• Everyone enjoyed the novelty of Rockingham and when it is finished it will assuredly be a world-class facility. The paddock, however, was impossibly tight and quite what the visitors to the Coys Festival in just two weeks time will make of the vast acres of ungrassed earthworks is anyone's guess. The garden party atmosphere of Silverstone will certainly not be replicated until at least 2002. Here's hoping it at least doesn't rain on the day......

• The crushing weight of fame is handled easily by some. Gracie is not only multiple British Hillclimb Champion and now Ferrari racer but also, of course, the boss of Rockingham. He was followed around by camera crews wherever he went for part of a TV series on bosses spending a day on the shop floor. We were most impressed that racing your Ferrari is a valid shop floor activity .
  
  
• Enough has already been eulogised about Nathan Kinch's driving talents but the entire Stewart Roden-run team brings great credit to our series. Three lovely 360/Chs nestled under the awning of the most impressive transporter and there was also a fourth spare car sticking its nose out of yet another pantechnicon.
  
  
• As everyone stood staring at the novel prospect of racing around an oval track one unkind person remarked to John Swift that his Brooklands experience would surely come in very handy.

• For many PMFC supporters the excellent Moodies' hospitality unit is an essential requirement. At Rockingham it nearly didn't happen. Because of the very limited paddock space and the amount of room the marquee would have taken up, David Grace had a separate piece of ground levelled, graded and sprinklered overnight ready for the tent to be put up. By day-break, however, the entire area had already been taken over by competitors' vehicles who all had to be painfully moved so that we could have our precious tent without which PMFC would not be the same.

• New car rumours: Jon Goodwin may finally be packing it in with his uncompetitive Mondial and is eyeing up the prospects of a 355/Ch. His performance in last year's Ferrari hillclimb championship in his 355 leaves little doubt that he would be a strong runner in the "C" class. Andy Christopher is also thinking of joining the "C" class and retiring his 308GTB. Another 360 Modena will be joining the "O" class to provide the Bartholomew/Smeeton duo with some competition. David Ashburn already has his 355/Ch and Rockingham was his last race in his "O" class version.
  
  
• Maybe experienced engine builders will know about this but we have never heard of Vim being used to help seat piston rings into bores. Andy Christopher's engine was smoking during Saturday qualifying but a good dose of Vim wafted across its carburettor intakes improved matters considerably in time for the Sunday race.

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