HAPPY CHRISTMAS

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HERTS DIARY Shirley Chiltern-Hunt

Monthly Meets

Our last meeting of the year was our Quiz night in November. It was great to see 36 people turn up, all with pencils sharpened,

ready to pit their wits against our quiz master Sean Walker. The usual cheating and conferring went on and I’m sure Sean slipped in

a few of the same questions that he had last year—and yes, we still got the answers wrong! Nigel was banned from taking part

which meant everyone had a fair chance and the winning team very kindly donated their prize (champagne) to our Christmas raffle.

A great evening, full of fun, arguments, laughter, controversy, heated discussions, disagreements—just the usual sort of monthly

meet really.

Did you realise we had two World Champions in Hertfordshire? Lewis Hamilton, F1 World Champion hails from Stevenage and

Anthony Davidson, World Endurance Champion was born in Hemel Hempstead. I keep telling you we have the best people in

Herts...

Articles this month on our pre-Christmas lunch at Brookmans, our Christmas Party at Brocket Hall and a report from Chris

Murgatroyd on the various events at Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit. Now just to set the record straight for all those of you that also

read the Three Shires newsletter, Chris very kindly sends his articles to both Mick (Marriott) and me. This time Mick beat me to it

and got his newsletter out first so—sorry if you’ve already read it!

Membership Renewals—if you haven’t already renewed, you need to make sure you do it now so that you continue to

receive all our emails and newsletters. Don’t forget—I don’t want to lose anyone from my mailing list.

New Arrival—our newest member is Claudia Nortes Alonso-Allende who was born

on 2nd December in Madrid to Andrés and Inés Nortes-Planas. Dad Andrés says she has

Rosso Corsa cheeks already! Congratulations to the very proud parents and we look

forward to seeing Claudia at future meets. Hope they’ve started the Ferrari fund..

2015

The 2015 calendar is on the back page of this newsletter and the previous page has all the dates of our monthly meetings so make

sure you have all of them in your diaries—no excuses allowed! Our first meeting of the year is on 8th January so you will have just

enough time to recover from the Christmas and New Year festivities before launching back into Ferrari events. Looks like its going

to be another very busy year for us.

As always, if you have any questions about events please email me at herts.ferrari@gmail.com

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. I look

forward to seeing everyone at our events next year,

Very best wishes,

Shirley

PS I think the FXXK’s are all sold so you can’t have one for Christmas anyway..

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SUNDAY LUNCH AT BROOKMANS—Sunday 23rd November Shirley Chiltern-Hunt

Having not really done anything Ferrari oriented since the end of September I decided it was time for a Sunday Lunch out. So

Brookmans in Brookmans Park was the chosen venue and the end of November seemed a good time to cheer us all up before

Christmas descended with a vengeance. The weather of course……..poured with rain, consequently there wasn’t a Ferrari in sight.

Not that we expected any at this time of year as most are safely tucked away in a nice warm garage hibernating until Spring. The

final tally of stalwarts was 16 and we were given our own private dining room by the restaurant. Possibly our reputation preceded

us? Or maybe they were just playing safe? Everyone took their places, a bit like musical chairs really, with Nigel and I ending up by

ourselves—either we’re slow to take the hint or just not quick enough to get ahead of everyone else! Graciously Karen & Paul Elton

took pity and came and sat with us. Actually it was a sort of belated 60th birthday celebration as well for Paul so it was a special

lunch that of course deserved a champagne toast and a cuddle from Deanna-Maria Peters. It was a lovely leisurely lunch

with good food and wine in the company of good friends. Who could ask for anything more?

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ABU DHABI—3rd to 6th December

Shirley Chiltern-Hunt

At the beginning of this month I was allowed to tag along with Nigel (provided I paid for myself!!) in his new capacity as

