Goodwood Revival Meeting

Goodwood Revival Meeting

Austin Healeys John Sprinzel 08-11-06

Goodwood has meant different things to many people. A World War Two grass RAF Airfield, which is still in commission, known then as RAF Westhampnett and home to several Spitfire Squadrons and which again resonates to the unique sounds of those Rolls Royce Merlin Engines; a famous horse racing track renowned as "Glorious Goodwood"; one of England’s largest organic farms and of course the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit which attracted the finest cars and best drivers during the eighteen years before 1966, when it was finally closed to International competition.

The current Earl of March has obviously inherited his grandfather’s love of motor sport, and with incredible attention to detail and enormous expense, has restored Goodwood to those Glorious postwar years. The Circuit had hosted Formula One cars, nine hour sports car races for Ferrari, Alfa, Maserati, Lancia and Lagonda V12’s, the Tourist Trophy for Astons, Jaguars, Ferraris and AC Cobras, those exciting World Championship races for Jaguar D types, Ferrari Dinos, Aston DBR1’s, Lister Jags, and Chaparral 1.

My first ever motor race in 1957 was at Goodwood and as an RAF pilot in 1949 I learned to fly quite near to there, so you can imagine that my own feelings on once again visiting this renowned race track brought some fairly serious goose bumps!

The Revival requires all cars which enter the main area to be pre 1966, and this includes the police, fire and ambulance crews. All who attend are requested to wear clothing of that era, which gives the ladies a great opportunity to show off the alluring fashions of the fifties and sixties, complete with the hats and make-up of that time. The only exceptions are drivers’ overalls and crash hats, which need to be of the modern safety standards. The circuit itself is exactly as it was, with not a sign of ARMCO barrier, Tire walls or safety wire fencing, though gravel traps are placed strategically for wayward spins, and the famous chicane is now Styrofoam and not the threatening concrete blocks that I remember so well. My first ever motor race was at Goodwood in 1957, and everything looks just as I remember it. Even the paddock stalls, open sided and totally accessible to enthusiasts, give spectators every chance to closely view the beautifully restored and maintained race cars of the fifties and sixties. Transport between the circuit and the trailers and motor homes was with WW2 Jeeps and their enthusiastic owners in their US and British Army uniforms of the period.

The ninth Goodwood Revival Meeting honored two "heroes", renowned RAF Pilot Ray Hannah who died recently and in whose memory exciting Spitfire and Mustang fly pasts and displays were scheduled throughout the long weekend and 1961World Champion driver, Phil Hill. A number of the original cars which this American had driven were on display in various parts of the Paddock. The three time Le Mans winner’s Special Parade tribute included twenty-seven cars which he had driven, from MG TC to Ford GT 40 prototypes, which were driven around the circuit on all three days of the Revival.

Goodwood Revival Meeting - continued

Sixteen races echo those of the period, but only two were suitable for Austin Healeys. The Freddie March Memorial Trophy was in the spirit of the Nine-Hour races and two Healey 100S cars were entered. While the checkered flag was taken by Phil Hill’s son in an Alfa Romeo 3000 CM ahead of a Jaguar C type and Jochen Mass’s Lancia D24, Formula One ace Johnny Herbert brought his 100S home in sixth place out of the 28 entrants, with just an DB3S Aston Martin and an HWM Jaguar ahead.

The Fordwater Trophy for closed Sports and GT cars was far more Healey oriented, with no less than thirteen Sprite-based cars competing. There were two Speedwell GT’s built by my old company, Six Sebring Sprites including the two I had built for Stirling and Pat Moss to race in the 1961 Sebring four-hour event. That Sir Stirling Moss was to drive my PMO200 again, forty five years later, was something of a chicken skin event. Paul Woolmer had restored this to a very original standard, as indeed, were all the entrants. Five WSM Sprites were in the race, and Doug Wilson Spratt – now in his mid eighties stood next to me above the pits enjoying the progress of the cars we created so long ago.

The race was won by two SLR Morgans (I am afraid the S in SLR was me, and Chris Lawrence the L!) but they were harried throughout by an incredibly quick Sprite built by Ray Davis, who has certainly brought Sprite performance to a new level. At one stage, aided by a very wet track, his driver Michele Tommasi actually got into the lead, but several excursions finally ended in a gravel trap, leaving the fastest Sprite in fifth, a Speedwell GT driven by Belfast man Dave Wylie in a car which has competed in many International Classic Rallies and Races in the hands of his father David. A Porsche Abarth Carrera GTL and a lightweight Jaguar XK140 C were just ahead of the Speedwell, which gives you an idea of the opposition.

"My" two Sebring cars finished 9^th and 11^th out of the 28 entrants, the rather stricter FIA regulations of our day obviously not allowing much of the modifications which are now available in the Modsports category, but Stirling enjoyed his trip down memory lane, although he had to rush off for the next race in a Jaguar Mark Seven which he shared with Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean).

The Goodwood Revival is quite unique. The long weekend features a cricket match, an English Tea which precedes the drivers’ meeting, a cocktail party at Goodwood House complete with a constant flow of Veuve Cliquot and Spitfire fly pasts, an incredible Ball and Dinner, which has become one of the social events of the British season and which this year, featured the Indian Raj in spectacular style, as well as enough Classic motor racing to stir the souls of more than 100,000 enthusiasts.

Lord March and his team are to be congratulated for an event where everyone seemed to be smiling, and even the gate and traffic officials were friendly, polite and helpful.

John Sprinzel.

This report was by our reporter on the spot, John Sprinzel. The photos of the event, that appear later in the magazine, were taken by Caryl Hitchcock. With the wonders of modern communication the articles and photos appeared in both my email inbox and the President’s inbox. Many thanks to John and Caryl for supplying a report on an event that I am sure many "Sprite" people would have enjoyed attending. (The two Tony’s)