© Photos by
Paul / Fotografia Corse

GOODYEAR MARANELLO FERRARI CHALLENGE
RACE REPORT : ROUND 2 : OULTON PARK

Role Reversal

In complete contrast to the previous Donington meeting, Oulton Park on Good Friday was bitterly cold, wet and muddy, with occasional snow flurries just to add interest.

Practice was certainly eventful for pole sitter John Pogson (355/Ch) who set his quickest time and then promptly buried the car deep into the barriers at Old Hall. Some vigorous work by his team saw the car fit for the race however. Stuart Bowler's F40 shared the front row and in a sensational third place was Gary Culver in his 'O' class 328GTB.

The start was hectic. Pogson led away but Rory Fordyce's Testarossa went off at Old Hall and spun back into the middle of the pack, collecting Alan Cosby's 512M and eliminating both cars in a mass of debris. For the next few laps the race ran under Black & Yellow caution flags which not all of the drivers, however, seemed to understand and most of the racing went on unabated.

Pogson was soon caught by Bowler's F40 but a brave overtaking attempt by the latter dropped him back into fourth place. From then it was excitement all the way as the two F40s of Peter Cook and Bowler gradually caught and passed Pogson to move into the lead. The battle between the two was as exciting as the one at Donington, except that this time Cook held on by the narrowest of margins to lead another magnificent F40 one-two. Pogson finished third, followed by Andy Christopher (308) and Paul Ciardiello (328) who finished just 2 seconds apart.

In the 'O' class Gary Culver continued his wet weather domination. Initially third overall, he gradually slipped back as the quicker 'M' class cars went ahead but he cruised to an easy class win, ahead of a hard trying Fred Moss in his 348 which had received set-up attention since his debut at the previous Donington race. David Wilkinson brought his 355 into third place in the class.

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