A little bit of almost everything could be found at last weekend’s 76th Members’ Meeting at Goodwood, March 17-18, as vintage racecars and their drivers braved grey and sometimes snowy conditions to open their 2018 historic racing season.
In addition to the 11 featured “Cup” races, fans were also treated to exhibition runs for Formula 5000, NASCAR and ultra-fast Group 5 machines. The F5000 exhibition had the “honor” of being on the track when snow was falling from the clouds on Sunday. Thus did a demonstration of brutish, powerful cars turn into a delicate ballet as drivers were forced to cope with the slippery conditions. Otherwise the meeting went fairly much to plan, with everyone bundled appropriately against the chilly weather.
Star drivers who took part in the festivities included the legendary Brian Redman, on hand for F5000’s 50-year anniversary, 13-time GP winner David Coulthard, who drove a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, five-time Le Mans victor Emanuele Pirro, who drove the famed Ferrari Breadvan, and F1 and Indycar star Mark Blundell, who co-drove to victory in the Marshall Trophy race.
The weekend opened Saturday morning with the Ronnie Hoare Trophy contest for road-going sports and GTs that raced internationally between 1963 and 1966, and once its green flag waved James Cottingham took control, leading virtually all the way with Phil Hylander’s Porsche 904 after recovering from a tentative start in damp conditions.
Saturday’s second race was the Gerry Marshall Trophy contest for Group 1 Saloon cars from 1970-1982 that was won by Mark Blundell and Kerry Michaels aboard their Ford Escort RS2000. Their margin of victory over the Capri of Mike Whittaker and Mike Jordan was a mere second after 38 minutes of hard racing in challenging conditions. The win marked the first time a two-liter car had beaten the bigger-engined machinery for the Trophy.
Sunday’s action commenced with Tony Wood dominating the Hawthorn Trophy race for front-engined Grand Prix cars with his Cooper-Bristol. Next up was the Derek Bell Trophy race for one-liter F3 cars, which was won handily by John Milicevic in his Brabham BT21-Ford, followed by the Salvadori Cup contest for World Championship Sportscars and production sports racing cars from 1955-1960 that was won by veteran campaigner Martin Stretton with his Lister Jaguar Knobbly.
Following the snowy Formula 5000 demonstration came the Caracciola Sportwagenrennen homage to the Mille Miglia, where Patrick Blakeney-Edwards prevailed with his Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza. The 45-minute Moss Trophy race for 1960-1962 GT cars fell to John Minshaw and Phil Keen in their E-Type Jaguar, while the 15-minute Gerry Marshall Sprint was taken by Pantelis Christoforou’s RS2000 Escort.
In the Bolster Cup race for British specials built both before and after WWII, Tim Llewellyn drove an immaculate race to claim victory aboard “Bluebell,” his smoking Bentley 3/8 Special. That was followed by the Gurney Cup race for cars that highlighted the diversity of machinery the recently departed American drove during his career, where David Hart took his ex-Willy Mairesse Ford GT40 (above, photo courtesy of Goodwood) to victory in the 11-lap contest.
The weekend’s final event was the Sears Trophy race for saloon cars from 1958 to 1963, where Andrew Jordan’s Mk1 Lotus Cortina prevailed. A listing of the Cup race winners follows, and for further information please visit www.goodwood.com
76th Members’ Meeting Winners
Ronnie Hoare Trophy – James Cottingham, 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS
Gerry Marshall Trophy – Kerry Michaels/Mark Blundell, 1981 Ford Escort RS2000
Hawthorn Trophy – Tony Wood, 1952 Cooper T20-Bristol
Derek Bell Cup – John Milicevic, 1987 Brabham BT21-Ford
Salvadori Cup – Martin Stretton, 1958 Lister Jaguar Knobbly
Caracciola Sportwagenrennen – Patrick Blakeney-Edwards, 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza
Moss Trophy – Jon Minshaw/Phil Keen, 1961 Jaguar E-Type
Gerry Marshall Trophy Sprint – Pantelis Christoforou, 1981 Ford Escort RS2000
Bolster Cup – Tim Llewellyn, 1925 Bentley 3.8 Special
Gurney Cup – David Hart, 1968 Ford GT40
Sears Trophy – Andrew Jordan, 1963 Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1
