The 458s Have Arrived

Ever since its introduction as a road car the 458 Italia has garnered every accolade going and has significantly moved the goal posts for road-going GT cars.  It was therefore with huge anticipation that we awaited the arrival of the Challenge and GT3 variants in the UK. We were not to be disappointed as a GT3 variant won the first round of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park the Monday before our race.

The entrants in the Factory’s  458 Challenge series received the first allocation of cars and it was only in March and April that the first cars began to arrive in the UK, leaving little time for race preparation. There were also a number of last-minute technical modifications that had to be carried out as a few faults showed themselves, making deliveries even later. Rumour has it that over 50 458 Challenge and GT3 variants are headed to UK customers.

Testing these new cars was further hampered by the lack of Pirelli tyre supplies in the appropriate sizes and, although Pirelli tyres are mandatory for this series, some of the private testing had to be carried out using Michelins.

For the Club’s first 2011 race in the Pirelli Open series no less than four 458/Chs - over £1million's worth - presented themselves for the morning qualifying session and it was little surprise to see two of them on the front row, those of Geoffrey Finlay and Derek Johnston. But they were only just ahead of the two 430/Chs of Leon Price and Dave Tomlin. Price, incidentally, had also just taken delivery of a new 458 GT3 but elected to use the more familiar 430 for this race.

Behind the first four came the 458/Ch of Craig Milner and then a great effort from Mick Dwane who put his, by these standards, elderly 360/Ch sixth on the grid.

Eagerly anticipated was also the battle down in the second half of the grid, with 355/Chs taking on three V-12, not normally seen in race series. Quickest in this ‘class’ was the 456GT of Nick Kaye just a blink ahead of the two 355/Chs of Mike Reeder and Wayne Marrs.  In total 21 cars lined upon the grid, an excellent turnout for this early in the season.

By the mid-afternoon race the sun was out and it could almost be described as hot, which caused some worry about marginal tyre life during the 30 minute race. None knew how the powerful 458s would handle their tyres and some of the 430 runners fancied their chances in the final laps.

The race had a rolling start behind a pace car which led the field round painfully slowly on the warm up lap. And then they were off, with second on the grid Johnston just getting the drop on pole sitter Finlay and Tomlin making a good start into third. On the second lap Finlay went down the inside of the leader at Luffield and made the move stick, emerging in front but not managing to pull away. A couple of seconds behind Tomlin was struggling to keep Price’s 430 at bay but hung on until lap 9 when the more potent car of Price went through into third.

Behind that lot came Arwyn Williams (430/Ch), having made a great start from 7th on the grid, followed by Dwane and then two more 458/Chs in the hands of Craig Milner and Paul Bailey, the two white cars looking fabulous glinting in the sun.

The two leaders ran nose to tail, with Finlay having to go defensive once or twice as Johnston looked for a way past, but it all finished on lap 19 when Finlay’s car faltered with an ECU failure and he pulled to the side to retire. From then on Johnston was unchallenged in the lead and second-place man Price was equally safe as Tomlin began to drop away. These three, however,  were way ahead of the rest of the field, having pulled out a 20 second gap at 15 laps, the half-way point.

Arwyn Williams was safe in fourth but behind him was an enthralling 458 battle between Milner and Bailey, with the latter having moved ahead on lap four but Milner never giving up the chase.

The expected 355/V12 battle was great, with Nick Kaye (456) leading initially from  Paul Brook’s similar tipo until the former  retired on lap 17. In the second half Mike Reeder (355/Ch) really got stuck in and fought his way to the front of this tight group with Wayne Marrs and Gavin Shirley in their 355s nose to tail behind, and Tim Mogridge also joining in. Great racing!

At the front Derek Johnston reeled off the laps until he took the flag at the end of the 30 minute session, about 5 seconds ahead of second-place Leon Price with Tomlin another 7 seconds behind in third. Then there was long gap to the next three but they finished just a few lengths apart, in the order Williams - Bailey – Milner. Mike Reeder took a popular class win in his 355/Ch and 12th overall but only just ahead of Paul Brooks whose 456 won the V-12 class.

We had witnessed an excellent opening race of the 2011 season and  there was little doubt that the 458s had brought a complete new dimension to Ferrari racing. By the time those other 50 or so cars get to the UK we will be seeing a lot of them!

Click here for the results.

Click here for a slideshow.

Next meeting: May 28/29 Donington Park (D/H)

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