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Report of Goodwood Revival |
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This meeting has a reputation of arranging for every race to include a good scrap, either for the lead or for one of the other places. This year was no exception, and with dry conditions we watched some excellent racing, with good results for Lotus cars. On Friday with a strong northerly wind it was cold sitting in the shade of a grandstand, but it got warmer as the weekend progressed. Race 1 The Goodwood Trophy for 1948-54 Formula cars
This included no less than seven ERAs, three of which occupied the front row. Other notable entries were the Lancia D50 replica in the hands of Jochen Maas, and the 2.5 litre Kieft Climax driven by Greg Snape. The race was marred by an accident to Willy Green in a 1948 Maserati 4CLT who overdid it at Woodcote on lap 3 whilst moving up from 8th pace, ran along the grass but could not avoid ramming the tyre barrier just where I was sitting. This caused the car to spun around sharply and Green was thrown out, only to be run over by his own car. He lay very still for over half an hour, but after being loaded into an ambulance was able to send a message saying he was OK. He had apparently suffered no more that bruised tendons in his legs! When the race re-started after an hour’s delay Ludovic Lindsay made another excellent start to again get ahead of Marc Gillies who had made the fastest time in practice. We were in for a fine scrap! Soon Duncan Ricketts in the E-Type ERA was snapping at the heels of Gillies, and on lap three James Diffey, who must have had problems in practice, raced up from the 5th row of the grid and started pressing Ricketts. On lap three Diffey tried too hard at St Mary’s, spun and collided with Ricketts who was unfortunate to lose one side of the front of his car, Diffey appeared undamaged but retired. The race was stopped and the result based on only two laps with Lindsay the winner, but one wondered if that would have been the result had Gillies had the full five laps to attempt to pass! Almost unnoticed at the end of the field Julian Majzub did a great job to come from the back of the grid in his Alfa Romeo 308C to finish 11th after only two laps. Race 2 The Chichester Cup for rear engined Formula Juniors 1960-63. This race had no less than 10 Lotus cars amongst the 30 starters, and they occupied six of the first seven places. Edwin Jowsey was never headed in his Lotus 22, but behind him Denis Welch in a Merlyn Mk 5 was locked in battle with Simon Diffey in a Lotus 20 until Gavin Pickering in a Lotus 20 passed them both into second place. Diffey dropped out on lap 8. Hibberd, Folch and Woodhouse took 4th, 5th and sixth in their Lotuses. Race 3. Whitsun Trophy for sports racing cars 1963-66
Lotus honours were upheld by a lone Lotus 30 entered by Britannia Tour second place holder Howard Redhouse and driven by Rob Wilson. It had an incident in practice which resulted in the front left hand nose having to be beaten out and covered with tank tape, but this did not seem to hold it up, and it started on the second row, but made a poor start and came round 9th. Picked up to 6th on lap 10 but was slowing and then retired. At the front a four way battle kept the crowd on their toes. It was between Colin Blower in the Lola Chevrolet who led on lap 1, Sam Hancock and Adrian Newey in Ford GT40s, and Nick Whale in a McLaren Chevrolet. Hancock took the lead on lap 4 and kept it to the end. Newey, whose driving is now enormously improved over last year, dropped out on lap 9 from 4th place, and Nick Whale began to slow on lap 12 and was passed by Shaun Lynn in another Ford GT40 who thus took third place behind Blower. HLR Chairman Ean Pugh in a Crossle Chevrolet circulated at the back of the field, some 31 seconds per lap slower than the leader. Races 4 & 11 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy for motorcycles I did not watch these races. They always seem to me to be like wrestling on TV, with the result fixed before the race starts. Race 5 Earl of March Trophy for 500cc Formula 3 cars Although one might have expected this race to be dominated by Coopers (and there were 12 on the start line), the organisers had assembled a wonderful collection of one-off and small series