The weather for day two of the PFHC's Shropshire double-header was forecast to be much better than the day before and this was the case but for the odd spot of rain; mind you, it was hardly flaming hot. The entry was the same with the addition of Peter Rogerson in his handsome TdF blue 360M and "Two Sheds" Goodwin switching to his 550M. He says it's harder switching from a less powerful Ferrari to a more powerful Ferrari, contrary to what you might think. Life sure is tough for some.

Richard Allen rejoined the fray and was back where he was the day before, spinning into the marshals' slot at the end of the straight in P1. He said that his front (comp) number plate was flapping about and it distracted him. Indeed numbers detaching themselves was a regular feature of the weekend. Time the Series invested in a staple gun I reckon.

Chris Butler (355) was quickest in P1, being the only one to get into the 60s. On P2 he was joined by Christian Mineeff (360M) and Nick Taylor (348GTC), all separated by just over a tenth of a second. Andrew Holman's 355 was leaping around and it transpired that he'd left his suspension in Newmarket cruising mode.

The Chairman and several Directors were at Loton, so they felt they ought to have a meeting and were joined by FD John Warner and Gary Culver, who was warmly welcomed by his special Spa friend. If you want a sneaky look at what went on in the meeting, click here to view footage from our spy cam.

Lunch was again a nice buffet rustled up by Jon Goodwin with minor assistance from the staff of the Albright Hussey. We did miss their motorhome this year, this would have been very useful the day before, along with some hot soup. If only the Club had such a facility....

Onto the serious stuff, Sean Doyle ran in an earlier batch as he was again sharing Tracey Haynes' 328, recording a very respectable 68.53. Then Peter Rogerson led the rest of the field away. His first run turned out to be his best. He was immediately beaten by Julian Playford in his 355, who in turn was eclipsed by Wendy Ann Marshall in her 328. The seeding at Loton was a bit off, as next up was her husband John in his 430 Scud.

Loton is a tricky place and John had sensibly treated Saturday's meet as practice. He braked hard and late into Triangle, maybe went in a smidgeon too fast as it pushed a little on the exit, but the run was characterised by the abrupt barks from the exhaust that signify he's getting the throttle open early and hard and which signal a good Scud run. John also used the kerbs well in the Esses before the straight before blasting out of sight. All must have gone well on the second part of the hill as the time was 59.62, another class record!

Tracey Haynes was next up and her 68.15 was the quickest of the older cars. This lasted through Colin Campbell's and Charles Haynes' runs, but Sergio Ransford looked to be going well, his 308 squealing its tyres and bobbing purposefully as he hustled it up the lower part of the hill. Sure enough, his 67.02 gave him the lead, but only for about 30 seconds. He did, however, win the Handicap.

Pauline Goodwin was well fired up and lobbed her 328 at the Esses, nearly spinning on the exit. Despite this she recorded 65.38 to take the lead. Next up was Swifty in his 355 and he appeared into view in Fletcher's Dellow (Loggerheads II to old hands) going backwards! He regained the circuit and carried on to the top. Initially, there was some confusion as to whether this had also happened the day before. After watching 120 or so runs, I was not sure and neither was anyone else I spoke to!

Richard Prior helpfully suggested that, out of sight after Turn 1, Swifty had been abducted by aliens, scanned and reversed, before being beamed into Fletcher Dervish backwards! [Fortunately for the sake of the accurate, responsible and serious reportage for which this website is renowned, I can confirm that this incident took place on Sunday only, the aliens were elsewhere on Saturday - Ed].

Next up was Brian Jackson in his 308. Brian is one who drives quickly, smoothly and all "connected-up". He carried a lot of speed into Triangle, but converted it into controlled oversteer at the exit, rather than the dreaded push. It would be interesting to see him in a more modern tipo, he recorded a 62.72 seven years ago in a 355 Challenge, but these, of course, are racing cars and ineligible for the PFHC. As it was his 65.17 beat PG for the "classic" class win as neither would improve.

Mineeff was the first of the non-Scud front-runners to go and his 60.99 made him "best of the rest". Andrew Holman's 355 had a little lurch in Fletcher's Porridge and his time of 64.45 was slower than in practice, which is always annoying. RA took a wide and late entry to Triangle, but looked unsettled on the left-hander before the straight. He recorded a 63.86. By contrast, Phil Whitehead took an earlier entry to Triangle, he carried speed well through the Esses and away to 63.11,exactly the same time as P2, but he is an accountant and consistency is one of their principles.

Mike Spicer's 62.71 made him fastest 355. Richard Prior's 348ts did a nice little oversteer flick in Triangle on his way to a 62.38, before Nick Taylor recorded a 61.75, which he will not have been happy with. Next up was Dave Tomlin, who was delighted with his 61.57 as it was quicker than Chris Butler. He reckoned that, a winner at Spa and Brands, this proved that he had mastered the more cerebral motorsports discipline too. Actually Chris went straight on in the first corner, probably on purpose to avoid the aliens' tractor beam. This left Gooders, who managed to twirl the 550's tiller enough to recover big oversteer in Triangle.

For run two I went to the top of the hill. I was ordered to take pics and so the competitors are spared my observations, and there are some "sun-glinting off gleaming Fazza" type pics. I can tell you that exactly half of the field improved on their first run times, Julian Playford by nearly a second and a half to 71.57. Gooders got down to 63.70, which was better, but a tenth worse than P2. Phil Whitehead got into the 62s and his last run was his best of the weekend, which is always satisfying.

Richard Prior failed to catch Nick Taylor by four-hundredths, but his 61.79 gave him second placed points. Nick scored 15, but dropped 10 from R1 as this was the first round where dropped scores came into effect for some. He left Loton with an eight point lead in the Championship over Prior.

Two who did not improve included Mineeff, who got into a massive tank-slapper exiting the last corner, ending up third (again), and the "Wild Woman of Loton" as she spun in the corner at the end of the straight. However, one who did improve was Chris Butler, he reckoned his 60.01 run was as near perfect as he could make it. Both he and Gooders thought it would have been under Gooders' nine year old record (in a 355) of 59.98, but for the posts at Fletcher Christian which prevent the corner-cutting which was once de rigueur for a quick time; it's enough to cause a mutiny!

Chris's time gave him second place and the 20 points, but time and tipo wait for no man and history will show that John Marshall was the outright winner and is the new record holder. Modestly, he attributed the achievement to the strengths of his car, but piloting a 500 bhp Ferrari up a narrow hill is certainly no picnic.

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