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Survival At Mallory
 Two red flags during qualifying and sudden torrential rain midway through
the race threatened to turn the first Le Mans Auto Italia race after the summer break into something of a lottery. Looking at the entry list there was also a potential threat to the dominance of
Enzo Buscaglia in the form of Roberto Giordanelli and his Bertone Alfa which, after a long gestation period, was down to appear competitively for the first time.
Qualifying was interrupted by two red flags but, when it was all over, at the top of the list it was Enzo once again.
Roberto's bid for world domination had been thwarted by '..a misfire and a puncture'. Would we see him go faster in the afternoon? 'Of course', he said. But wait, there's a new kid on the block and
he's less than a second off Enzo's pole - welcome to the series, Drummond Bone. 'My only concern is keeping the car on the island today', he said. Could this be the start of something big?
 A welcome must also be extended to two more newcomers, Paul Britten in a JS Motorsports Alfa 156 and Bernard Pranic in an Alfa 33. Sadly, by a quirky coincidence,
both were eliminated during qualifying in one accident at Gerrard's corner when the 156 was hit by the 33. Damage to both cars was severe but luckily not the drivers. In the classes Gary Lucas
was well clear of Mark Baker to take Class B pole. Ian Connell was not happy at being nearly two seconds adrift of Julian Birley in Class C due to a lack of power out of the
Hairpin, whilst Stuart Barrington-Hall parked his Maserati at the Hairpin for a while not helping his chances. Brian Thorp and Graham Warner repeated their usual giant-killing acts taking grid
positions well inside the top ten. Trevor Nicosia qualified his Lancia Y10 by covering two laps just before the start of the race but Jim Price was a non-starter and Ted Riddick had to be pushed off the grid.
 So, who was going to take the top step of the podium? The establishment, the challenger or the newcomer? As is now becoming monotonously familiar this summer, it
was becoming ominously dark as the lights went green, but rain held off for a few laps. Enzo stamped his authority on the race hitting the front after two laps, but Roberto was not far behind and Drummond found his
speed as he carefully threaded his way through the traffic. Once the wet weather arrived it quickly reached torrential proportions. Roberto plugged on, Enzo won and
Drummond took things easily, slipping to ninth, having taken third fastest lap of the race. Julian Birley took third, and Class C, giving Rare Motorsport two podium places. Gary Lucas, Brian Thorp
and Graham Warner rounded off the top six taking their respective classes.Silverstone's next - a chance for the turbo cars to really show their form?
( These excellent pictures are courtesy of Darren Carter.
For more views from the Mallory paddock Click Here
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