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| PIRELLI MARANELLO FERRARI CHALLENGE |
PADDOCK
STORIES: ROUND
14 : THRUXTON - 27 SEPTEMBER 2003
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click
for Results & Points |
- It was not a good weekend for the Reeder brothers. Graham suffered
a broken drive shaft in practice and then retired from the race very
early with damage and a puncture. Mike suffered from a sticking throttle
on the formation lap and, again, on and off during the race. Others
might have retired but he soldiered on. Family silver was saved, however,
because Graham won the C-class championship.
- It's good to see John Seale back with us and enjoying his racing.
His white 360, however, does seem to lock its brakes at the slightest
provocation, just like at Combe. With permanent ABS this should not
happen of course. The Roden chaps have had a look but the SD2 diagnostics
show no fault – all very curious.
- There seem to be quite a few 360 Challenge cars for sale and they
are getting cheaper all the time. Phil Burton’s red car was shown
in the Thruxton paddock with a £52,000 plus VAT price tag. John
Seale’s red car was also displayed for sale. There are lots of
others around too. Many old 355/Chs found their way on to the road or
are used as track day cars. The 360 has no road capability and many
see it as a hard car to run without engineer support. With careful selection
there could be some real bargains out there.
- The JMH team have had a very demanding first season covering thousands
of miles with a hectic schedule of testing and racing. Jason and Julie
are looking forward to a bit of a break now the season is over, ready
to regroup for 2004. I know that everyone wishes them well – put
your feet up for goodness sake !
- Mike Furness is improving all the time in his 355 Challenge. He still
owns his O-class 328 which, in theory, is for sale. However he enjoyed
his outings in the club’s new formula classic races a
lot. Like many others with suitable older cars he is thinking that perhaps
this is a time to keep rather than to sell.
- Once again there were no O-class cars at Thruxton but the class will
stay for 2004 in case there are some new players. Not everyone wants
a Challenge car with all the attendant commitment – trailers,
wheels, slicks and wets etc. Surely a road-going 355 would be a lot
of fun – and not too slow either.
- We had an e-mail from 'DISGUSTED' of Team Gamski complaining of our
lack of coverage of their pilot and instead writing 'a whole
flaming paragraph about a couple of girl's squabbling over standard
exhausts on the 360`s'. Mmmh, seems that DISGUSTED didn't read the basic
rules about how to get website coverage. Click
here and read point 8 to refresh yourself.
- Looking back at previous visits to Thruxton is quite interesting.
In 2000 we had no fewer than eight different tipos on the grid –
F50, 512 TR, 308 GT4, 355/Ch, 355, 348, 328, 246. In 1999 it was also
eight but with an F40 in place of a 246. This year it was two: 355/Ch
and 360/Ch!
- Lap times are also interesting. In 1999 Ian Hetherington had the fastest
lap in his F50 with 1.26.59 – contrast this with Lewis Carter’s
1.21.14 in his 360/Ch. In 2000 it was a 1.24.30 for Cosby’s 512.
355 Challenge times are also interesting but are the other way around.
John Seale in 2000 - 1.23.8. This year Ted Reddick 1.25.6. There is
an amazing time in the archives which is Gary Culver in an O-class 355
– 1.28.43 in qualifying in 2000. Is that real Gary ?
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Maranello Ferrari Challenge page.
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