Ferrari 308 - On Track 2001
My 2001 Track days were organised by the Ferrari Owners Club...
Silverstone
First up for 2001 was Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, I had
visited a year before, so I was an
old hand.
|
We set out onto a damp track with warnings that the circuit
had been used the prior day by classic cars, a sure sign to look out
for oil patches.
A sideways moment in the first session braking for Club confirmed
the track was very slippery.
|
 |
 |
As the day wore on the track dried, and by the second session it
was much less treacherous.
Just before the last session of the day I took this picture (below)
of the beautiful Ferrari 250 GTO, little did I
|
| know that it would appear in a much more threatening
way again soon afterwards. As we headed down Hangar Straight, the fastest part of the circuit,
the 250 GTO was about 100yds ahead of us. BANG, a loud
explosion, and suddenly we were heading at over 100mph towards a huge plume of white
smoke, the GTO had disappeared totally fromview, and the smoke
|
 |
| had spread across the whole track. There was no way I
could stop before the we reached the smoke, he could have been
anywhere, he may even have spun and been parked sideways somewhere in
that thick blanket of white.
Decision time, obviously I slowed as much as possible, and aimed to
the inside of Stowe, since he'd been at the outside the last time I saw
him. Sensibly he stayed well wide and off the line, I passed him
as he was coasting to a halt with an expensively broken car, the session
was stopped till he could be towed back to the pits.
|
Rockingham
 |
Rockingham Motor Speedway is the UK's newest motorsport
facility. Based on an American style oval track, it will
host Indy and NASCAR races.
There are also several different configurations which the track can
be set out in, we used the long car circuit, left, which utilises part
of the banked oval, but mostly the more traditional in-field track.
The day started dull but cleared up enough to get the roof off for
the second session, the track proved to be a brake killer with long
fast straights and several hairpin bends.
|
If you're wondering where the pictures of my Ferrari are...
 |
 |
| These days, Kathy comes out on the track most of the
time, so we don't tend to get so many pictures of my car. Later
on in the day the rains came, and the last session was rather damp, so
after a brief sideways moment we decided to set off for home. |
Brands Hatch
| The last outing of the 2001 season was at the Brands
Hatch Grand Prix circuit, a track I had driven at before in the MR2.
An excellent track with lots of history and much more interesting
views (for the passengers) than an airfield circuit like Silverstone.
Brands has excellent features, like up and down gradients, fast
straights, blind curves, difficult camber corners, and tricky sections
like Dingle Dell.
The weather turned out cold but good so we had the chance to take
to the track with the roof off, which always makes it more fun.
A good Ferrari turn out enabled me to get some nice photos, such as
the Ferraris through the ages picture on the right below. |
 |
Ferrari 308 GTS quattrovalvole
In the Pits at Brands Hatch
 |
Ferraris at Surtees
550 Maranello, F40, 328, 365 Daytona |
Cars | Ferrari
308 - On Track - 2000 - 2001 - 2002
|
