was also surprised by Peter Everingham who chose to get past by flying over the sausage kerbs and short cutting the chicane, a very generous move allowing the slower car to stick to the racing line?

At the front Simpson lost the lead to race winner Gary Culver. Tim Mogridge was getting to grips with the circuit in his 355 Challenge, dashing Butler’s hopes of a podium finish, moving up to third place with 4 laps to go and then passing Simpson for second place.

Race 2

The race started with an incident without contact when the 355 Challenge of Chris Goddard had a brake issue on the first lap entering the twisty complex section of the track. Everyone got round him safely but the safety car was deployed for two laps to allow for safe recovery of the car which had its brakes locked on.

Once the safety car period was over it turned out that there would only be 5 laps of competitive racing. Nicky Paul-Barron kept his lead ahead of Chris Butler and Tim Mogridge again moved from 5^th to 3^rd to secure another podium place.

Tim Shearman went well in his 328 GTB to finish behind Nick Cartwright and second place in Group 3. In group 2 Robin Fisk was going really well getting past the 308 GTB of Jago Keen and pressing the 308 GTB of Nick Whittaker to head Group 2, then it all went wrong when going round Allard as he went wide and made contact with the Armco barrier. This immediately bought out yellow flags for a safety car which was quickly changed to red flags, finishing the race.

Race 3

Waiting in the assembly area prior to the race it was out of character to see the surprisingly late arrival of Nick Whittaker only to learn later that it was all planned with the help of the Marshals as Nick had just competed in the previous 40-minute race and needed to get fuel into his 308 GT4 in order to compete in the next race. It was no surprise that when the race started, he was right on it making up 6 places on the first lap.

The starting grid was set by the finishing positions in the previous race. Chris Butler repeated his performance from the first race with a good start to take the lead for 5 laps. He was ahead of another incident which took place when Colin Sowter, after a good start in his 348 Challenge, had a spin going into the complex and luckily avoided any contact with the following pack.

Nick Cartwright continued to improve over the weekend getting into 6^th place on lap one ahead of son Jim. James Parker whose previous experience of racing Minis is probably not the ideal preparation for racing a 355 was continuing to go better and testing the limits of his car with the first of two harmless spins on lap 3.

By lap 6 Tris Simpson was in the lead with Tim Mogridge very close behind him. On lap nine there was a big incident with the group chasing these two. Jim Cartwright was up to 4^th place and looked to get ahead of Culver going into the chicane. Culver was tagged into a spin by the spinning Cartwright who also collected Chris Butler who had nowhere to go causing the immediate retirement of both cars.

In the middle of the field there were some notably close races with Shearman and Everingham fighting hard for the win in Group 3 with Tony Claringbould very close behind. Ray Ferguson managed to finish narrowly ahead of Myles Poulton.

A terrific weekend finished with three different winners. Tim Mogridge caught the commentator’s eye with three podium finishes and the RnR driver of the day award, all the more impressive as it was his first time at Thruxton. Peter Everingham was the ‘Scrutineers Choice’ for overcoming all sorts of difficulties. Ray Ferguson was able to celebrate a ‘big’ birthday with three successful races at his local circuit along with his family.

Gurston Down – 16 June

June 20th, 2024

Drawing back the hotel curtains on Sunday to be greeted by sunshine was a welcome change and the effect this had on the times were immediately obvious once practice commenced, Dave Snelson unofficially lowering the previous hill record with his single practice run.

Times continued to drop during the afternoons two official timed runs, with Dave Snelson ending the day occupying the top step of the podium with an official new Ferrari hill record of 34.30 seconds (0.95 seconds quicker than the previous best). Rob Samuels was the runner up just 1.05 seconds behind, with Pauline Goodwin in third on scratch. Like the previous day, Iwan Attwood pipped Pauline to third place after PEP adjustment.

Making the most of the improved conditions were Steve Nunney, Stuart McCabe and Simon Jefferies who all went significantly quicker than Saturday, with Simon taking the Best Improver Award, hustling the big Roma up the hill and lowering his previous best time by a not insignificant 2.87 seconds – well done Simon!

Over the Hills & Far Away – Why Not? (PART 2)

Sunday morning was sunshine! The sun finally shone on us and the course was steadily drying out as the day went on. The excellent team of marshals were as efficient as I have ever seen and were just as relieved as we were to see the sunshine.

