Travelling back to the past at Goodwood Revival 2021

This is a first for News d’Anciennes, and we do hope it is not going to be the last!  Since July, a young Brit joined our team, and he will offer you some reports in English.

So, let’s have Matt describe you saturday, and Pierre will deal with sunday. We hope you will enjoy it.

A sunny Saturday at Goodwood Revival 2021

This was my first experience of Goodwood Revival, I can say that it exceeded my expectations! From the get go the atmosphere was amazing, everyone was in period clothing and all of the shops and stalls followed suit. 

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes

The first race I was trackside for was the Barry Sheen memorial trophy which was a two rider race for bikes that raced before 1966 and were all under 500cc. The grid was mainly made up of Norton Manx 30Ms and Matchless G50s however a MV Agusta 500/3 took the win with riders Michael Dunlop and Steve Platter in the saddle.

They did a victory parade together in a slightly awkward seating arrangement! The riders had said that the track was very greasy compared to usual, however this did not stop them from going all out and riding to the limit of their tyres!

Mighty Minis 

After the motorbikes and a bacon sandwich it was time for the John Witmore Trophy which was a 45 minute two driver Mini Cooper race. All 30 teams were racing 1293cc Austin Mini Cooper Ss ranging from 1962-65. The winner Andrew Jordan had a 24 second gap on the second place car, driving the pink and blue finger painted 1963 Mini.

This is always a spectator favourite as the Minis stay in large packs throughout the race, bumper to bumper and the occasional tyre on the grass. But nothing was quite like Endaf Owens in the turquoise number 20, who was clipped as he entered the chicane, sending him into a massive slide, nearly 90 degrees to the track, which he spectacularly recovered from, even if he did come very close to the pit wall. 

Witsun Trophy – Sports Prototypes that raced up to 1966

Now this was one that rattled the eardrums! GT40s battling against Lola T70 Spyders amongst other Sixties prototypes. The sound of Ford and Chevrolet V8s awakening the Goodwood historic circuit. All of these were taken at the chicane just up from the pit lane. The 65 GT40 being pushed over the kerb onto the grass by Chris Jolly in his Cooper-Chevrolet T61 ‘Monaco’ as Jolly kept tight to the inside corner of the chicane. 

Last Race of the day – Sussex Trophy 

This race was for World Championship sports cars and production sports racing cars that raced between 1955 and 1960. The start to a beautiful sunset really did make this special to see, the hazy sun reflecting off the highly polished paintwork on some of the most prestigious cars at Goodwood Revival.

I will admit that I spent a lot of time standing on the banking at the entrance to Madgwick trying to get a photo of car number 37 a Lister-Chevrolet ‘Costin’ with a fire breathing 5530cc V8. One of the most entertaining of cars to watch was the 1960 Ferrari 246S Dino driven by Sam Hancock as the back end stepped out nearly every lap at this sweeping right hander.

A wet Sunday, but the competitors did not seem to notice it

Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, Part 2

After a delightful Saturday, I was more than eager to come back on Sunday. However, the cloudy sky soon turned into a light drizzle. It did not kill the courage of the riders, though. They still offered the audience an enjoyable show on the track, despite being 20 seconds slower than the previous day.

Even if they missed a gear on the start of the second race, the duo Dunlop/Plater was absolutely unbeatable on the track. After falling way down the order, Plater reached seventh place by the end of lap 2. He was third by lap 4, and then took the lead to hand the bike over to Dunlop.

Even if the TT star went trackside and feel back to second position, he quickly recovered and grasped a second victory, scoring a massive lead on aggregate results.

Richmond Trophy

Ben Mitchell bagged victory in the Richmond Trophy race for front-engined Grand Prix cars of a type campaigned from 1954-60. The BRM pilot’s winning margin of a whisker over six seconds belied the effort involved. At the start, it was Tony Wood’s stubby Tec-Mec Maserati that blasted into an early lead from the second row, with Miles Griffith second in Philip Walker’s Lotus 16 as Mitchell gave chase. Will Nuthall was also making his presence felt aboard his two-litre Cooper-Bristol.

Conditions were far from ideal, the Tec-Mec being bundled down to fourth by quarter distance of the 25-minute race, with Mitchell having by now assumed the lead with Griffith in close proximity. Nuthall also came into the fray, and it was only in the closing stages that Mitchell was able to make a break for it. Griffith and Nuthall were rarely more than a car length apart – were rarely pointing in a straight line, but they had no answer for Mitchell who had entered the final lap with a six second lead. Griffith and Nuthall drag raced to the line, the former just holding sway, with Wood a distant fourth.

