A selection of three-litre sports prototypes that dominated the international sports car racing scene during the first half of the 1970s will descend on the Goodwood Motor Circuit for the 75th Members’ Meeting on March 18-19, 2017.
Creations from Alfa Romeo, Chevron, Ferrari, Lola, Matra and Mirage will evoke memories of the factory battles that raged in the World Championship of Makes from 1972 when regulations mandated the use of three-litre engines.
These sports prototypes, essentially Grand Prix cars with all-enveloping, low-drag bodywork, will provide a visual and aural feast for spectators in a series of high-speed demonstrations during the fourth of the now-annual British Automobile Racing Club retrospectives.
Already confirmed are several of the flat-12 Ferrari 312 PBs that were driven to numerous 1000km victories in 1972 and ’73 by aces Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, Arturo Merzario, Sandro Munari, Ronnie Peterson, Brian Redman, Clay Regazzoni and Tim Schenken.
Joining the Scuderia’s screamers will be a gaggle of French-blue Matra MS 670s, the wailing V12-powered machines that took a hat-trick of Le Mans 24 Hour wins and dominated the 1974 season, winning all bar one of the 10 races courtesy of Gallic heroes Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Jean- Pierre Jarier, Gerard Larrousse and Henri Pescarolo.
Throw in the V8-engined Alfa Romeo T33s that occasionally gave Ferrari and Matra a fright during those halcyon days thanks to a quality roster of drivers including Andrea de Adamich, Vic Elford, Nanni Galli, Helmut Marko, Peter Revson and Rolf Stommelen, as well as the British-built, Gulf-liveried, Ford Cosworth DFV-motivated Mirages once pedalled by heroes Derek Bell, Howden Ganley, Mike Hailwood and Vern Schuppan, and plucky Chevron B26s and Lola T290s that picked up the period scraps, and it’ll make for an unmissable cocktail of noise and colour.
Goodwood Road and Racing Club Members can still buy tickets at www.goodwood.com and from the Goodwood Ticket Office on 01243 755 055. Non-Members can still attend as guests of GRRC Members or by joining the community of motorsport volunteers ahead of the event.
[Source: Goodwood]