Chairman Elect to Abu Dhabi to attend the World conference of Ferrari Owners’ Clubs. Gary and Pam Dearn were with us

and as Gary lived in Abu Dhabi for 2 1/2 years and was instrumental in setting up the Yas Marina circuit it proved to be a very

eventful and interesting trip. Thursday we were taken to Ferrari World which is basically Disneyland for boys. Housing the fastest

roller coaster in the world together with all sorts of other attractions this has to be the ultimate destination for Ferrari fans of all

ages. With shops, cafés and restaurants (The Cavallino of course) it was a given that the largest Ferrari Store in the world also had

to be there and getting Nigel out of it proved quite difficult. After several hours of pure Ferrari indulgence we took a short taxi ride

to the Yas circuit. Everything is planned so that it’s within easy reach - there are hotels surrounding the circuit within easy walking

distance and walkways between the pits/marina/circuit/stands and hospitality are all very easy to navigate. No doubt because

during the summer months it’s much too hot to walk very far. We were lucky enough to be in Race Control watching some of the

Ferrari racing and at the end of the day taken round the circuit by one of the race marshals—suffice to say they know the circuit so

well it could be called a hot lap.. It’s a wonderful circuit and cleverly planned as there are massive floodlights which are switched

on before dusk so that by the time they have warmed up they are almost like daylight—the transition is almost imperceptible—and

it allows racing until late in the evening.

The weekend was chosen by Ferrari as it was the Finali Mondiali 2014, the finals of the Ferrari championships—similar to Ferrari

Racing Days at Silverstone in September but with lots more glamour and bling. F1 Clienti private practice, the XX programmes, the

Ferrari Challenge Coppa Shell and the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli all making spectacular appearances on track.

The brand new FXXK was launched and amongst many other cars on display was the 458 Speciale Aperta. It’s interesting to see

that there are very few ‘old’ Ferraris in Abu Dhabi and indeed even a 360 looked almost out of place amongst the 458’s,

F12’s and Californias. Friday was a day of meetings for Nigel but Saturday was a full race day at the circuit again. In

the evening the UAE FOC did a parade lap followed by the obligatory hot laps and donuts by Marc Gene and Kimi Raikkonen.

Purely coincidentally, when we arrived back home Chris Murgatroyd, who is a Three Shires member but works and lives in Abu

Dhabi, sent me the next article which is all about the racing in Abu Dhabi. I will therefore leave the technicalities of the racing to

him as he puts it so much better than I could! Thanks Chris! An amazing experience and a privilege to have been able to be

there—I have included a few of my photos but none can really do justice to the incredible setup that is Yas.

Ferrari World

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Yas Marina Circuit

ABU DHABI—FERRARI FINALI MONDIALI Chris Murgatroyd

Whilst all the focus may have been on

the F1 weekend here in Abu Dhabi, it

was a busy time before and afterwards

as well.

In the week prior to the F1 race,

visitors to Abu Dhabi’s high end The

Galleria mall were treated to a

collec t ion of 17 equally high end

and exclusive motor vehicles valued at

a total of around £14million, displayed

courtesy of Al Ain Class Motors (friend

of Top Gear magazine – in

2012 they provided an Aston

Mart in One -77 so TG

journa li st s could be the first

to drive one).

Ferrari was represented by an

F12 Berlinetta but the display

included a 918 Spyder, a

McLaren P1, two One-77s, a

one of 15 limited edition

Veyron, a Koenigsegg CCXR, a Mazzanti

Evantra (no, me neither – I had to look it up

when I got home!) and a one off Rolls Royce Pininfarina Hyperion.

Koenigsegg CCXR

McLaren P1

918 Spyder Mazzanti Evantra

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The AMG SLS there seemed relatively ordinary by comparison! All these were for sale, someone bought the 918 during the

event, so there was no LaFerrari in attendance. The day I went, the mall was deserted and no one was particularly bothered about

the cars – hard to imagine that if they’d been on display in the UK.

The F1 weekend came and went, well done Lewis, to be followed first by two days of F1 testing where McLaren ran, not entirely

successfully, their 2015 Honda engine and followed then by three days of GP2 testing. Those of us living close to the Yas Marina

circuit were therefore treated to the sound of engines from 19 Nov to 29 Nov. Some might argue this point as the first cars were

typically on track at 0830 and running sometimes up to 9pm so we did spare a thought for those people who’d paid a lot of money

to stay at the Viceroy hotel and maybe fancied a lie-in on the Friday!

