RACE 11 : Donington Park : 9 October 2010
Report by Nicky Paul-Barron

How lovely it was to be visiting Donington once again. Most of us who have raced there over the years have fond memories of the place and its history. The weather forecast also promised one of the hottest October days on record. I’m not too sure what happened to that, as the day was dull and decidedly chilly.

The competition in formula classic however promised to be hot hot hot. A large entry of 27 cars lined up for qualifying. Pole position was won by Ben Cartwright, from brother Jim, followed by series returnee Graham Reeder, Chris Butler (all in 328 GTBs) and Nick Taylor (Mondial t).

Standing at Redgate, the field made a most impressive sight as it passed on the green flag lap. As is normal practice, the race cars were followed by a circuit safety van. However this seemed to have its fuel cap missing and was spewing out diesel in its wake. The marshals were alerted but took no action. I have no idea if this influenced events at all, but it was quite inexcusable.

At the off Chris Butler made one of his customary blinding starts and was in contention with Ben, Jim and Graham by the first corner. All got round Redgate but at Hollywood, which is at the top of the hill leading down to Craner, Reeder lost it and spun. It was a most unusual place to spin. Instead of spitting him off on to the grass, the car stayed on track, facing the wrong way. The rest of the field careered towards him at high speed, through clouds of his own tyre smoke. Miraculously there was no contact and he rejoined at the back of the field. Ben C led the race at this point from Jim C, who had passed Butler on the outside under Starkeys Bridge.

Pause for breath, but not for long. Lap 2 and round they came into Redgate. Half of the field got through fine, but Richard Fenny spun his GT4 in the pack and collected Steven Hart, who was guest driving the old ex - Robbie Stirling 308 GTB. This was the first time that this famous car had been seen since being damaged at Snetterton in 2009. Both cars retired. William Moorwood was delayed, but continued. Then the race finally settled down.

Jim C was hounding Ben C at the front. The two cars looked very good and fast on track. Chris Butler had settled into a fairly secure third place, with a small gap to Peter Everingham. On lap 4 Jim had a good run down into Redgate, and got by Ben into the lead. For a while Ben hung on well, but in time, and with a broken exhaust, he fell gradually back.

Retirements in addition to Hart and Fenny were Wayne Marrs, whose water temp. was too high, and Richard Squire who had a clutch problem. Michael Squire, having his first race in “Rosie”, and Peter Fisk came together at the chicane on lap 4 and both retired, with poor old Rosie having a rear leg askew.

As usual there were some great dices in the race. I particularly liked the Richard Allen / John Swift contest. I am not giving away any secrets when I say that neither will see the big 70 again, but here they were racing like a couple of teenagers. In fact the age spread in classic is quite something. All race and get along fine, with mutual respect and a love of racing Ferraris. Whilst on the subject we also have four families racing together – three Cartwrights, two Moseleys, two Squires and two Goodwins. It is without doubt a pretty special race series.

At the flag it was Jim C, Ben C, Chris Butler, Peter Everingham and possibly driver of the day Martin Hart (Mondial T). To beat Nick Taylor in the same car, and have a better lap , is a great achievement – congratulations to Martin. Reeder managed to get up to 9th by the end. His spin had robbed us of an interesting contest. Could he have battled with the Cartwrights? Lap times suggest not. However, Graham’s tyres must have been a very odd shape during the race.

So that’s all for this season. Formula classic has really built on what was already a solid base in 2010. We have enough depth in the field now to enjoy Mondial, and GT4 battles, as well as 328s. This will encourage others, and many seem to be looking for cars. Nothing succeeds like success. My driver of the year has to be Ben Cartwright. He has become very quick, and yet does not seem to make mistakes. His attitude is spot on too. I can’t wait to see the rest take him on next year.