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report by John Swift
photography by Tony Cotton
The first of our 2022 visits to the ever-popular sprint venue at Curborough was on Sunday. 21st August under the auspices of the Reliant & Scimitar Owners’ Club. The Ferrari entry was slightly down on expected numbers for a variety of reasons: car repairs, ill health, holidays, etc but we managed to assemble 11 Ferraris in the PFHC class. As usual this was an interesting variety of tipos, ranging in age from the 1960’s to the present day. It is wonderful testament to our Championship that Ferraris of such disparate periods can compete on equal terms due to the brilliant PEP system we use.
The assembled field included the current class record holder, Nick Taylor. whose time of 63.47 was under threat from at least three would-be contenders driving the quickest of the Italian supercars. First practice got off to a leisurely start due to some delays in scrutineering. Far from leisurely was Dave Snelson at the wheel of his stunning 488 Pista – first time out at Curborough. His stunning time of 63.25 immediately lowered the target for the other challengers. Perhaps surprisingly, it was a very determined John Kennedy who was the next quickest, taking his rapid California T to a 65.14. Perhaps it was the presence of John’s mother (plus aunt and uncle) – who were on a visit from the States – that gave him the extra impetus.
P2 saw generally quicker times now that drivers had ‘got their eye in’. Nick Taylor (65.75) closed up to Kennedy’s earlier effort while Steve Thompson – new to this track – almost equalled his pace in his screaming 488GTB with 65.88. Another ‘newby’, Gary Mullins (F360 Spider) impressed with a 5th fastest 70.25 while Pauline Goodwin was neat as well as quick in her ‘classic’ giallo 328GTB. The other lady pilota, Rain Hitchman, doesn’t mess about either, taking her lovely black and stripey F430 Spider to a competent 71.63 – a couple of seconds faster than the two Peters, Rogerson and Hitchman, in their 360 and 430 coupes respectively. Incidentally, all the Hitchman family have now followed Peter’s example, with Chris H having swapped his F355 for a 430 following his recent minor off-course excursion at Loton Park.
In the lull prior to the lunch break, cars were inspected for presentation for the Paddock Cup. Overwhelmingly, the gorgeous 250GT Lusso of Jon Goodwin was selected as the winner. These days, virtually all the Ferraris are presented in spotlessly shining order, so it is no mean feat for Jon to regularly take this honour.
Lunch at Curborough is something to look forward to, the ‘dinner-ladies’ always producing attractive dishes for the long queues of hungry competitors and marshals. Today was no exception. Anne Swift, our hard-working Championship Coordinator, got to work on evaluating the handicap targets for those without ‘previous’ at Curborough. With discussions with Scrutineers and the Clerk of the Course, she is always busy on behalf of her competitors. We were pleased to welcome Paul Skinner (and his immaculate 308GTB) as the day’s Championship Steward, and Committee members Brian Jackson and Mark Wibberley turned up to watch the fun.
Despite the aforementioned lunch, times for the first official runs were generally an improvement on practice figures. Thompson chopped a second off (64.84); Nick Taylor, regretting that he hadn’t replaced his tyres recently, was half-a-second slower, but Snelson’s Pista was significantly over two seconds quicker in the scratch stakes. Kennedy continued to impress (65.59) while the battle between our two ladies continued, with Rain Hitchman just a quarter of a second ahead of the less powerful, but more generously PEP’d 328GTB of Pauline G. Peter Rogerson was rather flummoxed by his quoted 0-64 ft time of 4.56 sec. Peter is regularly one of the fastest starters in the business and couldn’t believe this unusually slow figure. He resolved to show what he could do when his R2 time was displayed. Incidentally, up to this point Pauline G. was as usual firmly in the driving seat with a class-leading time of 2.57 sec.
And then, after a significant delay due to timing problems, the Ferraris assembled at the Start line for their final throw of the dice: R2. The track temperature was now a bit cooler than earlier, both Snelson and Taylor had significant wear on their tyres, so it was anybody’s guess as to who would deliver the scratch victory. Thompson was slower with 65.53; Taylor urged his 430 to an improved 64.81; Snelson was also a mite slower but his P1 time of 62.64 – a new class record – secured his victory. Kennedy’s brilliant P2 time of 65.28 brought him the FOC Handicap award, with Rain in second spot.
Peter Rogerson’s reputation for start time prowess was restored when he recorded the day’s quickest 0-64ft figure of 2.52 sec. The two leading 360 Modena drivers, with their unusually raucous exhaust systems, slogged it out for scratch honours with victory going to Richard Preece, his P1 time of 68.48 just pipping Mullins P2 effort by 0.68 sec – a fine battle.
The all-important PEP-adjusted figures to determine Championship points revealed the 20 points were won by Nick Taylor, with John Kennedy deservedly collecting 17. In third place and harvesting 15 points, to his great joy, was Jon Goodwin and the lovely Lusso.
The day’s prizes were presented in the organiser’s marquee, and commendably all our trophy winners were present. Looking at the season’s Championship table, Dave Snelson is still in the lead but John Kennedy and Steve Thompson are handily placed in 2nd and 3rd spots respectively. With Prescott, Shelsley Walsh and the final Curborough still to come, it looks like an exciting finish to the season . . .
