Sooner or later we will get a classic race that doesn’t clash with a hillclimb, or a wedding, or when drivers have their roll cages sorted and their cars repaired. Maybe then we will see the true strength of our classic series. Maybe it will be the next race at the big Silverstone meeting, let’s hope so.

Qualifying
Given the various distractions (see above) perhaps 17 was not that bad a total number of cars for qualifying at Mallory Park on Sunday. We did have two father & son teams doing one race each, which must be pretty unusual – Peter & Richard Moseley in the ex. David Wild, class 3, 308 GTB, and also Peter & Chris Hitchman in a Mondial. It was also good to welcome Mark Buckland for his first race with us in his 328 GTB.

On a wet but slowly drying track it was newcomer David Tomlin who was our proud pole sitter. After his excellent Brands performance David must be thinking that this racing lark is a piece of ……. easy. Next up was Marco Lee Pullen in the big Mondial, from Simon Bartholomew and Peter Everingham both in 328s. It was a thrill to see “our” two 275 GTBs back on the track. This time it was Ross Warburton in P8 ahead of Steve Tandy in P11. Ross’s car has received a bit of attention since we last saw it and this seemed to be helping.

Apart from Tomlin’s performance I thought that of another newcomer Nigel Jenkins (328) stood out in P6, as did Fred Honnor in his GT4 (P10). Wet conditions often bring class to the fore. Talking of class where was Mr. Culver? P13 is the answer with a misfire that was present at Brands but was clearly getting worse.

We can hardly complain about the weather this year can we? But Mallory Park in the cold and wet is a miserable place. Even under the Culver tent with the smell of Yvonne’s excellent bacon and sausages it was pretty grim. David Preston worked non stop to solve Gary’s misfire. Much was titivated, but no specific problems were found.

Race 1
I don’t personally believe in dwelling on accidents. We all know that motor racing is dangerous – it says so on the tickets. Fortunately our cars are very strong and we have never yet had a bad injury in one of our races. Long may that continue. However it would be wrong of me not to report the incident in race 1.

Race start was 14.22 hrs on a very wet track. David Tomlin got away well from pole with Pullen and Bartholomew tucked in behind him. Peter Everingham however took to the outside around Gerrards and found much more grip there. This put him in the lead as the cars sped down the Stebbe straight to the Lake Esses. On the approach to the Esses, possibly under brakes, or possibly through standing water David Tomlin had a lazy, and as it turned out, harmless spin into the infield. Those immediately behind reacted of course which was enough to unsettle both Marco’s Mondial and Simon’s 328. Both cars spun. With all control gone the 328 struck the Mondial which then went into the barriers on the outside of the circuit. The red flag was shown straight away and the remaining cars reformed on the grid.

Damage to both cars was extensive with the Mondial being the worst affected. The recovery and medical teams at UK circuits do a careful and excellent job. They are most mindful of keeping the neck and spine stable when recovering a driver. In order to satisfy this requirement it was judged necessary to cut Marco out of his car and this process took a very long time. Back in hospitality friends and family had an agonising wait whilst this was completed. Information was difficult to come by so we all looked on feeling very helpless. The remaining drivers of course were still sitting on the grid. It was to be over 1 hour before the shortened race was restarted at 15.31 hrs.

I am pleased to say that Marco will be fine. He certainly had his bell rung and did suffer a cracked rib and has a broken bone in his foot but otherwise is fine. Father Lee sends his thanks to everyone for their concern, and he praises the Mallory medical team for their great care and understanding.

In the delay Swifty chose to withdraw as did Ross Warburton. So it was thirteen cars that took the start. Peter Everingham again led away from David Tomlin, Mike Spicer and Nigel Jenkins.

Much of the attention was of course on Mr. Culver. His car, for some reason, now seemed OK – cars are like that sometimes. At the end of lap1 he was 7th, lap 2 - 6th, lap 3 - 5th etc. By lap 8 he was 2nd with only Evers to go. As we all should know Peter is a proper racer. If he was driving a fully prepared 328 he would be in the frame every time out. As things are he requires dodgy conditions or a short track in order to shine. He is also aware of risk management, and how painful it is repairing a bent car out of taxed income. In consequence he is “careful” most of the time.

Gary soon discovered though that with a possible win in sight Evers would not be a pushover. Once he had Gary in his mirrors Peter raised his game and the two cars raced with great verve. In the end it was our Peter’s first win in a Ferrari. A great cheer went up in hospitality and even I suspect in the Culver camp. Gary’s drive to P2 was masterful, and all the drivers deserve great credit for performing so well after such a bad experience.

Race 2
This saw the return of Swifty, whose spirits had recovered, but the loss of Mike Spicer, who had an early flight to catch. He was mindful of the time it takes to get out of Mallory at the end of a meeting. It was to be a ten lapper only, as time had marched on somewhat with all the previous delays. It was pi…..ersisntently raining and none too light either. I suspect that David Tomlin had gained a bit of confidence from the first race and he lead away from Evers. This time he managed to keep the lead until lap 8, firstly from Everingham and then from Culver who had made his way through from his lowly start position. Not bad for your second ever car race.

Gary eventually took the lead in a very brave move around the outside of Gerrards. Must have been quite exciting that. At the chequered flag the first three of Culver, Tomlin and Everingham were followed by the excellent Nigel Jenkins and Fred Honnor.

It was a long day and I suspect many were just pleased to be driving home with cars in one piece. Mallory were great hosts to our ITCR day last year and I feel a little guilty saying this, but he circuit has very little to offer from a driver's point of view. It has a high accident rate with us, which is why we stopped taking PMFC there. The way the circuit works is very poor – there are long queues for scrutineering and to leave the circuit. Race cars get boxed in by queuing cars, making even getting to the collection area and fuel station difficult. But I know that we don’t have a wealth of choice of venues....

Racing at Thruxton is rare, there is a reluctance to travel to Cadwell Park and Croft, let alone Anglesey, Pembrey or Knockhill. Rockingham should be OK, but doesn’t seem popular, maybe because of the banking.

However even with all this in mind, please let’s give Mallory a miss in future.