Trofeo Abarth 500 GB Championship - Oulton Park 3rd April

[autofocus]

Hi there,

Spent Saturday at Oulton Park for the British F3/GT practice and qualifying as I have to be at work all day Monday.

I don't do single seaters as they bore me silly so it was mainly the GT's and the great fun Abarth 500's for me.

It was only my second time at Oulton Park with media access, will post the GT ones tomorrow, but here are some from the Abarth series.

1) Benny Simonsen cocking a wheel round Druids



2) Charlie Butler Henderson chasing down James Blyth



3) Train of Abarths on there way to Lodge on lap 1



4) Gareth Howell on his way to victory in race 1 for Tech 9



5) Tony Dron leading Matt Shead



6) John Williams on his way out of Lodge



Going out to buy a Fiat 500 now, there so cute.

C&C welcome as always, please look at my site for more pics: -

http://www.dunlopix.com/Trofeo%20Abarth.html

Regards

Tim

[308mate]

You didn't find the Fiats boring? Save for a first corner mishap, it was like watching paint dry. Which is a shame because they look and are surprisingly quick.

[pixelpimp]

Perhaps you were watching a different race than I as thought for an inaugural race it was great.
After the first lap dramas Butler-Henderson got into second with a demon move, Simonsen after spinning on turn one flat spotted his tyres lost a load of places but battled back through the field to come third overall.

[308mate]

Simonsen was a vary bright spark in a dark and dreary race. Best of luck with your Fiat shares

[TheEnd]

The FIATs were by far the dullest of the lot, i was amazed at the number of FIAT fans who parked together overlooking the track, and went off home after the 500 race.
Back to the pics, a decent set of shots, the FIATs were up on 2 wheels quite a lot!

[pixelpimp]

Na, lost me there, these are Abarths, not Fiats, and still more interesting than any single seater toy car.

[TheEnd]

Arbath/Fiat whatever, dullest, most boring upset of the day. Far too long for those to be out spoiling a day of real cars.

Happy now?

[cat@10]

I thought the Abarths were brilliant, maked me want to buy one. Watched most of the race on Druids where Benny Simonsen was on 3 wheels every time. A couple of times the rear wheel stopped spinning. The speed of those little machines was impresive. Also liked the "Field of Abarths"
(This was on Monday the 5th)

Edited by cat@10 on Monday 5th April 21:09

[Just-In]

I was marshaling on Knickerbrook on saturday and by God these were woeful! that was one race I was glad to see finish. Shame really because the earlier reports from testing promised so much, spill, rolls etc but the actual race was such a non event. Dull dull dull.

[Logie]

Shame, these type of cars. It should of been a close race, with alot of overtaking

[snorkel sucker]

it wasnt a bad race to watch. it very much depends where you stand i suppose, too. (i was up by cascades)

they were feisty little things thats for sure but personally im a bigger fan of the GT series. That said, i wouldnt say the abarths were any less interesting than the F3 or the formula ford

[pixelpimp]

Just-In said:

I was marshaling on Knickerbrook on saturday and by God these were woeful! that was one race I was glad to see finish. Shame really because the earlier reports from testing promised so much, spill, rolls etc but the actual race was such a non event. Dull dull dull.

So you're a marshal who is just there to see cars smashed to pieces and drivers getting hurt? Interesting.

[chevronb37]

This was the one race I missed yesterday. I saw the Italian Trofeo at Magione last year and it was disappointingly static. Still, new series, new cars and probably some very genuine fears of damaging vehicles and reputations. Should improve with age. Otherwise, an excellent day's racing and the busiest British GT race I've seen in over 15 years of attendance - fantastic for Oulton Park and British motor racing in general.

[308mate]

Just-In said:

I was marshaling on Knickerbrook on saturday and by God these were woeful! that was one race I was glad to see finish. Shame really because the earlier reports from testing promised so much, spill, rolls etc but the actual race was such a non event. Dull dull dull.

AHA! Perhaps you can enlighten us on the real scandal of Oulton this weekend - the alledged sighting of a fit girl-marshall?! I definitely saw one, had it verified by two or three independent witnesses and then had information to indicate she was Marshalling at Knickerbrook. Personally I think she was a ring-in for the Marshall's recruitment tent.*

pixelpimp said:

So you're a marshal who is just there to see cars smashed to pieces and drivers getting hurt? Interesting.

What a stupid thing to say.




* Not intended to offend any non-fit girl marshalls. However if you are offended, there's a good reason for that.

[snorkel sucker]

308mate said:

Just-In said:

I was marshaling on Knickerbrook on saturday and by God these were woeful! that was one race I was glad to see finish. Shame really because the earlier reports from testing promised so much, spill, rolls etc but the actual race was such a non event. Dull dull dull.

AHA! Perhaps you can enlighten us on the real scandal of Oulton this weekend - the alledged sighting of a fit girl-marshall?! I definitely saw one, had it verified by two or three independent witnesses and then had information to indicate she was Marshalling at Knickerbrook. Personally I think she was a ring-in for the Marshall's recruitment tent.*




sounds like a productive day! did you catch any of the racing?!

[pixelpimp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVz6WPKatR8

[woof]

pixelpimp said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVz6WPKatR8

change of race suit required then !

You would get me in one of those things if you paid me - high sided - short wheelbase = flip
(as it would seem alot of drivers were)

[mattsayle]

Hmmm. I am in two minds about these Fiats. I think they need more cars on the grid to make them better.

Saying that, they did try to take my head off at Old Hall. Maybe standing on the outside of cornor wasnt such a bright idea Had to duck due to flying debris. Worth if for this shot though:

[Dave Brand]

I have to admit that I was rather disappointed with the Abarths. OK, so it's a new championship, but after all the hype I expected bigger grids & closer racing. There's too big a spread of driver ability (something like 8 seconds difference between first & last cars on Saturday) for close racing to be guaranteed; maybe as the season progresses it will become more competitive. Odd thing is that neither at Druids, where I was on Saturday, nor at Shell, where I was on Monday, did they appear fast, yet their fastest laps were a couple of seconds quicker than the fast-looking Ginettas.

Biggest problem I have with the Abarths is the sound. How can anybody make a car sound so bad - just about the worst noise I've ever heard from a racing car.

[Graham]

Talking to one of the abarth teams the week before at Rockingham, when those thigs do roll they just keep rolling. aparently they've had one that went over about 10 times. Unfortunetly the side window smashed and the drivers arm came out with the car rolling over it several times...

time for some window nets or arm tethers me thinks..