Goodwood Revival

The first eight laps of this extended, two-driver touring car race had the crowd on its feet. Once again Justin Law was proving no respecter of reputations as he set about Gerry Marshall on this occasion. The latter may need an electric buggy to get around the paddock these days, but put him behind the wheel and it all comes flooding back. The joy of his driving is that he is sideways, but he is not a wheel-twirler. The car is set up, just sufficient opposite-lock is applied and the slide is held effortlessly, speed being increased rather than scrubbed off. That said, he had his hands full with Law, whose Mk1 Jaguar took the lead from the Ford Lotus Cortina on the opening lap with a brave move at Fordwater. Thereafter they traded places and ran much of the laps side by side. It was intense and incessant. And it was taking its toll on the Jaguar, which began to smoke ominously.

Marshall was leading when he pitted on lap nine to hand over to the owner, the equally rapid Chris Sanders; Win Percy was waiting to take over from Law, but when the Jaguar pitted on lap 14, a black streak across the bonnet spoke volumes. Its oil cap had blown off and its race was run. Thus Sanders was able to cruise home, backing off sufficiently to allow the race-long Cortina battle that had raged between Jackie Oliver/Les Goble and Andy Middlehurst/David Leslie to close within 3sec. Fourth was the mighty Chevrolet 150 Sedan, which John Fitzpatrick had put on pole. Owner Leon Cole made a slow getaway and dropped down the field. But with Fitzpatrick at the wheel, the red Chevy, a bit of a hotrod, it must be said, absolutely flew, setting the fastest lap and moving back up to fourth. The no-holds-barred Mini battle was won by fifth-placed Richards Longman and Dodkins after their rivals, Norman Grimshaw/John Rhodes, had expired. Sixth was the ‘Fintail’ Mercedes 300SE of Stewart Imber and Mark Hales.

1st: Gerry Marshall/Chris Sanders (1962 Lotus Cortina Mk1) 84.95mph

2nd: Jackie Oliver/Les Goble (1964 Lotus Cortina Mk1)

3rd: Andy Middlehurst/David Leslie (1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1)

Fastest lap: Fitzpatrick, 1 min 35.616sec (9036mph)

Richmond & Gordon Trophies(15 laps)

Without wishing to appear rude, Rod Jolley is bald, wears thick spectacles, and looks like he would be more at home driving a desk. He drives his 1958 Cooper-Climax 145/51, however, like the very devil himself. He started this race from the back of the grid, with a 10-second penalty to boot, for overtaking under yellow flags in qualifying. Rod was adamant that he had not seen the warning flags. But if this was a trumped-up charge to make the race more interesting, it worked. For five laps. For that’s all it took for Jolley to charge through the field and take the lead from John Harper’s Cooper T51. Best of the front-engined Richmond Trophy cars was Martin Stretton in Michael Steele’s C-type Connaught, although he initially had to give best to Joaquin Folch, who was having his first drive in a Lotus 16, and who led the race outright for the first lap. The Spaniard eventually finished fourth, but set the fastest lap in this race within a race, at 1 min 28.029sec (98.14mph).

1st: Rod Jolley (1958 Cooper-Climax T45/51) 96.68mph

2nd: John Harper (1959 Cooper-Climax T51)

3rd: Martin Stretton (1957 Connaught-Alta C-type)

Fastest lap:Jolley, 1min 26.142sec (100.30mph)

Rac Tourist Trophy Celebration (one hour)

Whether ex-F1 star and current sportscar pacesetter for Audi, Italy’s Emanuele Pirro, had ever heard of Barrie Williams before this race is doubtful he thought he was dicing with Frank Sytner but he certainly knew about him afterwards. Pirro, in the ex-John Coombs Lightweight E-type, 4WPD, made a fantastic start from the inside of the third row to lead the first lap. But two-time race-winner ‘Whizzo’ had him in his sights, and dived into the lead at Woodcote on lap two. This pair of grey Lightweights then proceeded to streak away from the field. Their battle was not as frenetic as some but, watching from Fordwater, it was beautiful, Whizzo going all out, striving for a gap, Pirro treating his car gently, “like I treat my wife”.

