Glorious Goodwood
Everybody at the 76th Goodwood Members' Meeting received a painful reminder that the event was held during the final weekend of 2018 meteorological winter. After a sunny and relatively warm build-up day on Friday, the rest of the weekend saw freezing conditions and a proper snowstorm. Those that braved the conditions were treated to a remarkable show that included F5000 cars running in the snow and a completely white backdrop on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the motorcycle race was cancelled as a result of the treacherous conditions.
Regardless of the weather, the spirits at the Goodwood Motor Circuit were somewhat dampened by the recent fatal accident of journalist Henry Hope-Frost, who was one of the voices of Goodwood. In his honour many of the participants ran with stickers boasting his catchphrase 'Fever' on them.
We were at the track for what was undoubtedly the coldest race meeting we ever attended. The result of our efforts is this
200-shot gallery.
Gerry Marshall Trophy
Concluding the proceedings on Saturday evening was the two-driver Gerry Marshall Trophy. While most races change year on year, the event for late 1970s and early 1980s Group 1 touring cars is a set fixture at the Members' Meeting. The capacity grid featured crowd favourites like Rover SD1s and Ford Capris but also a fire-belching Volvo 242 that ran in the French Supertourismo championship. Split over two races, the first, 45-minute race on Saturday evening saw the owners and professionals taking a turn, while the second, a 15-minute reverse grid sprint, was disputed only by the owners. Taking pole for the first race Oliver Bryant in the Simoniz liveried Chevrolet Camaro Z28 he shared with his father Grahame. In the race, the Bryants had to concede the victory to the Castrol Ford Fiesta RS2000 shared by Kerry Michael and ex-F1 ace Mark Blundell. The sprint race saw an unfortunate first corner accident that saw several cars hit the barrier after being squeezed out. After a lengthy safety car period to remove the cars and repair the barrier, racing got underway in the slightly lengthened race. In the few minutes of green-flag racing, Pantelis Christoforou managed to move up the grid and take victory.
Further highlights
Although the circuit had been cleared, the track surrounding was covered in more than a dusting of snow on Sunday morning. Nevertheless, action commenced without delays although some owners believed it wiser to sit this one out. Despite the treacherous conditions, there were fortunately no serious accidents. The highlight on the program on Sunday afternoon was the two-driver Moss Trophy for early 1960s GT cars. The diverse grid featured anything from Jaguar E-Types, Aston Martin DB4 GTs and a Ferrari 250 GT SWB to Lotus Elites and big Healeys. Eventually the race was won from second on the grid by the E-Type shared by Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen. Another great showing was in the Ronnie Hoare Trophy that featured no fewer than seven Porsche 904s and each of the four (three Morgans and one Triumph) racers built by Chris Lawrence with the striking 'SLR' body. The race was won by James Cottingham, who was the class of the field in his Porsche 904. Perhaps bravest of all, considering the conditions, were the competitors in the Gurney Cup for big banger sports cars. This race was won by Dutchman David Hart in his newly acquired Ford GT40 while his son Oliver placed third in Shelby Cobra Daytona replica.
Five was the magic number
Other set fixtures on the Members' Meeting timetable are high speed demonstration runs. This year five was the magic number as the themes picked in 2018 were F5000 and Group 5. While a fabulous selection of the small-block engined single seaters were present, the adverse weather meant that only a handful of F5000 cars eventually took to the track on Saturday and Sunday. Among the drivers that braved the conditions was F5000-legend Brian Redman, who piloted the unique, Lola-based two-seater car on Saturday. Hopefully the F5000 cars will get another opportunity to run in anger at Goodwood in the future.
Fortunately, more of the Group 5 cars were exercised both on Saturday and Sunday. The brightly liveried machine including many of the stars of the silhouette class and naturally including a fabulous choice of Porsche 935s, including the K3 and Moby Dick variants. The latter was driven with great verve by Jochen Mass, who had raced the car in period. The best show, however, was provided by Kevin Abbring, who used his WRC experience to literally howl the spectacular Fruit of the Loom liveried BMW 320 Group 5 he had been entrusted with around the slippery track.
Final thoughts
Goodwood usually misses out on the worst of the weather but this year was clearly an exception. It provided a challenge for everybody at the track and even prevented some of the visitors from travelling to the Members' Meeting as many of the roads leading to the track were affected by the conditions. The show nevertheless went on and in proper Goodwood tradition, the snow provided a unique spectacle. This, and much more, can be found in our action-packed and at times snow-covered
200-shot gallery.