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La Vie en Bleu & La Vita Rossa, Prescott Speed Hill Climb


Bugatti Chiron

Bugatti Chiron

 

Gotherington, 27 – 28 May, 2017

The Prescott Speed Hill Climb, a fraction over a kilometre in length, near the village of Gotherington in Gloucestershire, home of the Bugatti Owners’ Club, hosted the annual La Vie en Bleu meeting incorporating La Vita Rossa, which they introduced in 2016. This was very apt in 2017, Ferrari’s 70th anniversary year, and also the 50th anniversary of the Ferrari Owners’ Club in the UK. Thus the event featured a round of the Ferrari Owners’ Club’s Pirelli Ferrari Hill Climb Championship, with a healthy twelve competitors taking part, in models ranging from a 250 GT Lusso to a F430 Berlinetta.

There were a wide variety of competition classes, covering a broad spectrum of vehicles, from relatively standard humble road going machinery, like a Ford Puma, to purpose built hill climbing specials like the OMS PR R1 Yamaha. Within the number there were road and race classes for pre-war Austin 7s, with quite a bizarre mix of body styles, a pair of MG Car Club classes, plus of course French and Italian marque classes, and it goes without saying, one for Bugattis. There was also a class for the ERA Club, with six examples of the charismatic marque in the entry list, including the Riley prototype from 1933 and the black ex-Raymond Mays R4D from 1938. Raymond Mays was one of the founders of English Racing Automobiles (ERA) and also British Racing Motors (BRM), apart from being a successful racing driver in a career spanning some thirty years. 

Apart from plenty of competitive track activity, there were also special vehicle demonstration parades up the hill, including the “Monster of Turin”, the massive twin chain driven Fiat S76, with its 28.4 litre 4 cylinder engine making an impressive sight. At the modern end of the spectrum, it was a trio of Bugattis that grabbed the attention, with a pair of Veyrons, one black and orange, and the other chrome and black, being preceded up the course by the latest offering from Bugatti, the Chiron, finished in an elegant duo tone blue colour scheme. There was also a raffle each day, in which the prize was a ride up the hill in the Chiron. There were also display areas for one make car clubs, the largest of which on the Saturday was the Ferrari Owners’ Club in The Orchard, numerous trade and vendor stands with a wide variety of offerings, a music entertainment stage, and ambience acts, all combining to provide an entrancing touch of France and Italy in rural England. 

Pirelli Ferrari Hill Climb Championship Competitors

Race #

Model

Colour

Chassis #

Driver

Result

153

Ferrari F355 Berl’

Red/Black

104026

Richard Prior

1st

151

Ferrari F355 Berl’

Red/Black

101308

Philip Whitehead

2nd

150

Ferrari 328 GTB

Yellow/Beige

67191

Mike Spicer

3rd

146

Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

Red/Black

5729 GT

Jon Goodwin

 

147

Ferrari Dino 308 GT4

Red Met’/Cream

09632

Anthony Attwood

 

148

Ferrari 308 GTB

Yellow/Black

26907

Brian Jackson

 

149

Ferrari 328 GTB

Red/Cream

61759

Pauline Goodwin

 

152

Ferrari F355 Berl’

Black/Black

100049

John Swift

 

154

Ferrari F355 Berl’

Red/Black

114394

Richard Preece

 

155

Ferrari 360 Modena

Pale Blue Met’/ Blue

118133

Juan Moreno

 

157

Ferrari 360 Spider F1

Blue Met’/Black

130199

Mark Wibberley

 

158

Ferrari F430 F1

Red/Cream

159459

David Snelson

 

Keith Bluemel         
05/2017