The 2004 Goodwood Revival set records for attendance and was completely sold out well before the September 3–5 event. A revised program saw qualifying on Friday, which made for a much more relaxed weekend for drivers, although many of them would have preferred to be driving rather than walking around!
John Ure continued his winning way in the Goodwood Trophy for 1948–1954 GP, F2 and F.Libre cars, as he took his ERA B-Type to victory only half a second ahead of Ludovic Lindsay’s Remus ERA, after Mac Hulbert crashed his ERA D-Type into the barriers three laps from the end (after setting fastest lap). Greg Snape gave the Kieft-Godiva Climax a good 7th place ahead of Willie Green in the Maserati 4CL.
The Madgwick Cup was run for Production Sports Racing Cars prior to 1955, all the cars having a BMW connection, including 328s, Frazer Nash and many varieties of Bristol. Nick Wigley took a three-second win in his Tojiero Bristol, from the Lotus Bristol Mk X of Kenneth White. The rare AWE, also known as the EMW (see this month’s feature) of Egon Zweimuller was quick but retired on Lap 9.
In between race and practice sessions, there was a tribute to Jack Brabham, who was not racing at the Revival as a result of eye injuries received during this year’s Festival of Speed. There was also a tribute to Sir Stirling Moss on Sunday. Moss was present in a wheelchair after recent surgery and was not driving this year.
The Chichester Cup for 1958–1961 Formula Juniors provided a hard race at the front, with the James Hicks Caravelle and the Lotus 18 of Neil Dawes swapping places lap after lap. John Delane brought his Lotus 18 from the U.S. and was in an excellent 3rd place until “a few wheels off” allowed Derek Walker’s Crossle past. There were a number of rare Formula Junior cars taking part, including the Nota, Britannia, Kieft, Dolphin, Sauter, Fafnir, Deep Sanderson, Melkus Wartburg and Swebe Cooper.
Production Saloon Cars from 1950–1959 raced for the St. Mary’s Trophy, and this was a two-part race, one on Saturday and the second on Sunday. Part one went to the very quick Jaguar Mk 1 of Justin Law, which beat the rather strange but rapid Alvis Grey Lady of Gerry Marshall. Tony Jardine got a huge reception after he got his Rae Davis Racing Austin A35 past Tony Dron’s Ford Zodiac on the last lap. Sir John Whitmore chased former F1 driver Perry McCarthy to finish 6th. Whitmore was the 1964 European Touring Car Champion. Other well-known drivers in this race included Mike Salmon, Marc Surer, Patrick Tambay, Desire Wilson, Rauno Altonen, Rosemay Smith, Richard Attwood (in a Tatra!), Allen McNish and Derek Bell. Jackie Oliver, Rene Arnoux and Nelson Piquet, Jr. all retired.
In the second heat on Sunday, Rae Davis had an excellent win in the Austin A35 and this ensured Jardine/Davis had the overall win. Ivan Dutton’s 4th in the Alvis Gray Lady gave him and Gerry Marshall 2nd overall. Unfortunately, Adam Gittings managed to roll the Zodiac he was sharing with Tony Dron.
Duncan Rickett’s Riley Dixon Special went from pole to 3rd to 1st in the Brooklands Trophy race for cars that raced at Brooklands before 1955. The race was dominated by the impressive driving of Thomas Bscher and Robert Fink, both in Alfa Romeo P-3s, with Julian Majzub’s Bentley Pacey Hassan Special finishing 4th. The beautiful Delage Bequet of Alexander Boswell was 5th.
The final race on Saturday, before Lord March’s big party at Goodwood House, was the Sussex Trophy for World Championship Sports Cars and Production Sports Racing Cars from 1955–1960. Julian Bronson’s Lister Jaguar “Knobbly” won but only after being chased very hard by Tiff Needell in a similar car, Barrie Williams in the Tojiero Jaguar, Stuart Graham in the Chevy-powered Lister and Willie Green in a smaller Ferrari 196S. The race had to be stopped after Ernie Nagamatsu’s Ol’ Yeller-Buick crashed near St. Mary’s Corner. Nagamatsu was struggling to keep the American car out of the way of the very quick frontrunners and was, fortunately, not badly hurt.
