Photo: Roger Dixon
Walking around the Goodwood Revival this year brought to mind the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club (BARC), which anyone was allowed to join. However, few enthusiasts could afford to, and its slogan became: “The right crowd and no crowding.” The club only admitted into the building those wearing members, or members’ guest, badges.
The Goodwood Revival is an event most people can afford, and while period dress is the order of the day it’s not mandatory, although there seem to be many more visitors getting into the mood and the spirit of the Revival. As for the crowd, there seems a notable increase year on year. So, a strap line for Goodwood could be, “the right crowd and crowding too.”
One problem with the Goodwood Revival is securing a ticket to go to the event, as the 2013 edition was sold out some six weeks before the gates opened. Over the years, Lord March and his team have lifted this national race meeting into an event fit for a global audience, with tickets getting so scarce that booking early is the only way to guarantee you’ll be there.
The weather is always a contributory factor to the success or failure of any event and, usually, the UK weather system allows for glorious sunshine, but every so often grey clouds gather and the rain gods want to join the throng—such as this year when inclement weather had a great effect both on and off track. Those dressed in period dress donned contemporary rainproof clothing and the whole scene changed, everyone ran for cover and the noise of competing cars was once again the predominant sound rather than the razzmatazz of the ancillary theater.
On track, the weather created some interesting moments indeed, as some drivers slid and slipped while others rose to the challenge, their car control truly spectacular. A virtuoso performance by Simon Hadfield in the rain-soaked TT Celebration, the Revival’s blue-ribbon race, will be long remembered. In period, 2nd- and 3rd-place finishes for Aston Martin in the GT era of the World Sportscar Championship was as good as it got for the marque and, until this year, one single 2nd was Aston’s highest result at the Revival in the TT.
Hadfield, however, was on fire despite the rain pouring from the West Sussex sky. Taking over at the wheel of the Aston Project 212 started by its owner, Wolfgang Friedrichs, he sensationally pulled in the advantage held by the leading Lister-Jaguar Coupe of Anthony Reid to take the lead and win the big race in Aston Martin’s centenary year.
The historic racing supremo was presented the “Driver of the Meeting” award by Lord March for his performance, and during the post event prizegiving said, “The stars aligned. Two safety cars and rain worked for us. Without them we wouldn’t be here now. This type of thing doesn’t happen to ordinary people!”
The TT Celebration was just one of the many on-track highlights of the Revival, an event that seemingly just gets better and better every year. Kicking off the track action on the weekend’s opening evening was the Freddie March Memorial Trophy, with sportscars from 1952-’55 racing into the darkness. Shortly after the Goodwood 9-Hour recreation started, rain began to fall, and as conditions worsened so the pace at the front of the field picked up! With light fading rapidly and torrential rain falling, the race was eventually red-flagged after Nick Wigley crashed the Cooper-Bristol he was sharing with John Ure. Track marshals attended to Wigley as the race was halted and victory awarded to John Young and Alex Buncombe in a JD Classics-entered Jaguar C-Type.
The Whitsun Trophy was an all-Ford GT40 affair this year, and the big V8 cars didn’t disappoint around the daunting Goodwood Motor Circuit. Again rain played its part, and a slippery track let talent bubble to the top with former Indy 500 winner, and Revival favorite, Kenny Bräck winning teamed with Red Bull’s design guru, Adrian Newey. The duo headed home Emanuele Pirro and Shaun Lynn, with Diogo Ferrao and Martin Stretton 3rd. Multiple Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen drove superbly to win the opening leg of the St. Mary’s Trophy in a Ford Galaxie, from Frank Stippler in an Alfa Romeo GTA. However, in the second leg, the Alfa’s owner, Alex Furiani, was able to win, with the Galaxie—now driven by its owner, Michael Steele—back in 3rd, handing overall honors to the Stippler/Furiani duo.
Anthony Reid was victorious in the Sussex Trophy driving Nigel Webb’s 1955 Jaguar XKD 505, with Andy Middlehurst taking the top spot in the Glover Trophy for 1.5-liter Grand Prix cars—fittingly in a Lotus 25 as the Revival celebrated the life and career of Jim Clark. Miles Griffiths won the Gordon Trophy for rear-engined Intercontinental and GP cars in a Cooper-Climax, and Chris Drake was the Formula Junior winner at the wheel of an Elva 300. Tony Wood and David Morris were also race victors with their Lister Bristol and ERA cars, respectively, while Gary Pearson continued his fine run of Revival form by driving his BRM Type 25 to the number one position in the Richmond Trophy. Pearson has won more Revival races that any other four-wheeled racer—only Wayne Gardner has won more in the motorcycle division!
By Mike Jiggle and James Beckett
