Goodwood Revival 13th - 15th September 2019
GOODWOOD REVIVES GLORIOUS PAST
The 22nd Goodwood Revival Meeting took place in superb late summer weather over the weekend of the 13th - 15th of September, recreating the ambience of the 1950s and 1960s. Period dress is actively encouraged, with many displays and fine detail touches making the event feel like a real step back in time. The former RAF Westhampnett airfield opened its gates for motor racing in 1948 and for the next eighteen years, the high-speed circuit played host to many of the sport's more famous and infamous moments, such as Aston Martin's 1959 RAC TT victory after a pit lane fire with which they won the world championship and Sir Stirling Moss' horrific accident in 1962. Parades to commemorate Aston's win and Sir Stirling's upcoming 90th birthday were held over the weekend, along with the Mini's 60th anniversary and also a tribute to the Cooper Car Company, which saw Sir Jackie Stewart take the wheel of his 1964 Cooper T72 Formula Three car. After the last competitive meeting in August 1966, racing stopped until 1998 when the then Earl of March decided to restore the circuit to its former glory and recreate the era of his grandfather the 9th Duke of Richmond, the brainchild behind the circuit. Hence the Revival was born, with the first hugely popular meeting taking place 50 years to the day from the very first event in 1948 and is now one of the jewels in the crown of the historic racing scene.
The 22nd Goodwood Revival Meeting took place in superb late summer weather over the weekend of the 13th - 15th of September, recreating the ambience of the 1950s and 1960s. Period dress is actively encouraged, with many displays and fine detail touches making the event feel like a real step back in time. The former RAF Westhampnett airfield opened its gates for motor racing in 1948 and for the next eighteen years, the high-speed circuit played host to many of the sport's more famous and infamous moments, such as Aston Martin's 1959 RAC TT victory after a pit lane fire with which they won the world championship and Sir Stirling Moss' horrific accident in 1962. Parades to commemorate Aston's win and Sir Stirling's upcoming 90th birthday were held over the weekend, along with the Mini's 60th anniversary and also a tribute to the Cooper Car Company, which saw Sir Jackie Stewart take the wheel of his 1964 Cooper T72 Formula Three car. After the last competitive meeting in August 1966, racing stopped until 1998 when the then Earl of March decided to restore the circuit to its former glory and recreate the era of his grandfather the 9th Duke of Richmond, the brainchild behind the circuit. Hence the Revival was born, with the first hugely popular meeting taking place 50 years to the day from the very first event in 1948 and is now one of the jewels in the crown of the historic racing scene.
'Blue Riband' of the weekend's racing was the RAC TT Celebration, a two-driver mini endurance race of one hour's duration for Pre-1966 GT cars. The 1965 AC Cobra of Chris Wilson/Andre Lotterer snared pole position, with the ex-Ecurie Ecosse 1963 Tojeiro-Ford of Nicolas Minassian/Olivier Hart and the 1963 AC Cobra of Bill Shepherd/Romain Dumas alongside. Come the start, it was the two Cobras that made the best getaways, the Shepherd/Dumas car smoking its tyres as it did so, but into the first turn, the Minassian/Hart Tojeiro hit the front to take control of the early stages, with the Shepherd/Dumas Cobra in hot pursuit. In third was the 1961 Jaguar E-Type of Gary Pearson/Alex Brundle, having charged up from 13th, but it wasn't to last as the car retired after five laps, the 1964 TVR Griffith 400 of Mike Whitaker/Mike Jordan gaining the position after fighting past the Darren Turner/Oliver Bryant 1964 AC Cobra. Meanwhile, the polesitting Cobra fell back into the pack after a cautious start from car owner Chris Wilson, who would pit to swap with Andre Lotterer once the pit window opened after twenty minutes, the #2 AC following in the Shepherd/Dumas and Turner/Bryant Cobras. At this point the face of the race changed as the Shaun Lynn/Karun Chandhok 1963 AC Cobra Le Mans Coupe smacked into the tyres at Woodcote, Lynn emerged unscathed but the ensuing safety car period closed the pit lane and gifted the cars that had already pitted a huge advantage. The race resumed with 33 minutes remaining and the Minassian/Hart Tojeiro led the train away before pitting next time round, along with most of the field, but a slow stop dropped them down the order. Meanwhile, the three early pitting Cobras were climbing the order, with the Shepherd/Dumas car getting ahead of the Turner/Bryant car on the start/finish straight with a brave move - threading the eye of the needle between Bryant's Cobra and a slow-moving Porsche exiting the pitlane. The following lap saw the Wilson/Lotterer Cobra also move past Bryant to set up the battle for the win, the three Cobras making a spectacular sight as they lapped in close company twitching and squirming on the limit of adhesion. Lapped traffic allowed Dumas to open a small advantage but Lotterer soon reeled him in again, breezing past to lead around the outside of Fordwater with an audacious move. Into the last five minutes and the Turner/Bryant Cobra gained a second wind to take back second place at St Mary's from the Shepherd/Dumas car but on the penultimate lap Bryant hit the tyre wall hard at Madgwick, leaving Shepherd/Dumas to follow Wilson/Lotterer home, with the Frederic Wakeman/Benoit Treluyer 1963 Lister-Jaguar Coupe completing the podium.
