FERRARI formula classic

Hard on the heels of the previous weekend’s race at Oulton Park, 18 Ferrari formula classic ragazzi descended on Brands Hatch for the third event of the season. There was one newcomer, Peter Ratcliffe, who brought along his Dino 246GT and Chris Drake brought his powerful 330GTE, re-created as a GTO, out to play for the first time this year.

The weather on Sunday was not expected to be brilliant but the rain held off during the morning. It was a busy time, with signing-on and scrutineering having to be fitted in prior to qualification timed for 11.10. The track in use for this race meeting was the short Indy circuit of 1.2 miles, which meant that some of the drivers were able to get in 20 laps in the 20 minute session.

The time-sheets showed that once again Nicky Paul-Barron had put his 328GTB on pole, just the blink of an eye ahead of leading Gp3 driver William Jenkins (308GTB). Brian Page (328GTS) and Nick Taylor (Mondial t) were less than a second behind these two in securing Row 2 places for their Gp2 Ferraris. The quickest Gp1 car was Chris Drake’s GTO replica, just ahead of David Barker’s 400GT and Stuart Anderson’s glorious 250GTE/TR. Peter Ratcliffe seemed disappointed with his Dino’s time but shouldn’t have been, considering the car’s power disadvantage compared to the thundering V12s ahead of him.

It was almost 5.00pm by the time the cars were called up for the 20-minute race. After intermittent showers the track was damp although there appeared to be a dry-ish line on some of the corners. When the grid formed up there was a vacant space which should have been occupied by the unfortunate David Wild (see Paddock Stories), immediately ahead of Swifty - one man’s misfortune etc...

From the lights it was Page, from row 2, who hit the front after pole man Paul-Barron repeated his Oulton Park fumbled start (move left foot smartly up and right foot smartly down simultaneously, Nick - Ed). Swifty’s launch control worked better and he came level with Spicer but then was squeezed to his right as Nicky P-B got his car properly in motion. With two wheels off the track in an effort to avoid contact, there was a bang as the Spicer wheels hit the left side of the Swift 308. It sounded serious at the time but happily turned out to be fairly innocuous and both cars continued without much delay.

At Druids there was all sorts of commotion. Page lost control and spun (cold tyres, damp track, red mist?) and comprehensively collected Jenkins’s second placed 308GTB, which was left stranded on the apex. Sensible driving by the rest of the field managed to avoid any further collisions. Following this mêlée, Nicky P-B found himself restored at the front of the order, pursued by Taylor, Spicer, Swift, Drake (making a superb start), and Barker. For the first three laps the position at the front was unchanged although Jon Goodwin had got the bit between his teeth and was making up ground ahead of Atkinson-Willes. On lap 5, Drake, who up to then had been having a storming race, managed to spin away his chances and ended up at the tail of the field.

By mid-race a clear pattern had been established. Barring the unexpected, Nicky P-B seemed to have the race sewn up from a confident looking Taylor and the battling duo of Spicer and Swift. Following the demise of the spinning Drake, the Gp1 baton had been taken up by Barker with an optimistic Anderson waiting for the big 400GT’s brakes to cry ‘enough’. His patience was rewarded when Barker briefly pulled off the circuit at Surtees but then decided to continue to the finish at a somewhat reduced pace. Another spinner at this time was Atkinson-Willes, who pressed on without losing much time albeit three places further down.

And then there came a surprise. With only a few minutes left to the finish, Taylor trickled slowly to a halt having run out of petrol! Mike Spicer was promoted immediately to second overall, with Swifty occupying the third podium position and the lead in Gp3. He later said that his 308GTB simply didn’t have the necessary oomph down the pits straight to close meaningfully on Mike’s bigger engined 328.

After 20 minutes and 21 laps, Nicky Paul-Barron took the chequered flag for the second time in two weeks, while Stuart Anderson similarly took victory in Gp1, from Chris Drake, who had just pipped the well driven little Dino of Peter Ratcliffe in the closing stages.

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Jenkins and Page had a good Q session.

Lap 1, it goes wrong: Page spins, a slow-starting NP-B goes left

Damp conditions meant the field got a bit spread out

Barker's 400 went well until the inevitable loss of brakes

Hillclimbers Pullen (Mondial) and Marshall are confused by both being on-track at the same time

Mike Spicer, inherited second, but Massive Respec that he was in a position to!

Old smoothy (and baldy) Nicky Paul-Barron took his second consecutive win

pics by Paul/Fotografia Corse