production cars which did very well. There was even a front engined Emeryson which looked superb, just like a mini-E Type ERA. It had front wheel drive and inboard front brakes. The Erskine Staride and Kiefts had rear suspension with no roll resistance, and their front suspension was exactly like that on the original Lotus Mk VII (which became the Clairmonte), using Ford E93A stub axles with the steering arms removed. So THAT’S where Colin Chapman got his ideas from! Despite it only being over 8 laps no less than 11 cars retired out of the 30 starters, including the late entry of HLR member Duncan Rabagliatti in his Comet, proudly bearing the number 0 and sadly failing to complete even one lap. The race was won convincingly by David Lecoq in the Petty Norton after John Turner overtook him and retired on lap 2, but second place was disputed all the way between HLR member Richard Utley in a JBS Norton and Rodney Delves in a Kieft Norton. On lap 5 Delves was passed by Californian Skip Streets in the Erskine Staride, but he then retired, with Delves finishing just 7 tenths of second behind Utley. Race 6 St Mary’s Trophy Part 1 for production saloon cars 1960-66 This was the first part of a race decided on aggregate. Two drivers share the same car in two different races, and their times are added together. It is really two separate races. In this class the cars to have were big American ones with bags of grunt. How they get them to go round the corners so fast is amazing. The contrast between the Galaxies, Mustangs and Falcons and the little Minis could not have been greater, and the crowd cheered every time a cheeky little Mini came out of Woodcote fast enough to pass one of the giants into the chicane, only to be re-passed and have to do it all over again on the next lap! Some famous names were at the wheel in this race. GP drivers Jackie Oliver, Narain Karthikeyan, Alan Jones, Tony Jardine, Stirling Moss, Emanuele Pirro and Rene Arnoux, plus John Fitzpatrick, John Whitmore, Tiff Needell, Derek Bell. Bobby Rahal, Rauno Aaltonen and Barrie “Whizzo” Williams in a Mini. Patrick Tambay was sadly a non-starter after making 5th fastest practice time in a Dodge Dart. John Whitmore in the Ford Mustang took an immediate lead which he held until lap 10 when he spun and dropped back to 4th, and then worked his way back to third by lap 12. Behind the leader, and to everyone’s surprise, it was Vitantonio Liuzzi in a Plymouth Barracuda that held 2nd place until passed on lap 4 by Jackie Oliver in a Ford Galaxie and Bobby Rahal in the Ford Falcon Sprint. John Fitzpatrick had been moving up steadily from 7th on lap 1 to 5th on lap 5, eventually reaching 2nd place as a result of the spins and retirements ahead of him. On lap 9 Bobby Rahal retired and Barrie Williams in a Mini joined the leading group in 6th place. Narain Karthikeyan was going really well in a Lotus Cortina in 5th place and had a race long battle with John Whitmore, finishing only 0.5 second behind. Whitmore was even closer to John Fitzpatrick at the end. On lap 11 Liuzzi retired the Barracuda from second place putting Fitzpatrick into second and Whitmore into third place, which they (just) held to the end. Barrie Williams in the Mini was only 0.4 second behind the Lotus Cortina in 5th. Race 7 Brooklands Trophy for pre-war cars that raced at Brooklands
Just to see these cars was a treat, but to watch them race was a real bonus. The big surprise was the speed in practice of Tom Dark’s 1935 MG Q Type of only 750cc supercharged. Sadly it did not start, so the stage was set for a renewal of last year’s battle between the 2 litre ex-Dixon Riley, and the 3.2 litre supercharged Alfa Romeo Tipo Bs. Included in the entry was the gigantic land Speed Record contender from 1923, the Parry Thomas Special ‘Babs’ with 27 litre Liberty aero engine bravely driven by Geraint Owen. This was not intended for circuit racing but nevertheless managed a lap at 61 mph. Other monsters included the 24 litre Napier-Bentley with three rows of four (?) cylinders, a magnificent 12 litre Delage, and three enormous and stately 7 litre Mercedes of 1929-30 vintage. HLR member Olav Glasius was due to drive a 4.9 litre Bugatti 54 but it did not practice. This year the Dixon Riley, driven again by Duncan Ricketts, had to be content with second