Hot on the heels

of all this was the

4 day Ferrari

Finali Mondiali

e v e n t , t h e

c u l m i n a t i o n

of the Ferrari

series champion-

ships, held for the

first time outside

of Europe. This

was very much

a celebrat ion of the racing year and some 200 458 Challenge cars were

there to compete in four races to crown the Ferrari world champion. 15 F1 Clienti cars and the XX programme vehicles were also

there for sessions between the

races and qualifying. On these

four days the vehicles were out

on track until 11pm!

After the last race on the final

day it was time for the fun. The

local owners club took to the

track for a parade lap, about 200

cars led by a LaFerrari. Then the

winners of the GTE Pro category

title in the World Endurance

Championship went on track for a

few demonstration laps and practice pit stops for the benefit of the crowd before posing for photos alongside their

vehicles and trophies. Ferrari Vice Chairman Piero Ferrari said a few words of congratulations to the WEC team, as did

CEO Amedeo Felisa, whilst also lamenting a disappointing F1 season and promising a better car for 2015.

The XX cars then came out for a few laps and then lined up on the starting grid to be joined by the newly unveiled FXX K making

its public track debut. This is a stunning vehicle which sounds equally stunning around the track.

Merc SLR McLaren 722

Aston Martin One-77 Veyron Sang Noir

RR Wraith RR Pininfarina Hyperion

599XX—heavy braking into turn 1

Giles Villeneuve’s 312T5 next to Gerhard Berger’s

1995 412T2

2014 WEC Champions

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli—Turn 1, Lap1

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It took a while for all the

Ferrari personnel to leave

the track as they seemed

to be as mesmerized by

the FXX K as those of us

in the crowd.

Track proceedings were

finally brought to a close

by Marc Gene and Kimi

Raikkonen, both in last year’s

F60, putting in a few hot laps,

performing demonstration

pit stops and the obligatory

burn outs on the starting

grid.

Once the tyre smoke had

cleared the FXX K was

brought back on track and

the Ferrari crew and

drivers posed for a series

of photos with the cars,

bringing the Ferrari racing

year to a close.

However motorsport continues at the Yas Marina Circuit with the 12 hours of Abu Dhabi event on 12 & 13 Dec. The race card

includes Maserati MC12 races. Might be worth a look …

Photos: Chris Murgatroyd

Kimi and the FXXK

….for the new FXXK Current XX cars form a Guard of Honour

LaFerrari, 458 Speciale & Enzo head the

Owners’ parade lap

FXXK heads back to the garage Family Photo time

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HERTS CHRISTMAS PARTY—BROCKET HALL

Friday 12th December Shirley Chiltern-Hunt

Brocket Hall was the venue for our second Christmas Party at this stunning country house. ’House Guests’ arrived from

4.30pm and were met in the Entrance Hall to be shown to their rooms by the butlers after which tea, coffee and biscuits were

served. Everything was ready and all our ‘party team’ had to do was arrange the raffle prizes and put balloons, sprinkles etc. on

the tables. The House was then ours to enjoy for the weekend with butler service, snooker room, drawing room, morning room and

so on all at our disposal. With all 30 rooms occupied we already had a party in full swing by the time our champagne reception

started at 7pm when all the other ‘Guests’ were due to arrive. This year we had a wonderful string quartet playing while we enjoyed

pre-dinner drinks during which time a professional photographer was on hand to capture a memento of the evening for everyone. At

8pm the gong sounded for dinner (yes, really!) and we made our way through to the historic beautiful Ballroom, checking the

seating plan on the way in. 115 partygoers including members from Essex, Surrey, London, Anglia, Yorkshire and Three

Shires as well as Herts were treated to a sumptuous traditional Christmas dinner whilst being entertained by a pianist who was

there just in case we ran out of conversation. As if we would. During the first course Tony and Jane Hoad had set their ‘girls’ loose

with buckets and raffle tickets to prise as much as they possibly could out of a now captive audience for our chosen charity this

year which was Alzheimer’s Research UK. To say they were extremely persuasive and did a fantastic job would really be an

understatement as our final total collected was £2030—an incredible amount. Many thanks indeed to Tony and Jane for organising

the raffle for me and to Maggie Edoh, Ellie Carter, Donna Walker, Diane Cotterell, Lydia Bennett, Jemma Cotton-Hunt & Christy

Chiltern-Hunt for doing all the hard work. Sean Walker was our MC extraordinaire for the evening announcing the raffle with Jane

and Tony who gave out some amazing prizes. After dinner it was down to the Board Room where the disco was set up to dance the

night away which we were all quite happy to do. A wonderful cooked breakfast the next morning fortified everyone

enough to reluctantly go home—the weather was beautiful, a crisp sunny day which warranted another coffee outside before we

left. Sadly another Herts Christmas ‘Do’ was over. But I think due to popular request it just might be same time, same place next

year..

