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Despite the race being red flagged on the first lap due to a
false start, Julian Birley made certain of winning the Le Mans Auto Italia Snetterton round by grabbing an early lead and staying clear of Graham Scott. Plenty was going on behind these two but first, qualifying.
 Julian laid claim to overall and Class A
pole by 1.5 seconds from Graham whilst a subdued Drummond Bone found his Maserati Barchetta reluctant to play ball with maladies probably attributable to having had to run with silencers last
time out. Delighted to pip him to third overall was Giovanni di Gennaro and his Fiat 128 now seemingly restored to rude health. Giovanni, on seeing his quick 1 min. 22.2 sec time uttered the classic
racing driver's out- psyching line "..but I was only bedding in the brakes and tyres!". He was a second quicker than Anglesey winner Mike Watson, who had a
new gearbox to deal with. Ron Davidson took his customary Class C pole clear of Minette Rice Edwards. Championship leader by one point going into this round,
Gary Buckland, lined up at the head of Class D by half a second from Andy Thompson whilst the Neil Smith Uno, fastest in Class E, just needed more power for the wide open spaces of East Anglia.
 Everything happened at the start except
the lights so it was round once again to get it all right. On the restart power told and despite a tangle which saw Derek Jones tagged and spun at Riches, resulting in cars surging around and through his
stranded 33, Julian was soon heading for the front in company with Graham. All sorts were going on behind though. Giovanni's 128 sounded like a Formula 1 Ferrari as he
screamed round in a lonely third for a long while until Drummond's now happy Maser showed there's no substitute for power, demoting the Fiat to fourth. Scraps were
going on throughout the field - great spectator stuff.
Richard Connell emerged on top in Class D after fighting with Gary Lucas and Andy Thompson whilst a group including Tony Soper's Alfa 164 seemed to be
practising Red Arrows bomb bursts at Russell most laps. Neil Smith was the winner and only survivor of Class E, whilst there was also a ladies race with Jackie
Osborne and Minette trading places. Great entertainment, keep it up folks.
(By Peter Collins).
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