place for most of the race, having only managed two practice laps before it needed attention. It was sandwiched between the Alfas of Thomas Bscher who took the lead, and Tony Smith in third spot. Bscher gradually extended his lead until on lap 10 Ricketts must have realise that there were only two laps left and started to catch up, passing Bscher on the last lap to win by 2.5 seconds. Race 8 Freddie March Memorial Trophy for cars in the spirit of the Goodwood 9 hours race. This race should have had some Lotus Mk IXs, but seemed to be reserved for the larger capacity cars. It turned out to be a very good scrap between four cars that finished only 6 seconds apart. The race was led on lap 1 by Gary Pearson in a C-Type Jaguar but he was passed by Michael Steele in a HWM Jaguar who held the lead for one lap before Pearson got past. Steele took the lead again on lap 6 and held it to the end. Third place was initially held by Jochen Maas in a 3.75 litre Lancia D24, and he passed Steele on lap 3 before being re-passed on lap 5. Darren McWhirter in the Lagonda V12 that raced at Le Mans was moving up fast and passed Maas on lap 10. Race 9 Fordwater Trophy for production-based sports cars 1958-63 Three Elites were entered in this race against cars with engines as large as a 4.6 litre Corvette, and two of them, driven by Brendan Roberts and Robin Longdon put up 5th and 6th fastest practice times. The race was hotly contested between Rick Bourne in a 2 litre Morgan Plus Four and Chris Clarkson in a 3 litre Austin Healey There was never more than a second between them but Bourne managed to stay ahead after losing the lead early on and re-taking it at once. Joe Bamford in an MGB stayed in 3rd spot throughout, but behind him Brendan Roberts in the Elite worked his way up to 4th place after passing Michael Salmon in the Jaguar XKSS and Barry Sidert-Smith in another MGB. He overdid it on lap 10 and dropped back to 6th and had to settle for that. The other Elite reached 8th place on lap 4 but lost over a minute on lap 8 and dropped back to 17th. Race 10 Richmond and Gordon Trophies for Formula cars 1954-61 There were four Lotus cars entered:
Although Lotus cars filled the first row of the grid it was Ted Rollason in a Cooper ‘lowline’ T53 2995cc who made the best start and led by just over a second on lap 1. Folch, Schryver and Dayton had followed close behind, but Dayton did it all wrong before St Mary’s and took to the grass, coming round fifth behind Barry Cannell in another Cooper ‘lowline’. Schryver passed Folch on lap 2 and Rollason on lap 3 to take the lead which he never lost, and Dayton soon passed Cannell, and overtook Folch on lap 5 to take 3rd place behind Rollason. Schryver was slowly pulling away, but the next three were very close together and on lap 9 they came up behind a gaggle of back markers at Lavant. Schryver shaped up to pass (I think) Richard Parnell in a Walker-Climax on the inside, and Rollason did the same on the outside. Parnell moved across to let Schryver through, forcing Rollason onto the grass. He ran up the bank and overturned, landing on his wheels but out of the race. On lap 11 a plug lead came loose on Dayton’s car and he was passed by Folch. He managed to stay ahead of Cannell to make it a Lotus 1-2-3. Further down the field Roy Walzer was in the midst of a battle with four cars for 11th place which included a B Type Connaught, Neil Davies in a Cooper T51, and a Maserati 250F. He finished 13th by 0.4 sec. Race 11 The second half of the saloon car race Although the drivers may not have been as famous, the winning speeds were even higher, with Rae Davis in Mini No. 27 knocking nearly 2 seconds off Tony Jardine’s lap time in Race 6, and Leo Voyazides in No 12 the Falcon Sprint doing the same to the time put up by Alan Jones. Voyazides led from start to finish in the Falcon Sprint, taking a gigantic 45 seconds less time to complete the 14 laps than his co-driver. This gave them the overall win by 9 seconds. Behind him was a very close battle between Shaun Lynn in Galaxie No 16 and Richard Oldworth in another Falcon Sprint. They were always within a second of each other, but Oldworth squeezed ahead on lap 10 to take and keep 2nd place. Rae Davis held a steady 4th place in this exalted company with 1293cc against 4727cc of the Falcons, and finished 