Report - Round 9 - 2007 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship - Club Racing Series'

<% theSection = "club_racing_series" %> Report - Round 9 - 2007 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship - Club Racing Series' - Ferrari Owners' Club

PIRELLI FERRARI HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND 9 : LOTON PARK: 8 JULY 2007
report by Richard Allen

Round two on Sunday of the Loton Park double header saw the same number of Ferraris entered, though there were a couple of changes. John Marshall (328GTB) and Barry Wood (F355) effectively replaced Charlie White (F355) and Mark Buckland (F355) who had put in a sick note. The weather unlike the previous day was gloomy, with the possibility of rain later.

Same as Saturday first practice it was David Tomlin who put his F355 in the lead. On 62.35, he was just ahead of Richard Prior's 348ts at 62.47 – Butler (F355) and Taylor (348GTC) were not far behind though. Elsewhere Sergio Ransford (308GTB) was back in the sixty sixes and Pauline Goodwin (328GTB) in the sixty fives. By the time the second practice runs were on the scoreboard, Chris Butler had taken charge again with a handy 61.63. Nick Taylor too had a good run with 61.99, whilst David Tomlin spun his F355 very neatly to a halt on the apex of Fallow – he said he selected reverse instead of second, though it seemed a strange place to be gearshifting. Richard Prior was fourth fastest at 62.42. After that it was Richard Allen (F355) on 63.01, then Geoff Dark (308GTB) on 63.78. Pauline Goodwin next was just ahead of John Marshall. Andrew Holman was going well again with his decibel delinquent 348, as was Jon Goodwin once again pounding the Lusso up Loton at ridiculous speeds for such an old machine.

Some unusual things happened with the weather during the afternoon official runs that were to affect the Ferrari class times. It was really strange was this occurred on both runs in almost identical circumstances. There was a shower beforehand and then the track dried out very fast over the time it took to run the twenty Ferraris up the hill. Furthermore the last half dozen or so of our drivers had the luxury of walking across from the startline queue to Triangle corner to see the conditions for themselves. I was running half way down, and was able to witness that the people ahead of me had much more difficult conditions than those that followed. If you look at the differences between official run times and practice times you can see who was running early. Anyway generally the faster people were towards the back so it did not really have that much affect on the overall results.

On the first competitive runs Nick Taylor took the GTC up in 62.85, leading from Richard Prior on 63.29, with Tomlin next. Where was Butler? Well this time some of his precision went awry - he out braked himself at Triangle, running over a plastic cone whilst he was about it. Unbeknown to Chris the cone lodged under his 355 and he took it with him for the rest of the way up the hill. I don’t fancy jaywalking around Barnard Castle if this is anything to go by! Geoff Dark on 65.80 was on his own and there were huge time gaps after through the class, with several in the eighty second bracket up the wet end. By the time of the final Ferrari runs another shower had wetted the track for the first away Charles Haynes (348GTC), followed by wife Tracey (328GTB). She finished with a best of 84.25 to head Colin Campbell – he was running his 246 in the second, drier half of the running order and at 89.37 was near his dry Saturday time. Edward Briscoe (308GT4) a bit nearer the drier order was next fastest at 81.95 some way off Charles Haynes on 76.93. Barry Wood on his first outing at Loton with his F355 was just ahead on 75.08 and close to Richard Preece’s 75.00 with the 308GT4.

"Change my pitch up, smack my bitch up "

Peter Rogerson (F355) running midfield finished with 72.26 some way back from Andrew Holman, who running near the front slipped several places over his Saturday results at 70.50. Sergio Ransford was going well again with 70.25 – he nearly caught David Hathaway (348ts) on 70.20. John Swift was the first below seventy seconds with his F355 with 69.46, and ahead of him was the 328GTB of John Marshall – he was down the dry end and on 68.20. Jon Goodwin’s Lusso the last Ferrari running put in two sixty seven second runs just below his Saturday times – a remarkable performance that was to earn Jon the coveted 20 points, and comfortably win the club handicap too! Pauline for once was a little cautious, but still very respectable at 67.41, and not far behind your reporter's equally cautious 66.98. Geoff Dark meanwhile went slower on his final run, comfortable with his first of 65.80.

The finishing order for the fastest four remained the same as Saturdays result. David Tomlin fourth with the F355 on 63.56, Richard Prior third with his 348ts at 63.29 and a handy 17 points for his trouble. Nick Taylor to his chagrin lost his first run lead and the class win – a messy last run of 64.36 with his splendid 348GTC was not what he needed, though second overall is no disgrace. Chris Butler once again assumed his command of the Loton hill. After the start line marshals had removed the by now very dead cone from under his F355, he put in a very fast, neat and well judged run to top out the class at 62.62 and pick up 15 points too.