PADDOCK STORIES

• It was four years since the GMFC was last at Thruxton. In that time some had clearly forgotten the bumps and dips of this very fast circuit. In particular, some of the stiffly sprung 355/Chs were in all sorts of trouble whilst the "O" class 355s seemed much more at home.

• Fred Moss put his failure to claim "O" class pole down to not having slept the night before - possibly not too unusual for a club owner.

• Lap time comparisons were interesting. Hetherington's F50 was only able to knock 0.367 seconds off Rob Schirle's old "M" class record set in 1994 in a 308GTB. Seale's fastest "C" class time was almost 2½ seconds off Ian Khan's record, the latter even running without the 1998-spec rear wing. In "O" Class, however, Moss took 2.3 seconds off Thornton Mustard's previous record.

• Not always one of the most popular or accessible of circuits, Thruxton nevertheless managed to attract a large crowd of Club supporters into Moodies' hospitality marquee, with Ferrari, Goodyear and Ricardo flags fluttering in the stiff breeze. The lovely Natalie was in attendance.

• Another newcomer joined the series. Gary Marsh joined the "O" class with his F355 prepared by David Wedge, who will be familiar to many as the preparer of John Wilson's championship-winning 308GTB. Gary, who is more used to racing two wheels than four, took an excellent fifth in the "O" class, just half a second ahead of Ben Orza's 355/Ch.

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