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6 APRIL 2002
Everyone seemed glad to get back to some Ferrari racing, despite it being in April at Snetterton! Pre-season happenings had been really interesting, with a number of new drivers, cars and team changes all promising to spice things up. Although championship registrations were noticeably down on previous years, the quality of entry and the depth of that quality was evident when we saw the 23-car entry list for Round 1. There were some excellent names to be found in the eight 360/Chs entry, with familiar faces like Lewis Carter, Oliver Morley and Marco Attard being joined by newcomers Peter Sowerby (with previous racing experience in Clios and Fiestas ) and Chris Niarchos, who was having his first season. Add in the constantly improving Terry Coleman, Phil Burton and Robert Carrington and we were going to be in for an unpredictable result. The ten 355/Chs in the "C" class had just as much talent and any one of a number of drivers could be picked as a likely winner. The "O" class unfortunately remained the problem child and only two entries were received for this once thriving part of the grid. Morning practice, in bleak and cold but dry conditions, put the jockey-like Lewis Carter straight on pole just over a second ahead of Morley, closely followed by Sowerby, Niarchos and Attard, who admitted to lacking time in the car, having driven it for the first time at this meeting. Henry Lawson took an excellent pole in the "C" class, under Tony Jones's lap record, and had Graham Reeder, Chris Catt and Ted Reddick close behind. It all augured well. Phil Burton, in the JMH-run 360/Ch, was an unfortunate non-starter. A succession of mechanical problems culminated in a fuel pump failure and, with no spare to hand, this brand new car had to be withdrawn. By the time of the 1.00 p.m. race start the temperatures had barely improved but at least it was dry and in the brisk wind, looked like staying that way. As the lights changed to green the front row got cleanly away, with Morley just edging ahead of Carter, but third placed man Sowerby, having his first racing start with the slightly awkward 360/Ch system, bogged down badly and held up the entire right side of the grid. There were some close avoidances but everyone seemed to get away with it. Morley and Carter, nose to tail, pulled away from the rest of the field, with Carter trying every which way to get past. Behind, Niarchos led a long train consisting of Graham Reeder (leading the "C" class), Coleman, a recovering Sowerby, Attard (held up at the start), Reddick, Catt and a misfiring Lawson. Behind that group there was yet another tremendous dice between McCormick (355/Ch), Carrington, Gamski, Back (355/Ch), McKay (355/Ch) and Mike Reeder (355/Ch). John Taylor (308GT4) and Erik Oktner (355/Ch) were already glued together, as they would be for the rest of the race, and the other "3" series cars of John Swift, Richard Allen and Mike Spicer were in close company. Great stuff and hardly any time to take down a lap chart! Lewis was putting Morley under tremendous pressure but lap after lap there seemed no way past. Niarchos was secure in third place, as was Sowerby in fourth, but then came the excellent "C" class scrap involving Reeder, Reddick, Catt and, still hanging on, Lawson. On lap six out of the scheduled 15, Carter tried a mighty move round the outside of Morley at the end of the straight but ended up on the dusty outside of the track and had to get out of the throttle to avoid a spin. This gave Morley a little respite but after a stunningly fast lap Carter caught back up again, just as they came up to lap the cars of Taylor and Oktner. There was some confusion, a lot of sliding, Morley went one way and was forced on to the grass and Carter took the other route and emerged in the lead. Whilst all this was going on we began to notice flames licking from underneath Mike Reeder's 355/Ch. They rapidly grew in intensity until it appeared the whole rear valance area of the car was ablaze, but obliviously he carried on for another two laps before heeding a warning signal, not from the marshals but from Robin Ward leaning across the pit wall, that something was amiss. He screeched to a halt at the next marshall's post, where the by now substantial fire was quickly doused. Niarchos had a quick spin in third place but continued without losing too much time but Sowerby disappeared from a safe fourth place when he stopped out on the track with transmission failure. Then came the final drama. Morley's 360 engine dropped on to one bank of cylinders and he immediately pulled into the pits to retire. On the very same lap Coleman, now fighting for fourth place with Attard, lost it in a big way coming out of Corum and after a long slide across the grass slammed heavily into the barriers. There were some worrying moments but he emerged from the car under his own steam just as the race was red flagged on the tenth of the scheduled 15 laps. So we had Lewis Carter clearly in front but Morley stationary in the pits, with Niarchos crossing the line in second place and Attard third, ahead of one of the best "C" class battles seen for a long time just won by Graham Reeder from Reddick and Catt. But after the trophies and garlands had been handed out came the announcement that the result would be struck as at the end of the ninth lap, which meant,of course, that Morley was still in second place, with Niarchos and Attard being moved one place downwards. A shame that it all had to end in this way because the spectacle throughout the field had been great to watch and there were generally a lot of broad grins in the paddock afterwards.
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