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These last rounds of the 2004 series have been producing both drama and excitement and Longleat was to prove no exception. This scenically stunning venue in Wiltshire is renowned for its often slippery and daunting course. The first half has some strange surface material that when wet has a practically zero co-efficient of friction. It is impossible to make any kind of a fast start off the line. Eleven Ferraris assembled in the paddock Saturday morning – not as many as anticipated, as at least four of our competitors had failed to get an entry for various reasons. The “Chart Toppers” were all on parade, though we nearly lost Richard Prior – he was an hour late as some inconsiderate person had parked in front of his garage. The morning practice runs were sort of dry, though on the first run the track was damp from overnight dew which was to catch out Philip Whitehead. Inspired no doubt by his excellent time at the recent Harewood meeting he went a fraction too hard over the fast right hander, dropping the F355 in the process. He took out one of the Marquis of Bath’s small trees and scattered a couple of those giant “cotton reel” straw bales - these things weigh a ton or two and are not as gentle as a Recticel barrier. The front of Philip's 355 was a bit shredded as a result, though the car was still a runner. Jon Goodwin was to lead the practice time chart with his F355, appropriate really as he has the class record at 42.15. This time he was on 42.80 which augured well for the day. Significantly Chris Butler was next at 43.41 with his F355, then Nick Taylor (Mondial 3.4t) on 43.85 and Richard Prior (348ts) just five hundredths of a second back from Nick. On PEP factored times these two were in a theoretical lead at this point.
Longleat has a couple of catering facilities, one in the cellars under Longleat House and most of the Ferrari drivers took advantage of this. Surfacing in to the daylight after lunch it was noted that it was now wet and fairly hissing down – not the best weather for this place as can be appreciated from the earlier description of the course. This inclement stuff was to make for some interesting results – on the first competitive runs Nick Taylor got off the line well and stormed away in to the lead with 49.01 - well ahead of his championship points rivals. Also remarkably fast was Geoff Dark, taking his 308GTB up in 50.13. Both these two were well ahead of such luminaries as Jon Goodwin, Richard Prior and Chris Butler. Nick, looking rather pleased with his amazing time, was now firmly on the 20 point trail and in good shape to clinch the Championship. At this point the running order behind this crowd was Richard Allen (550M), Chris Hitchman (F355), Barry Wood (308GTB), Peter Hitchman (F355) and Colin Campbell (246GT). For the second runs it was still wet but times fell noticeably. Taylor again was really quick at 48.00. I saw his time come up and immediately thought – wow, nobody can top that. But somebody did and handsomely too! Chris Butler this time made the fastest start and went on up the hill exploiting his F355 to the full, stopping the clocks at an amazing 46.79 – maybe his best result to date. Taylor though was still happy, his time had secured another 20 points and he was now in an unassailable lead for this year’s title. Jon Goodwin just got third on 48.56 from Richard Prior on 48.58, with Geoff Dark still going well at 49.86 despite a slow four second 0-64ft. Chris Hitchman got his F355 up next ahead of my 550. I found the car nearly impossible to drive on the first part of the course. I started in second and it would not have it, shifted to third and that was not much good either, then used fourth most of the way except for the hairpin. Barry Wood improved dramatically on this final run to 52.48, as did Colin Campbell, the conditions suiting his 246GT with its lack of ponies admirably. His best result this season as he won the club handicap with a time of 65.23. After all this excitement we returned to the paddock to congratulate Nick Taylor on finally wresting the 2004 FHCC title from his nearest pursuers Richard Prior and Jon Goodwin, and Chris Butler for his stunning and very convincing Ferrari class win.
Click here to return to the Ferrari Hill Climb Championship page.
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