PADDOCK STORIES

• As modern autodromes go, the Ring is not one of the worst. Indeed some of the younger drivers who have not been brought up on a diet of Targa Florio, the Nordschleife Karoussel or the old Mulsanne straight with no chicanes will think the current Ring quite acceptable. The Nordschleife is still open to the paying public and many of the GMFC racers had a go in various tipos. The most exciting was probably the Renault Espace hired by the Specialised Cars team, who thundered round the daunting 14-mile circuit with nine people up, including the baby.

• The GMFC shared the meeting with some top names. There was a round of the SportsRacing World Cup, with nine of the fabulous Ferrari 333SPs taking part, and there was also a race in the Kumho Ferrari/Porsche series. A few of our lads decided to take part in this race for some extra practice and, at £450 a go, they were still signing them up on race morning.

• Andy Christopher was an unfortunate non-starter as he dithered between coming to the Ring or staying at home for the birth of his second child. At one time, there was even talk about flying between the two events.

• This one will run and run: in an attempt at proving that he is only 33 years old, Fred Moss produced a student card which supported his unlikely claim. Does anyone have any further evidence they would like to submit?

• Gary Culver certainly deserved his Driver of the Day award. In free training he had hub bearing failure, missed the first qualifying altogether and then discovered a split drive-shaft gaiter when all the cats were checked. His double 'O' class win gave him a lot of pleasure after things looked fairly bleak earlier on.

• News had filtered through that the exclusions of Neil Woodford, Marco Attard and Ben Orza at the previous Croft round for incorrect brake pads would stand. It was uncertain at the time whether an appeal would be lodged against the Clerk of the Course's decision but no such appeals were forthcoming within the time limit.

• Hillclimber-extraordinaire Jon Goodwin made a welcome return to the Series with his Mondial t running in 'O' class. He had just come from shattering the Ferrari class record at Loton Park in his 355. Like Terry Esom, another FHC competitor, Jon likes to keep his hand in at all forms of Ferrari motorsport. Furthermore, immediately after the Ring he would be returning to Shelsley Walsh hillclimb to maintain his current run of excellent form.

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