First practice confirmed that grip was returning to the track and the car was allowing me to use the power to more advantage. Each of my four runs was successively quicker and I was handed the award for “Best Improver”!

Dave Snelson turned the tables on Rob Samuels and put in a most impressive performance throughout the day winning in just 34.30 seconds; a fantastic time and a new class record!

Of course, each and every FOC competitor put up a great performance and every one was a winner just for showing up and enjoying the fun of competing.

Departing for home in the sunshine and warmth was a perfect end to the day, so a big thanks to Steve Burns, CSA Service Group and to all my fellow competitors who made me feel so welcome.

Why not go over the hills; they are not so far away.

– Simon Jefferies, Roma

More photos from the weekend are available for you to enjoy on Flickr, courtesy of Simon Halls @NoodlePix.

Gurston Down – 15 June

June 20th, 2024

Sunshine and showers were forecast for our annual visit to Gurston Down in Wiltshire. The meteorologists predictions turned out to be correct with regular cells of rain keeping at bay the June sunshine’s best efforts to dry the track, which proved to be quite frustrating for the nine CSA Service Group Ferrari Hillclimb Championship drivers who had made the trip.

On the damp track it was the classic cars which rose to the fore during Practice and the first timed run with the top positions after PEP adjustment going to Tony Attwood, Pauline Goodwin (328 GTB) and Iwan Attwood sharing the family 308 GT4 Dino. The newer tipos of Dave Snelson (488 Spider) and Rob Samuels (458 Speciale) struggling to get their power down. Relative newcomers Steve Nunney (348ts), Stuart McCabe driving the ex-Tim Mogridge 328 GTB and Simon Jefferies (Roma) completed the points scoring contenders.

The ninth driver in the Ferrari class batch was championship regular John Kennedy. However with his trusty California T delayed at the garage John had enquired whether he could run his weekly shopping car instead. The local organiser surprisingly declined to accept the change of class after close of entries so a quick read through our regulations and a liberal interpretation of our new Invitation Class permitted John to remain with the Ferrari’s with his rapid ‘Ferrari-Ford Focus RS’. Of course as an Invitation class entry John would not be scoring any championship point or eligible for any awards but at least he was out enjoying a run up the hill and challenging his previous best California T times in the family car.

Thankfully for most, but to the disappointment of Tony Attwood, the track dried for the final timed run, resuming normal service….well almost. Topping the final time sheet by 0.28 seconds was a delighted Rob Samuels, ending Dave Snelson’s winning streak. Pauline Goodwin was a further 6 seconds behind in third on scratch times, with Iwan Attwood taking the final podium spot after applying the PEP adjustment. Steve Nunney took the Best Improver award.

Following a pleasant sociable dinner at the Stones Hotel, everyone reconvened for Round 6 on Sunday.

Over the Hills & Far Away – Why Not? (PART 1)

On the 16^th and 17^thJune the Ferrari Owners Club Hillclimb Championship headed to Gurston Down near Salisbury to compete in the double header for rounds 5 and 6. Sponsored by CSA Service Group the Championship visits many parts of the country from Harewood in Yorkshire to Bouley Bay in Jersey and including Prescott and venues in the Midlands. This presents an ideal opportunity for owners to bring out even the most prized cars as you can proceed as fast or as slow as you like and whilst there is much rivalry between us you are at the same time competing against the hill and yourself in your car.

I had purchased my Ferrari Roma in 2021 and soon realised that enjoying and exploiting in power on public roads was not going to be possible, so encouraged by regular racer and all-time good chap Nick Taylor, I decided to enter the FOC event at Gurston Down. Competing in hillclimbing has several advantages in that the car and driver need minimal preparation; the car needs a timing strut which can easily be fixed into the towing eye slot, an indication of how to turn off the ignition and not much else. Personal preparation needs to include a hillclimb and sprint licence (easily obtainable from Motorsport UK) as well as crash helmet, gloves and overalls to the current specification.

We set off on the Friday before the event as Gurston was some way from home and stayed with some of the FOC competitors at a convenient hotel. Setting off on Saturday morning things did not look good as we were facing heavy rain that the British summertime does so well. This meant unpacking the car in the rain and the knowledge that our first runs would likely be on a wet track with low grip. Having a small tent to stash gear in was a wise choice and meant that kit could keep dry. Soon we were called for first practice and it was quite unsurprising that leaving the start line the wheels spun up and the car’s ECU just cut the power leaving me going nowhere! Eventually the Roma moved away and I drove carefully up the course, waited at the top for the return to pits and contemplated that the Roma may not have been the ideal hillclimb car of choice – but it was fun!

