Report - Round 9 - 2004 Ferrari Hillclimb Championship - Club Racing Series'

One certain thing about being a scribbler and (self-appointed) pundit is that occasionally, one is forced to eat humble pie. In my report on Round 7 of this year’s FHCC, I expressed the opinion that Chris Butler was a good bet for outright wins, but would struggle against the 355’s PEPs. Well, I’m delighted to say that I was only half right. In the Series’ return to Loton Park, Chris took the outright win (his second this year), and maximum Championship points, becoming only the second 355 driver in the FHCC to do so.

At the last Loton, Chris was second to Jon Goodwin (355) on his first visit to the hill, but we were denied another head-to-head as Gooders forgot to get his entry in....... He was not alone in this, others had the same problem. Nick Taylor had an entry but preferred Cobra racing at Brands Hatch, which was surprising as he’s currently the man on form. But there are still five rounds left for him to have a go at the title, especially as dropped scores are now coming into play with only the best seven scores out of 14 possibles to count.

There was still a good entry of fourteen cars, with Peter Rogerson (355) and John Dobson (GT4) re-joining the fray. One-time Loton record holder Geoffrey Rollason had entered his new 360 F1 in the hope of regaining his record and Richard Allen was giving his 550 Maranello another run.

Unlike last time the weather was hot and muggy though it never looked like rain would spoil the fun.

In practice, on his first run, Mike Spicer went off under braking at the end of the straight. He took a trip across the grass and mounted “Bachelier’s Bank”, fortunately without serious consequences.

Series leader Richard Prior’s 348 ts and Butler’s 355 were both sporting racing seats – which give the driver more security, improving the all-important “feel”; there’s also a weight saving and they are PEPs free, making them the best value for money tweak available. Butler felt the benefit straight away and broke 62 seconds for the first time, but it was Rollason who was quickest with a 61.12.

Marco Pullen (Mondial t) was first away in the competition runs, progressing in a series of lurid slides, which we can put down to youthful exuberance and resulted in a time of 67.25. Jos van de Perre (308 GTS) put in his normal neat and tidy climb to record 72.14. Chris Butler was the first of the top runners, popping a wheel over the kerb and onto the grass on the inside of the fast, but tricky, adverse-camber “Loggerheads” corner and beat his practice time with a 61.44. Mike Spicer took the same approach, but was wider round “Triangle”, stopping the clocks on 64.70. Phil Whitehead was using all of the 355’s revs on his way to 65.86 which turned out to be his best time. Geoff Dark’s quick 308 GTB was next up, his downshifting probably the best of the field. He was a little untidy through “Triangle” but carried loads of speed through the right-hand kink and Keepers Corner onto the straight, his 63.47 was his best time of the weekend, good enough for fourth place overall and second after PEPs.

RA was really peddling the big 550, which looked like it had loads of grunt and the display of power-assisted wheel twirling was most impressive! Richard Prior took an “intermediate” line round “Loggerheads” and his 63.57 turned out to be his best time. Rollason’s 360 didn’t seem to know which gear it wanted to be in and its selection of them was somewhat jerky too and he could only manage a 61.88, slower than Butler, leaving the 355 pilota in the lead.

If anything, Marco was even wilder on his second run, which inevitably resulted in a slower run than his first. Jos van de Perre recorded exactly the same time, to one hundredth of a second! Colin Campbell (246 GT) made a useful improvement to 85.33, but was still slower than his first practice run. Next up was Chris Butler, absolutely determined to put more space between himself and Rollason, Prior and Dark, who were all within striking distance. He launched the car over the kerb at “Loggerheads”, was tidy into “Triangle”, which enabled him to get the throttle open early on the exit, he was quick through the corners onto the straight, with the merest flicker of brake lights between them and away, to record a stunning 60.69 seconds, which meant the rest would really have their work cut out to beat him.

Peter Rogerson was only 0.02 secs quicker than before, but Mike Spicer made a useful improvement to 64.06. Barry Wood found three quarters of a second and John Dobson four-tenths. Phil Whitehead spun and Geoff Dark was slower, but the 17 points he scored with his first run time moved him up to second in the Championship. Richard Allen really got to grips with the 550 and his 62.77 climb was over 3 seconds faster than his first practice run. This gave him third on the road, surely the best-ever result for a front-engined car? (nope - I got second in a 365GTC/4 at Prescott in, er, a long time ago - Ed) RA’s performance was a revelation, proving that there are always new challenges in hillclimbing and deserving of any “Driver of the Day” Award, were it not for Butler - maybe there should be one for Senior Citizen of the Day.

John Marshall (328 GTB) drove aggressively as always, improving to 65.81, but all eyes were now on Prior but he was slightly slower; however this was still his best result since Round 3 at Harewood and the 15 points he gained have given him a narrow lead in the title chase. Geoff Rollason’s last run was an anti-climactic 73.28 seconds, the 360’s gear changing having become terminally erratic.

This confirmed Chris Butler as a deserving and popular winner - sometimes humble pie tastes pretty good. His win was despite the handicap of a trapped nerve in his left arm; let’s hope it’s better in time for Curborough on August 15th, where, hopefully we’ll see Jon Goodwin back in action and also the return of Nick Frost.