PIRELLI MARANELLO FERRARI CHALLENGE

PADDOCK STORIES: ROUNDS 2 & 3 : SPA FRANCORCHAMPS
26/27 APRIL 2003

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	click for Results & Points

• Shame that Ian Flux didn't get a chance to race Phil Burton's spare 360/Ch. He would not have been eligible for PMFC points but the idea was that he would run in Class B in the same race. The car was not quite ready but he has applied for, and been granted permission, to race as a PMFC guest driver at Donington. It will be interesting to see how our chaps compare.
  
  
• Oliver Morley, having driven brilliantly in the second race, had just launched himself to the top step of the podium when they blasted out the French national anthem. It seems that someone in the organisation had typed his name as OLIVIER and therefore the obvious conclusion was that he must be French. Bit of a blow to a Mancunian lad.
  
  
• Not only is she very pretty and photogenic but she can also drive. Vanina Ickx became the darling of the paddock and was followed around everywhere by the photographers. She races only occasionally but has competed a couple of times in the Spa 24-hours (once with her Dad) so clearly knows her way around. Observers reported that she was using parts of the track that others didn't even know existed and, if you stall your car on the grid, it certainly helps to be a girl - and a Belgian one at that.
  
  
• When Swifty lost his wheel during the qualifying session with it into the countryside went all five wheel bolts as well. He reports that he thought of a unique way of harnessing the marshals to try and find them..... he offered a beer for every one recovered, with the result that not only was he handed all five bolts but all five washers as well. So, did he deliver, we'd like to know?
  
  
• Organisation at Spa has always been slightly eccentric and this time it was no different. Bullying paddock marshals, forgetfulness in arranging a PMFC podium, wrong grid positions, funny anthems and general haplessness made one wonder how they ever manage bring a race meeting to a conclusion.
  
  
• This may be a record but for the wrong reasons. Was this the first PMFC race with none in the "O" class? Andy Duncan had entered his 348 but an engine malfunction prevented it turning up. Maybe times have just moved on: in the old days there were either "O" class cars or very expensive "M" class ones. These days it's so easy to go racing with a factory-spec 355 Challenge car.
  
  
• The European 360 Challenge runners looked notably sparse compared with previous years. Both 'gentlemen' and 'professional' classes had been combined and there wasn't the profusion of slinky transporters that we were used to. There wasn't even a transporter from Ferrari UK whereas last year there was quite a sizeable representation from the home team.

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