The Goodwood Revival blasted back in style last weekend after its pandemic-induced hiatus, as the best historic racers in the world once again took on a cast of famous names from the past and present to keep bumper crowds of 50,000 gripped on each of the three days.
Aston Martin Le Mans racer Darren Turner and Oliver Bryant claimed victory in the one-hour Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration on Sunday – even if their AC Cobra didn’t cross the line first. Former Porsche Le Mans winner Romain Dumas took that honour after a rousing battle with Bryant, only for the Cobra he shared with Bill Shepherd to be docked a time penalty for a driver-change infringement.
Shepherd made up for it by winning the second leg of the St Mary’s Trophy for 1950s saloons in his monstrous Ford Thunderbird, securing the overall aggregate victory after Dumas had led home Andrew Jordan’s plucky Austin A40 during the first race on Saturday. It turns out that size does matter after all.
Jenson Button revelled in his first appearance at the Revival. The 2009 Formula 1 World Champion was left wide-eyed by his first experience of historic racing during Friday evening’s into-dusk Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, driving a Jaguar E-type with old friend Alex Buncombe.
The pair switched to a Cobra for the TT on Sunday, Button fluffing his start from the front row when he went straight from first to fourth gear and plummeted down to ninth place. But he soon got the bit between his teeth and tore through the order, passing fellow Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle along the way as he climbed back up the order. But during Buncombe’s stint a misfire set in, forcing the Cobra out of the race.
Brundle starred in the Moss memorial race for early 1960s GT, putting on one of the battles of the weekend in his terrific tussle with fellow E-Type racer Jon Minshaw. But Martin’s son Alex had a double fright when he took over from his dad. First, an engine failure led to him crashing on his own oil at Woodcote; then as he clambered on to the tyre wall, the E-Type driven by Calum Lockie succumbed to the oil too, hitting the barrier just metres away.
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