The FOCGB Pirelli Classic race was held on the Sunday morning, and featured a good twenty car entry
spanning a variety of mid-engine V8 models, which ranged from a pair of Dino 308 GT4s to a trio of F355
Challenge cars, spread over five classes. The race featured a very close three way fight for the lead between
the F355 Challenge cars of Wayne Marrs and Tim Mogridge, together with the very fleet and well pedalled 328
GTB of Gary Culver, with the race finishing in that order.
The quartet of 488 Challenge races, two of each series on Saturday and Sunday, also produced some
exciting action, and despite the sometimes torrid weather conditions, there were relatively few off course
excursions. The first race of the weekend was for the Coppa Shell runners early on the Saturday afternoon
with twenty two cars in the entry list. The qualifying session had seen Jean-Claude Saada put his # 116
Rossocorsa entry on overall pole position, with Alexander Nussbaumer taking pole position in the Am class in
his # 136 Formula Racing entry. Because of the soaking wet conditions, the race was started behind the
safety car, and once it peeled off it was the Czech driver Vladimir Hladik in his # 144 Baron Motorsport entry
who took the initiative, and led the field quite comfortably all the way to the chequered flag. Behind him there
was a three way fight for the remaining podium places between the # 177 car of Fons Scheltema, the # 162
car of Christophe Hurni and the # 183 example driven by the Italian lady driver Manuela Goostner. She was
running 2nd for much of the race, but was passed by the Challenge series veteran Scheltema whilst lapping
back markers on the last lap, but she fended off the advances of Hurni to take her first podium position. The
Am class win went to the pole sitter Nussbaumer, who finished well clear of the # 199 car of Ingvar Mattsson,
who in turn was comfortably ahead of the # 172 example of Giuseppe Ramelli, who took the final class
podium spot.
The first Trofeo Pirelli race, with twenty entries, took place later on the Saturday afternoon, and once again
the race was started under the safety car due to the wet conditions. The race developed into a fierce two way
battle for victory between the # 84 Octane 126 entry of Bjorn Grossmann and the # 9 Formula Racing entry
driven by Niklas Nielsen, with this pair comfortably building a gap between themselves and the rest of the field
as the race progressed, extending it to over 15secs by the time the chequered flag fell. The race win went to
Grossmann, who managed to pull out a couple of seconds over Nielsen at the flag, with the # 85 Rossocorsa
entry of Vicente Potolicchio taking the final podium spot. In the Am category it was the # 93 Ferrari GB entry
of Chris Froggatt that took the victory, narrowly ahead of the sister # 90 Ferrari GB entry of Jack Brown, with
a distant Martin Nelson in his # 13 ScuderiaAutoropa entry taking the final podium position.
Sunday’s Coppa Shell race saw a first corner incident bring out the safety car for four laps, whilst the four
stricken cars were removed. This also involved the car of Manuela Gostner, which dropped her to last place,
but a spirited drive saw her climb back to 9th place overall and 7th in class at the finish. The race win went to
the # 162 Team Zenith Sion – Lausanne entry of Christophe Hurni, who had just missed out on the podium in
Saturday’s race, followed by the 181 Ineco – MP Racing entry of Erich Prinoth, a scant 1.249secs in arrears
at the flag, with Vladimir Hladik getting his second podium finish of the weekend. In the Am class it was the #
199 Scuderia Autoropa entry of Ingvar Mattsson that took the honours, comfortably ahead of the Saturday’s
class winner Alexander Nussbaumer.
The final race of the day was the second Trofeo Pirelli round of the weekend, where once again it was a fierce
two way battle for victory between the # 84 Octane 126 entry of Bjorn Grossmann and the # 9 Formula Racing
entry driven by Niklas Nielsen, with the latter reversing the race order from Saturday to take the win. A bit
further back there was an equally fierce battle for the final podium spot between the # 47 Charles Pozzi entry
of Henry Hassid and the # 92 Ferrari GB entry of Sam Smeeth, with the former claiming the spot. In the Am
class it was once again the # 93 Ferrari GB entry of Chris Froggatt that took the victory from the sister # 90
Ferrari GB entry of Jack Brown, but he had to work hard for it after a poor start saw him drop to 4th in the
opening stages of the race.
Keith Bluemel
05/2018
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