29 drivers entered the Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series races at the Oulton Park Gold Cup event on 26/27/28 July 2024.  This year marked the 70^th anniversary of the iconic event so it was fitting that our first invitation to support the North West’s premier historic race meeting attracted the largest series entry in recent history, certainly in the 10 years that your scribe has been Co-ordinating the Series, you will have to hunt back through the Club archives to the early days of the previously titled Pirelli Ferrari formula classic Series to find a larger entry list.

As is often the case, some logistical issues meant a couple of drivers had to pull out at the last minute. Robin Fisk’s Mondial still not fully repaired after his excursion during the previous round at Thruxton, the 328 GTB of George MacFarlane delayed in being returned following some routine work and the Club’s Competitions Director, Gary Culver aggravated a previous  knee injury incurred whilst playing tennis (better just stick to motor racing Gary), so he had to sit this event out.

Qualifying

25 cars headed out to Qualify during the Friday afternoon session, Jim Cartwright arriving at the circuit as the session ended following a delay navigating the Friday afternoon M6 traffic.  Vance Kearney (Group 6 F355 Challenge) failed to complete the out-lap and limped slowly to a halt at Druids with alternator failure.  Times continued to improve during the session with Wayne Marrs (Group 6 F355 Challenge) coming out on top ahead of the Group 5 F355’s of Tris Simpson and Tim Mogridge as the chequered flag fluttered.  Still getting to grips with his F355 Challenge was newcomer James Parker.  The former Mini Challenge racer who made his Ferrari debut at the previous event at Thruxton slid off the track into the Island gravel bed in the closing seconds of the session.

Behind the leaders, Nick Cartwright (328 GTB) took the Group 4 pole following the hurried purchase of a new helmet required to satisfy the Scrutineers.  Chris Butler (328 GTB) took Group 3 pole and Nick Whittaker was the fastest of the Group 2 runners in his immaculate 308 GT4 Dino.

Race 1

Cloudy skies and a light rain shower as the cars headed to the Assembly Area caused a flurry of late setup changes, but thankfully the rain didn’t continue and the track was pretty much fully dry as the cars headed out of the pitlane to complete the formation lap.  Once the lights went out Tris Simpson got the better start, leading from Wayne Marrs, Chris Compton-Goddard and Tim Mogridge during the early laps.  Mogridge moving up to 3^rd on lap 3 and latching on to the back of Marrs and Simpson for what would become a race long battle between the three, Compton-Goddard dropping back into a lonely race in 4^th.

Further down the order, Vance Kearney came charging through the field from the back of the grid and up to 8^th position, his alternator problem now fixed, but frustratingly a gear selection issue hampered his progress on the final lap.  Also starting from the back, well pitlane actually, was Pete Fisk (Group 3 328 GTB) but his race was cut short by an oil leak which forced his retirement on lap 5.

Colin Sowter was debuting the much awaited arrival of his newly built F355 Spyder, adding some great variety to the grid.  With limited testing this event was very much a shakedown for the car, but an electrical gremlin relating to the pit speed limiter crept in as he completed the 3^rd lap, retiring the car at the start of lap 4.

Turning back to the battle for the overall podium, Marrs managed to squeeze past Simpson on lap 4 with Simpson’s attention then moving to defending from his long time sparring partner Mogridge who appeared to be glued to the back of the number 46 car right up until the final lap when Mogridge, by his own admission, began to overdrive and overheat his tyres.  A last lap attempt to snatch 2^nd position with a late braking manoeuvrer into Druids ended with an uncharacteristic visit to the gravel bed, promoting a surprised Compton-Goddard back onto the final step of the podium, ahead of Nicky Paul-Barron (Group 5 F355 Challenge) in 4^th.  Chris Butler delivered another sterling performance in his Group 3 328 GTB to finish a commendable 5^th overall, setting a new lap record and beating the more modified Group 4 cars, the best of which was a delighted Myles Poulton (328 GTB) who came home in 9^th overall.  In Group 2, Nick Whittaker converted his Class pole position into a Class win, narrowly fending off Jago Keen’s 308 GTB.

Race 2

A huge crowd gathered at the circuit on Sunday, bathed in warm July sunshine for the main event day.  The mid-afternoon race slot allowing plenty of time for our drivers to see the event, meet the fans and enjoy the surroundings of our new Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Race Centre and Driver’s Lounge which had pride of place in the centre of the Paddock.

With the starting grid being determined by 2^nd fastest qualifying times, pole position this time went to Tris Simpson, with Wayne Marrs starting alongside in 2^nd position.  Tim Mogridge again qualified 3^rd ahead of Chris Compton-Goddard and series newcomer Philip Connell in an excellent 5^th place in his Group 5 F355 Challenge.

With the pit lane speed limiter Gremlin now deactivated, Colin Sowter made great progress on the opening lap, moving up to 4^th position from 8^th on the grid.  Repeating his Race 1 charge from the back, Vance Kearney overtook 11 cars on lap 1, and a further 5 on lap 2, before settling in to his familiar 8^th overall.  In Group 4 Myles Poulton made up positions to catch Class leader Nick Cartwright.  It was Group 3 though that provided the closest racing.  Erstwhile Group winner Chris Butler was missing from the grid, sidelined after his team discovered a crack in the chassis of his 328 GTB, this left newcomer Nigel Sayles (328 GTB) to head a 5-car midfield train of similar Group 3 machinery driven by Robert Greaves, Tim Shearman, Peter Everingham and Pete Fisk.

Up ahead it was all about to come to an abrupt end though when on lap 6 Group 2 leader Nick Taylor (Mondial T) got all out of shape at Knickerbrook, losing several places as he recovered heading up Clay Hill.  This caught out Nick Whittaker as the two cars negotiated the blind and tricky left hander side by side.  Avoiding contact Taylor dropped a wheel onto the grass but unfortunately from this point on he was a passenger, his car careering through the line of foam bales and colliding heavily with Whittaker at Druids, the two cars coming to rest at the edge of the track.  With 8 minutes of the race remaining and at least 10 minutes worth of recovery operation and barrier repairs required, the race was red flagged.  Unfortunately the crammed schedule and strict noise curfew at Oulton Park meant that no restart was possible so the cars were directed into Parc Fermé and the result declared at the end of lap 4 with Simpson, Marrs and Mogridge heading to the podium.  Fortunately it appears that the damage to both cars is just cosmetic and both Nicks vowed to return for Castle Combe in September.

It was some consolation for Nick Whittaker to be awarded the Superformance ‘Best Prepared Car’ award at the prize giving ceremony with Myles Poulton taking home the RNR Performance Cars Driver of the Weekend award as chosen by the circuit commentary team.  Both races were also run for the Chris Amon Trophy in recognition of the former Ferrari driver who finished 2^nd to Sir Jackie Stewart in the 1968 Oulton Park Gold Cup, Wayne Marrs and Tris Simpson shared the race wins this weekend so each have a Chris Amon Trophy to display on their mantlepieces at home.

Next event is our traditional headlining Festival Italia at Brands Hatch on Sunday 11^th August.