Second practice was similar but now I was learning where the corners were and where the grip wasn’t. Times were published almost simultaneously and soon we were all looking and comparing times with each other. The camaraderie and instant friendship shown by the FOC competitors was really the best part of the day, with help and advice given to each other in the most selfless of ways.

Competitive runs in the afternoon were somewhat drier with rain coming and going in an unpredictable way and I was able to improve my times and enjoy the car. Best Saturday time went to Rob Samuels with Dave Snelson close behind and promising to come out looking for the top slot on Sunday. Pauline Goodwin impressed, as always, with her 328 in third.

Saturday evening it was back to the hotel for a jovial meal, stories and then bedtime.

– Simon Jefferies, Roma

More photos from the weekend are available for you to enjoy on Flickr, courtesy of Simon Halls @NoodlePix.

Harewood – 12 May

May 24th, 2024

A touch of early hill mist greeted drivers on Sunday, but once again Dave Snelson was ever consistent with another string of runs in the 63’s a 63.51/63.66 – the timekeepers will have wished the class record from the day before was written in pencil, as Dave lowered it again to 63.47. Meanwhile, Rob Samuels, was extracting everything from the Speciale with a best time of 64.62, taking chunks of time out over the day, which Dave Snelson declared was the “highlight performance of the weekend a massive improvement and hard to achieve”, showing the camaraderie in the paddock where everyone wants each other to keep improving.

John Kennedy was spectacular again, a lurid moment on the grass at Quarry denting his times but not the California. Down the order times were improving with Richard Preece lowering his best to a 69.02 taking almost a second off his first run of the day and acclimatising well to the new car since its Curborough debut, with all drivers saving their best drives for competitive runs 1 and 2 over the two earlier practice runs as the sun burnt through. Pauline Goodwin declared she had her race head on for Sundays runs and duly set her best time of the weekend on run 1. All cars finished all runs apart from Peter Rogerson who retired his 360 on the final run with an ailing gearbox.

Other notable drives, Iwan Attwood chipping away in the ‘very expensive’ Dino starting weekend in the 88 seconds and finishing the final Sunday run with in 81.30 , finding almost 7 seconds as he got to grips with the car ‘and the tyres!’ With Tony also improving to end up less than 2 seconds shy of Iwan’s time.

It was great to also see some ex-competitors in the paddock over the weekend too:

It was lovely to be back at Harewood on such a sunny day, I last competed at Harewood some 15 or more years ago and have visited to spectate a few times since. It was so nice to catch up with some of my old race friends as well as meeting one or two newer competitors. Harewood is still full of the warm and friendly crowd I remember and a relaxed atmosphere it always was.

There were some pretty quick times today, especially from David Snelson. Wow, his time was quick.

~ Nick Frost

Hillclimb TV were streaming live coverage on Youtube for those wanting to see the action.

Fastest times are below – which are known as ‘scratch times’

Sunday 1. D Snelson 63.47 2. R Samuels 64.62 3. B. Jackson 68.77

The Championship runs a Performance Equaliser Percentage (PEP) format which balances the cars of differing age and performance with a percentage per tipo either added to or taken off the fastest time to create the Championship position.

Thanks to all drivers for taking part and to CSA Service Group for their title sponsorship along with Ferrari Financial Services, Woodford Trailers, Iconic Auctioneers and Meguiar’s for their support.

Harewood – 11 May

May 24th, 2024

The Ferrari Hillclimb Championship, now sponsored by CSA Service Group, reached a major milestone on the 12^th of May, at the first of our double header events at Harewood which marked the 500^th hillclimb round of the Championship.

This feat was celebrated at the 500^th Dinner at Weetwood Hall, the base for our event, where all participants were presented with a 500^th commemorative pin badge by Club Chairman, Christian Mineeff.

Back at Harewood, the runs commenced on Saturday with our entry of 10 cars and 11 drivers, with Tony and Iwan Attwood sharing Tony’s glorious Dino 246. Dave Snelson (488 Spider) was already in blistering form with runs only a few tenths apart in the 63 second bracket ending the day on a 63.53 – a new class record.

