Zandvoort is a popular destination for Ferrari competitors from Britain. Ferrari Owners’ Club drivers have been racing at this Dutch seaside resort for a great many years, and a great many have fond memories of not just the racing but all the other attractions that make the place so special.

Race One
The programme for the Ferraris consisted of one 20-minute qualifying session and a 12-lap race on each of the two days. Saturday’s proceedings started with a briefing from the Race Director; a forgetful Ray Hanson decided to go for breakfast instead of attending and was lucky to get away without being fined.

The weather on Friday night had deteriorated from the hot but overcast conditions earlier. By the time qualifying came round, at around 10.30, the track was damp but rain had stopped falling. When qualifying ended the familiar name of Gary Culver headed the list, with rival Graham Reeder in third behind an astonishingly rapid Simon Bartholomew (Gp2 328GTB). Completing row 2 was Swifty!

Heavy rain continued to fall during the rest of the morning and deep puddles were ominously forming in front of the pitboxes. Happily the rain stopped with half an hour to go, and by the time the field had assembled in the pitlane the circuit was drying quite nicely.

When the red lights went out Culver scrambled through Tarzan in the lead – but only just – from Reeder, who had just got the drop on Bartholomew. Hanson, from row 4, made a super start and used all the considerable power of his flat-12 engine to take fourth place from Swift. Benaroya in his Mondial t cabriolet wasn’t far behind.

Shirley had started from the pitlane after an HT cable had come adrift on the green flag lap but was determined to make amends. Both he and Benaroya passed Swift at the same time at the back of the circuit when the brakes on the 308 gave an anxious moment.

The race settled down with Culver in the lead by about three seconds from the battling duo of Reeder and Bartholomew. Benaroya came to grief, albeit only briefly, when he spun at the tricky post 21, allowing Swift to close on Hanson but he could not do anything about the flat 12 horsepower, despite his best efforts.

Then Benaroya arrived back in the frame. Swifty noted that his cornering looked quite lurid in his mirrors and so he devised a Cunning Plan. If he let Didier through he had a feeling it would be only a matter of time, and at which corner, the pair of them would collide.

Sure enough, at the exit to the long left-hander at the back of the straight, Didier pulled alongside Hanson, started to slide, and the two made contact – the tail of the Mondial connecting with the front wing of the TR. Swifty slipped through, no doubt cackling fiendishly the while, but it was too late to make any impression on the flying Shirley ahead.

The chequered flag brought the difficult race to an end, with Gary Culver adding another notch to his victory bow, Graham Reeder collecting second and Simon Bartholomew claiming the top Gp2 podium position after hounding Graham for most of the race. Shirley took a well deserved Gp2 third place from Marco Pullen (Mondial t) while Swift collected the Gp3 third spot.

Some rather nice trophies were presented on the podium by Erik Weijers, together with champagne and (being Holland) bunches of flowers. The racers also got mixed up with a Dutch wedding (again), the bride and groom wanting to be photographed with the Ferraris in the pitlane. The bride looked a bit overcome when kissed manfully by one sweaty charioteer in smelly overalls.

Race Two
The weather on Sunday was a distinct improvement on the previous day’s showers. A light sea breeze had blown the fretful rain clouds away and it was warm and dry. When we arrived, mechanical brushes were hoovering the track and all looked set for another enjoyable race.

The first activity of the day, at 9.30, was the Ferrari qualifying session for R2. Our ten cars were all out and in apparently good order, but then things started to go awry. The most serious problem afflicted Gary Culver. Coming through the twisty section behind the paddock – fortunately at less than usual speed because he sensed something was not quite right – the 328’s left rear stub axle sheared, the wheel detached itself, throwing the car up in the air and onto the grass on the right of the track. Although the stricken car couldn’t be moved – the suspension was torn away and the brake disc was shattered into several pieces – Gary was out of the cockpit and unharmed.

In the far better conditions, Graham Reeder was quickest this time in 2:08.898 although only half a second adrift came Gp2 leader, Simon Bartholomew. The second row positions were claimed by John Shirley and John Swift with the rest of the field closely bunched on time just behind.

Swifty had arranged an early race for Sunday to make it possible for all our drivers to get back home the same day and the Ferrari race was scheduled for 11.50, the third of the day.

Following a parade lap and a green flag lap, giving lots of time for getting everything on the cars to operating temperatures, the eight car grid was released for the second 12-lap contest. Shirley was caught napping and was engulfed by the rest of the pack as it roared off towards Tarzan, with Reeder, Bartholomew and Swift occupying the first three places.

As the field braked for Audi S for the first time a pall of smoke enveloped the red cars behind. Hanson’s TR’s gearbox had gone bang (a suspected cracked casing was later diagnosed) and his race was over. Unfortunately Ray deposited the ’box’s oil on the racing line on his return to the pits, making lap 2 decidedly tricky for those ahead.

Reeder and Bartholomew continued to lead the race, albeit at an increasing distance apart, while Swifty seemed to have third in his pocket, but Whitman’s now on-form 308 crept ever closer. At the start of lap 3 Sam took a wider line through Tarzan and managed to take third place.

Swift got his head down and improved his lap times by around 5 seconds, hauling in Whitman at the rate of a couple of seconds a lap. On lap 7, as the two 308s came into Audi S, they were alongside but mid-corner there was contact, fortunately not too severe. The net effect was that Whitman retained the advantage but a fuming Swift resolved to get back.

With more work to be done Swift was closing rapidly as the two cars braked for Tarzan. But the braking was too late, the pedal went to the floor and the gravel run-off area zoomed into view. The blue 308 hit the gravel and the car was embedded. The marshals were quick to extract the stricken car, but a huge amount of stones had been collected, making further racing unwise.

Meanwhile Shirley had woken up and had brought his Mondial back into contention. He disposed of Benaroya’ s Mondial cabriolet on lap 4 but during the two overtaking manoeuvres there was contact between the cars resulting in some unjustified fury from the French driver.

Once past and now lapping in the mid-2:11s, Shirley closed on the slowing Whitman, whose brakes were now failing, and passed to take third overall with one lap remaining.

And that’s how it finished: Graham Reeder taking overall victory with Simon Bartholomew collecting his second class win of the afternoon. Once again the trophies, champagne and flowers were presented on the podium while the still incandescent Benaroya was summoned to the Race Director’s office for an interview without coffee.

Zandvoort had been full of excitement and adventures, both good and not so good, but it is fair to say that everyone involved had thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. The adventurous few came away hoping that there will be a viable number of classic competitors next season to make it possible to arrange another overseas event. Meanwhile we hear a disconsolate woman in a shabby wedding dress is still desperately searching for her macho Ferrarista, whilst her shattered groom is slumped over a bottle of Bols in a nearby bar....

(with thanks to Anne & John Swift for all the info and data)

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Simon Bartholomew Q2, P3 in R1 (P1 in G2) . Q2, P2 in R2 (P1 in G2). OK?

Gary won R1...

...before he was struck by the dreaded Curse of the 328 Stub Axles

Ray Hanson's TR's gearbox was rent asunder in R2

Marco Lee Pullen chases Slim Whitman

Benaroya recovered from his spin and in hot pursuit of the Swifty/Hanson battle

Peter Moseley made it home in R1 but DNF in R2

Shirley/Benaroya battle ended in tears

Graham Reeder took R2 from Bartholomew

pics by Dirk van Zon Photography, go to his website to buy hi-res pics

Bonus Pics

Swift just ahead of the baying pack

Hanson's TR

Mondial mælstrom

Graham Reeder - 328

Culver - 328

Culver atop the R1 podium

Bartholomew took two class wins

"Where's that boy of mine?"