After demonstration runs stole the spotlight in the first day of action at the 81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting on Saturday, Sunday was an altogether different prospect at the legendary motor circuit.
Remember, Sunday is Race Day and on that front Goodwood did not disappoint, putting on 10 races for attendees to savour both live at the track and on the international live stream feed.
For those fond of racing from yesteryear, the Members’ Meeting action vindicated those who hold the belief that historic racing puts contemporary action into the shade.
From the outset, there was wheel-to-wheel action on display as Will Nuthall sythed his way through the final chicane in his Cooper-Bristol Mk2 T23 during the final lap of the Parnell Cup, dispatching the close-charging John Ure in a Cooper-Bristol Mk2 T24/25 machine to emerge victorious in the race contested by Grand Prix, Formula 2 and Voiturette cars that raced in period from 1935 to 1953.
The likes of glorious 1960s Formula 3 1 lite single-seaters slid their way around the Goodwood Motor Circuit before what was arguably one of the closest-fought races of the afternoon, the Surtees Trophy, which featured sports prototypes raced in period from 1960 to ’66.
That meant an entry list chock full of Ford GT40s brushing shoulders with Lola, Chevron and McLaren sports prototypes in a frenetic 20-minute race that saw the likes of Alex Brundle fighting through the pack and dodging lapped traffic in a glorious 1965 example of the Blue Oval’s Le Mans-winning car of the 60s.
But Brundle succumbed to a technical failure and was unable to join the wheel-to-wheel action at the front of the pack later on in the race, which saw John Spiers spin out from a comfortable lead in his gloriously raucous McLaren-Chevrolet M1B whilst trying to navigate backmarkers through Woodcote.
Spiers, a gentlemen racer, recovered well to finish second as Andrew Kirkaldy, first over the line in his Chevron-BMW B8 was demoted to fourth after officials noted a jump start.
That didn’t stop Kirkaldy from battling with fellow Chevron driver Ben Mitchell in the final throws of the race, with the latter emerging as the eventual winner.
The close wheel-to-wheel action with drivers throwing caution to the wind in the name of chasing speed and track positions alike betrayed the notion these cars were priceless relics in need of being nurtured.
No, the very point of the Members’ Meeting and Historic Racing is to drive these vehicles as they were designed, hard and fast.
It makes for a pleasant throwback amid the calculated precision of modern racing, where drivers dancing with the steering wheel and pedals, moderating oversteer and flirting with the limit are seldom seen.
Enthusiasm was in the air at Goodwood with audiences and competitors alike, as seen with Members’ Meeting rookie Mike Rockenfeller, who spoke to Motorsport Week moments after racing a 1965 Ford Mustang in the Ken Miles Cup.
“It’s one of the coolest events, for sure,” he said. “To see the passion, to see the cars, to see how crazy the drivers are and how much they push those old cars to the limit on such an iconic track. Just amazing. I hope to come back more often to Goodwood.”
Rockenfeller’s passion was shared by Era Motorsport’s Founder Kyle Tilley, who set up his racing enterprise with the primary objective of going historic racing, with the likes of this year’s LMP2 victory at Daytona being an added bonus.
“When I set up the ERA Motorsport, it was really aimed purely at the historic markets and we kind of diversified into the modern stuff,” Tilley said.
“I love the modern stuff but it’s all the historic cars that really steal my heart. So I’m delighted to be here at any time we get to be in Goodwood. This is my third or fourth Members’ Meeting and I love it.”
For anyone who loves the history of motor racing, the events at Goodwood are the place to be as wherever one walks there’s an icon of two or four wheels to gaze upon.
This was evident in the late afternoon’s racing action, the Graham Hill Trophy saw AC Cobras do battle with Jaguar E-Types and Lotus Elans in an enthralling race won by Era Motorsport’s Miles Griffiths in a stunningly turned-out TVR Griffith.
Era’s victory run was succeeded by more historic delights as pre-war Grand Prix cars hailing from Bugatti and Alfa Romeo rumbled through the Goodwood Motor Circuit in the Grover-Williams Trophy.
The feverish frivolity at Goodwood made way for a subdued atmosphere as the final pair of races for the weekend drew in and the majority of the Members’ Meeting paddock had packed away.
Alfas, Coopers and Austin Healeys rubbed shoulders with the likes of fellow iconic sportscars from 1948 to 1953 like the Jaguar C-Type, Aston Martin DB3S and Maserati 300S in the Peter Collins Trophy, the penultimate race of Sunday’s action won in style by Richard Wilson in his gorgeous 1957 Maserati 250S.
Then to tie a bow on the weekend’s running, the Touring Car legends that rounded out Saturday’s schedule closed the show again, with the 15-minute Gordon Spice Sprint, giving the Goodwood crowd one last glimpse of historic racing action in the form of Minis, Rover SD1s and Chevrolet Camaros.
Sadly, historic racing action now won’t return to Goodwood until the Autmunal Revival event.
That’s lucky for the #18 Rover that pitted the #64 Mini 1275 GT off-circuit, only for the latter to return on track and collect the SD1 thus ending both of the machine’s races early – but now both cars can have appropriate time to dust down and undergo some well-needed repairs.