4th in the combined classification. The crowd loved it! The two Lotus Cortinas were 5th and 6th overall. Overall result: *This does not make sense, but is what is written on the timesheet! Race 14 RAC TT Celebration for closed cockpit GT cars in the spirit of the RAC TT races 1960-64 This is always a difficult race for the spectators to follow as the drivers have to change over and the race positions are confused. I will assume the first drivers were as shown first in the programme It started with a real needle match between the two Jaguars of No 25 Dario Franchitti and 26 Gerhard Berger. For the first 15 laps they were rarely more than a second apart, and often much closer. Then the pit stops started. Behind them the Ferrari 330 LM of Bobby Rehal held a steady 3rd place close behind the leaders, and in 4th, but slipping back, was the Chevrolet Stingray of John Fitzpatrick, but this later retired on lap 19. It is hard to say what happened after that, but the finishing order and drivers was: 1. Franchitti/Emanuele Pirro Jaguar E lightweight 89.95 mph Race 15 Glover Trophy for 1.5 litre and Tasman cars 1961-65
There were 9 Lotus entries out of 31 in this race, including HLR member Malcolm Ricketts who drove the race of his life! When they first lined up Mark King (4) in a Brabham Climax 1498 was on pole, with Duncan Dayton (2) in Brabham Climax 1495 and (5) Thomas Bscher BRM P261 1960 alongside him. However Dayton did not start and it was Bscher who led from King and Sid Hoole (11) (Cooper Climax T66 1495) on lap 1. On about the third lap someone’s engine blew up in a big way and caused Bscher to spin and ram the bank at St Mary’s. He was unhurt and the race was stopped. When the race was restarted a lot of cars were missing and Malcolm Ricketts found himself on the second row. He made an excellent start and on the opening lap was third behind King and Hoole. On lap 2 King retired and Malcolm was now second, about 1.6 seconds ahead of third place man (21) Phil Harris in a Lotus BRM 24 1495. By lap 6 Phil Harris had overtaken him, and (17) John Clark (Lola Climax Mk 4 1495) was snapping at Malcolm’s heels, and around the back of the course he got past. Now I had always thought of Malcolm as a safe pair of hands, a steady driver not prepared to take risks and sure to get the car home in one piece; but the thought of losing 3rd place must have given him an adrenaline rush, and he squeezed past the Lola to retake 3rd place! The Lola passed him again on the next lap, and again Malcolm made a passing manoeuvre, but this time the wheels almost touched, and he must have had a vision of the angry face of Clive Chapman should he damage the unique and precious Lotus 32B, and he eased off to finish a safe fourth. Race 16 Sussex Trophy for sports racing cars 1955-60
No Lotuses had been invited, and it was a race for the big bangers. Tony Dron in his Ferrari 246S Dino was fastest in practice, but Gary Pearson in the Lister Jaguar ‘Knobbly’ was only 0.25 sec behind with Tiff Needell in another Lister 3rd. On the opening lap it was Pearson leading Tiff Needell, with Peter Hardman in an Aston Martin DBR in third, having made an excellent start from he second row, with Dron down in 6th place. On lap 2 Hardman passed Needell and Dron moved up to 5th. On lap 3 he was fourth, and lap 5 third, and that is how they finished. Towards the end of the race oil was deposited at Woodcote and Tiff Needell, holding fourth place, hit it at speed and performed about three spins to come out facing the right way to cheers from the crowd. He then retired for no obvious reason. So ended another Goodwood Revival with the Vickers Vimy replica floating serenely around the sky like a large cabbage white, travelling at what seemed like no more than 30 mph. How it managed to cross the Atlantic is amazing, but I guess it had a tail wind. *Once again I am indebted to MST Sports Timing Ltd for their lap charts and results listings, without which I could not have written this report. For more details see http://www.msttiming.com/barc/2005/53721.pdf There was an excellent one hour programme on ITV1 on Sunday 25th September about the event. If anyone would like to borrow the video copy I made please get in touch. Peter Ross Falmouth 26th September 2005
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