Saturday
The opening rounds of our formula classic series were held at Snetterton basically as two separate race meetings. Saturday on the longer “300” version of the circuit, and Sunday on the shorter “200” version. 

21 cars qualified on a chilly but dry Saturday morning. Class of the field by far was young Danny Winstanley. His time of 2.14.764 seemed simply amazing. Our other young star Jim Cartwright was next up (2.16.415) trying an unusual mixture of 16” & 17” tyres. As expected Wayne Marrs was third with a much improved Nigel Jenkins not too far behind.

Race
The first corner of any race is a nervous time and we have had our fair share of incidents over the years. We very nearly had another at Snett. with Wayne Marrs spinning in front of the pack from around 4rd place. Only masterly avoidance by Peter Everingham and others prevented carnage. Chris Butler had made one of his impossible starts and had gone from 8th to 3rd by the first corner. At the end of lap 1 though it was Winstanley from Jim Cartwright, and then a gap to Nigel Jenkins. Wayne Marrs had re-started at the back of the field and was making his way through the traffic.

Race 1

The class of aspiring pro driver Danny Winstanley was clear. Whilst most were getting going his second lap was a 2.14.609 – faster even than his pole setting time! Jim Cartwright, who was now back on 16” Pirellis all round, also got himself in the 2.14s which was a great effort. At the end it was Nigel Jenkins who completed the podium. Wayne Marrs got himself into 4th by the chequered flag, which given his first corner incident was an excellent result.

As with last year at the same venue some of the gaps were considerable, but there was some super racing through the field. Fred Honnor and Richard Fenny were non finishers, and Ben Cartwright’s 328 was clearly not a happy bunny.

Mention should be made of Michael Squire’s famous 328 GTB "Rosie". This car has been racing almost since new with various drivers (including yours truly). That’s pretty much 25yrs of hard work, knocks and scrapes etc. After a winter rebuild into full formula classic Gp4 spec. it is looking simply stunning, and does great credit both to its restorer and the series.

Sunday
Any who thought it couldn’t get any colder than the previous day were wrong! It was one of those “four seasons in one day” days and the track was changing all the time. The race win was always going to be about Danny & Jim. These two look to have the season sown up between them such is their speed advantage.

At Snetterton at least Nigel Jenkins and Wayne Marrs also seemed to have a little grouping on their own. However several expected entries were missing – N. P-B, Nick Taylor, David Tomlin, Chris Compton-Goddard and Martin Hart should all be capable of filling in the gaps nicely once they get going.  

It’s early days yet and formula classic promises much this year. On Sunday in Norfolk it was Jim Cartwright who took the win, passing Danny Winstanley on the very last lap, in what had been a thrilling race. A hot bath and a cup of tea was well deserved by all.

Click here for the Race 1 results.

Click here for the Race 2 results.

Click here to return to the Pirelli Ferrari formula classic index page.