Goodwood, 15-17 September, 2000
The Event
The inaugural Goodwood Revival Meeting was held in September 1998, under
superb clear blue skies, and left visitors in awe over the attention to detail that
gave the impression of being in a fifties time warp. This meticulous preparation
immediately placed the event at the top of every Classic enthusiast’s list of
”must visit” meetings. In 1999 rain affected the event but didn’t detract from the
ambience, and even added its own special ingredient on the track, as
spectators were treated to some enthralling exhibitions of car control, in
conditions sometimes more suitable for power boats. The third running of the
meeting was a mix of weather fortunes, with the Friday untimed practise
sessions eventually being abandoned because of torrential rain. After early low
cloud on Saturday, the skies brightened and it remained fine and warm for the
remainder of the meeting. Another factor in this year’s equation was a petrol
shortage in Great Britain due to industrial action, that threatened the ability of
spectators to get to the circuit. However, the true enthusiast wasn’t going to be
denied, and there were healthy crowds thronging the perimeter fences and full
grandstands throughout the weekend. During the lunch periods they were
treated to spectacular aerobatics displays from Spitfires, a Hurricane and a pair
of Mustangs, in keeping with the period image.
The Personalities
Any Goodwood meeting whether it be The Festival of Speed or The Revival
Meeting attracts a veritable Who’s Who of personalities from the motor racing
world on both two and four wheels. The 2000 edition was no exception, with
numerous well known names in unfamiliar cars in a number of the race grids.
Even those not racing swelled the list, like Sir Jack Brabham, Carroll Shelby,
Luigi Chinetti Jnr and John Coombs, to name but a few. The 1980 World
Champion, Alan Jones, had attended the Festival of Speed in June and enjoyed
it so much that he returned to race an Aston Martin DB4 GT and Lord March’s
Ford Galaxie at the circuit meeting. The evergreen Sir Stirling Moss had a
hectic weekend, whilst John Surtees was also kept busy, joined by an
international cast including Derek Hill standing in for his father Phil (a
Goodwood regular), Danny Sullivan, Brian Redman, Jochen Mass, Patrick
Tambay, Derek Bell, David Piper, Richard Attwood, Jackie Oliver, the list goes
on !
The Racing
After the weather vagaries of Friday, when the Tourist Trophy official practise (for
driver #1) had to be cancelled, the timed practise sessions on Saturday morning
were held under uniform weather conditions for all groups of competitors, with
the TT session being extended to accommodate both drivers. In fact this turned
out to be the most thrilling session, as for most of the time it was the Shelby
American Cobra Daytona Coupe of Danny Sullivan and Steve Hitchins that
headed the field. Then John Surtees had his turn in David Piper’s 250 LM, and
progressively inched closer to the lead time, eclipsing it in the dying minutes of
the session by a fraction over 3/10ths of a second, to take pole position in his
first drive of the car – old skills never die !
This was the race with the strongest Ferrari presence, and it was Surtees who
stormed into the lead from the flag, pulling inexorably away from the pursuing
pack headed by the bellowing Daytona Cobra Coupe. As it turned out his valiant
efforts were thwarted by a slow pit stop for the driver change, whilst David Piper
was unable to match the pace of his co-driver, allowing the Sullivan/Hitchins
Cobra to take the win. Both the 330 LM berlinettas were spectacular, if a little
smoky to watch, although only the Tambay/Green example lasted the distance
to finish 8th, the Bell/Hardman car expiring after 11 laps.
In the Goodwood Trophy race for single seaters built between 1948 and 1955,
spectators had the opportunity to enjoy the shrill shriek of the V16 BRM from
the Donington Collection.. The ”Thin Wall Special” from the same stable made
great Ferrari V12 music from its stub exhausts, to take third overall in the hands
of Rob Hall, headed by Roddy Macpherson in a Cooper Bristol and the winner
Ludovic Lindsay in the ERA B-Type R5B ”Remus”. The race also featured a nice
selection of early Maserati single seaters that included an 8 CTF, 4 CM, A6
GCM and 6 CM.
In the Lavant Cup race for World championship Sports Cars 1957-1960, there
was both a healthy Ferrari and Maserati presence, with Tony Dron qualifying
2nd in a Dino 246 S, and Martin Stretton qualifying 3rd in a Maserati 300S.
Unfortunately the Dron challenge disappeared after two laps when he retired, but
another Dino came into play, that being the 196 S example driven very quickly
and smoothly by Jochen Mass to take 3rd overall ahead of the Maserati of
Martin Stretton. However, the only one that could live with the winner, Peter
Hardman in the Aston Martin DBR1, was the 2nd place Jaguar D-Type of Ian
Donaldson. Further down the field Carlos Monteverde in his 250 Testa Rossa
was closing on the similar car of gary Pearson, before a lurid spin out of the
chicane on the penultimate lap saw him collect some geraniums on one side of
the track, before spinning back across the circuit to come to rest in the pit lane
entrance.
The Accident
The one thing on everybody’s lips after the meeting was the horrendous
accident that befell Nigel Corner in the Dino 246 V12 Tasman just after the start
of the Richmond & Gordon Trophies Race. As the grid accelerated away, it
seemed that wheels became interlocked and the next thing anybody knew the
Dino was cartwheeling through the air with Nigel Corner being ejected from his
seat and tossed high in the air like a rag doll, before landing alongside the
stricken car, which fortunately didn’t make contact with him. The race was
stopped immediately, with several other cars becoming embroiled. Considering
the severity of the accident, it was a relief to hear later that his injuries were
”only” three broken ribs, a punctured lung and broken collar bone. The restarted
race was held under somewhat of a cloud, as the extent of the injuries was
unknown at the time, and was won by John Harper in a Cooper-Climax T51.
Glory Days
Despite the inclement Friday weather, and the frightening accident on Sunday,
the 3rd Goodwood Revival Meeting can only be judged as an outstanding
success, superbly organised by Lord March and his dedicated team whose feel
for the period that it recreates is sublime, long live Glorious Goodwood !
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