© Photos by
Paul / Fotografia Corse

GOODYEAR MARANELLO FERRARI CHALLENGE
RACE REPORT : ROUND 3 : BRANDS HATCH

Oldies Hit Back

A packed field of 28 Ferraris qualified around the tight Indy circuit at Brands Hatch on a fine Bank Holiday Monday. Space was limited and room for fast lappery was at a premium.

Eighteen "M" class runners turned out, with all the usual front runners present except Peter Cook (F40) who was elsewhere racing his GT2 Porsche. This time there was no F40 on pole, however, because the 308GTB of Andy Christopher and the 328GTB of Paul Ciardiello occupied the front row, and only then did the "moderns" appear by way of Stuart Bowler (F40) and Marco Attard (F355/Ch), who for the first time out-qualified the similar car of John Pogson. Gary Culver (328GTB) again took the "O" class pole from Graham Reeder (F355).

At the start the eerily quiet F40 of Bowler squirmed mightily for grip but just failed to split the front row cars and the running order at the front was set. Christopher, Ciardiello and Bowler remained within a few seconds of each other throughout the race, with gaps fluctuating in the heavy traffic, and finished in that order. Pogson overcame Attard to become first 355 Challenge car home and George Christopher brought out his 308GT4 for the first time this season to finish sixth.

The two flat-12s of Rory Fordyce and Alan Cosby thundered around most impressively to finish next up and with further development will surely move up the overall order.

In the "O" class Culver had to concede victory to Reeder, but newcomer David Ashburn, in his F355 GTS, finished a solid third, only a few seconds behind and was rewarded with the Psygnosis Driver of the Day award.

Other notable performances came from FOC Secretary Peter Everingham with his best result to date in the, er…, shoestring 308 GTB of the Bermans', and from Ibrahim Essat (328GTB) who missed a good "O" class placing after a collision with the errant 355 of Mike Golding.

It's Spa-Francorchamps next, with some thrilling high-speed racing promised and the possibility of an F50 mixing it with the F40s - if you can't actually be there watch this space!

Click here to see the Qualifying Times and Race Results.
Click here for Paddock Stories.
Click here to return to the Goodyear Maranello Ferrari Challenge page.