FASSI Classic Speed Championship Round 1

The opening round of the 2024 Bugatti Owners Club FASSI Classic Speed Championship took place at Loton Park Hill Climb on Sunday 14 April.

The Loton Park Speed Hill Climb course is 1475 yards (1349 metres) long & is extremely challenging for competitors with a wide variety of corners and a changing character as an ascent progresses. We were blessed with a break from the rain with a dry & largely sunny weekend allowing all competitors to enjoy driving their cars to the max.

The Italians were well represented with two Alfa Romeos & the Scuderia FASSI pairing of Dave Fripp in the Fiat Abarth 124 Spyder & Leigh Carter in the Fiat Abarth 695SS.

In the saloon car class Ian Stringer came out on top bringing his Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT in 1.12 seconds under handicap. Matt Clarke in the flying Mini Cooper was second with Martin Saunders’ Ford Escort Mk1 in third.

The Sports Car Class had two cars competing with Dave Fripp’s Fiat & Gary Cox in the Reliant Scimitar Coupe. This was Dave’s first outing in the new car, so he built up speed steadily & beat his handicap time by 1.06 seconds on his second timed run for a class win. View the in-car video at the bottom of the page to join Dave on his winning run.

Gary is always in a separate battle for scratch time honours with Matt Clarke’s Mini & Simon Braithwaite’s Ford Escort RS1600 resplendent in ATV Today sponsorship livery. Just over half a second separated these three on the day with Gary just edging it with a time of 61.18 seconds.

The Racing Car Class saw father & son Phil & Ben Fisher dual driving the Mallock MK11 with Ben taking the class win from his father who finished third. Martin Jones took second place on handicap in his Brabham BT21C with the day’s fastest scratch time of 56.25 seconds.

Many thanks to Stuart Wing for some great photography & to all the staff & marshals at Loton Park for a well-run event.

Click here to visit the FASSI Classic Championship photo gallery.