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Other notable victories went to Gary Pearson, who took his Revival tally up to 14 by firstly winning the Kinrara Trophy on Friday evening, sharing with Andrew Smith in a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, then taking the Freddie March Memorial Trophy in a 1955 Jaguar D-Type. Andy Middlehurst sped to the Glover Trophy for 1500cc Formula 1 cars in a 1962 Lotus 25, despite a trip into the gravel on oil, whilst Robert Barrie's 1964 Lotus Elan S1 held off a spirited attack from Nick Swift's 1966 Mini Marcos for the Fordwater Trophy. Bentley's centenary year was marked with an exclusive Brooklands Trophy race for pre-war models, during which the cars had to start with their 'drop-tops' raised before the roofs were lowered in the pits, victory going the way of Martin Overington's 1929 4.5-litre Supercharged 'Blower'. New Zealander Roger Wills' 1958 Lotus 15 sealed a hard-fought Sussex Trophy win, fending off a line of five challengers headed by the 1960 Ferrari 246 Dino of Sam Hancock, who tried every which way to get ahead in arguably the race of the weekend.
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Racing at the Revival isn't restricted to four wheels, or even have to include an engine, as firstly the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy for pre-1967 500cc motorbikes was taken by the 1966 MV Agusta 500/3 of Lee Johnston/Jon-Boy Lee, ahead of a field littered with Moto GP, TT Road Racing and Superbike series stars. The Settrington Cup for Austin J40 pedal cars, with 4-10 years old children at the wheel, went to Harry Dark on aggregate after two races on the start/finish straight with 'Le Mans' style starts.
PICK OF THE LITER (sic): Bill Shepherd's Ford Thunderbird 'Battlebird'
This unlikely racer owned by Bill Shepherd was one of a pair of cars conceived by Ford in late 1956 to promote the Thunderbird model. Ford handed the job of preparing the cars to the Peter De Paolo Engineering firm in California, who lightened the cars by replacing Steel components with Aluminium - including the car's distinctive tail fin. They then fitted one car with a supercharged and fuel-injected 5.1-litre 'Y Block' V8 engine and the other with a 7-litre big block Lincoln V8 unit, which is the car Shepherd now owns. Designed more for straightline speed, the cars were taken to the Daytona Beach 'flying mile' where the 5.1-litre car reputedly achieved a 200mph run whilst the 7-litre car managed 165mph before the gremlins intervened. Having restored the car from a wreck over a two-year period, Shepherd debuted the car at this year's Goodwood Members Meeting and entered the T-Bird into the Freddie March Memorial Trophy for 1950s sports cars at the Revival, where he would be going up against the likes of Aston Martin DB3Ss and early Jaguar D-Types. Shepherd qualified a creditable 9th before rising to 6th at the flag after an entertaining duel with Martin Stretton's C-Type Jaguar, who was all over the Ford in the bends as Shepherd struggled to slow the drum-brake equipped car down but Shepherd was able to thunder away on the straights to keep the position. An impressive result for the imposing beast.
This unlikely racer owned by Bill Shepherd was one of a pair of cars conceived by Ford in late 1956 to promote the Thunderbird model. Ford handed the job of preparing the cars to the Peter De Paolo Engineering firm in California, who lightened the cars by replacing Steel components with Aluminium - including the car's distinctive tail fin. They then fitted one car with a supercharged and fuel-injected 5.1-litre 'Y Block' V8 engine and the other with a 7-litre big block Lincoln V8 unit, which is the car Shepherd now owns. Designed more for straightline speed, the cars were taken to the Daytona Beach 'flying mile' where the 5.1-litre car reputedly achieved a 200mph run whilst the 7-litre car managed 165mph before the gremlins intervened. Having restored the car from a wreck over a two-year period, Shepherd debuted the car at this year's Goodwood Members Meeting and entered the T-Bird into the Freddie March Memorial Trophy for 1950s sports cars at the Revival, where he would be going up against the likes of Aston Martin DB3Ss and early Jaguar D-Types. Shepherd qualified a creditable 9th before rising to 6th at the flag after an entertaining duel with Martin Stretton's C-Type Jaguar, who was all over the Ford in the bends as Shepherd struggled to slow the drum-brake equipped car down but Shepherd was able to thunder away on the straights to keep the position. An impressive result for the imposing beast.
Report written for EDP Photo News/Vintage Motorsport magazine.