FOC Comps - Ferrari Owners' Club

2008 FOC Competitions

7.2.08

Periodically it's worth reminding ourselves that Ferrari was founded in competition, in that Enzo regarded road cars as fundamentally a means to fund the racing. It's also worth reminding ourselves that no other organisation comes remotely close to Ferrari in its racing heritage or results.

At the highest level this is manifested by Ferrari's continuous involvement in Formula 1 since 1950 (the first year of the modern era), the only constructor so to do. With 201 wins, 15 constructors' championships and 14 drivers' titles Ferrari is way ahead of anyone else. Also, in this era of "manufacturers'" teams, it's worth re-stating that Ferrari is the only one which has not simply bought its place by taking over an established team, other than Toyota - and look how well they've done.

In sportscar racing, sadly Ferrari's glorious heritage has not been kept up. With the huge cost of competing in F1 this is understandable, but with increasing constraints on F1 expenditure we can hopefully look forward to a Ferrari LMP1 being released to sort out those manufacturers who appear to have decided that F1 was just too tough a nut to crack.

The Ferrari Owners' Club of Great Britain proudly acknowledges and humbly celebrates this heritage in that it is unique amongst Owners' Clubs in organising its own series in which its members compete, all three supported by Pirelli

The Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship is the Club's only true championship series and is the best supported of the Club's competitions. This is entirely appropriate, since in the 21st Century, this is as close as you can get to true dual race and road use. In this it's ideal for the Ferrari owner wishing to venture into competition for the first time. Addition benefits are that is visits some lovely places and there 's a great social scene! The 2008 Championship takes place over fifteen rounds and is for standard road-going Ferraris. There is a handicap points system ("Performance Equaliser Percentage") which allows the various tipi to compete on a level basis.

Pirelli Ferrari formula classic is the most popular of the Club's circuit formulae and reflects the ethos of the hillclimb championship in that it is basically for road-legal Ferraris. These must have been built prior to 1990 i.e. up to and including the tipo 328, but excluding turbo-charged cars like the 288GTO and F40. This was a grass roots led initiative to re-capture racing for the true Club member after a previous formula had largely been hijacked by semi-professionals and costs escalated and track manners deteriorated beyond acceptable bounds.

Pirelli Ferrari Open is for 355 Challenge cars and modified Ferraris up to and including the 355. It attempts to embrace both of the Ferrari traditions of the gifted amateur modifying and racing his car and the straightforward customer racer. In this admirable objective it has met with varying success, with some great racing, but poor grids so far.

To check out all of the Club's racing formulae - 2008 calendars and events archive, click here. See you in 2008!

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