Good performances throughout the field saw times improve during the day, with the majority setting their best time in the final run of the day. John Kennedy was fast and spectacular in his California T with Rob Samuels (458 Speciale) and Brian Jackson (Portofino) all closely matched in the 67 second bracket. Richard Preece in the benchmark F430 was the only other driver in the sub 70 second bracket. Defending Champion Pauline Goodwin (328), Martin Jones (360) and Steve Nunney (348 TS) were battling away with times in all the 70 – 80 seconds window, with local driver Peter Rogerson (360) and the Attwood’s Dino 246 in the early 80’s, Iwan lamenting the tricky tyres on the early Dino, wheeled out again for Harewood as their usual 308 GT4 was in for repairs.

Saturday done – Sunday we go again…

Having competed at a past event which was delayed due to a marquee blowing across the track, Harewood blessed us this year with some amazing weather. This helped with attendance of Club members along to see how our cars performed on this demanding track. After socialising with competitors in the pit area they were treated to a display of precision and consistency from Dave Snelson who broke our class record at this venue in his 488 Spider. No serious ‘moments’ for our group and a great weekend for all involved – 10 out of 10!

~ Richard P (Ricardo)

Hillclimb TV were streaming live coverage on Youtube for those wanting to see the action.

Fastest times are below – which are known as ‘scratch times’

Saturday 1. D Snelson 63:56 2. J Kennedy 67:24 3. R Samuels 67:35

Donington Historic Festival: 4-5 May

May 20th, 2024

For the second year running the Donington Historic Festival was the first meeting of the season for the Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series. A great event with a paddock packed with a wide variety of classic race cars provided plenty of interest between the races held on Saturday and Sunday.

Our own entry of 26 cars was excellent and included the welcome addition of 3 new competitors; Philip Connell in his 355 Challenge, Nigel Sayles in his newly acquired 328 GTB and Robin Fisk making his racing debut in the family Mondial QV. There was also the return of Atul Saini bringing along his very stylish blue 308 GTB providing even greater variety to the assembled cars.

Qualifying

Track conditions seemed to be ideal for qualifying so it was no surprise that the 355’s were at the top of the leaderboard. Tris Simpson impressed taking pole for the first two races ahead of Wayne Marrs in his Group-6 355. Colin Sowter was going very well in his 348 Challenge to head the Group-4 times ahead of the usual Group-4 leader Gary Culver, also ahead of Gary and heading Group-3 was Chris Butler in his 328 GTB.

In Group-2 Jago Keen was glad to be at the event after hopefully solving some mechanical issues with his 308 GTB was able to head the group albeit by a smaller margin than usual. A special mention should go the Jim Cartwright who had decided to race his blue Group-4 328 GTB. The car was only made race ready at the last minute and even then, only appeared on the track with time for two flying laps. These two laps had their time disallowed for exceeding track limits so that he would have to start at the back of the grid having set no times at all.

Race 1

At the start of the race Tris Simpson and Nicky Paul-Barron made good starts in their Group-5 355’s to lead ahead of Wayne Marrs at the end of the first lap. Other notable first lap performances came from Nick Whittaker in his 308 GT4 to head Group-2 and Jim Cartwright who made up 10 places after starting at the back of the grid.

Simpson would hold on to the lead for 9 laps when Marrs taking advantage of a lapped car as at this stage of the race they were beginning to lap slower cars. Gary Culver made up places in his very quick 328 GTB to have a race long tussle with the 355 of Tim Mogridge but it was Mogridge who would ultimately take 4^th place.

Sowter and Butler were both models of consistency continuing to lap very quickly. To the extent that Butler took a new Group-3 lap record and I think this demonstrated that the best times of the weekend were on Saturday afternoon when the track was a little cooler than it was on Sunday.

An evergreen Nick Cartwright in his 328 GTB was the leader of a tight group with Charlie Ugo, Peter Everingham and an excellent debut by Philip Connell close behind.

In Group-2 Jago Keen prevailed as he finally got by Whittaker on lap 9 as earlier your scribe had to drop out with an electrical problem.

Race 2

Day two of the race meeting defied the weather forecast as the meeting was bathed in spring sunshine with hardly a cloud in sight. The results of the show that there were a notable number of very close finishes even if places did not change that much.

