|
|
 |
|
|
Goodwood Revival Meetings |
| Goodwood Revival Meeting 1st - 3rd
September 2006 Words and pictures by The ‘Scoop’ Phil Broster (email phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk)
Goodwood, that doyen of motor
racing that has become a ‘mecca’ for everyone interested in ‘those good old
days’ whether that includes the racing or not. I’m sorry to say this was my
first ever visit in nine years, and those of you reading this who have been
before will understand my excitement and surprise at what I saw and felt on
arrival.
It has been described as a time warp, almost surreal in its authenticity, fashion and style from the forties to the sixties giving the impression of a huge film set. I could write for hours about the experience. From the authentic air base setup with eight, yes eight, Spitfires oh! and a couple of Mustangs. Through the ‘Dads Army’ look alike camp, brilliant Captain Mannering. A ‘mod’s and rockers’ authentic ‘barny’, with ‘Police’ piling in. ‘Jitterbugging’ couples with the be-bop band, and ladies of all ages looking just how ladies should!!!, including Marylyn Monroe, it just goes on…. Then, the racing cars, oh yes!, well that was superb, authentic Paddock as we all know, but to see some of the machinery I personally have only read about, nirvana! How about a Chaparral 2F, Lang Cooper, countless Cobras and Ferrari’s of all types, Lotus 33 (Clarks car) etc etc…
Amongst all this exotica were
examples of Austin Healey. We had Sprites in half a dozen forms, Sebring,
Ashley, Speedwell, WSM and a couple of 100S to boot, and, what’s more, we
had star drivers in both classes. Stirling Moss was entered to drive a
Sebring in the ‘Fordwater Trophy’, and Johnny Herbert in a 100S to race in
the ‘Freddy
In the Fordwater Trophy, Michele
Tommasi, in his Ashley Sprite, performed splendidly to outpace much bigger
cars, Jaguar XK140 Lightweight, Porsche-Abarth Carrera and the rare Morgan
Plus 8 SLR’s, those coupe bodied cars seen in the old Brand’s Hatch
endurance races. He harried and split the Morgans to the point of taking
the lead before falling foul of the slippery condition and falling off.
Moss performed admirably, no mistaking his smooth head back style, his
period helmet, for which he has dispensation. It was a good
close race.
Later in the day Johnny Herbert drove the 100S indecently quickly, it had no right to beat ‘C’ type Jags and Aston DB3’s, but it did! He performed brilliantly with the likes of Jochen Mass and Richard Attwood. Oh! it rained, all day Saturday and most of Sunday but when the sun did come out, just before the T.T. race and in time for a superb Spitfire display, well, that completed my weekend. Now, where is that Scalextric layout with all my period buildings…I’ve got a ‘Goodwood’ Chicane somewhere too. To see a selection of some of the excellent pictures taken at Goodwood click here. To return to the International homepage Goodwood Revival Meeting - September 2005 The first race of the Revival meeting on Sunday 18th September was the Fordwater Trophy. This was a twelve lap race for production-based sports and GT cars in the spirit of the Members' Meetings, worldwide, between 1958 and 1963.
The field included some 31 cars
including AC Ace/Aceca's, Alfa Romeo Giulietta's, Elva Courier's, Lotus
Elite's, MGA's/B's, Morgan Plus Four's, Porsche 356's, TVR Grantura's and a
Jaguar XKSS, a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, a Daimler SP250, a Triumph Spitfire
and a Chevrolet Corvette. Healey's were represented by John
After Friday qualifying, the front row of the grid included Rick Bourne in pole position in his 1954 ex Le Mans Morgan Plus 4 in a time of 1:36.224, second was Chris Clarkson in DD300 with a time of 1:38.432 and third Joe Bamford in an MGB in 1:38.697. From the drop of the flag the Healey powered away but soon found that the Rick Bourne Morgan was more than a match in the corners but it did not have the straight line speed of the Big Healey. Fortunately for Chris Clarkson, Goodwood is a fast circuit with long straights, so although he lost the lead on a couple of occasions through the twisty bits, he always managed to regain the lead once back onto the straights. Lap after lap the lead for the race was a tense battle between the Healey and the Morgan with the main concern being whether the tyres and brakes on the Healey would hold out through the twelve laps. No need to worry, the Healey maintained its superiority and Chris Clarkson took the chequered flag followed by the Rick Bourne Morgan 1.2 seconds behind with Joe Bamford's MGB in third place, some 23 seconds further back. Fastest lap went to Rick Bourne with a 1:35.552, with Chris Clarkson a fraction behind with a 1:35.596 at an average speed of 89.08mph. This was a fantastic scrap and a superb opening event for the last day of this historic meeting. Click on the 'Gallery' tab in the grid at the head of the page to see some pictures from the event courtesy of Peter Dzwig, Jeff Bloxham, Paul Grainger and Bruno Verstraete. To see a selection of some of the excellent pictures taken at Goodwood click here. To return to the International homepage
|
March
Memorial’, prestigious drives and trophies both.
Chatham's
famous 'DD300' - an Austin Healey 3000 Mk1 - driven by Chris Clarkson, a
regular contender in the UK Healey race series.