ROUND 10 : Loton Park: 15 July 2012
by Graham Easter

nd it came to pass that having raineth at some stage during the last four rounds of the PFHC, it was finally dry for Round 10, which was only fair as, at 29 piloti, this was the largest ever entry for a PFHC round and the retiring Sergio Ransford's last.

The entry differed from the day before with the departure of Brian Jackson and the arrival of James Spicer (348) and Barrie Wood (355).

Sadly, the record entry was quickly depleted in P1 as Richard Allen retired his 355 when the belt driving the water pump and power steering broke; someone said possibly brought about by extreme old age. Jim Campbell retired his 355 Spider as a result of a pin hole in the radiator spraying lubricant onto the rear tyres and causing a spin. He and his wife faced a long, slow journey with many stops back to Glasgow. Better luck next time Jim.

Practice was a unique event for me as it was the first time I had ever shouted "Hello Gorgeous" at a Clerk of the Course. I am told I was lucky not to be hauled up in front of an MSA tribunal with all the karting Dads. After practice Nick Taylor was quickest in his 430 on 61.16 ahead of Richard Prior (355 - 61.38), Chris Butler (355 - 61.75) with Andrew Holman (355) some way behind on 62.56; however he claimed to have a cunning plan - not to go faster in practice than in the competition. Mike Spicer was quickest Classic in his 328, saying that he finds this tipo more comfortable to handle than the 355 or 360. In P2 Nick Taylor had tried his 430 with most driver aids turned off, in "CST" (Commit Suicide Today) mode, rather than in "Race", but was going back to the latter for the event; this being the opposite to most who have had the later tipi fitted with gizmos.

After another splendid lunchtime BBQ organised by Jon Goodwin, the huge field embarked on the first competition run. I was snapping away for this so do not have any pithy observations. Hence I missed the detail of Andrew Holman's superb 60.85 which broke his Personal Best (PB) by 1.1 seconds, so his plan worked! However Nick Taylor also set a new PB (albeit in a new tipo), powering his way into the 60's with a 60.26. He said, unlike the 348GTC, the 430 does not understeer. It is noticeable too how he "straight-lined" the course to take advantage of the 430's power and brakes and probably the gizmos.... This run gave him the lead after R1 with Holman second, Richard Prior (61.16) third and a puzzled Chris Butler (355) fourth (61.64).

Mike Spicer was quickest Classic, despite feeling sluggish after lunch. This may have been that whilst Spike had steak, burgers, chicken, sausages etc., veggie Holman nibbled on a lettuce leaf. The top three all set their best times on this run as did Phil Whitehead (355 - 63.83 ), Jeff Cooper (360 - 66.43), Jack Hargreaves (308 - 67.93), Sergio Ransford (308 - 68.15), Peter Rogerson (360 - 70.27), Wendy Ann Marshall (328 - 70.60), Peter Hitchman (550 -74.27) and Colin Campbell (246GT - 99.50).

This meeting went on a bit and by the time R2 rolled around rain was threatening (after all Loton is nearly in Wales), happily though it stayed dry. During the pause there was some conversation about reading. I have avoided "50 Shades of Grey" because I thought it was John Major's autobiography. I have since been informed that it is a book on McLaren in the post Marlboro era, so I still won't be reading it.

Shared drives went first with Jack Hargreaves (308) a gnat's slower than R1. Caroline Cooper (360) improved hugely to 68.45, over 5 secs. quicker than the day before! This time put her in 20th place overall.

When they had returned Dad (Mark) Hargreaves (308) knocked 3.75 secs. off his Saturday time to crack the 70 second barrier with a time of 69.73 seconds. New Shaun (Smith - 328) stopped the clocks on 67.92; his is best time despite being "all over the place" out of Museum. Tony Attwood (246GT) improved too (73.78) , having smoothed it down a bit (according to Gooders). Sean Doyle (348) looked OK and improved to 66.01. Lorraine Hitchman (328 - 70.04) smashed her PB (set 7 years ago!) by over 3 seconds, the time also promoted her 5 places in the overall rankings compared with the day before. Her husband Chris (355) recorded his best time of the weekend - 65.94.

Tracey Haynes (328) had been lagging behind her Tortoise Group Leader Sergio Ransford, but showed no mercy despite the imminent hanging up of his helmet. She recorded a 67.64 to beat him by half a second and move up four places compared with the day before. Next Richard Preece, lines as nice as ever, recorded a creditable 64.49 in his 355,giving him 9th place o/a. John Marshall (GT4) turned in a bit early for Triangle, which caused an oversteer flick on the exit on the way to a 65.62 and second in Classic. James Spicer carried on in the best traditions of his ex-Prior 348 by hanging the tail out in Fletcher's Dellow, his 64.36 was a great time for his first visit to this long hill.

Next up was Pauline Goodwin. She had had a disappointing weekend thus far but got everything right on her final run and was delighted to set a new PB of 65.12. This was much to the relief of husband Jon as he didn't fancy cold porridge for dinner (again). Spicer Snr. carried good speed into the corners to get his 328 up in 63.42 which gave him another win in the Classic Cup. Barrie Wood (355) improved by over a second to 63.83, another new PB and a splendid seventh overall.

After Phil Whitehead had done his stuff we had the battle for the win. Holman was first up but went into Triangle too fast, understeered on the way out and stopped the clocks on 62.30; but what could Prior and Butler do about his first run time of 60.85? Prior was first up and all looked good. Fast into Triangle, but neutral on the exit. 61.45, not good enough. Next Chris Butler, the only man to get under 60 secs in a 355 after they put the pylons up at Fletcher's Dellow, thus preventing the once common corner cutting. He clipped one of them on his way to 61.35, his best time of the weekend but some way off his PB. Finally Nick Taylor closed the Ferrari field with a 60.76. Slower than R1, but he still had the overall win comfortably.

When the PEPs were worked out MD Holman was ecstatic to have taken the 20 points, stopping Chris Butler's previously perfect record this season. This was a good effort for a Flatlander as he had to overcome his fear of falling off the edge of the world when hurtling towards the blind brow on Cedar Straight. Butler took the 17 for second with Nick Taylor burdened by the 430's +2% the 15 for third. Championship leader Richard Prior could "only" manage 12 points, but with dropped scores (the Championship is based on the best of 8 rounds) coming into play and Chris Butler doing the majority of the rest, it's all still very open.