Tris Simpson started well to lead the race from start to finish beating Wayne Marrs by a narrow margin and behind them was a very close race between the Group-5 355’s of Tim Mogridge and Nicky Paul Barron. Chris Goddard was now running well and made up two places and behind them carrying their good form from the first race were Colin Sowter and Chris Butler winning their respective groups.

Of the cars behind the leading group Philip Connell did well to improve on his first race performance to beat Nick Cartwright into 10^th place. Nick Taylor also went better in his Group-4 Mondial T getting ahead of Peter Everingham in his 328 GTB.

Group-2 had a bit of a change in form at the beginning of the race when your scribe kept his GT4 ahead of Jago Keen and Nick Whittaker for a few laps before normal order was restored with Keen getting past and Whittaker being forced to retire with a misfire.

Race 3

At the start of the race, it was the turn of Tim Mogridge to take the lead for the first two laps until Tris Simpson took over from him. As the race unfolded there was terrific race between the front seven cars all of them in close contention with Gary Culver making ground to catch them having started at the back of the grid.

It is worth noting that these front runners included two Group-6 355’s, two Group-5 355 and in Group-4 a 348 and a 328. By all accounts something well worth watching.

There was a bit of a shake up on lap 9 due to the 328 GTB of Robert Rees letting rip a good supply of something very slippery. This caused the previously flying Sowter to spin and loose two places and the lead of Group-4. Marrs was able to take the lead for his second win of the meeting and Culver was able to get ahead of Butler and Sowter. Further back Peter Everingham was also caught out into an impressive spin.

Group-2 had a bit of a shake up for this race. Jago Keen retired to the pit lane at the end of the green flag lap with a mechanical problem. Car no 13 had a replacement driver as Peter Fisk decided to take the drive away from his son. The Mondial QV shot off the line at the start making up several places and was soon up behind the Mondial T of Nick Taylor. From that point onwards the two were locked together in a terrific race although Fisk senior was not able to make further progress as in part he was hampered with a faulty clutch. The lesser places were fought out in a race long GT4 tussle with Nick Whittaker narrowly beating your scribe. Nigel Sayles had the misfortune of being stuck behind these two and took the view that it was probably better not to get too involved.

As with last year the Donington Historic Festival delivered a fantastic start to the season. The racers certainly enjoyed themselves and it seems pretty certain that the spectators around the circuit did so as well. In recent years the regulations have been tweaked with the specific aim to encourage close racing between the groups and to try and avoid a dominant front runner. The rationale behind this is to make the racing more enjoyable for both participants and spectators.

If we are to maintain our participation in flagship classic race meetings such as the DHF the organisers will continue to invite us if they consider the quality of the cars and the quality of the racing enjoyed by the spectators adds value to the event. Judging by the races at Donington we are succeeding in doing this. Long may it continue.

Curborough – 21 April

April 24th, 2024

The second round for 2024 took to Curborough for our first sprint of the season. The championship welcomed the return of 11 competitors with a fresh entry from newcomer Stuart McCabe who we hope will enjoy a successful first campaign with his California T and 328. The day ran smoothly although a timing glitch would provide no official time for Dave Snelson’s second practice.

With improving conditions from a chilly morning to a “mildly-warm” start, it was only a matter of time before times began to tumble. By the first practice run it was clear a new club record was to be set by Dave Snelson with his 488 Spider – congratulations Dave!

John Kennedy was as ever very fast across the finish line (providing plenty of entertainment under braking once finishing). A very strong performance however from Rob Samuels with his 458 Speciale would get the better of John by just 0.47 secs to snatch 2nd place in class.

Brian Jackson brought along a fabulous Portofino in place of the trusty 328, putting in an impressive display of control throughout the day. For it’s first use at Curborough the big car moves well!

Fresh from a clutch rebuild Pauline Goodwin failed to meet her target start off the line but took second place on PEP, nipping at the heels of Dave Snelson with a very consistent drive.

Richard Preece returns to the championship with a new motor for 2024 – a rather lovely F430 – mirroring Chris Hitchman in spec but not quite on the day regarding times. Watch this space as Richard will be fast to improve as he becomes accustomed to the new car.

The Hitchman’s were in full force with a trio of well prepared F430, with Rain getting the better of newcomer Stuart McCabe on PEP.

