The 2008 Championship was back to 15 rounds at 11 venues, but this became 14 at 10 when Longleat was abandoned through bad weather. There always seems to be something not quite right about this meeting and it does not appear on the 2009 calendar, neither has it been counted as part of this analysis. The Championship ventured north of the border again to Doune, the "Mother of all Hills" and this time attracted an entry of a dirty dozen (plus a guest). It stays in for 2009. There will be two "overseas" rounds next year as the Easter falls at a suitable time, so the hillclimbers can once again enjoy the delights of Jersey and Bouley Bay in the Spring. In fact, it's hard to think of anywhere the Series should go but doesn't, though I bet Chris Butler would like go to Croft and I'm sure RA would love to swoop off a Brooklands' banking again.

Most venues attracted strong entries, the average being 17.6 per meeting, some again being limited by the event organisers. Credit most be given to the Series organisers for securing so many places at the prestigious National Prescott and Shelsley meetings. The largest entry was 24 at the second Loton and the smallest, nine at Cadwell Park. This clashed with formula classic at Oulton Park and at one point the entry was so poor it meant that reduced points would have been awarded. This would have been most unfair to those who had supported the Championship all year and were still fighting for position and thanks are due to those who rallied round to avoid this. Cadwell is a great venue, but for some reason has never been particularly popular, maybe because it's a long way east and awkward to get to. Also, history teaches that eastern invasions with extended supply lines tend to become somewhat tricky. Whatever, it's not on the 2009 calendar.

In terms of supporting the Series, Andrew Holman was this year's Banana Superiore, competing in all 14 scoring meetings plus the aborted Longleat. The average number of meetings per driver was up to again to 8.2 with 18 (60%) actually doing the magic 8 or more. In addition to Andrew, the roll of honour reads Mike Spicer (who did 14), new Champion Jon Goodwin, Chris Butler, Dave Tomlin, Richard Prior, Phil Whitehead, Richard Allen, Geoff Dark, John Marshall, Pauline Goodwin, Barrie Wood, Ricardo Preece, Sean Doyle, Tracey Haynes, Peter Rogerson, Charles Haynes and Wendy-Ann Marshall.

As regular readers will know, we have a spreadsheet of the results for the whole year, devised by Tony Cotton, that allows us to play "what if?" games with the PEPs. With the whole structure having been revised for 2009, with the 355 becoming the baseline, we've got something interesting to get our teeth into. I must emphasise that, although this tool was used to supply one set of figures early on in the PEPs revision process, it was not called upon to any serious extent.

Last year's Championship was fought out between Jon Goodwin and Chris Butler, and was unique in that, for the first time, someone (Gooders) alternated between two tipi to maximum effect. Much has been said about this, but it's unlikely ever to be repeated with a draconian change to Lucy's PEP of plus 4.75% vs. the 355 (-7%/+2.25% to -4.5%/0%). True, her PEP was a little on the squidgy side, but this drastic change, which puts her on the same as a 308, will render her totally uncompetitive. I calculate a change of +1.25% would have put her on par with the 355, based on this year's results.

I can better understand the increase in the 430 PEP, which doubles its disadvantage to the 355 from 1.25% to 2.5%. (3.5%/2.25% to 2.5%/0%). The potential of this awesomely powerful tipo is yet to be fully realised and no-one wants to see the Championship dominated by the latest (and most expensive) toy. I reckon that this increase in PEP means that it will still be competitive. For sure, its operators will have to work a bit harder, but the good news is they are becoming increasingly cost-effective.

I couldn't understand why some tipi, like the 348, had been disadvantaged by +0.25% vs. the 355. I sought an explanation and was informed that the general consensus is that distances between PEPs on 348-to-348GTC-to-355 should be equally spaced based on power to weight ratios, rather than the Hogwarts-based techniques previously employed.

However, my "Boys' Bumper Book of Fazzas" tells me that the 328GTB and 348tb have the same power-to-weight ratio, so shouldn't they have the same PEP? Also, the Mondi t has a worse power-to- weight ratio than both, so shouldn't it have a softer PEP? Tongue-in-cheek apart, if you look at these scenarios, you can see that apart from the effect on poor ol' Gooders, the thing that makes the biggest single difference is the removal of the '08 Champ's +1% from Richard Prior. This proves yet again that minor changes bring about minor differences, and that the most important nut is the one that holds the wheel.

Wrangling over PEPs aside, I have to agree with Andrew Holman, who said in his review of the year that Gooders drove brilliantly and thoroughly deserved his Championship and that Chris Butler was a worthy runner-up. I can add that Andrew worked hard for and thoroughly deserved the final podium place; also he and Richard Prior brought the Pirelli Temple along to the meetings, where it was an absolute life-saver given the weather last "summer". Mind you, it'd be nice to have an espresso machine and maybe - a shrubbery.

And that's it - make of it what you will. Both on the track and in all of the "metrics" it's the right people who were on top. As always in racing, class shows.

Click here to go to the full results.

Click here to go to the 2008 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship page.

Click here to go to the 2009 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship page.

 

Wet weather was again a feature of the year and totally did for Longleat. Bless the Pirelli Temple!

Mad Dog proudly shows off his 'Doune Stripes'

Loton II was the most popular meeting....

....occasionally racing interrupted lunch

Cadwell was picturesque but unpopular

355 was Series' favourite and becomes PEPs baseline for '09

The Series was ultimately between these two

Do draconian change to Lucy's PEP mean we will ever see her again?

430 drivers will just have to try a bit harder next year

Wendy-Ann Marshall consistently demonstrated the Series' second most popular tipo

Andrew Duncan has lift-off in his annual outing in one of the Series' four 348GTCs

The Series' only Dino gets a wash and brush up

The driver is the single most important factor - though sometimes it's hard to believe

360 is disgracefully penalised for 2009 (it says here)

Thanks to all who supplied pics in 2008 Andrew & Yvonne Holman, Bob Holmes, CMdigicams, Graham Easter, Liz Malone, Pauline Goodwin, Rob Libralon, Richard Allen, Richard Prior, Tony Cotton, Tracey Haynes and of course Scuderia Fotografia Also to Ricardo Preece for in-car movies