The 2007 Goodwood Revival

Since the first meeting in 1998 the Goodwood Revival has enjoyed an unbroken run of success and yet still retains its completely unique character. The atmosphere at the circuit is a distillation of the sights and sounds of the wonderful cars on the track, their fearless drivers, and the crowds of enthusiasts who make a point of adopting the style and good manners of the 1950s just to take part in this great piece of theatre. Awards were handed out throughout the weekend, with ten glamorous ladies going home with floral bouquets and bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne on Saturday, in the world’s first Ladies Day for the best-dressed females at the Revival.

Out on the circuit this year there were very few MGs to follow, apart from Richard Last’s Parnell-MG which finished 14th in Saturday’s Goodwood Trophy Race, a couple of MG Midget based Lenham GTs took part in the Fordwater Trophy on the same afternoon but the fast-back coupés did not do well, the beautifully recreated John Britten race car did not finish while the Mike Haigh’s 1965 Lenham came in 21st. The race was won by Don Salvage in a 1965 TVR Griffith which is powered by a 4700cc V8, while Jamie Boot’s Griffith was second and Bill Wykeham’s Ferrari 275 at 3286cc was third. It would have been little short of a miracle for the 1293cc Lenhams to have finished very well in such highpowered company.

In practice for St Mary’s Trophy the Ford Galaxie’s engine let go and deposited oil all over the track

RME Riley in the period car and caravan parade

Richard Last’s Parnell MG

The John Britten Lenham GT

Midget based Lenham GT

Mark Piercy in his 1935 MG R-type

Rowan Atkinson in a Ford Mustang

Mark Piercy in the MG R-type hotly pursued by Hubert Fabri in his Alfa Romeo 8C

Fortunately MG honour was upheld on Sunday and it was a different story for the Brooklands Trophy when Mark Piercy in his 1935 MG R-type proved to be unstoppable in the first race of the day. Piercy had done well in practice and had the front row of the grid to himself after Duncan Ricketts and Julian Majzub withdrew. The MG R-type driver was still out-dragged off the line by Hubert Fabri in his beautiful Alfa Romeo 8C from the second row, with the Italian car ahead by Madgwick. However, Piercy who had taken pole by 2.7-seconds from the next man, took over the lead as they crossed the line to start the second tour. Tom Dark in his MG Qtype pushed hard in third place and, by three-quarter distance, was glued to the back of the green Alfa and was waved through on the penultimate lap, the supercharged, unpainted MG soon pulled away but the gap to Piercy was too great to overcome. The order then remained unchanged to the flag. Fourth place went to Alexander Boswell in the aero-engined Delage Bequet ahead of the ever-sideways Frazer Nash of Patrick Blakeney-Edwards.

Grids with unequally powered vehicles also featured in the St Mary’s Trophy which is an invariably entertaining race held in two parts over Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday Rae Davis in his 1293cc 1964 Mini Cooper S which he shared with Tony Jardine was pitted against V8 Ford Mustangs of 4700cc and here again the gulf in power output proved too great for the giant killing talents of this popular driver. The overall winners of the two races were declared to be Jean-Marc Gounon and Oliver Bryant in their Plymouth Barracuda.

Fashion from the mid-sixties

Here’s a cigar I made earlier

Always an elegant turnout

Tony Jardine and Rae Davis with the Castrol Classic Oils sponsored Mini Cooper S

Field repair section for dispatch riders

Murray Walker chats to Nick Mason

Following some exceptionally fine historic motor racing, at the close of the successful meeting Lord March handed out the prizes to the race winners. Desire Wilson receiving the Fastest Lap by a Lady Driver award for her efforts at the wheel of the Willment Cobra Coupe in the RAC TT Celebration: she was sublime in the monstrous V8 GT car. The Fastest Lap of the Meeting award went to Frank Sytner (at 106.94mph) for his drive in the Lola T70 during Saturday’s Whitsun Trophy.

The Spirit of Goodwood Award deservedly went to Bill Murray and Larry Miller for their near super human efforts to sort their Shelby Daytona Cobra in time for the TT race. Having flown the car over from the US and then blown the engine, they located a replacement in London, commandeered a helicopter to retrieve it, assembled an engine hoist in the paddock and changed the V8 through the night on the eve of the race, and then made the start.

The Will Hoy Memorial Trophy is presented to the driver who puts in the best performance in a closed-cockpit car and this year it went to Jamie Boot. Punted out of the lead on the first lap of Saturday’s Fordwater Trophy, his drive through to second place at the flag (originally third, amended after the winning car was later disqualified), was very impressive.

This year’s winner of the Rolex Driver of the Meeting was Jean-Marc Gounon. The manifestly enthusiastic Frenchman, who only experienced historic racing for the first time at last year’s Revival, starred in everything he drove – and he drove a lot. After putting on an epic display of car control in the St. Mary’s Trophy, winning on the road in Saturday’s encounter, he came away with a win in the Sussex Trophy with Sir Anthony Bamford’s Aston Martin DBR2 on Sunday.

Plans for next year’s Goodwood Revival, scheduled to take place at some time during September 2008 (dates still to be confirmed) are already underway. Goodwood will be celebrating the tenth anniversary since the first Revival meeting in 1998, so there should be plenty of surprises to look forward to.

Photos by Richard Hampson & Richard Ladds