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Photos: SJC-H, NJC-H, Mark Hale

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HERTFORDSHIRE MONTHLY MEETING DATES 2015

AT THE CROOKED CHIMNEY

We meet on the SECOND THURSDAY of every month at THE CROOKED CHIMNEY in

Cromer Hyde Lane, Lemsford, Welwyn Garden City AL8 7XE, Tel: 01707 397021.

http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thecrookedchimneywelwyngarden/findus/

OUR NEXT MEETING IS

THURSDAY, 8th JANUARY 2015 FROM 8PM ONWARDS COME AND JOIN US!

Our events calendar for the year is on the back page and lists National events, our own Herts Area

Group events and others of interest. For details on any of these events please email us on herts.ferrari@gmail.com

The full calendar for all National events (including the Racing and Hillclimb Series) and all relevant booking forms can be

found on the Ferrari Owners’ Club website at: www.ferrariownersclub.co.uk

Club Office address:

Ferrari Owners’ Club of Great Britain,

Cavallino House,

2 Church Way,

Whittlebury,

Northamptonshire NN12 8XS

FOC Office tel: 01327 855430

We are always delighted to hear from and to meet new members and would love to see you at our regular

monthly meetings. We also welcome input from our Area Group members with suggestions for events and

our newsletter. If you have any interesting photos or articles please send them to us for inclusion in our

newsletter. Contact us on herts.ferrari@gmail.com or call on 01442 833450

2015

January 8th

February 12th

March 12th

April 9th

May 14th

June 11th

July 9th

August 13th

September 10th

October 8th

November 12th

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EVENTS CALENDAR 2015

JANUARY

8—11 London Classic Car Show—Excel

20-25 Herts Trip to Cavallino Classic 24—Breakers Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida

FEBRUARY

21 Wine tasting

MARCH

14 The Grove—Gala Dinner & Dance

APRIL

2 Black Tie Dinner/Dance—South Lodge

3 Horsham Piazza Italia

26 AGM/Prize Giving Lunch—Whittlebury Hall

28 Track Day Experience—Silverstone GP Circuit

MAY

7 Motorsport Sensation Bedford Autodrome

9 Airfield Speed Run

21—25 Herts French trip to Montreuil-sur-Mer

31 Club Picnic—venue tbc

Tbc IAM Driving Road Safety Course—Cavallino House

JUNE

6 Kent AG 25th Anniversary Summer Ball—Thistle Hotel, Brands

6 Track Day Experience—Goodwood

13-14 Le Mans 24 hours

Tbc Club Picnic—venue tbc

26-28 Goodwood Festival of Speed

JULY

1 Classics in the Walled Garden—Luton Hoo

3-5 British GP

11-12 National Meet & Concours—Stapleford Park

18 Chorleywood Classic & Supercar Show

21 Track Day Experience—Oulton Park

22 Classics on the Common—Harpenden

24-26 Silverstone Classic

31—2 Aug Carfest North—Oulton Park

AUGUST

Tbc Herts Sussex Tour

16 Club Picnic—venue tbc

23 Berkhamsted Ferrari Festival

28-30 Carfest South—Laverstone Park Farm

Tbc IAM Driving Road Safety Course—Cavallino House

SEPTEMBER

Tbc Whittlebury Classic Village Fair

6 Wessex Supercar Show

11-13 Goodwood Revival

13 Club Picnic & Prescott Hill Drive

16-27 Spanish Tour –Convents & Castles

22 Track Day Experience—Silverstone International Circuit

27 Club Picnic—Beaulieu

OCTOBER

Tbc Factory Tour 1

Tbc Factory Tour 2

NOVEMBER

13-25 Classic Car Show NEC Birmingham (Club Stand)

DECEMBER

Tbc Herts Christmas Party

National Events Herts Events Other Events

16/12/14