The 2008 Earl of March Trophy race fell to Cooper driver Simon Frost. 
This 20-minute encounter for 500cc Formula 3 cars built between 1948 and 1959 provided typically frenetic battles throughout the field, the tussle for second place between Kieft pilot Nigel Ashman and former motorcycle ace David Lecoq in the distinctive Perry-Norton being a notable standout in the opening stages.
The duo swapped places throughout the first four laps, Ashman eventually making it stick into the chicane before setting after fast-starting leader Frost.
By lap seven, there was just 0.9-seconds between the first and second placed drivers as Lecoq fell back in third. With just three minutes to go, Frost and Ashman were nose-to-tail only for Ashman to lose time among backmarkers. The positions remained static to the flag with 2.8-seconds covering the hard-trying duo. Last year’s winner Lecoq held on to third place while pole sitter John Turner – who’d slid off onto the grass at St. Mary’s on the opening tour – fought his way back to fourth.
Frost, who didn’t realise the race had finished, did an extra ‘victory’ lap, saying later: “I didn’t see the chequered flag!” A smiling Ashman was magnanimous in defeat, adding: “I tried my hardest but we were very closely matched for speed.”
[Source: Goodwood Revival]
