Goodwood is always worth a visit. Whether the weather is good or bad, the action on offer here is simply incredible. The program of the 77th Goodwood Members' Meeting started on Saturday, April 6, 2019, at 10 am and ended in the evening at around 7 pm. On Sunday, it was the same from 9 am to 6 pm.
There was a non-stop program that is probably unique in the world. There was no time to eat or go to the toilet! There was no shortage of celebrities either. In addition to Jochen Mass, Emanuele Pirro and the Porsche drivers mentioned below, Jackie Stewart, Tiff Needell, Tom Blomqvist, Steve Soper and Tom Kristensen were also present.
50 years of the Porsche 917 celebrated
The Porsche Museum also took the opportunity to mark the 50th anniversary of the 917 by bringing five of these cars to West Sussex in the south of England.
They were all driven by former Le Mans winners such as Mark Webber, Neel Jani, Derek Bell, Romain Dumas and Richard Attwood. On Saturday, Webber drove the powerful open CanAm car with around 1200 hp, which had dominated the 1973 CanAm series at will with Mark Donohue. On Sunday, he then squeezed into the freshly restored 917 with chassis number 001, which today is exactly as it was presented at the Geneva Motor Show on March 12, 1969. The car was as cramped as a sardine tin for the tall Australian. Once inside, he couldn't get out and had to drive in his socks without being able to move his head in any way.
Betty Richmond Trophy - mini race fiercely contested
The Members' Meeting also celebrated the 60th birthday of the British icon Mini. An impressive starting field of exactly 60 cars had been assembled for the occasion. The overall winner was chosen in three heats.
In the end, Mini guru Nick Swift won the race in his 63 Cooper S - almost against himself, in fact, as there were 38 cars prepared by him in the overall field. The drifts of the little Minis were breathtaking. It lifted the fans out of their seats.
The young Finn Tom Blomquist, son of rally warhorse Stig, was in car number 1 and was on the front row of the grid for the first race after practice. Unfortunately, he was the victim of contact with an enemy on the start bend and lost important places as a result. However, the young ex-DTM BMW driver's race to catch up was impressive. He fought his way back to 3rd place sideways right to the end. In the final race, however, he unfortunately retired on lap 4. The duels and triathlons were first class and only exceptionally did all the bikes stay on the ground. There was also quite a bit of land damage.
Gerry Marshall Trophy - Rover in the lead
The touring car race with vehicles from 1969 to 1984 offered many two and more battles in the dusk of Goodwood. Le Mans winner Neel Jani drove a Rover 3500 SDI together with J. Wood.
After the seat test in the Gulf-917, the ex Rodriguez/Oliver car, he raved about this iconic vehicle for quite a while and said with a laugh: "... and then I'm driving this square Rover suitcase tonight ...!"
But he also had this "suitcase" fully under control and put it on the front row of the grid in practice, and Jani/Wood did not let the victory slip away.
Parnell Cup - monoposti of the early days
The Reg Parnell Cup offered an attractive field of monoposti. With a Parnell-ERA and a Parnell-MG, two cars built by him were also on the grid. Reg Parnell not only built cars, he also raced them himself and won the first Goodwood meeting in 1948.
The 77th meeting was won by William Nuthall in the 1952 Alta F2. Alexander van der Lof came third in the Ferrari 340 F1 from 1950, exactly one week before the 1000th F1 GP in China. No other brand started in the first race in 1950 and is still involved today.
Derek Bell Cup - heart-stopping finish
The small 1-liter Formula 3 racing cars from 1964 to 1970 offered a thrilling race to the finish line at the Derek Bell Cup.
The two Brabham-Ford BT28s and BT18s raced more side by side than behind each other. They even crossed the chequered flag almost neck and neck. Ben Mitchell won by just one tenth of a second ahead of Andrew Hibberd. Switzerland's Christoph Widmer finished fourth.
Barry Sheene Trophy - clear winner
The motorcycle race for the Barry Sheene Trophy was completely unusual when compared to the current Moto GP, as it was worlds more boring than all the car races on offer.
Graham Higlett wins the race by 2.5 seconds on his 1972 Rob North Triumph T150.
Tony Gaze Trophy - winged F1 veteran
In the GT cars from 1954 to 1959, ex-F1 driver David Coulthard showed his class.
He won unchallenged by 7 seconds in the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing ahead of Mike Thorne's 1954 Austin Healey 100M.
John Duff Trophy - second place for Champion
In the pre-war sports cars built up to 1931, the 1925 Vauxhall 30-98 Brooklands, driven by Gregor Fisken, won ahead of the 1928 Frazer Nash Super Sports driven by Philip Champion.
The name does not always guarantee success.
Graham Hill Trophy - elegance versus brutality
Two cars made the music here. A Jaguar E-Type Semi-Lightweight and a TVR Griffith 400 battled fiercely for the trophy.
At the end of the 45-minute spectacle with driver changes, Minshaw/Keen in the Jaguar had the "long" nose in front, with the short but very powerful TVR of Spiers and Tiff Needell in second place.
S.F. Edge Trophy - the crazy race for the elderly
You really can't believe that such a crazy race can be driven with vehicles built up to 1923. It was absolutely impressive to see how such vehicles can be driven at the limit. And the veterans were certainly not slow.
Julian Majzub in the 1916 Sunbeam Indianapolis won the race over 15 minutes with an average of 72.37 MPH, the equivalent of over 117 km/h. The photos clearly show how hard the drivers were working.
Gurney Cup - GT40 has to give way to the Crossle
Among the racing sports cars from 1960 to 66, the 1964 Crossle-Oldsmobile MK5S was in a class of its own.
Cameron Jackson won after 20 minutes of racing with an incredible 25.499 second lead over Craig Davies' Ford GT40.
Peter Collins Trophy - bang at the end
A 1955 Jaguar D-Type won the last race, while another was only worth scrap metal. The beautiful Cooper Bristol T25 also had to call it a day. A violent crash between the two led to the race being stopped shortly before the end of the race and the meeting. It was a shame that it had to end like this, but racing at this high level demands its victims.
When the race was stopped, John Pearson was just 0.8 seconds ahead of Martin Stretton, both in Jaguar D-Types. Steve Brooks made the triple safe for the D-Type. It is only to be hoped that the two crash victims did not use their valuable originals and that no one suffered permanent damage.
The special demonstration runs
The program also included some demonstration runs. At the ProCar BMW M1 demonstration, six cars were at the start and Prince Leopold of Bavaria, known as Poldi for short, was at the wheel. Having lost his voice due to a cold, the 76-year-old really stepped on the gas before and after his gargling activities. In 1979 and 1980, the still famous ProCar series with the M1 was part of the Formula 1 supporting program.
Many claim that this race was often better than the Grand Prix. Jochen Neerpasch: "At the first race in Zolder, Max Mosley brought a bag full of dollars, which of course encouraged the Grand Prix drivers to take part. When Mario Andretti said yes, everyone else followed suit. Even Bernie Ecclestone was enthusiastic about the series, as it doubled the number of spectators on F1 training Saturdays.
Another demonstration was given by the horde of 13 V8 touring cars from the NASCAR scene. With a lot of roaring, the drivers showed how much feeling is needed in the throttle to get such a car around a bend properly.
Finally, let's not forget the 14 LMP cars from the Le Mans homage. However, they looked a little lost next to the two formally sensational Porsche 917s.
It was once again so impressive in England that we will definitely be back in 2020 despite the impending visa application.