Sunday was the third day of hot weather, and opened with an Army Band, a flight of Spitfires and Hurricanes, and the Freddie March Memorial race for cars in the spirit of the Goodwood 9-Hour race from 1952–1955. The race had to be restarted after a first lap crash, however Burkhard von Schenk subsequently crashed his Maserati A6GCS into the banking as the flag came down but this time the race continued. Michael Steele pulled out a long lead in his HWM Jaguar, while the hard-driving Carlos Monteverde in his Ferrari moved up to finish 2nd.
The Richmond and Gordon Trophy for Intercontinental Formula and Formula One from 1954–1961 proved to be action packed. Mark Gillies held off the superbly driven Lotus 16 of American Duncan Dayton in his Cooper-Climax, and when Dayton had a spin, Gary Pearson put his Cooper T-53 into 2nd. Jochen Mass finished midfield in the stunning Lancia D-50.
After the second part of the St. Mary’s race came the star race of the weekend, the one-hour RAC TT Celebration for GT Cars, 1960–1964. This included a superb entry with Mark Hales/Richard Attwood on pole in their ISO Bizzarini A3C that won the event last year. Jackie Oliver was sharing a Ferrari 250 GTO with Eric Heerema, Rauno Altonen was in a Cobra with Marc Devis, Willie Green shared a 330 GTO Ferrari with Patrick Tambay, Jeremy Agace was in his Ferrari 250 SWB with Rene Arnoux, and Dan Gerber had Bob Bondurant in his Shelby American Cobra Daytona Coupe. Bill Murray brought his Willment Cobra for Augie Pabst, and Sir John Whitmore drove with Shaun Lynn in the Cobra GT he last drove in South Africa in 1963.
Attwood’s Bizzarini was pushed off on the opening lap by Gerry Marshall’s Ferrari 330 LMB. Marshall had to crawl out through the passenger door at his pit stop as he had completely flattened the driver’s door, while Attwood was struggling his way back up from 14th. The lead changed several times in the first 12 laps, with the Corvette of Alec Hammond/John Young taking the lead until its stop on Lap 27, when it failed to restart. Sir John Whitmore reported having a “wonderful time” in his session, driving as hard as ever. The Ludovic Lindsay/Jochen Mass E-Type Jaguar Low Drag Coupe was at the front until that, too, failed on Lap 28. Mark Hales took over from Attwood and continued moving back through the field, setting fastest lap on the way. The Shepherd Bryant AC Cobra moved steadily up to 2nd, and Andy Wallace and Justin Law drove their Lister Jaguar Coupe up into 3rd, but Attwood/Hales were fantastic and finally moved into the lead a few laps from the end for a fantastic win.
Sadly, Richard Attwood’s 1965 BRM P261, which was on pole for the Glover Trophy race for 1.5-Litre F1 and Tasman Cars from 1961–1965, had fuel pressure problems and didn’t make the start. The race was stopped when Chris Smith crashed his Lotus 18 and it took 40 minutes to get him out of the car. Frank Sytner won in his Brabham BT-4, beating Duncan Dayton’s Brabham after another fine drive from Dayton. Fellow American James King was out of luck on the first lap in his Brabham BT7. Jorge Ferioli brought his lovely Lola Climax Mk 4 into 10th.
Sytner took another win in the final race, the Whitsun Trophy for Prototype Sports Racing Cars 1963–1966. He brought his Lola T-70 Spyder home ahead of Ray Bellm’s Ford GT-40. As the race was shortened to five laps because of the earlier delays, Adrian Newey didn’t have time to show his good form in his GT-40, but the McLaren designer was driving very quickly.
There has been considerable post-event criticism of the aggressive driving of several competitors, especially in the RAC TT race. Goodwood will have to review both who they invite and whether sanctions are required, as many spectators expressed the view that the “period” drivers were quite capable of driving without damage but a number of “guests” had caused harm to British historic racing.
