It was daffodil time again and once more they were blooming on the trackside of the Goodwood Circuit, where Lord March hosted the 75th Goodwood Members Meeting on March 18 and 19, 2017. In largely dry and partly sunny conditions, 12 races and some (fast) demonstration drives were on the program, a full program for two exciting days, supplemented by an auction of sports and racing cars by Bonhams.
Braking is for weaklings
Perhaps the most exciting and certainly the most eventful races at the Members Meeting are the touring cars, and the 75th edition was no exception. The Gerry Marshall Trophy's format, which provided for a one-hour race with driver changeover on Saturday and a sprint with reversed starting order on Sunday, ensured this.
The practice session already showed the comparatively even balance of power between the very different touring cars, with a Ford Escort, a Chevrolet Camaro and a Rover SD1 3500 on the front row. The field was diverse: Alfa Romeo GTV6, BMW 530i, VW Golf GTI, Triumph Dolomite Sprint, Vauxhall Magnum and Mazda RX7 gave each other no quarter, but the crowd's favorite was once again the Mini 1275 GT, which Nick Swift moved at such an adventurous speed that the commentator on the track said that Swift never used the middle pedal at all.
Blundell jumped the gun in the first race, but Chris Ward still took the lead in the Rover SD1. Swift in the Mini soon moved up to second place, battling fiercely against Blundell's Escort. Then the #11 Camaro came from behind and soon closed in on the leading SD1.
The Camaro was soon in front, but the field was shaken up several times by pit stops and a safety car phase. In the end, Ward/Shedden had the better end for themselves and won in the Rover SD1 ahead of Bryant/Bryant in the number 21 Camaro and Graham/Garret in the number 11 Camaro. Swift/Jordan saved fifth place, narrowly beaten by Blundell/Michael in the Escort RS 2000.
Chris Ward (fastest lap time 1:29.287) was also able to prevail in the sprint race with the Rover SD1, but he encountered fierce resistance from the Golf GTI of Jim Morris and the two Ford Capri III 3.0 S of Mike Whitaker and Patrick Watts. Nicholas Padmore was able to bring the BMW 530i (UFO Jeans) home in 5th place, while Nick Swift, who fought an epic battle with a Camaro, finished in 6th place. Thrilling motorsport, it could hardly have been better.
Legendary GT1
It was 1994 when the BPR Global GT Series, which later mutated into the FIA GT Championship, was launched by Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter, and Stéphane Ratel. Racing cars that were also sold as road vehicles in a similar design were eligible to compete. Initially, these included Ferrari F40s, McLaren F1s and heavily modified Lotus Esprits. Later, the Jaguar XJ220 was added and Porsche built the GT1, but took the opposite approach. The result was a racing car and a road-going version for homologation purposes. Mercedes-Benz brought the CLK GTR, Toyota the GT-One (TS020).
In 1997, Porsche achieved a class victory at Le Mans, followed by overall victory in the 24 Hours of the Sarthe in 1998. The GT1 series was discontinued in 1999. What remained were breathtaking racing cars, which were once again allowed to show their best side, namely driving, at the Goodwood Members Meeting.
Unfortunately, the Mercedes did not take to the track and a Toyota GT-One was also missing, but there were several McLaren F1 GTRs to be seen, a Lotus Elise GT1 and a Lotus Esprit GT1! The field was rounded off by the Porsche GT1s in various evolutionary stages.
Boisterous demo drivers
They are called "High-Speed Demonstration" and the driving was indeed fluid, even with the GT1s. Dario Franchitti promised before the second session that he would drive the Porsche GT1 as it should be driven, and as a professional he naturally had this under control. But not everyone has as much experience as three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Franchitti.
Nick Mason, of all people, was caught out in his precious McLaren F1 GTR when he made a mistake at St. Mary's and thundered into the tires. That must have been a pretty expensive weekend for him.
Speedy driving in racing cars over 100 years old
Anyone who thought that the hundred-year-old racing cars competing for the S.F. Edge Trophy would only cruise around the course at a leisurely pace was soon convinced otherwise.
Mathias Sielecki, presumably 80 years younger than his racing car, drove the 1923 Delage DH V12 around the circuit in 1.47.660. Only Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in the 1921 GN Curtiss was even faster, he drove two tenths faster and might have won the race had it not been for an early pit stop. As it was, he made the race exciting by moving from ninth place back up to second and directly behind the leading Delage.
Chain and cardan drives, six-, eight- and twelve-cylinder engines - the technical differences could hardly have been greater. And tire widths that would be fitted to a mountain bike today. There was plenty of action on the racetrack.
David (GN) against Goliath (Delage) on four wheels! The two fastest drivers swapped places at the front several times, but unlike in practice, the heavy but powerful Delage kept its nose in front.
The touring cars in Group A
Two demonstration runs were held in Group A. Here the spectators were able to celebrate a reunion with the early Rover SD1, the BMW 635 CSI (with Gerhard Berger at the wheel), the Volvo 240 Turbos, the Jaguar XJS and the later Ford Sierra RS 500 and BMW M3.
What a field of vehicles, I would have loved to see them race against each other again ...
A TVR Griffith comes out on top
Emanuele Pirro is always ready for a heartfelt quote: "The more I drive this car, the more I am sorry that I was born so late". The more I drive this car - an AC Cobra - the more I am sorry that I was born so late.
Pirro loves the Cobra and he drives it the right way, i.e. at right angles and with full power. And he didn't miss a beat in the Graham Hill Trophy race, taking the lead from the start together with Michael Gans on a similar Cobra.