Brooklands Trophy

Duncan Pittaway and Eddie Williams claimed a fabulous victory in the Brooklands Trophy race for post-vintage thoroughbred sports cars. Run in appalling conditions, there was plenty of drama up and down the order, but it was a Frazer Nash battle up front from the outset. The unique ‘Owlet’ saloon of Patrick Blakeney-Edwards rocketed into the lead from the fourth row, with Pittaway giving chase in Charles Gillett’s TT Replica. Blakeney-Edwards proceeded to drive his car – the only closed car in the field – at ever lurid angles as he built-up a lead over his pursuer.

The well-known historics ace pitted with eleven minutes left to run of the 25-minute encounter, handing over driving duties to Nick Swift. The Mini ace, a rookie aboard pre-war fare, was no slouch, guiding the car in typically exuberant fashion, but he had no answer for Williams who reeled him in and got past at Fordwater inside two laps and escaped up the road. The preternaturally brave Williams didn’t seem to notice that it was raining, steering his car at ever more extreme angles en route to victory.

Blakeney-Edwards had the consolation of finishing second and third, having also shared a Frazer Nash TT Replica with Theo Hunt.

RAC Automobile TT

Ollie Bryant and Darren Turner claimed honours in the RAC Automobile Club TT Celebration race that wasn’t lacking for drama. GT star Turner blasted off the line in the Bryant family’s AC Cobra, streaking into the distance while the similar car of pole-man Bill Shepherd gave chase. Fellow front-row starter Jenson Button – also in a Cobra – had a poor start, having shifted from first to fourth gear off the line which saw him tumble down to ninth by Madgwick.

Turner’s lead after two laps stood at four seconds, but it was annulled five minutes into the one-hour running order by a safety car period to recover Rupert Clevely’s stricken Jaguar E-type. On the restart, Button got the hammer down and picked off his rivals one by one, including Martin Brundle’s Cobra on the outside of St Mary’s and Gregor Fisken’s Cobra at Madgwick. He was up to third place by quarter distance. Shepherd stopped after 21 minutes to hand over to superstar allrounder Romain Dumas. Turner stopped simultaneously to swap seats with Ollie Bryant, Button assuming the lead before pitting 24 minutes in to hand over to his lifelong friend, Alex Buncombe.

Their pale blue Cobra emerged in third place amid another safety car period, the TVR Griffith 400 of Mike Whittaker/Mike Jordan having had a costly off-course excursion. On the restart, Buncombe was closing in on Bryant only to tag a backmarker which cost him time. The safety car came out again with 25 mins to run after Sam Hancock’s Cobra, as started by Fisken, was punted off into retirement at St Mary’s, the order being bunched up once again.

Seven minutes later, racing resumed in anger, Dumas getting a slight jump on Bryant with Buncombe losing out to the Lister-Jaguar Coupé of Emanuele Pirro that was started by Frederic Wakeman. Sadly, the Buncombe/Button car had developed a persistent misfire and was retired shortly thereafter. Pirro could not make inroads on the lead duo, though, who battled royally in the closing stages. However, the complexion of the race changed with four minutes left to run after Dumas was given a 21-second penalty for a driver change infringement.

Dumas crossed the line first on the road, but he and Shepherd were demoted to fourth once the time penalty was taken into account. Bryant and Turner claimed the win, Pirro and Wakeman placing second with Shaun Lynn and former touring car star Andy Priaux being promoted to third. Turner, for his part, didn’t have time to receive his laurels – he had a flight to catch.

St Mary’s Trophy

Bill Shepherd made up for his RAC TT Celebration disappointment by winning the second instalment of the St Mary’s Trophy aboard his crowd-pleasing Ford Thunderbird. In doing so, he and team-mate Romain ‘Le Cowboy’ Dumas claimed the overall win on aggregate. Yesterday saw Dumas finish 6.9 seconds ahead of Austin A40 pedaller Andrew Jordan. This meant his father Mike Jordan had to place ahead of Shepherd by seven seconds or more to claim outright honours. He looked a good bet to do so, too, because he was first to hook up off the line from the front row. However, he was behind fellow Austin man Matt Manderson and Jaguar star Grant Williams by the time they arrived at Madgwick for the first time.

Shepherd muscled his way past Jordan on the third lap of the 25-minute encounter. As such, he had the aggregate win in the bag so long as the positions remained static. However, the historics veteran clearly wanted to win on the road, too, and the V8 Ford specialist picked off his rivals one by one. Williams assumed the lead four laps in, only for the safety car to emerge after Tom Sharp’s BMW 700 smote the tyre barrier at Madgwick after the car’s rear suspension collapsed. On the restart, there was no stopping Shepherd who made it past Grant on the Lavant straight with eight minutes left to run.

