For Round 5 the Series moved from the scenic splendour of Harewood in Yorkshire to the flat, featureless, wide-open spaces of MIRA in Leicestershire. This isn’t exactly a glamorous place, few ex-airfields are but it has its own attractions.

It’s one of the few speed events venues where the Ferraris can really stretch their legs and as an observer, you can enjoy the sight and sound of them being driven flat out for a long period. Drivers are also faced with a track where choosing the correct line makes a lot of difference.

There was an excellent entry of 15 cars and the outright winner was expected to come from the 355 contingent - this being a place where power makes a big difference. 2004 winner Chris Butler was back and was obviously a favourite, but Jon Goodwin, who had been absent the previous year, was expected to challenge for the win. It was also going to be interesting to see reigning Champion Nick Taylor in his newly-acquired 348GTC, as Nick is always quick, is a circuit racer and Nick Frost has shown that the tipo is quite capable of challenging the 355s.

Points leader Richard Prior (348ts) was not looking forward to the event as MIRA has proved to be something of a bogey venue for him in the past, and second place man Geoff Dark (308M) always goes well here.

Barry Wood (308GTS) and Marco Pullen (Mondial t) were making their ’05 debuts, though Marco hadn’t intentionally left it this late and his troubled season was unfortunately to continue. David Tomlin (355) was a Championship debutant, fresh from the Club’s Curborough Tuition Day early in the week.

Unlike last year the weather was fine but there was a blustery wind which occasionally disrupted the timing gear, inevitably causing delays. Chris Butler was quickest in practice but only a couple of tenths ahead of Taylor, and Gooders suffered a rare spin. Charlie White (355) turned up late, after the rest of the class had had their first practice run, but sweet-talked his way into a later batch!

He led the class away for the competition runs ahead of Chris Butler, who was relishing the wide-open spaces and threw the gauntlet down by improving on his best practice time with a 54.79 secs run. David Tomlin was next up, ahead of Gooders who recorded a 55.67 run, which turned out to be his best of the weekend. The speed trap showed that at 90mph he was a massive 15mph down on Butler and only the normale 308s and Campbell’s Dino were slower! There was some banter about which gear he was in, but it was initially dismissed as a timing glitch.

Marco Pullen was missing gears and only recorded a 60.27; it later emerged that he was having serious 'box troubles and did not take his second run. More worrying for him was that he was due to compete in the same car in the classic race at nearby Mallory Park the next day.

Richard Prior did not let his concerns about the venue trouble him and recorded an excellent 56.07 and at 108 mph was second fastest of all through the speed trap, which necessitated some heavy braking into the Esses but he still made it. John Marshall (328GTB) recorded his best time of the weekend, with a 57.76, but Nick Taylor was slightly slower than his best practice time. Andy Grier (328GTS) recorded his best time and birthday girl Pauline Goodwin recorded a time only slightly slower than in practice, despite selecting 5th rather than 3rd in the Esses. Geoff Dark had “No Time”, blasted through the speed trap fastest of all at 110mph on his re-run, but spun on the exit of the Esses, leaving it all to do on his second run.

Charlie White knocked 1½ seconds off on his second run, despite some sideways moments. This gave him an excellent 5th place overall, just behind the big boys. Chris Butler had been feeling the tension over lunch but used it to work for him, stopping the clock four-tenths faster than before to record a 54.39, which gave him the win by three-quarters of a second from Taylor.

David Tomlin looked good and knocked off 1½ seconds to finish 6th overall. An extremely promising FHCC debut, though as an ex-superkarter he’s used to speed but this must be a whole new (different) ball game. A puzzled Gooders was a tenth slower than his previous run, which at 55.79 was nearly 1½ secs down on Butler. His speed was better at 93 mph but still poor. It later emerged that a cracked exhaust manifold was causing the engine management system to reduce the power.

Phil Whitehead (355) improved to 57.71 but Richard Prior was slower, as was John Marshall who had a moment, but still went home with a useful 11 points. Nick Taylor improved to 55.14 in his 348GTC, taking second place on the first outing - this combination clearly has a lot of potential. Andy Grier was attempting to break the Ferrari 328 world MIRA speed record and at 107mph he made it but unfortunately not the following corner. PG was next up and was quick through the fast never-ending first corner and, with the aid of an improvised 5th gear blocker, found the right gears at the right time and knocked a whopping 3.19 seconds off to give her 11th overall and 10th on PEPs.

Jos van de Perre’s 308 was clearly struggling at this power venue, it only recorded 87mph through the speed trap but Jos still improved to 63.54. Barry Wood in a similar tipo had the same problem but he improved too to 61.52, winning the 308N battle. Geoff Dark was charging but got it sideways on the exit of the Esses, which also hurt him on the fast section that follows. This meant he was fourth on PEPs, making Prior even happier to go home with second which extended his championship lead.

But the day belonged to Chris Butler who, in winning outright, on PEPs and breaking the class record, joined the FHCC elite.

So, on to Shelsley Walsh for the third meeting in as many weekends!

Click here for 1st 64ft times and trap speeds.

NB

Cameras are not allowed at the MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) proving ground, so there's no pics folks.........

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