Morning practice was already a tense affair, with Ward posting a splendid 67.65 on his first run, but this was then bettered by Goodwin, who lowered the practice best to a 67.02.

The first of three competitive runs saw Goodwin on top by a small margin, despite losing time by getting on to the grass at Willow. He was closely followed by Richard Allen (the FHC's "Bernie"), Clark and Ward. There was some controversy, as both Allen and Clark's official times were declared by the time-keepers to be better than appeared on the digital display.

Other first run highlights were Brian Jackson carrying considerable speed into the tricky Farmhouse bend in his 308GTB, Len Watson taking the class lead in his 328GTS, until the "top 4" displaced him and Peter Hayman's skilful handling of his 512TR. Though not at first sight ideally suited to hillclimbing, the big car made a welcome change from the ubiquitous "3" series', sounding glorious and recording the fastest speed of all (81 mph) on the short straight. However, on his third run the substantial piece of Italian engineering which had enabled this high speed made its presence felt in the tightening radius of Yorkshire tarmac known as Quarry, flicking the car into oversteer, but Hayman held it well, taking eighth in class.

Warmer conditions for the second runs resulted in improved times for many. Michael Spicer was trying hard in his 308GT4 and locked his brakes up going into Farmhouse bend, but still improved by over a second. Occasional PMFC racer Terry Esom was very aggressive, which resulted in a substantial 2.5 second improvement to 70.36. As with most, he went on to record his best time (70.24) on his third run. Simon Clark and Robin Ward were both red-flagged on their second runs. On his re-run, Clark improved to 67.38, which eventually left him second overall. Ward was trying very hard, tyres squealing, to make up for the power deficiency of his 308 against the bigger engined cars on this high-speed hill but went off in a big way at Quarry. This left a sill dangling, which was quickly fixed by attention from many helpers. Jon Goodwin was visibly quicker than the rest, his 66.47 in the raucous 355 eventually proving to be the winning time.

On the third runs a hard-charging Ward improved to 67.58 but this still left him third in class. Clark's third run time was suspect, he was offered a re-run which he graciously declined, magnanimous in defeat, leaving the day to Goodwin whom he felt he could not have caught anyway. Goodwin failed to improve, but the day clearly belonged to him. His second run time broke the class record as stated in the programme, but this is incorrect with the record still standing to Christian Mineeff at 66.25.

Richard Allen finished in a strong fourth place in his 328, with Len Watson, in fifth, being the only other runner under the 69 sec mark. John Marshall, in the 328, rounded off the top six.

Thus ended the first part of an excellent day, the racers and their entourage later repairing to the Harewood Arms for the customary bun-fight. Special thanks to JCT 600 who generously provided a delicious barbecue for the FHC and the true heroes of British motorsport - the trackside marshals.