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 FERRARI HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP Always eagerly awaited is the May Harewood meeting, with generally the biggest Ferrari entry of the season at this popular venue. Unusual also was the nice weather this year - it's generally cold and windy but this time the anoraks came off and there was even the odd T- shirt to be seen. There was a healthy entry of 17 cars. An analysis of the tipos represented showed that the (curvy) 308 was the most numerous with five examples and an additional two GT4s. There were three each of 328s, 355s and 348s. Unusually, there were no 246 Dinos and only Maranello Sales Director Tony Willis present to uphold 12 cylinder honours in a 330 GTC. This is in contrast to the PMFC where the series is almost exclusively the preserve of 355s and 360s, showing perhaps that the older tipos are better suited to more gentlemanly pursuits. Practise in the morning already told a tale (but only part of it - watch Esom later) in that Nick Frost (348GTC) was quickest, followed by local hero Simon Clark (328GTS) and Richard Allen (355), with those three the only ones to get under the 70sec mark. After lunch it all started in earnest. Frost took an early lead, ahead of Alan and Clark. But both Chris England (308GTS) and Terry Esom (in his first 355 outing) joined them in the sub-70sec bracket. Richard Prior (348ts), trying just too hard, put it straight into the gravel and forfeited his second run while all the stones were cleared away from the cambelts. On the second runs Frost dipped way down into the 66sec mark and left the rest floundering; his nearest persuer at that time, Clark (who was running non-FHCC eligible tyres in a bid for glory) was over 2 seconds behind. But Terry Esom was creeping up, getting quicker all the time....... The third and final runs of the day were exciting to watch, with no less than seven runners getting below 70secs. Nick Frost, however, was uncatchable and took his first-ever FHCC win. With a mighty effort, Esom took another half-a-second off his previous time and snatched second place from Clark who in turn was just three-hundredths of a second in front of of Allen. That was close! This competitiveness was consistent throughout the field. As is usual in the FHCC, everyone has someone to battle with. The next two places (Jackson and Dark) were just four-hundredths apart and Chris England was just five-hundredths behind. Even with the PEP factors applied Nick Frost still took maximun championship points ahead of Jackson and England. Overall, after three rounds, Goodwin, England and Dark are tied for first place at the top of the table, with Prior and Jackson just behind. Following the event the happy throng repaired to a nearby hostelry for dinner, where Harewood's Pat Kenyon and husband Brian were the guests of honour. A small "thank you" from the Club for Pat, on her birthday, for the fantastic reception we always receive at Harewood. Look forward to our next event there! RESULTS :
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