So, dear reader, after 13 rounds from the flat wastelands of Essex to majestic hills of bonnie Scotland, the 2009 Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship reached its finale, a single lap of Curborough sprint course nr. Lichfield in Staffs. Not a picturesque or charismatic venue but conveniently situated for a last round and fiendishly difficult to get right.

The event attracted a good entry of 19 as, although Nick Taylor had tied-up the No.1 spot in the Championship a few rounds ago, there were still a number of places to be settled. These included second and third, which was a straight fight between Chris Butler and Richard Prior, and fourth to sixth between Christian Mineeff, Mike Spicer and Andrew Holman. Seventh and eighth looked likely to remain in the hand of Jon and Pauline Goodwin. They were absent as their older son was getting married this weekend. Mr & Mrs Goodwin Jnr. were lent PG's 550M, in which Gooders has competed for much of the year, for their honeymoon - camping in France!

Most of the other usual suspects were there, though RA was in his 328 "rat racer", having competed in the roundy-roundy the day before at Oulton. Scuderia Hitchman were out in force again, though only Lorraine was in a Ferrari. Pa had sold his Mondi t and Chris's 355 was just too lovely to use having just undergone a restoration following a garage fire, so they were sharing Chris and Lorraine's runabout - a Fiat 500....

Unlike at Oulton, at Curbro the sun shone on the righteous. Previous round winner Christian Mineeff (360) was quickest in P1, but suffered that familiar Curborough sinking feeling after P2 for not only was he no longer quickest, he was sixth! John Marshall's 430 Scud topped the times on a 35.17, but seven cars in the 35s show just how close it was. Tracey Haynes and the curvy Hitchman were just two-hundredths apart in their 328s and Chris Hitchman got the 500 round in 43.42, which was remarkable for a standard 1.4.

Lunchtime over, first off for the runs that mattered was Julian Playford (355), who broke into another second with a 41.17. Sean Doyle completed the first run driving with controlled aggression to take a 38.47, highly respectable but frustratingly a couple of tenths slower than P1. Tracey Haynes only just failed to match her P2 time, but Lorraine was slower, with Wendy Marshall not far behind in her 328. RA's fuel pump packed up after P1, but he took up Lorraine's generous offer to drive her 328. He showed his gratitude by going a second quicker than the car's owner and the Hitchmans had entertained him to dinner the night before!

Andrew Holman (355) was slower than in practice too, down in the 36s with a 36.05. This was promptly beaten by Richard Prior's 35.77 in his trusty 348ts. Nick Taylor was the next contender and improved to a 35.42, despite an ultra-wide exit of the top corner. Richard Preece made a cautious start, but Phil Whitehead joined those in the 35s with 35.88 in his 355.

Chris Butler could only manage a 35.51 in his 355, which was immediately beaten by Mike Spicer's 35.49 in his. Mike had the tail out in the Mole Hill, but took a tight line out of the top. It was fascinating how close the times were despite different lines and driving styles. Sean Doyle had equalled Mike's best Ferrari first 64ft time of 2.20 seconds, but on R1 at Curborough Mike did a 2.19 secs to set a new best time. I was sorry to hear that Mike plans to take a sabbatical from hillclimbing next year. We will all miss this staunch supporter of both the Series and his fellow competitors - come back soon.

Back on track, the pace slowed a little for the 360F1 Gentlemen Racers Peter Rogerson and Jeff Cooper. As usual, Jeff had the upper hand. Next up was Mineeff in his manual 360. It looked good, nice and tidy, moderate use of the kerbs, bit wide out of the top, over the line, 35.48 and second place to Taylor. The mighty Scud was next to run: John got wheelspin in second gear off the line and the run just did not flow, but the car is so fast in a straight line could he make it up on the straight? 103mph over the line, 10 mph up on the 355s and 360s, but only 36.05!

The Preece laptop soon revealed that Prior was on for the 20 points with Butler on 13. This would mean that Prior would pip him for second place in the championship....

