Report - Round 11 - 2004 Ferrari Hillclimb Championship - Club Racing Series'

Prescott at its summer finest is a very hackneyed phrase but this September meeting really was glorious. Warm sunshine, large crowds and, because it was a British Championship meeting, some extraordinary racing and machinery. Adam Fleetwood, already crowned Champion for the second year running, again re-set the outright hill record in a magnificent display of car control and aggression. Rob Turnbull's new Gould fitted with a Ford HB engine has now pushed the power output to almost 700 bhp. Graham White Jnr's new car will also shortly appear with a V10 Arrows power unit. It looks excellent at the top end of British hillclimbing and there is some equally fine machinery throughout the classes.

The Ferrari entry was also pretty good, with all the leading runners present in what is becoming a classic shoot-out for the 2004 Ferrari Hill Climb Championship. The event also saw the first appearance of Gerald McAleer in his 348. Just to show how serious things were at the front of the field - Nick Taylor admitted to attending the mid-week Prescott Hillclimb School just to get a few more runs in.

Saturday's practice was already a close affair. On their first runs no less than four of the Ferrari drivers were already in the 51s: Taylor (Mondial) quickest, followed by Geoff Rollason (360), Jon Goodwin (355) and Richard Prior (348). On their second runs Goodwin and Taylor dipped into the 50s.

One unfortunate occurrence was the retirement (yet again) of Rollason's 360 from the competitive runs; despite setting good practice times he felt that the F1 paddle shift was playing up and so declined to come out to play.

Come Sunday, there was already some hard driving going on on the first competitive runs. Goodwin set the quickest time on a 50.55 (slower than in practice) but putting all four wheels on the grass at Ettore's kept him a second shy of his class record. Taylor's Mondial also looked a bit raggy, the engine on the limiter, but he set a time just 0.2 seconds behind Goodwin's 355. Prior's 348 was also on the limiter once or twice to take third spot, with Dark and Spicer a little out-gunned, but close together in fourth and fifth. Dark had a long lock-up going into Ettores, which did his time no good at all.

Rogerson's 355 had an over-steering moment through Orchard, which kept his time well down although just ahead of England and the very staid Dino of Colin Campbell. McAleer was learning about the tricky technical nature of the hill and spun at Pardon hairpin but without touching the bank which awaits right next to the track.

In the hot paddock sun during the lunch break there was plenty of psychological stuff going on ahead of those all important second and final runs. Goodwin may have been quickest so far but wasn't far enough ahead of Prior and Taylor to grab the all-important 20 Championship points. His 355 needed to overcome a 2.75% PEP factor. Prior and Taylor turned their cars around in unison to get the hot sun on to all four tyres whilst Goodwin went for a solitary walk up the hill to see where some more time could be saved.

In mid-afternoon came the second runs and it was clear from the tense atmosphere that a lot was at stake at the top of the Championship table. Usually by this time of the season it is down to just two contestants but this season it was still up for grabs between Goodwin, Prior, Taylor and Dark. Dropped scores were also coming heavily into play and there was a lot of mathematical calculation going on as well as thinking how to get the car quicker up the hill. No wonder one or two had to sit down, feeling faint....

On his second run McAleer avoided any mishaps and got to the top in 59 seconds to successfully complete his first Ferrari event. Rogerson set a nearly identical time to his first run, with a 54.87, and then Goodwin blasted away but on 50.76 was slower than his first run. This was the chance the others had been waiting for.

Taylor gave it everything in his Mondial, slipping and sliding through the Esses, but he was also slightly slower than on his first run. Was the track going away? Mike Spicer's 328 was next and he also went slower, as did the following Geoff Dark. Chris England, however, completely reversed the trend and went up over half a second quicker than on his first run so there was clearly nothing wrong with the track.

All eyes were then on Prior and indeed he did not disappoint. With a stunning effort, his car on the very edges of adhesion, he set a time of 50.57 seconds which was easily the quickest of the second runs but just a tantalising 200ths behind Goodwin's first run time. That gave him the maximum points. With justification Richard was absolutely delighted and now moves back to the top of the Championship table, with Goodwin and Taylor tied in second place just three points behind and Dark in fourth, a further eight points in arrears.

The next round of the Championship takes place at Harewood on Saturday 18 September, where all the leading runners will be joined by occasional entrant and past champion Nick Frost who will be trying everything for that overall win. But the real contest will be for those vital Championship points.