Last weekend, the picturesque Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex sweltered in the heat of an unusually warm late-summer spell of weather, not that the tens of thousands of people gathered for the Goodwood Revival minded. The golden sun that shone throughout only served to stir up the spectacle and, miraculously, make it particularly special.
From the breathless historic racing on the track to the countless surreal and truly magical moments away from it, these are our snapshots of this year’s Revival, courtesy of our man Rob Cooper. Pour yourself a cuppa and fend off the Monday blues here on Classic Driver.
From spontaneous flash mobs formed of hysterical Beatles fangirls, Glamcabs drivers and nuns to handy men washing imaginary windows and singing songs, there are times at the Revival which make you stop and simply laugh out loud.
Not one but two of Ford’s ultra-rare GT40 MkIII road cars, both resplendent in red, serve as course cars at Goodwood.
Gary Pearson gets comfortable ahead of qualifying for Friday evening’s Kinrara Trophy, not in one of the Jaguars with which he’s most commonly associated, but in a fabulous silver Ferrari 250 GTO instead. Pearson and his teammate Andrew Smith stuck the car on the pole position for the race.
Among the many tributes of the weekend was a parade of cars built by the Cooper Car Company Ltd, the British manufacturer which pioneered the use of the engine behind the driver and scored its first Formula 1 title in 1959.
Classic Minis were everywhere at this year’s Revival, and for good reason – Alec Issigonis’ radical front-wheel-drive miniature car was launched 60 years ago. Our favourite was probably the Beatle George Harrison’s flamboyantly painted Austin Cooper S.
Friday’s dusk Kinrara Trophy proved to be an epic affair, with no fewer than nine Ferrari ‘Short Wheelbases’ duking it out as the sun slowly set. Pearson and Smith triumphed with a textbook flag-to-flag victory in their GTO, but the real winners were the photographers stationed at Woodcote corner, many of whom had never shot with light like it. Just sensational!
The 75th anniversary of D-day was marked with a parade of vehicles that took part in the monumental invasion of Normandy. It was this Douglas C-47 Skytrain – nicknamed ‘Drag em Oot’ – from the Freddie March Spirit of Aviation that left our hairs on end, however. It served on D-day, dropping 18 paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division, and subsequently during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands.
Magnificent monoposto! Klaus Lehr heads out for practice in the Richmond & Gordon Trophies aboard his beautiful Maserati 250F.
The Italian Job was brought to life in extraordinary fashion in the Earls Court Studios, where there were countless props and details from the cult-classic heist film, including the digger used in the opening sequence and the three Minis used to transport the bullion. Key scenes were acted out in hilariously haphazard fashion, making for one of the most amusing and well thought out attractions of the weekend.
Hands up if you wish it was still the weekend!
The Duke wished Sir Stirling Moss a happy 90th birthday with a formation of the great British driver’s most famous cars on the grid of the circuit he loved the most. He and Stirling’s devoted wife Susie took to the track in an Aston Martin DBR1, the same car in which Moss won the RAC TT at Goodwood back in 1959.
The Revival’s traditional Giallo Fly Ferrari 275 GTB safety car was swapped this year for a Mini. Anything goes at Goodwood!
Talking tactics ahead of the fiercely competitive Settrington Cup, which saw 75 Austin J40 pedal cars duke it out for Goodwood glory and playground kudos.
And they’re off! Note the traditional Le Mans-style start.
Back in 1959, Aston Martin claimed the World Sportscar Championship after Stirling Moss won the RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood.
The dramatic race will forever be remembered for the fire that engulfed Moss’s DBR1 in the pits after spilt fuel ignited on the hot side exhausts. In quintessential Goodwood fashion, cars from that very race were lined up on the grid and, during their parade laps, the huge fire was recreated at the pit exit simulating that in 1959. Thick black smoke poured into the sky, causing serious concern for many Revival-goers who weren’t aware of what was going on!
Probably our favourite car of the weekend was this Bizzarrini P548 in the Whitsun Trophy. Although outgunned by the monstrously quick Lola T70s and Ford GT40s, the low-slung Spider looked mighty fine out there on Goodwood’s sweeping curves.
Another favourite was Steve Tillack’s gorgeous Ferrari-badged Lancia D50, with its distinctive pannier-style external fuel tanks. Suffice to say, it sounded as good as it looked.
The Revival’s flagship RAC TT Celebration in 2019 was one of the closest fought in recent years, with titanic battles throughout the field.
Philip Kadoorie lets it all hang out at Madgwick Corner in the Cobra he shared with Marino Franchitti.
Ultimately, the spoils went to Chris Wilson and André Lotterer, the latter – a three-time Le Mans winner – driving a masterful race in Wilson’s Cobra, racing fairly and patiently waiting for the chance to pass his fellow sports car veteran Romain Dumas for the lead.
Photos: Robert Cooper for Classic Driver © 2019
