Sunny days are here again
2018 Goodwood Revival report
Author
- Mattijs Diepraam
Date
- September 18, 2018
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Who?Chris Keith-Lucas, David Franklin, Sam Tordoff, Mark Gordon What?Jaguar XK120 FHC, Ferrari 225S Vignale Berlinetta, Porsche 356, Jaguar XK140 FHC Where?Goodwood When?2018 Goodwood Revival (September 8, 2018) |
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Why?
After much wetness during last year’s Revival, sunny days were back again in 2018. With a few notable exceptions here and there, track behaviour had improved as well in comparison with previous editions, so in all the 20-year-anniversary edition of the Goodwood Revival had all the hallmarks of a great event, as the racing is invariably spectacular.
It was hard picking out a definite highlight as arguably Phil Keen’s pole-to-pitlane-start-to-win heroics in the event-closing Sussex Trophy race trumped the emphatic RAC TT Celebration victory by David and Olivier Hart, David winning it for a second time but for the first time with the help of his son.
True Revival atmosphere in the Formula Junior paddock. (photo 8W)
And what help! You would think that a 20-second lead at the chequered flag resulted in a boring race but watching Hart Jr slide the Cobra around in all corners was a thrill to watch. Earlier on the day, young Oli had already triumphed in the second race for the St. Mary’s Trophy, charging through the field in a safety-car-punctuated race for the owners of the cars. The Harts had been a bit cheeky there, nominating Olivier as the owner, but then there were other very quick owners in the field, and the 19-year-old trounced them all.
Come the RAC TT race, Olivier was in the hot seat from the start, his father having made his customary demon start into the lead, this time made even easier by Olivier having claimed pole the day before in equally dominating and spectacular fashion. With both Harts on form as they were, the rest were left standing.
The undoubted kings of the 2018 Revival - David and Olivier Hart. (photo 8W)
The penultimate race of the weekend, sandwiched in between the RAC TT and the Sussex Trophy, also easily qualified for best race of the meeting, as Andy Middlehurst and Joe Colasacco continued their fight at the Monaco Grand Prix Historique and previous Goodwood Revivals. Usually, Middlehurst’s ex-Jim Clark Lotus 25 prevails but this time Colasacco was on it. In Larry Auriana’s beautiful Ferrari 1512 – in both sight and sound – the American Italian finally managed to beat his nemesis after an epic fight that seemed to last forever.
Friday evening’s Kinrara Trophy was another scorcher, and not just because it was held in perfect conditions, the sunset over Goodwood Motor Circuit at its most impressive. Here, another Italian car got the better of its British rival, the Ferrari 250 GT Breadvan of Niklas Halusa and Emanuele Pirro prevailing in a titanic struggle (but with absolutely no fenders touched!) with the E-type of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen.
The very evenly matched battle between Niklas Halusa/Emanuele Pirro and Jon Minshaw/Phil Keen was an enthralling spectacle. (photo 8W)
The Italian theme continued in the Goodwood Trophy where finally a Maserati was able to beat the hordes of quick ERAs, Calum Lockie leading from pole to flag in his 6CM. In the Fordwater Trophy earlier on the day, British hegemony was temporarily restored by Darren Turner’s win in the Aston Martin DB2 but the star of the race was Sam Tordoff whose Porsche 356 moved up from last to second.
In between those two came the ‘professional’ part of the aggregate event that is the St. Mary’s Trophy. Andy Priaulx’s Lotus Cortina beat Matt Neal in the big Studebaker Lark, a car that due to a paperwork issue wasn’t allowed to start the next day. Through the creation of the Jack Sears Memorial Trophy, fifties and sixties touring cars could finally run at the Revival simultaneously, and its first edition proved to be a Jaguar Mk1 bonanza, John Young leading home Justin Law and Grand Williams.
Jaguar Mk1s ruled the roost in the Jack Sears Memorial Trophy. Here, John Young's example storms past the pits. (photo 8W)
The Whitsun Trophy for big-banger sportscars was won by Mike Whitaker in the ex-John Surtees Lola T70 Spyder that Nick Padmore used to set the Goodwood lap record. Padmore drove the car in the anniversary parade celebrating 20 years of Goodwood winners. Martin Hunt in his HWM-Jaguar, meanwhile, took a convincing win in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy that closed the curtain on the Saturday.
Two great single-seater races started the Sunday. The Chichester Cup for Formula Junior cars turned into a slipstreaming feast – as it usually does – with Cameron Jackson in the ex-Klaas Twisk Brabham BT2 and Andrew Hibberd in the Lotus 22 as its main protagonists. Hibberd came back to win, Jackson having initially run to the front.
The Revival always adds a touch of class to what would otherwise be a very well-entered historic motor racing meeting. (photo 8W)
A lengthy safety-car period due to some ten cars spinning off on oil at St. Mary’s played havoc on the combined Richmond & Gordon Trophies but when Nick Padmore in the Lotus 16 and Will Nuthall in the Cooper T53 were set free they entertained the crowd with a tense lead battle between two very distinct concepts from a pivotal era in Grand Prix racing. Padmore looked set to win, having passed Nuthall earlier, but then missed a gear to allow Nuthall back past for the win.