Tony Attwood would find the limits to his tyres far earlier than he would like with his Dino 246 GT, however despite ageing rubber put in a very respectable performance for the oldest tipo in the championship.

The results speak for themselves, however to provide a fresh perspective on the day, competitor Rob Samuels writes:

After signing up mid-season to the Hill Climb Championship in 2023, Curburough would be the first track that I would return to and so I was more confident than usual! That said I took my first practice run quite steady 73.73, just to familiarize myself with the track and see what had changed since I’d last driven it some eight months prior.

Thereafter I started to push harder during each session, 66.71, 65.54 and by early afternoon the track temperature had risen nicely and I achieved 65.19 as my final run.

Overall, I was really pleased with the times but as ever you leave the track thinking of where you could improve and I already have a few ideas for the next visit to Curburough. I can’t wait to return!

Congratulations to all in attendance for making for a very enjoyable day at Curborough. A selection of photos are shown here with more available on Flickr.

The next round takes place at Harewood, where the Club will celebrate the 500th round of the championship.

Bouley Bay – 1 April

April 9th, 2024

For the season opening round of the 2024 CSA Service Group Ferrari Hillclimb Championship we headed across the English Channel to the famous Bouley Bay Hillclimb in Jersey, the Championship’s first visit here for a number of years.

Six drivers made the trip but sadly Steve Nunney arrived without his Ferrari as his 348 had developed an electrical gremlin whilst heading to the port, so five drivers were left to tackle the hill, John Kennedy commenting that he had never seen a course so steep! Dave Snelson was lucky to arrive as his newly lowered 488 Spider apparently took quite an effort and a few planks of wood to load it safely onto the ferry.

Practice started with a few damp patches remaining in the shaded areas so most people adopted a cautious approach to their first Practice run, apart from defending Champion, Pauline Goodwin who was wringing the neck of her trusty 328 from the word go, recording the fastest time after PEP adjustment during the Practice run.

With the sun out and rapidly drying the track, all competitors got to enjoy 3 timed runs in quick succession, the Clerk of the Course sensibly deciding to delay the lunch break in order to get as much dry running in as possible, as rain showers were forecast from the mid-afternoon.

Pauline’s early fast pace proved to be her best, with a small improvement in her first timed run being her quickest of the day. The others made steady progress throughout the day, with improvements in every session.

Dave Snelson was delighted with his 2^nd official timed run, which broke the course record, previously set by Nick Taylor in 2015. His 3^rd and final timed run proved it wasn’t a fluke as Dave lowered it again by another 7 tenths of a second to 48.99s.

After 3 timed runs the order was Dave Snelson, 488 Spider (48.99s); John Kennedy, California T (52.68s); Rob Samuels, 458 Speciale (53.84s); Pauline Goodwin, 328 GTB (57.70s) & Martin Jones, 360 Modena (63.05s). With PEP adjustments made, the order was Snelson, Kennedy, Goodwin, Samuels & Jones.

The Organiser’s decision to delay lunch until after the 3^rd timed run proved to be prudent as the clouds gathered and rain descended at 2.30pm. Whilst the shower only lasted for 5 minutes or so it was enough to wet the track making the offer of a 4^th timed run a slippery prospect. Sensibly everyone decided that discretion was the better part of valour and mutually decided to call it a day and spend the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the beautiful scenery offered by the Island of Jersey.

Overall, a great day was had by all, with the local competitors and officials being very welcoming. Jersey might be a small island but it certainly has a vibrant and passionate core of motorsport enthusiasts. We certainly added some noise and colour to the Bouley Bay Hillclimb on Easter Monday, which was appreciated by the large group of spectators who lined the hillside, cheering on the drivers.

Next event is Curborough Sprint Course on 21^st April.

Prescott – 6 October

Prescott – 5 October

Castle Combe Autumn Classic

Wiscombe Park – 14 September

Festival Italia: 11 August

Shelsley Walsh – 10 August

A Newcomer’s Perspective

A Veteran’s Perspective

Oulton Park Gold Cup: 28-29 July

Loton Park – 14 July

Loton Park – 13 July

Thruxton Historic: 22-23 June

Gurston Down – 16 June

Gurston Down – 15 June

Harewood – 12 May

Harewood – 11 May

Donington Historic Festival: 4-5 May

Curborough – 21 April

Bouley Bay – 1 April

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