The hero of the Goodwood Revival 2011 was neither a wickedly valuable Ferrari, a rare Maserati, nor an extremely rare Bugatti or Aston Martin, no, it was an absolutely simple, small Cooper S with the starting number 23 from 1965!
What this car and its drivers offered in the two races swept the 130,000 spectators off their seats lap after lap. They cheered on the little gem and applauded every attack against the BMW 1800 tiSA, Lotus Cortina and Ford Galaxie 500. As long as the Mini was able to use the slipstream of the Ford on the straights, the "Goliath" was unable to shake off the little "David".
Eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, who drove a Lotus Cortina, said after the race: "It was incredible fun, the only thing I couldn't get rid of was that pesky little gnat.
The group of saloon cars from 1960-66 drove two heats of 25 minutes each. In the first race, the cars were manned by many celebrities(Paul Radisich drove a Ford Galaxie 500, Tom Kristensen the Lotus Cortina and Jackie Oliver took the wheel of the BMW 1800 tiSA), in the second race on Sunday, the owners of the cars started themselves. This meant that the Cooper was driven by Darren Turner in the first race and Nick Swift in the second, always at the limit. The drift was permanent!
At the start of the second race on a wet track, the Mini, which started from the second row, was even able to take the lead and maintain it for a long time, despite the lack of slipstream. Afterwards, the Mini used the slipstream in such an extreme way that it can no longer be seen behind the Ford in some of the photos.
Enjoy the pictures of the gigantic battle between the small, perfectly prepared "David" and the three overpowering "Goliaths"!
