With two qualifying sessions and two races each, for both our Open and Classic series, it was a bit of a Ferrari Festival at Snetterton. Marco Lee Pullen was entered for both series and nearly pulled off a clean sweep of pole positions in his 328 & Mondial respectively.

Now I don’t know about you, but I get a bit fed up with the hillclimbers crowing about their entry levels. They are mostly just driving alone up someone’s drive for goodness sake. Hardly motor sport is it? Sort of an excuse not to cut the lawn, have a picnic and gently exercise the car for all of 4 minutes during the entire weekend. All very nice I’m sure, but a touch tame. No, circuit racing is where the real action is. Our premier circuit racing series is an attractive proposition and should be bulging with entries. So where are you all? Cutting the b----y lawn!

Oh well – Q1 and it’s that man Pullen. This time in his Mondial 3.4t. A Mondial t! Where has this performance come from you ask? I am told by preparers QV London that the answer lies in the new black paint job. This is a prototype paint by ICI that actually accelerates a car faster than any other available coating. It does this by pulling the air towards it – like a magnet. All very clever. The only downside is that the stickers are hard to apply. Marco’s pole time was an excellent 1.24.33. By the time that Q2 had come along Graham Reeder had got his brain into gear and was our pole man with a 1.24.03. Just behind in both sessions (in no particular order) were the usual suspects of Jenkins, Spicer and Bartholomew. It was all pretty close actually and good races were promised.

Race One
Reeder led away from Spicer, Bartholomew, Jenkins and Pullen. Graham had not been happy with his 328 all day. The new brakes were not really sorted and the new suspension was also not as trimmed as he would have liked. This is a case of the cobbler being worst shod of course. Still he is a fighter and tried hard as always. Mike Spicer was keeping him very honest though, with William Jenkins also looking racy. Marco did not get away well and was in P5 on lap 1. This could have been a good race for him but on lap 5 he broke his gear lever and that was that. By lap 5 William had gone from P4 to P3, by lap 10 he was in P2. He eventually took the lead on lap 12. His fastest lap on the way to victory lane of 1.23.32 showed just how fired up he was. Reeder held on to 2nd from Spicer and Bartholomew. As always there were excellent dices thorough the field, particularly from Allen and Sam Whitman. Richard would have preferred a quiet drive (hillclimber) but that Whitman chap just wouldn’t let him be. Never mind Richard, Bouley Bay next week!

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Race Two
This was a bit of a let down really. At the first corner Reeder and Spicer headed for the same piece of track. Mike continued pretty much unimpeded but Graham spun to avoid contact. It took him an age to get going and although not damaged he retired. In avoiding the incident Jenkins and Hathaway managed to find each other on the same bit of tarmac, or it may have been grass actually. Jenkins continued to eventually finish 2nd but Hathaway retired. So it was left to Mike Spicer to hold his lead for an unchallenged win. Considering that we must try and put at least 25 cars on the grid at Silverstone in the summer, the eight finishers in this race suggest we have a way to go.

I must say a big thank you on behalf of everyone at Snett. to Jim and Janet, plus helpers of course, for putting on an excellent hospitality facility. This could have been a really super event. As it was, the early date, which was partly to blame for the poor entry levels, as well as the freezing wind, spoilt the party. Everyone has five weeks now to prepare for Brands - by the look of things the time is certainly required.