FERRARI HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP
REPORT : ROUND 3 : MIRA : 26 MAY 2001
by Mike Spicer

In stark contrast to last summer, the weather at MIRA was glorious. The turnout of Ferraris was reasonable with 11 cars at this interesting venue. The authority of the official giving the drivers' briefing was completely undermined by an experimental V-12 Aston howling round the banked test circuit that surrounds the infield track we were using.

The usual wait to get on the start line was extended to a hot 40 mins as the track cones were repositioned to accommodate the poor steering lock of the big single seaters before us (yes, the lock is even worse than a 308).

And so to first practice, and first off - enthusiastic new man Philip Whitehead (328GTB); nice to see Hitchman junior and senior here for the first time also. Next off - one of the championship favourites, Nick Frost (348GTC) posting an excellent 57.77. But, as at Harewood, it was our latest hotshot (taking over the position from Robin Ward), Peter Hayman (512 TR) heading the list with an excellent 56.04, only slightly shy of Richard Allen's record, and this was his first time here!

Peter was closely followed by Brian Jackson (F355) and Nick Frost, with Geoff Dark (308GT4) just half a second ahead of Mike Spicer (308GTB) followed by Len Watson (328GTS) who was having more mechanical problems, pumping water out of the overflow. Further down with an excellent effort was Philip Whitehead putting in a superb 63.59 with a rousing 93 mph through the speed trap - no mean feat on your second-ever competitive outing.

Another long wait to get on to the start in increasingly hot conditions saw another titanic battle develop between Hayman and Frost but with Brian Jackson sticking his oar in and splitting their times.

The final runs were exciting stuff, with Hayman seemingly having the edge with both himself and Jackson under Allen's 1998 record. However, Nick Frost had other ideas pipping him by just 200ths again but then Jackson released all the 355's grunt storming through the trap at 111 mph to record an impressive 54.42 secs.

Hayman knew he had it all to do, howling through the trap at 112 mph - he had a nasty moment at the next corner but did manage to keep one wheel on the tarmac to record 56.34, leaving Jackson with fastest time and Frost with maximum points.

Geoff Dark in fourth recorded another impressive speed trap time of 108 mph followed by myself with a surprising 106 mph. I harp on about these speeds as the first five were all faster than we have seen here before. Next up was Len Watson still overflowing but recording a healthy 58.85. Peter Hitchman (F355GTS), with a very hairy starting technique, finally got ahead of Chris (308GTS) followed by John Dobson (328GTB), followed by Philip Whitehead in a standard 328 not on the most suitable tyres, and Jos (308GTS) in the guards' van.

In summary - good weather, fast times and an event we all enjoyed maybe more than we had anticipated.

Those Speeds.........
Not that I would ever compare driving our Ferrari road cars with top line hill climb sprint single seaters, but nevertheless, Peter Hayman's and Brian Jackson's MIRA speed-trap times were only 20 mph down on the top single seaters at this event - compared with approximately 50mph less at Shelsley or a staggering 58 mph less at Gurston courtesy of our now PMFC cousin David Grace.

Big Brakes
Chris Hitchman, now running his 308 QV in Group 2 due to his AP racing front callipers, tells me now has a tendency to lock up the fronts. This is not the first time I've heard this - to my knowledge four of the hill climbing Group 2 308's are running four pot callipers on the front and three suffer from the same problem. Didn't affect Mr Ward when he had my old blue car as he never used the brakes!

Top Secret
I was surprised to see a guy openly walking round the MIRA paddock with Nikons hanging all over him! As you know this is not allowed. No worries though as this was Steve Wilkinson (the one and only official photographer). Steve tells me he took one of most of the Ferraris so if you want copies - give him a ring on 01704 225267.

RESULTS :

POINTS STANDING AFTER ROUND 3 :

Pos.	Driver	Tipo	Points
1	Peter Hayman	512TR	43
2	Nick Frost	348GTC	37
3	Michael Spicer	308GTB	31
4	Brian Jackson	F355/308GTB	26
5	Geoff Dark	308GT4	25
6	Simon Clark	328GTS	20
7	Len Watson	328GTS	15
8=	Jeff Simpson	246GT	14
8=	John Dobson	328GTB/308GT4	14
8=	Stuart Bailey	246GT	14
8=	Jos Van de Perre	308GTS	14
12=	Robin Ashley	246GTS	13
12=	Richard Allen	360M	13
14	Chris Hitchman	308GTS	10
15	Christopher England	308GTS	9
16	Philip Whitehead	328GTB	9
17	Peter Hitchman	F355GTS	8
18	Terry Esom	328GTB	7
19	Sally Maynard-Smith	328GTS	1

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