PIRELLI FERRARI OPEN

• At Silverstone we welcomed Mos Morris, who has just joined the series with his 308GTBi. His car sounds fruity and promises to be competitive once the lubrication problems with its wet sump engine are sorted out as, sadly, he retired with oil pressure problems.

• We haven’t seen George Christopher since he last appeared at Silverstone a year or so ago. He was down to drive his brother Andrew’s highly modified 308GTB which, on a good day, is phenomenally quick. It is also notoriously brittle and early indications suggested it wasn’t in the best state of health despite the close attentions of David Wedge assisted by most of George’s large family.

  This car was the first to show signs of distress. It languished in the pit lane for half of the session, enveloped in a cloud of steam. The reason was a suspected cracked cylinder head although George’s crew didn’t seem too perturbed and promised the car would be fit for the race. George managed to do enough laps to qualify albeit at the back of the grid, but retired early in the race.

• Nicky Paul-Barron (ex-Chris Rea 308GT4) had a little wobble around Copse on one lap as he explored the limits of his Ferrari’s roadholding, with all four wheels off the track. Incidentally it was nice to see Chris Rea himself at the circuit to see his old car racing once again, and take stock of the current Ferrari club racing scene. Nicky retired the car, complaining about "strange noises" coming from its nether regions.

• It was a shame that Witt Gamski, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Open series, was not able to join in the racing. His 355/Ch has apparently now been modified beyond the scope of the regulations and it deprived us of what would surely have been a front-running car. Witt, of course, won the first race in the Open series - we very much hope to see him back again soon.

• Tris Simpson was a non-starter. Gear selection problems in qualifying proved more serious than at first thought. Bits of foreign metal – some mentioned part of a big end! – were found in the ‘box and clearly there was nothing to do but load up for home.

• Another newcomer, this time in the 'C' class was Yorkshireman Bernard Hogarth in the F355/Ch he shares with Robert Pulleyn.

• Mark I’Anson will be known to everyone now as ‘the rally driver’ after good PR by the commentator [I believe he actually started as a navigator – Ed.], and is another competitor who is moving forward with his mastery of the ex-Chilton-Hunt 355/Ch. He says he was a bit lukewarm about this transition to the circuits but now the bug has well and truly bitten.

• It was Charlie’s White’s first pole in his short racing career and his first win. He was understandably delighted with both.

• Mike Reeder has been around rather longer than Charlie and has been a class winner, but to take the chequer as an outright winner must still have been sweet. It’s worth bearing in mind how few racers ever achieve this ultimate result, so well done to both of them.

With thanks to Anne & John Swift and others for the info.

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Mos Morris joined the PFO, but his 308 had oil pressure problems...

...whereas George Christopher's succumbed to head gasket troubles

We don't know of any Chris Rea song that would be appropriate to NP-B retiring his GT4

Alien metal bits were found in Tris Simpson's 328's gearbox

Bernard Hogarth was a welcome newcomer in his 355/Ch

Ex rallyist I'Anson obviously still feels some affinity with the rough stuff

Relatively new boy Charlie White took his first win...

...as did old-hand Mike Reeder

pics by Simon Cooke