Our PFO series is still of course finding its feet. There was some encouragement to be found for the future at Oulton Park. Thirteen cars qualified, which is not too bad. Better still was the mix of models represented.  Examples of 456, 550, 355, 360 and 430 were on show and indeed the paddock was a great Ferrari show in itself as, with our formula classic series on the same day, about the only Tipo not on show from recent times was the 348.
 
Ian Hartley (430/Ch) just took pole position at the last minute of qualifying from Wayne Marrs (360 GT2) and Derek Johnston (430/Ch).  Next up was Mick Dwayne (360/Ch), Paul Bailey (430/Ch), and Gavin Shirley in the ex. Dave Tomlin 355 Challenge car.

The race was set for a very late start of 6.00pm. By then the clouds had gathered, and as our boys sat in the collection area it started to rain! All were on slicks of course. The circuit curfew was 6.30pm and the race was set for 20 minutes. It didn’t look like a brief shower either, although the rain itself was fairly light rather than a downpour. Some of the drivers had pit garages, and were being run by teams with the equipment and staff to change over to wets. Others were one-man bands in the paddock with virtually no chance to change over. What to do?

Well everyone took the green flag lap and formed up for the start on slicks. The lights went out and off they went – apart from Wayne Marrs, whose fabulous ex. Le Mans 360 stalled. Behind him on the grid was Ben Cartwright in the family 355 Challenge, having its first outing. Up until now Ben had enjoyed a great day.  Unfortunately that was about to change as he drove into the back of the 360, causing a fair amount of damage to both cars, and a red flag.

pics in race order, start here

The rain continued, and of course the circuit clock was ticking. On the second formation lap both Paul Bailey and Ian Hartley wisely ducked into the pits for a tyre change. They would start the race from the pit lane. Everyone else was going to brave it out on slicks.

I suppose that they were all heroes really. But most heroic were I thought Mick Dwayne (360), Gavin Shirley (355) and Nigel Jenkins (355) all of whom drove exceptionally well in the conditions. Having said that, both 355s had offs, so there was an element of luck involved too, as always. Vance Kearney (355/Ch) was up to fourth at the end of lap 1 but then had a sizeable accident as he slithered into the barriers in the treacherous conditions. Derek Johnston’s 430/Ch held second initially but after various moments called it a day and retired.

For a long time it looked as though Dwayne may actually win overall. But the suitability of wet tyres finally won the day, and Ian Hartley came through in the end to take a deserved chequered flag.  Mick held on to second however with Paul Bailey coming through to take third. Jenkins and Shirley were next, followed by Craig Milner (355/Ch) and Sean Winder (360/Ch), and what a first-ever race that must have been for Sean!  Paul Unsworth was the brave last finisher, he must have been so tempted to park his super 550 which is the ex-Ian Hetherington PMFC car from some years ago.

The next PFO race is at Castle Combe, where they have a grid combined with other guest marques. That leaves the last meeting at Donington for a proper PFO race. My guess is that there will be a rolling start here.  If you are racing an eligible car in any other series, I do encourage you to come to Donington and enjoy the party. Let’s go into the winter lay-off with positive feelings about what could be a great series.

What PFO needs is a solid set of UK dates in 2011, so it can gain some momentum.  The formula is about right, and there is much to look forward to.    

Click here for the results.

Next meeting: 30 August - Castle Combe

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