PIRELLI MARANELLO FERRARI CHALLENGE

Believe it or not the PMFC is now in its 19th season, which has got to be some kind of record for any race series. They come and they go but the Ferraris are there year after year, through thick and thin, putting on a great show for the spectators and giving much pleasure to the Club members who actually get to race the cars.

The opening two rounds at Silverstone were part of a busy BARC weekend and both races had to be crammed in to Saturday as Sunday was the Club's Annual General Meeting. A relatively modest entry of 18 Ferraris appeared but there was definite class throughout the field, with all the leading runners present. In fact Chris Niarchos was the only leading light not to enter, no doubt preoccupied with his Scuderia Ecosse 360 N-GT programme.

The single morning qualifying session would set the grid for both races and it was little surprise to see the two 360/Chs of Peter Sowerby and Marco Attard at the top of the time sheet in their Damax-run cars. Phil Burton was pleased to be third in his JMH 360/Ch, followed by the similar tipos of Gary Culver, David Back and Graham Reeder. Amongst the "C" class cars (for 355/Chs) Mike Furness set the quickest time (his first pole) but close behind came the trio of Les Charneca, Vince Woodman and Ted Reddick.

It was not going to be easy to pick a winner in either class so we were going to be in for some interesting racing to see who would establish their authority right from the start of the season.

Race One

The grid formed up normally for the mid-afternoon race - all, that is, except David Back, whose Damax-run 360/Ch was found to be 4.5 kilos underweight in post-qualifying scrutineering. He was sent to the back of the grid.

From the start Sowerby nosed into the lead but Culver got a real flier and followed him round Copse in second place, ahead of Attard, Reeder (another super start) and Smeeton. And then, as soon as they got to Becketts, there was contact between Attard's left front wheel and Culver's right rear, knocking the latter into a harmless spin but also putting him at the very back of the field.

On the second lap Sowerby came through with a slight lead over the chasing Attard and behind them a nose-to-tail bunch consisting of Smeeton, Reeder and Burton followed by yet another close trio consisting of Reddick (already in the "C" class lead), newcomer Kevin Riley (360/Ch) and Phil Nuttall driving very rapidly in Les Charneca's 355/Ch which he was sharing that day. David Back had already worked his way up to behind this group and then followed Furness, Woodman, Mike Reeder and another newcomer, David Dove (355/Ch). After a precautionary pit stop Gary Culver re-joined the race but was now a lap behind.

At the front Attard began to push Sowerby but could find no way past. At a distance they were followed by the nose-to-tail 360/Chs of Smeeton, Burton and Reeder, whilst behind there was a squabbling bunch being led by Riley, Back, and Reddick - with Nuttall chasing him hard for the "C" class lead. On the seventh lap (of 14) Attard's car suddenly began to pour out thick blue smoke and it slowed dramatically. It looked at first like a massive engine blow-up but it turned out to be dislocated brake trunking which had become wrapped round the left front hub. He pulled slowly into the pits to retire.

This left Sowerby in a lengthy lead, with Burton slightly edging away from Reeder and Back, all the way up in fourth from his back of the grid start. Ted Reddick maintained his "C" class lead, moving away by some five seconds from Nuttall (who set 'C' class fastest lap) at the finish, with Dove coming in an excellent third in his maiden PMFC race.

Race Two

The meeting was running a bit late and it was almost 5.00 pm by the time of the second race, although the sunshine and breeze had kept the threatening clouds well away. The only one missing from the grid was George Christopher, whose 308 was seen forlornly leaving the circuit on the back of a trailer.

After the start pole-sitter Sowerby only made it as far as Becketts where he spun away his leading position. Like Culver in the first race he dropped to the very end of the field but then began a determined chase which would eventually get him back in some decent points.

With Sowerby gone it was Attard who then led from Culver, Burton, Reeder and the quick-starting Reddick, who had already moved right to the front of the "C" class. Sowerby came through dead last.

Attard inexorably extended his lead over Culver at about a second a lap but behind them Graham Reeder began to push Burton with a view to taking his third place away; until lap seven, that is, when Reeder plonked his 360 firmly into the gravel at the Luffield complex. This left the first four (Back now being in fourth) well spaced out and that is the way they went all the way to the flag.

But behind them things could not have been closer, with Riley being pushed hard by Smeeton and then a tight bunch consisting of Reddick, Charneca, Furness, Woodman and Dove with, amongst other things, the "C" class win to fight for. Charneca tried every which way to get past the rather wide 355 of Reddick, with Woodman and Dove just waiting to take advantage of any gap ahead. It was great to watch.

In the meantime Sowerby was in full flight chasing the field and he began passing cars by lap six. We held our breaths as he carved his way through the squabbling 355 bunch, which he succeeded in doing by lap ten, and then he charged after Smeeton's 360 which was a long way up the road but would give him at least a further championship point. We didn't think there was enough time but on the run-in to the chequered flag he just powered ahead to take the position by half a second. Good drive! Shame about the spin....

Attard thus took a completely unflustered overall win from Culver and Burton, and Reddick just kept his "C" class lead all the way to the flag by a few coats of paint from Charneca, Woodman and Dove.

By finishing second and third in the two races, and his trio of competitors running into problems, Phil Burton has put himself into the joint lead of the championship with Peter Sowerby and deservedly took the Wilkinson Driver of the Day award. Reddick's two C-class wins obviously put him at the head of his division but David Dove is right there in second place.

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Sowerby (l) had pole for both races

In race 1 Attard chased him hard at first

Burton had a pair of good results

Newcomer Riley impressed

In race 1 Nuttall came second in C-class

Two fourth places for David Back

Mike Reeder and Erik Oktner scrapped mightily

Dove was right in the middle of the C-class battle in race 2

Not quite Eau Rouge: the plunge into Bridge

Rare pic of the Christopher 308

Culver got hit and spun in race 1

On C-class pole for the first time: Mike Furness

Difficult moments as Sowerby goes through the 355s

Charneca only did race 2 - but got P2 in that

Reddick cleaned up C-class in both races

Attard gives a friendly wave at the end

pics by Paul/ Fotografia Corse

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