The Welshman didn’t give up without a fight, though, but the Thunderbird’s power advantage over the Jaguar Mk1 showed in a straight line. Shepherd came home a convincing winner, with Grant second and Richard Meaden a superb third following a bravura display in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Ti raced yesterday by Emanuele Pirro. The Jordan family salvaged second place on aggregate, with Meaden/Pirro third.

Freddy March Memorial Trophy

The Freddie March Memorial Trophy race brought the curtain down on the 2021 Goodwood Revival Meeting’s track action in dramatic style. The 25-minute thrash for sports-racing car of the type that competed in the Goodwood Nine Hour events between 1952 and 1955 saw pole-sitter Gregor Fisken drop down to third at the start in his ex-Mille Miglia HWM, David Hart assuming the lead in his Maserati 300S from the Jaguar D-type of Steve Brooks.

Nevertheless, barely a second covered the lead trio at the end of the fourth lap, with each driver driving beautifully as they began to lap backmarkers. Sadly, the leaders tangled at Madgwick at half-distance after the Maserati ran wide onto the grass. Brooks’ D-type braked hard but couldn’t avoid tagging the Italian car. Fisken’s HWM clouted the Jaguar hard and retired only a few metres later. Hart, however, was able to continue and didn’t lose the lead. Brooks’ wounded D-type also recovered, albeit 16 seconds down on the road with Martin Hunt’s HWM promoted to third from Austin Healey 100S man Karsten Le Blanc.

Hart lead by 25 second with only a third of the race left to go, Brooks running a further 2.5-seconds ahead of Hunt with Matthias Sielecki’s Aston Martin DB3S having by now moved into fourth place. Hunt came home the victor by 36 seconds from Brooks with Hunt a distant third.

And this is how Goodwood Revival 2021 concluded, after a great weekend of breathtaking races.

The Paddocks of Goodwood Revival 2021

The first picture of the day that I took was of this 1962 Alfa Romeo Guilietta in the two tone red and turquoise paint job. Nothing beats the styling of a sixties Alfa in my opinion and this one really caught my eye! It’s great to see the workmanship that goes into maintaining these racing classics, the Austin Mini having its distributor fettled or the Cooper-Jaguar T38 with an array of team members underneath it.

After the lunch break there was a tribute to Sir Stirling Moss which included this Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR number 722, this is the car that Moss and Denis Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia in 1955 with an astonishing time of 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds. This actually was the very last time you could see this car on a track, since Mercedes will now keep it permanently in their Museum in Suttgart.

Matt’s experience at Goodwood Revival 2021

I have selected three of my favourite pictures that I think give the best idea of what it’s like to be at the Revival. The first is of a Lotus-Climax 18/21 coming out of Lavant with its throttle wide open. The black and white effect really sets the scene in a period style. We move on to the Maserati 8CTF downshifting for Madgwick making the twin supercharged, straight 8 scream as Stephan Rettenmaier fires it around the corner.

My personal Photo of the day is definitely this last one. The two Lotus-Climax’s flying out of Lavant as Nick Fennell in his number 29 tries to pass on the right hand side. I took a step back from the normal photography position of being as close to the track as possible, and achieved the effect of showing a crowded but civilised Goodwood. For my first experience of the Revival I was blown away, I have no doubts about it that I will be returning next year, and hoping to come for more than just the one day. 

Roaring engines to the hundreds of white vintage overalls with the likes of Castrol and Shell printed on them really make you embrace the event. There is a great sense of pride in the atmosphere, the pride to be part of a group with one common interest, classic cars. 

Pierre’s point of view

I have been lucky enough to attend the 2019 Revival, so I was not exactly discovering the event. However, Goodwood Revival 2021 was the first time I was spending more than just a day. And I do not regret it.

It was the first event of 2021 that finally felt like we were back to normal, and the amount of people in the audience was a sheer proof of it. The venue was packed on the two days I was there, and everybody was enjoying their time.

I have a slight cirticism, though. It has nothing to do with the event per se, but this year, I noticed it more than last time. Please people, try to play along, and wear period clothing. It is part of the ambiance of Goodwood Revival, and it is the only place where you can enjoy it. So do not spoil it!

Apart from that, everything else is close to perfection. You just feel like you landed in a gigantic time capsule, and Goodwood Revival 2021 has no equivalent, in anyway.

Photo Credits : News d’Anciennes, Mark Beaumont, Michal Pospisil