If there are two races which for me sum up the Goodwood of my youth they are the St. Mary's Trophy and the TT. The first is the most scintillating mix of 1950/59 saloons (OK, sedans) of an eclectic mix batlling it out over the Saturday and Sunday in a two part race, one being driven by an invited driver and the other by the owner. It is the sheer pleasure of watching star drivers from different disciplines taking to the wheel of a car they have never, in many instances, seen let alone driven that makes the event so entertaining. Bobby Rahal was sharing a Mk1 Jaguar, Christian Klien was in an Austin A40, Rauno Aaltonen in a Standard 10, Hannu Mikkola a DKW 1000 two stroke, and Alan Jones shared a BMW 502. Stirling, as mentioned before, shared a Jaguar Mk VII with the owner, none other than Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson. This car is a very special Mk VII in that it has a magnesium alloy body shell making it much lighter than a standard car. The winning car was Derk Bell with the owner, in my mind the most unsung gifted young driver of the modern era, Grant Williams. If I won the lottery I know who my money would sponsor. His lap time at Goodwood when I lent him my D type put me to shame, and he had never driven the car before.
It must be commented that cars today bear no resemblance to those of the period. Since the reopening of Goodwood in 1998 the lap times of, for example, the GT40's has come down by several seconds due to advanced technology and better rubber. Frankly I think we are reaching a point, if we haven't already reached it, when the organisers are going to have to put restrictions on the cars. I am not trying to be a killjoy, far from it, but these circuits are tight and driving on the limit in a car designed for 300bhp which now has 400bhp is asking for trouble. How an everyday cooking saloon car can race - and beat since it won last year - with a highly tuned Jaguar beats me, but it does lead to a wonderful spectacle. I am invited by a garage owner to Watkins Glen in September 2007 and he tells me they are now getting 420bhp out of an XK engine; D types raced with 265bhp on the same block in 1955. My Lynx puts out 325bhp and 400 lbs/ft of torque thanks in part to those wonderful Californian Venolia pistons.
But I digress. From the off on the Saturday of the St. Mary's Trophy it was a ding dong battle between four cars, and of all surprises it was an Austin Westminster that was leading followed by a little terrier snapping at its heels, the Austin A35. Derek Bell was having a job getting to grips with the Jaguar Mk1 at first but in the end pulled through to win, but only just. Sunday was a battle between the Mk 1 and the A35 and another Mk1 Jaguar which sadly blew a head gasket after three laps. The Sussex Trophy and the TT I'll cover in another article but I'll leave you to savour some of the action shots. Can you identify the cars in the photo I've titled "a wonderful mixture"? Oh, and then there's the green car with the yellow stripes too. Hope you enjoy them.
