PIRELLI MARANELLO FERRARI CHALLENGE
RACE REPORT : ROUND 7 : CASTLE COMBE : 1/2 JULY 2000

PADDOCK STORIES

• With the Club's Concours taking place the same weekend at Castle Ashby, the usual band of helpers who man the hospitality marquee were not at Combe but the task was taken over most magnificently by Siobhan Garnsey from Maranello Sales in Egham. Having worked in a number of PR roles before, she made easy work of looking after the many guests from Ricardo, Pirelli and Buick, Mitchell, Avery.
  
  
• The "O" class 355s made a terrific impression in both heats. Gary Culver actually led the first race for a while and David Ashburn held second place in Sunday's race until greater power from the "S" class cars overwhelmed the 355's standard engine.
  
  
• Amongst the many Anniversary entertainments laid on at the circuit was a parade of significant cars from Combe's past. This included an ERA, a 250F Maserati, some McLarens and a Ferrari F40 driven by none other than Vince Woodman. He will be remembered as the maestro of Castle Combe from back in the sixties and seventies in, mostly, Ford saloons. He dominated the Combe saloon car scene in a Cologne Capri.
  
  
• Remember all the Compomotive wheel failures some years ago? Here we had another when Nick May's Testarossa sheered a rear wheel at probably the fastest part of the circuit. He brought it all to a stop without any problem but decided to move over to BBS rims thereafter.
  
  
• Ben Cosby's 308GT4 and David Ingram-Hill's F355 saw each other a few times over the two days. In the second heat they actually made contact at the chicane, although both cars continued with the 355 in the lead.
  
  
• It was only right and proper that Howard Strawford, the circuit owner, should present all the trophies to the Ferrari winners in the Club's hospitality marquee.
  

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