Gradually, Williams edged away. But keen to give co-driver Nigel Corner, returning to racing after his horrific accident at last year’s meeting, as big a gap as possible, he kept on pushing. And it all went wrong on lap 25. Put off line by backmarkers, he spun into the gravel at Woodcote, joining the `lowdrag’ E-type of Sytner and Simon Hadfield, which had run third in the early stages, and the Corvette Sting Ray of John Young/Gerry Marshall. Pirro came in two laps later to hand over to Gregor Fisken, allowing Peter Hardman’s Ferrari 330LM/B to lead briefly, before he too pitted, David Franklin taking over for a lap. The Woodcote `car park’ was causing concern, and when the race reached the 45-minute mark, the earliest a result could be declared, it was stopped. This was good news for Will Hoy in Simon Draper’s Aston Martin Project 214. He’d yet to swap places with the owner, and so jumped ahead of Hardman.

1st: Emanuele Pirro/Gregor Fisken (1962 Lightweight E-type) 93.97mph

2nd: Will Hoy/Simon Draper (1963 Aston Martin Project 214)

3rd: Peter Hardman/David Franklin (1963 Ferrari 330LM/B)

Fastest lap: Pirro, 1min 28.539sec (97.58mph)

Glover Trophy (16 laps)

The fastest race of the day was another thriller, another battle between young gun and old master. American F3 racer Paul Edwards burst from the middle of the front row in the ex-Bruce McLaren/John Love Cooper-Climax T73 and, despite incessant pressure from pole man Frank Sytner, held the Brabham BT4 man at bay until lap 14, when backmarkers put him off line at the right-hander before St Mary’s. The youngster spun, leaving Sytner with nowhere to go. The pair tangled and hit the barriers as one. Luckily, both were unhurt As had Gary Pearson earlier in the day, Richard Attwood’s watching brief, in the BRM P261, paid dividends, the 1970 Le Mans winner beating Martin Stretton in Cedric Selzer’s Lotus 25 by 14sec.

1st: Richard Attwood (1965 BRM P261) 101.51mph

2nd: Martin Stretton (1962 Lotus-Climax 25)

3rd: Duncan Dayton (1964 Brabham-Climax BT11)

Fastest lap: Sytner (Brabham-Climax BT4) 1 min 22.541sec (104.67mph)

Whitsun Trophy (16 laps)

Frank Sytner made amends in this race for mid-1960s rear-engined sports-racers, winning it in his Cooper Monaco-Chevrolet T61M. He was chased throughout by Robert Brooks in a Lotus 19, and when a rain squall swept across the track, the auctioneer looked set to make a bid for the lead. Sytner was tiptoeing around in top gear when Brooks made a hash of the chicane, scattering fencing and plantpots on lap 13. The race was stopped, but Brooks kept second on countback. Third was Joaquin Folch in David Piper’s Ferrari 275LM.

1st: Frank Sytner (1963 Cooper Monaco-Chevrolet T61M) 99.20mph

2nd: Robert Brooks (1960 Lotus-Climax 19)

3rd: Joaquin Folch (1964 Ferrari 275LM)

Fastest lap: Brooks 1min 24.756sec (101.94mph)

Fordwater Trophy (10 laps)

Charles Morgan made a slow start from pole position, but his Morgan Plus 4 was in the lead of this `1950-60s clubbie’ race by lap three, and he won at a canter. Star of the show, however, was Graham Scott, whose sideways antics in the Mercedes 300SLS drew gasps from the crowd. He finished second ahead of Stuart Graham’s slow-starting Healey 100S.

1st: Charles Morgan (1959 Morgan Plus 4) 85.80mph

2nd: Graham Scott (1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SLS)

3rd: Stuart Graham (1955 Austin-Healey 100S)

Fastest lap: Morgan, 1min 36.395sec (89.63mph) </p>