The field of 19 Ferraris turned up for the first of the two overseas meetings, the other being at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit in September.

The first practice session was held early Saturday morning in dry but overcast weather conditions. It soon became apparent that all the competitors had serious intent, the best of these being a spectacular 1:50.559 by John Seale (F355/Ch), with Ian Hetherington (F 50) posting 1:52.062. Nicky Paul-Barron (F355/Ch), on 1:53.573, was the best of the rest, and it was exciting to note that the next seven competitors were all within four seconds of these excellent times. The consensus view on Zolder was that it is a terrific driver's circuit all round, but the left hander after the pit straight was critical to a good time. Serious braking was called for at least three times a lap, so the cars' ability to slow without fade was important.

The weatherman managed to be right on cue around lunch time, and persistent rain began to fall. However, despite the very wet general conditions, a more or less dry line was very soon created by other cars, and by the time the second practice session commenced, most people managed to go out on slicks, although some did use wets, in order to get a feel of this very fast circuit under different conditions. It would have been quite unreasonable to expect any improvement on the morning times. Star of the afternoon session was Series newcomer Nick May in the Zest Testarossa, who was only two seconds slower than his dry runs, in a car which can at best be described as being just a tad difficult on a greasy surface. Second was NP-B, who really was driving well within himself, his particularly smooth style really showing up in the difficult conditions.

Amongst the "O" class, Gary Culver (F355) was quickest in both the dry and wet sessions, ahead of David Ashburn, Shaun Powell and Simon Bartholomew, all in 355s.

Sunday morning threatened to be wet, but thankfully Zolder stayed dry, although there were reports of rainfall elsewhere in Belgium, and particularly at Spa Francorchamps which, after all, is less than an hour away.

Race One

The grid for Round 2 of the PMFC formed up on a dry track, and on the green light, it was indeed a spectacular affair. Seale on pole managed to lose engine revs. without stalling, and this allowed Hetherington, N P-B, Andrew Christopher (308GTB) and Andrew Micheals (308GT4) to seriously challenge for the lead at the first corner. Marc Gachoud (F355/Ch) was very much in contention and Alan Cosby (F512M) and Graham Reeder (F355/Ch) were snapping at the heels of the leading group. A good race was in prospect!

By the time the cars had reached the chicane behind the pits, they were strung out in line ahead formation, without a quarter being given or asked, at what can only be described a tremendous pace. After two laps the race settled with Seale out front, closely followed by Hetherington, N P-B, the two Andrews, Christopher and Micheals, all of the first five quite clearly serious in their intent to hotly dispute the lead. Marc Gachoud maintained station about six cars length behind the pack.

The tussle between the two Johns, Taylor and Swift, was noteworthy and was race long and very much in earnest.

At one stage, the leading cars seemed to be coming into the chicane three abreast, using all the kerbs and more, with Andrew Michaels very spectacularly putting his off side wheels on the wrong side of the rumble strip on each and every lap. The race continued unabated and at the same furious pace, until two laps from the end, when the sheer power of the F 50 allowed Ian Hetherington to overtake and maintain a lead he was never going to lose.

The "O" class battle was equally frenetic, with David Ashburn just shading Gary Culver, both of them setting extraordinary lap times.

Race 2

The grid formed up in the same practice formation and this time Seale made no mistakes and made a blinding start, going into the first left hander on his own. Within half a lap he had opened up a lead of two hundred yards, with second place being contested by Hetherington, N P-B, and the two Andrews, with Cosby, Reeder and John Avery also in much closer contention than the morning race. The racing continued at a furious pace, but sadly N P-B succumbed to gearbox maladies. Seale was being very slowly drawn in by the chasing group, to be overtaken literally on the line by Hetherington who won by 0.104 of a second, yes really! Seale declared he was happy with his class win, he did drive very well indeed. Alan Cosby managed to run into the rear of a back marker in the last corner so was posted a disappointing DNF, and the race long battle between the two Johns was won by Swift after Taylor had a mechanical problem.

In the "O" class roles were reversed, with Culver this time taking an easy win from Ashburn.

The view from the Race Organiser, Dr. Karin Wilcke, was that we would be welcome back any time we chose to ask, and that the organisers felt the need to comment most favourably on the outstanding skills shown by ALL the PMFC drivers. It was pointed out that the programme included races for normally quick things like TVRs, Porsches, Shelby Cobras and Chevrolet Corvettes, all in racing trim, and yet none of these so called hot shoes could get under 2:00 lap times!!

A terrific days racing!