And then it came to the second runs. Julian Playford celebrated the end of his first year in the PFHC by missing out the "40s" altogether, going straight to 39.83; a very satisfying way to go into the winter break. Sean Doyle was really wringing the poor old GT4's neck to improve to 38.35 a whopping two seconds plus better than his previous best. After spotting that Lorraine's front tyres were too big and fiddling with pressures, RA broke into the 37s with a 37.85 which gave him the (unofficial) classic class win, but he has got a wee bit of experience in the tipo.

Tracey Haynes was clearly trying hard, swinging the rear end of the car around the Mole Hill and taking a middle of the road exit at the Top Corner. Her splendid 38.35 beat her personal best here by 1.2 seconds, it also tied with Sean, but he won the Tortoise Club on aggregate! Talking of which, I hope you and the 308 are on the mend Scorchio. Lorraine was slightly slower than R1 and Wendy slightly quicker.

Andrew Holman had scored max. points at this meeting the year before in his 348, so what could he do in his 355? The run looked smooth and fast without the slightest hint of canine dementia. The fast left and right handers were treated as one smooth, continuous curve on a constant throttle with none of the lifts, flicks or twitches that upset the car here, then a deft modulation of the throttle on the "straight" before the Mole Hill. Andrew came close to a "Frost Flick" out of the top and stormed to 35.22 - fastest!

Richard Prior nearly spun in the Mole Hill, but achieved a full "Frost Flick" out of the Top, but on 36.35 was sixth tenths slower than P1; this wasn't going to do his championship chances any favours at all. In his 348 the ever-cheerful Pete Wilson recorded his best time of the day of 40.58.

Nick Taylor was not as smooth as Holman, but improved marginally to 35.38, but "every little helps" here more even than in Tesco, as we were to find. Richard Preece girded his loins and drove with more aggression to record his best time of the day with a 36.17, not a bad time for his first-ever Curborough single-lapper. Charles Haynes was driving Tracey's 328 as the GTC is finally on its way to Oz. "What's that Skippy, the boat's been sunk by a WW2 Japanese submarine?" Chas. recorded his best time of 40.53, but Phil Whitehead pushed a bit too hard in the first corner and spun.

Chris Butler was clearly trying very hard, indeed it was not as Buttonesquely smooth as we are used to and his time was a disappointing 35.63. It later emerged that he'd missed a gear, but we put it down to classic cruisin' blunting his competitive edge. Mike Spicer's second run was slower, as were Peter Rogerson's and Jeff Cooper's.

Next up was Mineeff: with the lead gone and the Scud to come after, what could he do? He was very fast in the fast bits, not too fast in the slow bits and had a reasonable exit from the Top Corner - 35.19 and into the lead! The massive crowd erupted (it says here) before falling silent, awaiting the final runner, the 430 Scud, with bated breath. It looked to me that John braked a smidge too hard for the slow corners. It was an improvement to 35.32 and 105mph over the line - but not quick enough and only gave him third place. Holman was disappointed to be second, but it was a great result for him at the end of a difficult year. However, it was Mineeff who won. He has always struggled to extract the ultimate at Curborough and I know this means a lot to him, but don't tell anyone I told you so.

We quickly worked out that Nick Taylor's second run improvement of four-hundredths of a second gave him the PEPs win by two hundredths from Richard Prior. As Prior had to win to finish second with Butler third or lower, this meant that Chris was second (again) in the Championship. When I got home, the (unofficial) points calculating engine also revealed that Spicer and Holman had both jumped Mineeff, tying on points, but Spicer taking fourth on next best score. Holman was fifth and Mineeff sixth. Here's the final Top Ten then; well done PG for getting in there for the first time. So ends another great season of Ferrari hillclimbing - roll on the next!

Next up: North Weald : 14 March 2010.

Click here for (unofficial) results and points.

Click here for (unofficial) Championship positions.

Click here for (official) results and final championship positions.

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