The competition consisted of a Ginetta G10, an Aston Martin DB4 GT, an Aston Martin Project 214, a Ferrari 250 LM, a Ferrari 250 GTO/64, two Bizzarrini 5300 GTs, various Jaguar E-Types and two TVR Griffiths, along with a few others.
In principle, the race was a shortened endurance race with driver changes. Up to the pit stop, the lead consisted of two Cobras and a TVR Griffith, and the driver changes did nothing to change that. But the race was not over yet. The Griffith was not yet beaten, first overtaking one of the Cobras and then hanging on to the rear of the leading Cobra a few minutes before the end.
On the outside, the presumably somewhat lighter TVR then overtook the Cobra, and the spectators' hearts almost stopped.
Meanwhile, the Ferrari 250 GTO/64 battled its way through the field; in the heat of the moment, the gear knob even fell off!
The TVR Griffith, driven by Whitaker/Jordan, which was not the top favorite, won (fastest lap time 1:25.500), second was the AC Cobra of Gans/Wolfe, third the AC Cobra Le Mans Coupé of Pirro/Lynn. Fourth place went to the Ferrari 250 GTO without gear knob of Pastorelli/Cottingham, fifth went to Meins/Huff in the fastest of the Jaguar E-Types.
Cooper versus Lotus
A battle between the Cooper-Climax and Lotus-Climax Formula 1 cars was the salt in the soup in the race for the Brabham Trophy. The Cooper took the lead at the start, but Colin Chapman's more advanced designs were still able to prevail.
Andrew Hibberd took the win by just one second in his Lotus 18, while Sam Wilson in another Lotus 18 was able to put 25 seconds between himself and the fastest Cooper.
Lister speed festival
Brian Lister's sports cars were among the fastest racing cars of the late 1950s. They were powered by Jaguar and Chevrolet engines, with a distinction being made between Costin and Knobbly variants.
25 of these cars were entered in the race for the Scott Brown Trophy. They were able to benefit from the best weather conditions and the elegant cars looked breathtaking. But there was no dawdling with these racing cars, the car-to-car duels had epochal qualities.
In the end, Philip Keen (fastest lap 1:24.55) in the 1959 Lister Jaguar "Knobbly" took the winner's trophy, with Chris Ward in the 1959 Lister Jaguar Costin in second place, just under ten seconds behind.
The glorious sound of the three-liter sports cars
The top speed runs of the three-liter sports cars with their eight and twelve-cylinder engines were a real acoustic highlight.
The Matra MS670 with its inimitable sound and the Alfa Romeo 33 were particularly impressive, but it was only together with the other sports cars that the overall backdrop reminiscent of the glorious sports car races of the 1970s was created.
Clear winners
Some races were not quite as exciting as the Graham Hill Trophy or the Gerry Marshall Trophy. In the Formula 3 car race for the Derek Bell Cup, for example, Andrew Hibberd won by a clear margin of 38 seconds in his Brabham-Ford BT 18, setting his fastest lap in 1:24.021, around a second faster than anyone else.
There was also a clear winner in the race for the Weslake Cup, which was contested by Austin-Healey Sprite derivatives. James Coburn in his Lenham Sprite GT distanced the second-placed MG Midget of Thomas Grindall by almost new seconds after a race that lasted just five laps.
Cranked by hand
There were also racing cars at Goodwood that were started by hand using a crank, such as a Bugatti 35 that raced in the Varzi Trophy. What a starting field, around a dozen Bugatti racing cars, plus magnificent Maserati single-seaters, great Alfa Romeos and a front row with three brands: Alfa Romeo Tipo B, Maserati 6CM and Bugatti 35B.
Julian Majzub got off to the best start in the 1927 Bugatti 35B, but Christian Gläsel was able to bring the 1932 Alfa Romeo Tipo B back into the lead a short time later, which was no wonder, as he had pulled out a 4.8-second lead in practice. However, the race was much closer, with just 4.3 seconds separating Gläsel from Sean Danaher in the 1938 Maserati 6CM.
Michael Gans provided plenty of entertainment in the 1935 Maserati V8RI, which almost or completely spun twice and set off on impetuous chases. The hard driving took its toll, and the Maserati was clearly smoking towards the end of the race.
American muscles
In the race for the Pierpoint Cup, the Americans were among themselves. Ford Mustang, Ford Falcon Sprint, Ford Galaxie 500, Plymouth Barracuda, Studebaker Lark Daytona and Mercury Comet Cyclone were the names of the models that battled for places with raw V8 power and laid a carpet of sound over the Goodwood Circuit that barely allowed any entertainment in the stands.
The racing was tough, and the leaders, Craig Davies and Steve Soper, also came to the line. But worse was to come for Leo Yoyazides in the Ford Falcon Sprint, who crashed into the barriers at right angles, whereupon the race was red-flagged and Davies in the Ford Mustang was declared the winner.
Finally, the Surtees Trophy
The last race was of course dedicated to the recently departed John Surtees. Just a year ago, the motorcycle and Formula 1 world champion had been seen driving at Goodwood.
Now, fast sports cars from 1963 to 1966, including various Lola T70 Spyders, some Ford GT40s and a few McLaren M1A/Bs, battled for victory in increasingly diminishing brightness. The Lola-Chevrolet T70 Spyders came out on top in the end, while the Ford GT40s had to settle for 3rd to 6th place. The winner was Simon Hadfield ahead of Tony Sinclair.
The race was turbulent, especially when a McLaren triggered a chain reaction that knocked two other competitors out of the race. The race had to be stopped after 10 laps as darkness fell, with Simon Hadfield setting the fastest lap of 1:19.966.
You can be sure that everyone, whether drivers, team members or spectators, is already looking forward to the next 76th edition of the Members Meeting.
