The Class of '04

The third round of the Club's hillclimb championship was at Harewood near Harrogate and a splendid field of 19 Ferraris was rewarded once again by the most glorious Yorkshire weather.

Leon Bachelier was a welcome newcomer, making his Ferrari competition debut. He is a very experienced and successful hillclimber but his 512M is very different to his last car, a Gould-modified Dallara single seater.

Leon’s was the only 12 cylinder car as Tony Willis and his 330 GTC are currently “resting” – come back soon Tony. A notable entry was Len Watson’s F40 – he is emigrating to Australia soon and had sold his 328. The F40 has to go too as Skippy is confused by cars with the steering wheel on the wrong side. Richard Allen was in his 355 after a wheel had fallen off his hard-used 328 at the ferrari classic race at Donington the previous weekend.

2002 Champion Jon Goodwin was out in his Mondial as an oil pump tensioning thingy had failed in his 355 and that’s an engine-out job. This did make things more interesting as in the 355 Jon is normally favourite to win outright and on PEPs, but in the Mondial the former was unlikely but the latter still a strong possibility. Returning 2003 Champion Nick Frost (348 GTC) was therefore likely to take the outright win and it looked like the battle for maximum championship points would be between Series’ leader Richard Prior in his Damax-prepared 348 ts, Nick Taylor (Mondial t) and Goodwin.

Prior was just quickest in practice, slightly ahead of the race-rusty Frost, this being his first event of the season, with Goodwin, Taylor and Peter Hitchman (355) all there or thereabouts. In the first competition runs Christopher England and Mike Haigh were quick, as was Geoff Dark, his 308 sounding suitably raucous to record 69.41 secs, which proved to be his best time of the day. Nick Taylor’s Mondial, now fitted with a "Gelo" exhaust, was noisier too, but I don’t think this contributed to his “wobble” at Quarry. Len Watson was wisely taking things circumspectly in the F40; this tipo has a habit of firing itself itself off into the picturesque hillclimb scenery when the turbos spool up, as a number of previous competitors have found to their cost.

In contrast, Leon Bachelier was trying hard and knocked 10 seconds off his practice time, despite a dramatic lock-up going into Farmhouse bend. Chris Butler (355) was smooth but a little subdued and was slower than Dark and RA. Richard Prior was charging hard as always and put two wheels onto the grass on the exit of Farmhouse but still recorded 68.46 which was good enough for second. Jon Goodwin was a little concerned, he had fitted 355 wheels to his Mondial which were catching the suspension - later cured by the insertion of some spacers. He could not match Chris Hitchman (355), who recorded a fine 68.55 run for third place, but it was Nick Frost who ended up on top with a 67.65 run – 0.81 seconds clear.

The main topic of conversation during the lunch break was a Red Kite soaring majestically overhead. The species are being re-introduced to the UK and there is a breeding programme at nearby Harewood House. The raptor looked entirely happy, unlike the parents of young children and the owners of small and tasty single-seaters.

Maybe it was justifiable humility in the face of the wonders of nature, or too many chip butties and ice creams, but a few were not really “on it” for their second runs, though Chris Butler did well, taking off 1.14 seconds. Richard Allen hit a kerb, dislodged a tyre and spun in Farmhouse – making consecutive events where his car/track interface has been un-optimised. A hard-charging Nick Taylor was following him and did not see the red flags until quite late. This resulted in a “chat” with the Clerk of the Course afterwards, 3 points on his licence and £50 out of his wallet. Another Club member (a Director, no less) also fell foul of officialdom. This recently retired hillclimber and still current sportscar record holder strolled off down the slip-road, only to be hailed by a Paddock Marshall with “Oi you, you can’t go down there”. How the mighty are fallen!

Back on track, Jolyon Harrison was notably energetic, Mike Spicer improved by a smidgeon, Philip Whitehead and Peter Hitchman both knocked off good chunks of time on what turned out to be their best runs of the weekend.

On the third runs, Marco Pullen shaved off a little time; Jos Van De Perre improved too, though his 308 looks like it could do with some new dampers. John Dobson (GT4) set his best time of the weekend, as did Leon Bachelier, not a bad debut considering his total experience in the car was 80 road miles. He will do better when he learns that the knob he was twiddling was the radio not the brake balance. Richard Allen kept it all together to record 69.37, Nick Taylor and Chris Butler improved slightly to finish up 7th and 5th overall respectively, but Chris Hitchman gave it everything to move into a great 3rd overall.

Jon Goodwin psyched himself up and used maximum attack to record 68.37, 4th overall and second after PEPs. Cravat askew, he later admitted that he had to drive the Mondial absolutely flat out but tidily, unlike the 355 where he can behave more like a hooligan without hurting the times. The Mondials looked to be struggling at this power hill and it transpired at Donington that some are 200kg heavier than some 328s. It’s interesting just how much the weight varies for individual models of the same tipo. I guess it just depends on how many tools Luigi left inside the sills when he built them, or how many coats of paint Giuseppe felt like putting on that day.

A noticeably relaxed Nick Frost (only doing a very limited season this year) consolidated his class win with a 66.79 run noticeable for tightness of line, sharpness of apex, earliness of throttle opening and numbers of revs! There was a lot of pressure on Richard Prior, as both Frost and Goodwin ran after him. He handled it very well and delivered a quick and tidy run, more flowing than Frost’s, which resulted in an improvement to 67.89 to take maximum points to keep him in the lead of the Championship in his Damax prepared car. (Is that enough mentions for the discount, Richard?)

So ended a great day’s sport; except for a happy throng who enjoyed an informal dinner that night in the Harewood Arms. It was good to see a number of the Yorkshire Area Group members coming along to join in the fun at their local hill.

The next round is on 29 May at MIRA but that, unfortunately, is a venue at which spectators are not admitted. All the more shame as there will be a huge number of Ferraris entered......

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Newcomer Leon Bachelier patiently listens to a few tips

Series' leader Richard Prior looks stressed with his Gameboy

Geoff Dark's first run was his quickest

Len " Bruce" Watson treads carefully in the mighty F40

Chris Hitchman finished in an excellent third spot

Lunch time aerial display - Yorkshire style

RA had another 'wheel' moment

How many Ferrari hillclimbers does it take...

Jolyon Harrison drove enthusiastically...

...as did Mike Spicer

Philip Whitehead's second run was his best of the weekend....

...as was Peter Hitchman's

Maro Pullen's last run was his best

Jos Van De Perre's 308 looks like it needs new shockers

John Dobson gives it all on the last run

Chris England's 308 howls through the Farmyard

Mike Haigh was sixth on the road, but ineligible for points

The return of a WMD - Bachelier's 512 M

Nick Taylor had a mixed weekend

Chris Butler had to give way in the 355 race

Jon Goodwin made his Mondial give everything it'd got

Richard Prior took max. points...

...but Nick Frost returned in triumph with the overall win

pics by Alan Jackson & CMdigicams