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Located in the recreation of the old Reims paddocks the 1966-1968 F1 cars could be admired by the public
throughout the weekend and in a special parade no less than 14 cars where lined up including three Lotus 49
with the Cosworth engine that should characterize the following years but also more exotic machinery as the
Maserati and Alfa Romeo engined Coopers. But the all new racing formula was not won by the established
Lotus team with title defender Jim Clark with the all new H16 BRM engine that proved to be too complicated
and unreliable but by the Brabham team with Sir Jack Brabham becoming the first (and by now only) F1
champion in a car bearing his own name. After using the Climax engine in the previous years just as his
opponents Brabham opted for a rather simple engine based on an Oldsmobile V8 Alloy block and race
prepared by Repco rather than the more exotic new constructions. Six years after his first two titles for
Cooper Brabham won his final championship in 1966, another good reason the celebrate in a special parade
making him the featured driver of the day this weekend in Goodwood.
Unfortunately those who are able to tell stories about the active time in Goodwood become less every year
but those remembering Sir Jack were more than happy to join his celebration piloting significant cars of his
career around the track on all three days. Joining David Brabham piloting his father’s championship winning
Cooper T51 was Sir Stirling Moss, John Surtees and Sir Jackie Stewart leading the parade. As it was just
common those day to race in different race series rather than just one as today Brabham was also driving
sports cars sharing the Aston Martin DBR1 with Sir Stirling to win the Nuerburgring 1000km in 1958 for
example but unlike Moss “Black Jack” always seemed to prefer open wheel racing as one could see in the
line-up of cars of his career although one of his last victories was with a Matra-Simca MS650 in Montlhery in
1970 before he retired returning to Australia to go farming.
But certainly 1966 had not only a strong impact on racing but in sports in general in the UK as just weeks
after the last race in Goodwood the entire nation was looking towards Wembley. Being the mother land of
Football the World Championship brought football home and with the local team qualifying for the final in
Wembley the entire country was looking towards the “Cathedral of Football”. In a memorable final again West
Germany England finally won his one (and by now only) title being another great theme for the Revival. Some
might have been surprised looking at the huge banners over the main entrance showing the protagonists of
this final rather than the common race cars but after being welcomed by a fanatic fan crowd supporting
England at the gate one was well aware about the theme. “On the road to Wembley” brought back some
memories of this civil defeat of Germany making a refreshing change to the ever returning WW2 celebrations
remembering the time when Goodwood was a military air base during the dark days.
Apart from the non-competitive displays of the featured themes again a 16-race program was set up to
entertain the visitors on another sold out Goodwood weekend. Despite a very varying weather forecast
mentioning everything from sun to rain due to the strict pre-sale policy of the organizers the weather had no
effect on the number of visitors making sure that even on a rainy day the circuit is well visited. As the locals
and most of the visitors are used to the British weather anyway some rain showers as in previous years
during the RAC TT Celebration cannot spoil the fun although a completely rained out Saturday this year
certainly challenged both the period dressing and the natural parking areas to the max. After most of the
practice sessions on Friday were held in the dry even the sun was out for a few minutes for the first race on
the evening.
Unlike in previous years when the Freddie March Memorial Trophy had the privilege to race into the sunset it
was the new Kinrara Trophy for GT cars up to 1962 to open the meetings race program. Normally part of the
RAC TT Celebration up to 1964 these cars had an own race now featuring several Ferrari 250 GT SWB and
Aston Martin DB4 GT as well as Jaguar E-Types. After a thrilling race including the inevitable safety car
period in a one-hour two-drivers race it was Tom Kristensen piloting the Ferrari 250 GT SWB partnered by Joe
Macari over the line to take the chequered flag in front of the Jaguar E-Type of James Cottingham and Andrew
Smith.
After the clouds could keep the water the day before finally on Saturday morning the rain set in and although
it was predicted to get better in the afternoon basically the entire day was wet leaving the track in tricky
conditions. The first to go out in the morning was the Goodwood Trophy for the Grand Prix cars of the
pre-1951 era. As those do not have any safety featured like safety bell or roll bar the drivers had to be very
caution to keep the narrow tires on the road as the high center of gravity and the wet and muddy grass on the
run-off area flip the car almost certain when losing it. But as usual the drivers of the pre-war races are less
grimly leaving their opponents enough room so the race so all the 24 cars string the race made it over the
finish line with a Maserati-Alfa Romeo-Bugatti podium. With the open wheels the wet track certainly gave the
spectators some entertainment with the spray unharmed by any fenders.
The worst condition could be seen during the official practice of the RAC TT Celebration at noon when times of
the top qualifiers where almost in the same region as those of the pre-war cars more than 30 seconds slower
than the day before. Especially the Cobra drivers seemed to struggle with the conditions as only one example
(of Bryant / Smith) was placed in the top-7 between six Jaguars whereas in the dry no less than 5 of them
were placed there. Top qualifiers were last year’s winners Shedden / Ward in the Jaguar E-Type.
After both the bikes and even the young pedalists of the Settrington Cup braved the rain the day ended with
the Whitsun Trophy for the most powerful sports prototypes until 1966 and the Freddie March Memorial
Trophy for the Jaguar C-Types, Ferrari 500 TRC, Aston Martin DB3S and Maserati A6.
Sunday finally made up for the two mixed days before and the sun was out early in the morning. Before the
racing starts one had the opportunity to explore the fascination of the Revival with all the period dressed
visitors hiding their vintage cloths under rain coats the days before. As mentioned multiple times in the past
Goodwood is far more than just racing and when the reporters on the festival radio interviewed some people
one could hear more than once that some visitors do not even attend for the racing. With the infield and the
pleasure area “over the road” there is much more to do during the day so this is the event to attend with your
family even if they are not excited about old race cars.
But racing is still a big part of the fun and no other race than the main race of the day, the RAC TT
Celebration does show that more. A one-hour two-drivers race this features a lot of professional race drivers
past and present to exploit the limits of the track and the cars. Already at the start the pole sitters had to go
over the grass to maintain their position against a horde of Cobras storming down the main straight. With
some contacts and off-track excursions it was not uncommon that the safety car was out and after the
mandatory drivers change the race was between the Jaguar E-type of Shedden / Ward and no less than three
Cobras following. In the closing stage the blue Cobra driven by Van der Garde took the lead just to be send
into a spin after making contact with the Jaguar so finally the last year’s winners could repeat their victory
followed by the Cobras of Squire / Stippler and Smith / Bryant to complete the podium in front of a
disappointed team Hart / Van der Garde. They will have to wait another year for the trial to get the crown in
the most fought out race of the weekend and unfortunately so do have we after a great weekend.
Goodwood is often referred as the best classic car event out there. This certainly depends on your personal
taste but there are not many think speaking against the Revival. Maybe a few of those attending the first
editions might notify a tendency towards commercialization but as this is a natural development and not
forced by the beginning this is certainly something one can live with. One has to keep in mind that setting up
an event like this with far more than 100,000 visitors and the number of volunteers and service providers is a
huge task that requires professionalism and therefore a lot of money. By restoring the circuit and introducing
the Revival almost two decades ago Lord March took a high risk and it pays off. Over the last years he gave a
huge amount of regular visitors a lot of great memories and the area a huge touristic income both during the
Festival of Speed and the Revival and the new Members Meeting. Next year will see the 20th edition of the
Revival and we are looking forward to another superb three days of racing and unmatched atmosphere only
possible in the traditional UK.
Text & images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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