• It was not a good weekend for the Reeder brothers. Graham suffered a broken drive shaft in practice and then retired from the race very early with damage and a puncture. Mike suffered from a sticking throttle on the formation lap and, again, on and off during the race. Others might have retired but he soldiered on. Family silver was saved, however, because Graham won the C-class championship.
  
  
• It's good to see John Seale back with us and enjoying his racing. His white 360, however, does seem to lock its brakes at the slightest provocation, just like at Combe. With permanent ABS this should not happen of course. The Roden chaps have had a look but the SD2 diagnostics show no fault – all very curious.
  
  
• There seem to be quite a few 360 Challenge cars for sale and they are getting cheaper all the time. Phil Burton’s red car was shown in the Thruxton paddock with a £52,000 plus VAT price tag. John Seale’s red car was also displayed for sale. There are lots of others around too. Many old 355/Chs found their way on to the road or are used as track day cars. The 360 has no road capability and many see it as a hard car to run without engineer support. With careful selection there could be some real bargains out there.
  
  
• The JMH team have had a very demanding first season covering thousands of miles with a hectic schedule of testing and racing. Jason and Julie are looking forward to a bit of a break now the season is over, ready to regroup for 2004. I know that everyone wishes them well – put your feet up for goodness sake !
  
  
• Mike Furness is improving all the time in his 355 Challenge. He still owns his O-class 328 which, in theory, is for sale. However he enjoyed his outings in the club’s new formula classic races a lot. Like many others with suitable older cars he is thinking that perhaps this is a time to keep rather than to sell.
  
  
• Once again there were no O-class cars at Thruxton but the class will stay for 2004 in case there are some new players. Not everyone wants a Challenge car with all the attendant commitment – trailers, wheels, slicks and wets etc. Surely a road-going 355 would be a lot of fun – and not too slow either.
  
  
• We had an e-mail from 'DISGUSTED' of Team Gamski complaining of our lack of coverage of their pilot and instead writing 'a whole flaming paragraph about a couple of girl's squabbling over standard exhausts on the 360`s'. Mmmh, seems that DISGUSTED didn't read the basic rules about how to get website coverage. Click here and read point 8 to refresh yourself.
  
  
• Looking back at previous visits to Thruxton is quite interesting. In 2000 we had no fewer than eight different tipos on the grid – F50, 512 TR, 308 GT4, 355/Ch, 355, 348, 328, 246. In 1999 it was also eight but with an F40 in place of a 246. This year it was two: 355/Ch and 360/Ch!
  
  
• Lap times are also interesting. In 1999 Ian Hetherington had the fastest lap in his F50 with 1.26.59 – contrast this with Lewis Carter’s 1.21.14 in his 360/Ch. In 2000 it was a 1.24.30 for Cosby’s 512. 355 Challenge times are also interesting but are the other way around. John Seale in 2000 - 1.23.8. This year Ted Reddick 1.25.6. There is an amazing time in the archives which is Gary Culver in an O-class 355 – 1.28.43 in qualifying in 2000. Is that real Gary ?
  

Click here to return to the Pirelli Maranello Ferrari Challenge page.

The Reeders did not have a good weekend

Is the Marelli ABS a Sealed unit ?

Sheer concentration on Mark's face

The "O" Class entry at Thruxton

Time to raise the front end now

So, here we have another Team Gamski pic

Lewis signs off, the view of him most competitors have seen this year

The last word. Is there another Jock teenager waiting in the wings ?

pics by Paul/Fotografia Corse, Simon Cooke & Derek Binsted