It seemed like an Almighty Force was doing everything to block me from going to Silverstone. During the 2020 Ferrari Racing Days at Silverstone it was basically impossible to enter the UK due to COVID-19 measures, so I set my target to 2021. The Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain sent an overview of the expected races for the Pirelli Ferrari formula classic racing series, and the Silverstone races were to take place on 18 and 19 September. All set then? No…
Several years of track days and races started to take its toll: the engine was leaking oil, distribution belts and other engine parts were worn out, and the gearbox started to show glitches. It took several weeks to get the car ready (and big thumbs up to my racing support crew Avant Autoservice), resulting in missed practise sessions at track days, and a message that the gearbox will probably need to be replaced soon. So no testing whatsoever and unclear if the gearbox will hold. Sod it, I’ll test the car on my way to the UK.
Having missed most Pirelli Ferrari formula classic races of 2021 due to quarantine obligations in the UK, this obligation was finally lifted by the time the Silverstone races were starting. But not without a price…not one, not two but three COVID tests were required on top of a proof of being fully vaccinated. The tests were awfully expensive and test two, the most expensive one, was to be sent by mail and never arrived (or the hotel threw the package away…). Either way, following a nine-hour ferry trip and three-hour road trip over the worst roads possible, at least for a Ferrari Challenge car, I arrived at Silverstone.
Leave it to the Ferrari Owner’s Club of Great Britain to make you forget all the hassle of the trip and preparation. The organisers, the scrutineers, and the drivers all gave me a warm welcome. My car was scrutineered and cleared for racing, and after a free practise and qualification we started our first race that evening. I’d forgotten how quickly the red lights could turn off and reacted late, losing a place to Jago Keen at the start. I managed to regain it and following a safety car situation, ended up in a nice battle with Myles Poulton in his fantastic 328. I was able to overtake him not long before the chequered flag, ending up 2nd in my group. What a great way to start!
The race was hosted by the Ferrari Racing Days which holds many events that will give any Ferrari enthusiast elevated heart beats. Not only are there the Ferrari Challenge UK series and Ferrari’s XX and F1 Clienti programs, there are several exhibitions with some legendary cars, such as a line-up of several Ferrari Monza’s.
Breakfast on Day two was enormous and delicious as provided by Colin Sowter and his wife with, I suspect, the dubious objective of adding a few pounds of weight to me before race two… 😀 While eating we looked at the clouds passing over the track. Will it rain? We are all convinced it wouldn’t. Alas…lining up to enter the track, it started to rain. Some racers changed tyres, I loosened my suspension. By the time we were positioned on the start grid, it was pouring. My strategy, not knowing the track well, was to make sure to drive within limits and let the others spin off when they reached their limit. It worked: soon two racers in front span off, Colin being one of them. He overtook me again later in the race, and I tried to keep up while yet another car span off. Then…problems arrived. A rev limited hit in at about 4500 rpm which forced me to continue with half the power. The rain kept getting worse which at that time was an advantage, having limited power anyway. Still, I had to give up my position to Jago Keen. Not long after, the race director decided that conditions were too poor to continue racing, and a red flag was shown.
The help you get, and experience you gain, on such a race weekend is priceless. Myles Poulton’s support team, Kudu Automotive, offered to look at my rev limiter problem and solved the issue within five minutes. Colin Sowter and his team gave dozens of tips on improving the performance of the 348. And RnR Performance Cars offered to test the 348’s gearbox, while being very occupied with repairing a broken crankshaft on an F355, and confirming that my 348 needs a new gearbox (which they can provide, luckily since 348 gearboxes are hard to find). Many thanks to all of you!
I drove the 348 to the nearest shopping mall to do yet another COVID-19 test giving clearance to return to The Netherlands. Shoppers looked a bit surprised when a Ferrari race car parked, and a guy in full racing suit entered the mall…. When done, I had one more race to go. The Ferrari Racing Days ended with us Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic drivers doing one more race. Following the safety car of race one, the rain in race two, race three had yet another surprise for us as one of the drivers started losing oil heavily, spilling it over a range of about three corners which forced some very careful driving through Becketts. The race ended, yet again, without accidents and market the closure of a fantastic race weekend and Ferrari weekend. I managed to obtain some Ferrari TV videos to combine with my on-board GoPro footage.
You can hear the commentator (at about 2:15 in the race 3movie) mention that I drove my 348 to England to race it. The scrutineers were impressed with the car being able to drive from The Netherlands to Silverstone, finish three races, and drive back to The Netherlands, and rewarded the car with the Superperformance Best Prepared Car of this race. The weekend could not have finished any better! Many thanks for the Ferrari Owners’ Club Great Britain for hosting this event and allowing me to participate as a guest.
Ciao!
Robin
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