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ROUND 13 : Curborough : 21 August 2011
by Tracey Haynes

Round 13 was upon us already and the Reliant Sabre Scimitar Owners Club always welcome the PFHC with open arms at their event at Curborough, or as it is now known “the Cürburgring”. It is not the most spectacular of venues but it seems to be popular with the PFHC competitors as there were 22 cars on the entry list with 25 drivers and with only another 27 entries on the list we were nearly half the entire entry for the event, although Charles Haynes was unable to compete due to last minute work commitments.

The weather forecast was good for a change, the Championship battle was hotting up as much as the weather and Gooders had entered the 458 to really mix it up a bit, so everything seemed to be falling into place nicely for a very good day of motorsport. The usual “discussion” with the Scrutineers ensued over the request to produce MOT and insurance documents which is not a requirement of our Series so this was soon sorted out but not before one of the Scrutineers requested to see the MOT for the 458....

When discussing practice times we all say “it doesn’t count yet” but this does not stop our competitive natures coming to the fore from P1. There were a few in the top half of the field hoping for rain to improve their chances against the awesome 458.

Peter Hitchman forgot this was the 2 lapper and came in after one circuit so did not record a time during P1, this was not the first time this had happened as I seem to remember another competitor doing this last year. All three championship contenders were in the 63/64 second bracket and Gooders had already gone faster than the course record at 61.31. During P2 most went a little bit faster, Prior was into the 63 second bracket, Holman crossed the line at 62.98 and Gooders recorded a spectacular 60.56.

Due to this year being the 50th anniversary for RSSOC there had been a number of things going on and they had a film crew to record their first competition runs so this was done before lunch without the mix of other competitors. The Ferraris would be first out for their first comp. run after lunch and this together with the promise of three comp. runs was a most acceptable compromise.

Wendy Ann Marshall (328) led the Ferraris to the start line for R1 and recorded 73.57, her fastest time of the day. Tony Attwood was next up in his Dino and he also recorded his best time of the day, 73.58. Lorraine Hitchman (328) recorded a 69.72 to take the class lead, Barrie Wood (308) stopped the clock at 70.52 but John Marshall (GT4) took the lead when he crossed the line in 68.72. Mike Spicer was trying hard on his first visit to “the 'Ring” in this 328 and with a matching set of tyres finished on 67.06 to take the lead. Pauline Goodwin (328) was next out and, refreshed after her recent break, put in a cracking 66.85 to set a new PB which was four tenths short of our Chairman’s fastest 328 time, this earned her the Fastest Lady of the Day and leading Classic for this event.

Talking of our Chairman, in certain circles he is known as”the entertainer” for his crowd pleasing drifts which often comes to the fore at this track and he didn’t disappoint sliding around the Molehill twice and with a spectacular turn for the second lap playing to the crowd, he finally crossed the line in 65.13 setting a new personal best in his 355.

Most of the early drivers had congregated by the finish line to watch the Championship contenders take their runs. Prior was first up finishing on 64.30, a little slower than his P2 time, Holman followed chasing his 62.98 P2 time but had a touch of the Curse of Curborough (the harder you try the slower you get) and crossed the line in 64.49. Butler had removed all traces of hedgehog from his engine bay and drove smoothly as ever and was quicker on 63.78, and Taylor was slightly slower on 63.92. Gooders completed the Ferrari class stopping the clock on 61.65 for a new class record after taking a late braking point into the turn for the second lap.

R2 saw Smith (328) complete the circuit to put in a time of 73.50. Peter Hitchman, sharing his 550 with Chris, improved by over 3 seconds to 77.88, Ian Chadwick (348ts) went slightly quicker and recorded a 73.47, his best time of the day. Brian Jackson in his infamous Giallo 308 had been very consistent and recorded 68.09 which was to be his best of the day. Ricardo Preece on his second outing of the season in his 348 GTC finished on 68.15. Chris Hitchman had started to get to grips with Dad’s 550 and improved to 69.03 taking 'leading Hitchman' from wife Lorraine.

Most of us had worked out that a split time at the turn of around the 35 second mark would be a good time for the leading contenders so were once again at the finish line to watch the battle continue. Prior was going well until he just caught the grass coming out of Molehill for the second time this cost him as his split time looked good; he still set a new PB, crossing the line in 63.58. Holman had a controlled and smooth run to put in a 63.21 and another new PB. Gooders had told me earlier that his old brain and the new technology in the 458 were not a good match, however it didn’t look that way when he came out of Fradley (top) hairpin at around 54 seconds and across the line in 60.69 to take the lead and the spring out of the steps of Holman and Prior.

Going into R3 it was Gooders in first place from Holman and Prior. Smith improved again to 72.37, a respectable time for his first competitive appearance at this technical track, using the tips he had picked up at the Club training day here last year. Jack Hargreaves had been improving all day in the family 308 and finished the day on 69.92 beating Dad Mark who had a good final run to finish on 70.48. The Hitchman boys were improving on each run in the 550, Chris recording a 68.81 and Peter 76.98 on their final runs. Three other drivers put in their best runs in R3, Rogerson (360) had been fairly consistent all day and finished on 71.17, Haynes (328) could not break the 70 second barrier and recorded a final run of 70.27. Cooper (360) had knocked off nearly 4 seconds from his P1 time finishing on 67.69.

So to the front runners, Prior and Holman were slightly slower than their previous run recording 63.93 & 63.66 respectively. Butler was chasing and got to the turn in a good split time so was on for a quick run and crossed the line just two hundredths slower than Holman. Taylor was also keeping the pressure on but could not quite get there and finished at 63.71. So all eyes were on the 458 and Gooders to see if he could improve on his new course record. Once again we were not disappointed as they roared through the first corner, slid round the Molehill and took the turn into the second lap in mid 34 seconds. As Gooders came out of the hairpin for the second time it was quite surprising how quiet it was as we all waited to see the clock stop as Jon engaged the brakes across the finish….. It was 60.50 and another class record.

Gooders took first place on scratch and after PEPs, set a new class record and was overall fastest driver of the day. Holman was second and Butler third. After PEP was added the first two places stayed the same but Taylor took the third place points.

The Championship battle looks to be going to the wire and the result at Shelsley could be the important one with Gooders and the mighty 458 out again at Curborough single lapper in October.

I am guessing there will be a rain dance or two taking place leading up to the deciding and final round of the season. The Classic title is looking to be close run thing especially with PG taking the honours from Spicer for a Goodwin whitewash at Curborough and with Doyle back out at Shelsley this could also go to the final round.