The pain and the passion at Glorious Goodwood
Last updated 05:42, Friday, 26 September 2008
GLORIOUS Goodwood was just that for the son of Great Salkeld vintage car collector, George Hadfield, because up against the cream of classic car drivers Simon won from start to finish in Whitsun Trophy race at the wheel of 1965 Lola-Chevrolet T70 Spyder, a race which concluded three wonderful days of racing and fun at one of the social highlights of the season.
The Goodwood Revival is a huge garden party where everyone is encouraged to dress in period (1948 to 1966) and the whole Goodwood estate reverts to manners and niceties of the past where everyone is sucked into a time warp greatly helped, of course, by the copious Veuve Clicquot bubbly which lubricates the occasion!
And the period philosophy also stretches to the race track where the sounds of 4, 6 and V8 engines fill the place with glorious sounds and the air is an intoxicating smell of Castrol R oil.
What is more, the racing is just as competitive as when the cars were new up to 60 years ago when they were driven by the likes of Moss, Fangio, Brooks, Collins, Hawthorn, Stewart, Surtees.
Though many of these great drivers are sadly dead, the fantastic Sir Stirling Moss took part. And I assure you there was no molly-codling of the machines which were jointly valued at well over £85 million.
Simon Hadfield also raced in the proceeding Glover Trophy driving a small-engined Lotus-Climax and after having a huge dice with a more powerful Lotus he was eventually piped to 2nd place in one of the most exciting races of the weekend.
Not so lucky was Carlisle’s racing driver, Ed Glaister, who entered his famous 1958 Ford Anglia 100E which he rallied successfully in the 1960s while performing as family transport and before being tweaked into a rapid race car.
The Ford was to be driven by the equally famous French F1 driver, 68 year-old Patrick Tambay who in a glittering career won two GP, the last in 1983 at the wheel of a Ferrari.
However, such skill was not to be illustrated in the diminutive 100E as in practice disaster struck when the engine dropped a valve.
In true racing style, Ed and son with Ed’s regular mechanic Chris and his son worked through the night to put in the spare engine with minutes to spare before the Saturday St Mary Trophy.
Tambay failed to turn up so Ed took the Ford out up against such famous names as Tony Jardine, Sir John Whitmore, Sir Stirling Moss, Derek Bell and Tiff Needell.
Ed was driving the handles of the Ford when the oil pump decided to give up the ghost which starved the crank bearings and caused terminal damage, so the Ford came home in bits.
However, knowing Ed, the grey flier will soon be back in action at Goodwood as he is regularly asked by Lord March to race which is a great honour for Ed and team as it is the most prestigious classic race in the world.
There is always an annual tribute to a living legend and at this, the 10th Goodwood Revival, the tribute was to 78 year-old Tony Brooks, the fastest dentist in the world!
With Vanwall team mate, Stirling Moss, Tony won the 1957 British Grand Prix while studying for his dentistry degree but in a career of 39 GP, Tony also drove Connaughts, Ferraris, Coopers and BRMs.
Back in the real world, I was delighted to learn that Carlisle’s ‘mature’ rally ace Neil Rudd with regular co-driver from Penrith, Brian ‘Dak’ Hodgson, upheld Cumbrian honours in Flanders fields as they battled their classic Ford Escort to a class win against some top crews and cars in the Flanders Rally in Belgium.
A tarmac rally of attrition it stared at 9am on Saturday until 10pm with a restart on Sunday at 10am and finished at 4pm.
In the historic section Neil and Brian were up against 83 entrants won by Belgian, Stouf in a Mk2 Escort, and the first Brit was Steve Smith in a Porsche 911.
Dak tells me the 23 stages were very narrow and twisty and made somewhat ‘slape’ and treacherous after a shower on Saturday bit they avoided the walls, trees and hedges to pick up a well-deserved class win.
