The ‘5 seconds’ sign is shown and my heart rate goes through the roof. Five seconds to start my first race in the ferrari 348 at Brands Hatch, a track that I have never driven at before, and it is pouring with rain. Was this a good idea? For 14 years I wanted to do this: participate in the Pirelli Ferrari Trofeo Classic races. These races are organized by the Ferrari Owners Club UK and are limited to Ferrari’s up to the year 1999.
End 2016 I traded my more modern Ferrari 360 for a 16-year older Ferrari 348 with the objective of participating one day to the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic. The 348 belonged to a friend of mine and I knew therefore that this was a reliable car. In the years that followed the car was slowly made ready for racing and was tested at many track days. 2019 was going to be the year where I would participate to that season’s race at Spa-Francorchamps but despite getting the EU racing license that allows me to start races abroad, circumstances forced me to postpone my racing debut abroad. So the 2020 Spa-Francorchamps race was going to be the one! COVID-19 had other ideas though…. and the race was cancelled. Then suddenly the Ferrari Owners Club UK announced “we are GO for racing” with the first races to be held at Brands Hatch. Despite not being able to debut on a circuit that I know, I decided to go for it anyway and asked the club if I could participate as a foreign guest. The club replied that I was most welcome and it was done…I had registered. For two weeks I worked to ensure that the car complied to the UK club racing specifications. This involved applying several padding’s to the roll cage, a new harness compliant with FHR (Frontal Head Restraint) systems, tow hooks with larger inner diameter, etc. New sponsor stickers were applied and the car was ready to go…
…literally, as instead of putting the car on a trailer I actually drove it to a England myself. Starting from Noordwijk, The Netherlands, it was a 45 minute drive to the ferry to the UK. Six hours later we arrived at Harwich and from there it was only a one-and-half hour drive to the Brands Hatch circuit and hotels. It was clear though that Ferrari race car suspensions and British roads are not very compatible… with a sore behind I checked in and fell quickly asleep.
Race day one. This was the only day I could get some practice. The UK Owners club had a reserved paddock for the Pirelli Ferrari Trofeo Classic participants while the pitlane was reserved for the Ferrari 488 Challenge cars participating to the Ferrari Challenge UK. I received a warm welcome by the organising committee and met a few drivers of the race. What struck me immediately was the good atmosphere in the paddock. As an international guest to this racing series, and therefore a bit of an outsider, it was very comforting to be welcomed like this and get compliments on the car.
We spent the morning in free practice followed by qualification. In-between our sessions the Ferrari 488 Challenges were practising and qualifying. While there are five different classes in this Formula Classic, all classes start at the same time. I qualified 18th, which was 5th in my class. On this first day we were driving the Indy layout of the Brands Hatch track. A short track with a shape similar to a half moon located entirely within a natural amphitheatre, and a first corner that only drivers with testicles the size of bowling balls dare to take fast; a right-hander called Paddock Hill Bend, with gradients of 8%, and best to be very careful at when it rains.
And boy did it rain… three seconds to start and I reminded myself not to take it too seriously but to enjoy this and above all, prevent any damage to the car and to others! The red lights came on and 23 cars on the start grid start revving. “Do NOT stall the car at the start”, a friend of mine told me a few days before. The lights turn off and off we go! I have a good start; one worry less! But now 23 cars arrive together at Paddock Hill Bend in wet conditions…a recipe for disaster. Somehow we all get through safely without spins or touching and I start to relax a bit. There clearly is a good respect amongst the drivers for each other. During the next 10 minutes all went well and I managed, also due to spins of two other cars, to move up four places. But then the moment comes when the faster flame-spitting F355’s start lapping the rest of the grid. Blue flags are shown and now it is a matter of not being in the way of the faster cars, while still maintaining position. A few laps later the chequered flag is shown…I survived the first Formula Classic race!
Credit: Ferrari North Europe 
Day 2 started with sunny weather; a big relief. On this day we had the unique opportunity to drive the large GP layout of the Brands Hatch track. Since two races were to be held this day, we did not have possibility to free practice and get to know the track. I had to go straight into qualifying without ever having driven on this layout. Luckily some PlayStation sessions helped me recognise the corners, and I qualified even a bit better than the day before: 17th overall. I would loose three places during the start of race 2 however as I got stuck between two cars who had a bad start. A breakdown of one car and two overtakes brought me back into position and I ended up where I started: 17th overall, 5th in my class.
In the final race, the third this weekend, I had a good start and lost one place, only to take it back at turn 2. During the race one overtake moved me up one place and I ended up 16th, again 5th in my class. The organisers had a little surprise for me: during the trophy ceremony they had invented an “international trophy” in order to give me a little present in the form of a trophy. If that wasn’t enough they also gave me a Ferrari Club racing bag. A wonderful gesture and again underlining the warm welcome I received that weekend.
Credits: racingevents.info 
Sleeping wasn’t easy that night, despite the luxurious cabin on the Stena Line Ferry back to Holland. Too much adrenaline and excitement that weekend. The 348 was parked on the lower decks and behaved perfectly that weekend: I drove it from The Netherlands to the UK, did three races with it, and drove it back. Many drivers asked me, before I left, “will we see you again?”. As I was staring out of the window and saw the faint lights of the Dutch coast appearing I realised that my idea to do this as a one-time event was crushed… and the answer therefore, is yes. See you soon again.
Ciao!
Robin
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