The historic race of the year
09/13/2015
It tore the spectators from their seats in the "Grand Stand", this race left no one untouched. The "St. Mary's Trophy" of the Goodwood Revival 2015 is held with touring cars from the sixties, i.e. Mini Cooper, BMW 1800, Lotus Cortina, Jaguar Mk2, Ford Anglia, Ford Galaxie/Fairlane and Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA. And as every year, there is one race on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Yesterday, well-known racing drivers, including Jackie Oliver, Frank Stippler, Jochen Mass, Gordon Shedden (BTCC), Andrew Jordan and multiple Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, drove the colorful touring cars. And how!
At the start, Jordan and Shedden fought a duel in their fast Lotus Cortina. Stippler then gave them a run for their money in the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA and the battle between the three raged for several laps. Anyone could win, the gaps were minimal, both in terms of time and centimeters. Sheddon said at the end that he had hardly ever driven straight...
Surprisingly, the three-way battle then turned into a four-way fight. Tom Kristensen had been unlucky in practice and had to abandon the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt after just a few meters. So he started at the back of the field in a car he hardly knew. But he obviously quickly got used to the "fat ship" and plowed through the entire field in the seven-litre until he appeared in the rear-view mirror of the three leading touring cars a few laps before the finish.
It was scary to watch as the Ford Fairlane drifted behind Stippler's little Afa and started to overtake. The American touring car almost seemed to crush the petite Italian, but here too the Dane Kristensen managed to pass without touching the enemy and ultimately take the win, while the three Cortina and GTA drivers swapped positions again, so that the final classification was Kristensen, Sheddon and Stippler. "It was great fun until Tommy came along with his big car...," said Stippler at the finish. Obviously, nothing could be done against the seven-liter displacement of the Ford Fairlane.
They will start again this Sunday, this time with the owners behind the wheel trying to convert the pros' template into good places.
And even if you shy away from the trip to Goodwood, you can still be there live today, as the races are broadcast online on the Goodwood Revival website. Highly recommended and, above all, very entertaining!
