The 6 Best Moments From the Goodwood Revival
Mike Shaffer
For petrolheads, the Goodwood Revival is often described as the best automotive event of the year—a rare chance to see, hear, and smell pedigreed sheet metal in motion. Over the course of the weekend, more than 130,000 visitors gather at the Duke of Richmond’s Sussex estate, costumed in period attire from the 1940s through 1960s, to watch prolific race cars from the same eras go wheel-to-wheel with no quarter given.
The entrants—by invitation of Goodwood officials only—are frequently piloted by legendary drivers, including Formula 1 champions Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button, IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. Mix in some gentleman drivers hustling their own steeds—Mr. Bean’s Rowan Atkinson heeling his 1954 Jaguar Mark VII, for example, along with the inevitable fits and bursts of English rain, and you have all the trappings for an action-packed weekend of racing glory. And heartbreak, every time vintage metal meets unforgiving barriers.
Here, in no particular order, are our favorite TK moments from the weekend.
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Tom Kristensen’s Unending Thirst for Blood
Image Credit: Goodwood The Danish racing champion must’ve had the red mist creeping in when hotshoeing a 1959 Ford Thunderbird during the St. Mary’s Trophy race Saturday afternoon. Kristensen quickly dispatched with most of the field—full of VIP drivers including Dixon, IndyCar’s Tony Kanaan, ex-F1 pilot Emanuele Pirro, and NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson—and set his sights on the 1957 Ford Fairlane in P1, driven by Steve Soper, a British racer with victories at 24 Hours of Nürburgring and 24 Hours of Spa. Over the 25-minute race, Kristensen slowly reeled Soper in and finally achieved an overtake and the win, just before the checkered flag.
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Dueling Lola T70 Spyders
Image Credit: Goodwood The most compelling action of the Whitsun Trophy Can-Am race on Saturday was between two Lola T70 spyders, both powered by Chevy V8s. While Goodwood Circuit lap record holder Nick Padmore was behind the wheel of the first place Lola for more than 90 percent of the race, Alex Brundle, former F2 driver (and son of F1 announcer Martin Brundle), was trailing in the second Lola, inches from Padmore’s tail. On one of the final laps, mechanical failure beset Padmore, who parked his Lola in the grass, as Brundle streaked to victory.
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Hearing a Lotus 19, Powered by a Ferrari V12
Image Credit: Goodwood In that same Whitsun race, the rumbling, sonorous V8 Can-Am sounds were occasionally punctuated by a higher screaming engine note. The emitter? A 1960 Lotus 19, running a Ferrari V12. This example, owned and driven by Jakob Viggo Holstein, is one of a handful of Colin Chapin’s grand prix cars to receive a 3.0-liter 12-cylinder Prancing Horse heart transplant (in lieu of its 2.5-liter Coventry-Climax V8). Each time the Lotus-Ferrari barreled down the front straight, drilled the brakes and downshifted for the first right-hander, that shrieking V12 raised the hairs on the back of your neck.
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The Cuteness Overload of the Settrington Cup
Image Credit: Mike Shaffer What do you get when you take some four dozen toddlers and tykes, plunk them in pedal cars, and set them loose down the front straight for a 286-yard race? The cutest race of the day, the Settrington Cup. Everything about this race is perfect, from the Le Mans-style running start, determination of the kids—some of whom are the progeny of famous racing drivers such as Jenson Button and Dario Franchetti—to spot-on color commentary from Goodwood’s announcers, to the post-race interviews. The best quip? The winner’s response to being asked how he would celebrate tonight: “I’ve no clue. I’m just going to leave that to the parents to figure that out.”
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Walking the Incredible Parking Lot
Image Credit: Mike Shaffer An array of wild, wonderful, and weird wheels grace the Goodwood Revival parking lots. Even more impactful given the deluge of rain turning the fields into muddy swamps. Meander through the rows—in loaned Wellington boots—and gape at the likes of pre-War Bentleys, a Peugeot P4 (the French answer to the G-Wagen), Fifties Ford Galaxies, Sixties Aston Martins, mid-Sixties Ford Mustangs and Camaros, even a Ford Country Squire with wood sides, just like the Griswolds. But the parking lot hero? This righthand-drive Cobra that looks like it went berserk in the mud. If anyone was sitting in the passenger seat, they’ll have grit in their teeth for at least a week.
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The Sopping Wet Royal Automobile Club Race
Image Credit: Mike Shaffer Once it became clear heavy rain was imminent for Sunday afternoon’s hour-long contest of VIPs and pros in GT and prototypes of the early Sixties, Goodwood officials bumped up the start time to try to beat the drops. Underway early, the field of 1963 Corvette Stingrays, 1964 Cobras, 1965 Bizzarrinis and early Sixties Jaguar E-types sounded nothing short of incredible, and everything was largely running smoothly. Until an all-aluminum bodied 1962 Tojeiro ee-Ford lost control, spun out, and slammed into the wall so hard, it did several pirouettes after it destroyed the tire barrier. Red flags waved until the barrier was repaired, which was right around the time the rain began. Restarted, everyone gingerly felt out the track, which grew wetter by the lap. The race came down to the final lap, in which dueling Jaguar E-types were pushing so hard, they touched in the middle of skidding through the final corner before the start-finish line. In the end, Richard Kent and Tom Ingram took top honors.
Authors
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Sean Evans
