With the summer at its zenith, the PFHC contestants moved to Shelsley Walsh for Round 6 of the 2022 Championship.  It was expected that sparks would fly at this oldest of tracks with its emphasis on serious speed and lightning reactions.  And to add to the occasion we looked forward to enjoying the incomparable ambience that Shelsley seems to have.

Our numbers were slightly depleted with the withdrawal of Paul Booth (whose 458 Spider had reported shock absorber maladies) and your scribe (his F355 having no windscreen, for reasons I won’t go into).  Anne and I did, however, get to see the fun (without recourse to goggles) thanks to the trusty 550 Maranello.  So, the Ferrari battle would be between nine of Ferrari’s best, ranging from Jon Goodwin’s magnificent 250GT Lusso berlinetta (of age, if it be etiquette of an old lady to mention it, some 59 years) to the near-latest tipos.

When we arrived at Shelsley on Sunday morning, there was a strange lack of bustle and a distinct lack of competitors.  It transpired that the meeting should have had over 60 motorcycle competitors.  However, their examination of the track had revealed some feature – a barrier too high or too low – that didn’t meet with their requirements and it was pronounced an “unsafe course”.  The bikers therefore went off home, leaving the organisers with a stack of untaken slots and a serious depletion of their expected day’s entry fees.

So, back to the Ferraris and their piloti.  Steve Thompson had his 488GTB with its attendant ‘detailer’ at the ready with polish and dusters, and the scarlet paintwork positively glowed.  John Shirley was having his last drive of the year on the hills in his F355 (he returns to his holiday home in Italy shortly).  Pauline Goodwin’s ‘hillclimb’ 328GTB (she has two others) sparkled in the sunshine and was receiving the usual athletic attention with the footpump.  Tony Attwood’s Dino 246GT looked a million dollars – quite rightly so when you think that, these days, these lovely little gems are actually worth half this amount in real bills!  And Dave Snelson’s F430’s coachwork was a tribute to the startling good spray-on polish which he uses at the track.

The first practice got underway quite early – due to the absence of the ‘bikes I suppose – and Pauline Goodwin led the times of the ‘Classic’ tipos with 40.25.  The older models in the ‘current’ group were a couple of seconds faster, led by Mark Wibberley’s lovely 360 Spider.  The fastest P1 time was Champion Dave Snelson’s F430 at 34.08, two seconds faster than anything else in the class.

P2 followed quite rapidly, and most Ferraris improved by up to 3 seconds, with Thompson closing to within 0.8 sec of the leader.  Newcomer Steve Nunney impressed with a 4 second betterment.

And then the Tannoy announced a third Practice run was to be offered – a rarity at Shelsley.  This extra run didn’t produce any more speed in the Ferrari camp although Tony A’s Dino was given an obviously erroneous time some 20 seconds adrift from reality.

After a leisurely lunch in the sunshine, it was soon time for the serious business of the official ‘timed’ runs.  Nunney continued his impressive progress, with 42.53 and the Dino hit 40.83.  Shirley did his fastest of the day with 37.11, while up at the pointy end of the field, Snelson still stayed ahead, with a 0.38 advantage over Thompson’s 488.

It is always useful to look at the 0-64ft ‘blast-off’ times, particularly at Shelsley, and sure enough there was no-one to challenge Pauline’s 2.45 sec in her 328 – amazing!

Then it was the final run.  The track temperature had cooled by now, and times were expected to be slightly slower.  However, the three fastest protagonists proved me wrong, all of them making marginal improvements.  Third-placed Kennedy improved his California’s time by 0.12 sec, Thompson his 488 by 0.20 sec and, finally, the day’s victor on scratch: Snelson by 0.31 sec.  Dave took the 20 Championship points home, while Jon Goodwin collected the day’s Handicap award.

It had been an excellent day’s sport at a wonderful venue.  It just needed Anne Swift to put on her Championship Co-ordinator cap on and work out all the PEP and Handicap times on the long drive home . . .