The sun was present at Goodwood this morning and would remain for the entire day. The many spectators that had turned up could certainly appreciate this. At half past eight British time, the first series of the day started and traditionally these are the pre-war “oldies”.
The oldest participant today was a 60 HP Benz from 1903. A 16 year old boy had the honour to make the drive to the hilltop. Dad of course sat next to him to guide everything in the right direction. We saw brands like Delage, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and the impressive Fiat S76 or the “Beast of Turin” pass by.
We had to note that many participants from outside the UK were not present. Major manufacturers and regulars such as Mercedes, Audi, VW, BMW, Alfa Romeo, Honda and Renault were nowhere to be seen. The travel restrictions and quarantine measures were apparently too much for them too. As an alternative, there was clearly a much larger “British” presence. A team like Prodrive was celebrated and arrived with six cars. Smaller teams brought two cars instead of one and classic car dealer Girardo brought half of his current stock. They could barely fit into one large trailer. These emergency solutions ensured that a nice starting field could be presented to the public. Mercedes had delegated one car: the 300 SLR no. 722 Mille Miglia, driven by Stirling Moss, who died last year. This car was static in a glass container as a tribute to the greatest British racing driver.
There was nevertheless one large European delegation with the Fondazioni Gino Macaluso per L’ Auto Storica. This Gino Macaluso was a rally pilot, co-pilot, designer and businessman. During his career, he collected a large number of cars. As an Italian, these were mainly Lancia and Fiat cars. But a Renault Alpine, Mini Cooper and Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing also belong to the collection. Gino or “Luigi” unfortunately passed away in 2010 at the age of 62. His collection has been placed in a foundation that will continue to care for it. A number of his jewels were to take part in the hill climb last year, on the occasion of his 10th birthday. Unfortunately, there was no edition in 2020 and the project was postponed for a year. And there were some beautiful cars among them. The Lancias, apart from an Alitalia Stratos, were all in the Martini Racing colours. There were both rally and track cars. The collection included the following cars: a Fiat X1/9 rally designed by Gino himself, the already mentioned Stratos, a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo group 5, an LCI spyder group 6, an LC2 group C, an 037 Abarth, a Delta S4 and the Delta group A integral. A nice and beautiful collection!
In the batch of prototype cars we saw the LMPH 26. This is an LMP2 Le Mans proto that is being developed by the ACO (organiser of the Le Mans 24 Hours) and Total Energies with hydrogen propulsion. The intention is to turn it into a fully fledged race car. They hope that within a few years it can make its debut in the endurance race. The development has been going on for many years now and in the last year it seems that both the speed and the autonomy of the car have improved a lot. The Duke of Richmond was at the wheel today for the hill climb. According to many, hydrogen is the solution for future mobility. Constructors and technology are actually ready for it, it is just a matter of waiting for a distribution network of the hydrogen itself.
A very nice series are the Formula 1 cars with, except for one fairly recent Hybrid Mercedes of 2019, almost all real collection pieces. There are too many to mention but we will pick out one: the Penske PC4 of 1976 that will also participate in the series of Roger Penske. After 45 years, former pilot John Watson was again at the wheel of this Penske with which he won the 1976 Austrian GP. John had to buy himself a new racing suit. Penske is the only American team ever to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix and that makes this car so unique. John Watson had rather long hair and a rather large beard in 1976. Roger Penske’s team members were, as the boss wanted, all nicely coiffed and without moustache or beard. Only John was not up to Roger’s standard. They had a bet that the beard would come off immediately after the first victory. And so it happened, by the next match in Zandvoort John appeared without a beard and nicely coiffed and Roger was very happy about this.
There was a nasty moment for the new Aston Martin Valkyrie today. It came to a halt during the full climb to the top of the hill. The Valkyrie rolled backwards and the pilot had to park his hypercar with red jaws. Not really a good media moment! I wonder if he will appear tomorrow.
The Rondeau M379 C, which won the 1980 Le Mans 24 Hours, was in the prototype range. The constructor Jean Rondeau is still the only driver who was able to win the 24 hours of Le Mans at the wheel of a self-built car. The ITT-Le Point Rondeau has not been seen on a circuit or in an event since then. Today, seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen climbed the hill in it. Those who wish to read the story of this victory can do so via this link.
The Formula 1 series also included a Tyrrell commemoration. Tyrrell immediately leads to Jackie Stewart and yes, Jackie was at the wheel of his 003 with which he became world champion in 1971. Two years later he would do it again at the wheel of a 005. This one was also present and driven by son Paul. Also present were the 001 from 1970 and a P34 six-wheeler from 1976 or actually 2020, because the latter is a replica. The P34 was and still is the only Formula 1 car with 6 wheels that raced in an official race. In the case of the P34, it is four front wheels. Tyrrell was able to win one race with it: the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix with Jody Schekter at the wheel. The original cars are now in private collections and have become too expensive to race. Therefore, two cars were rebuilt based on the original 1976 plans. One car is currently competing in the Masters championship, the second is being offered for sale through auction house RM. We will come back to this unique Formula 1 car soon.
Today, there was another practice session for Sunday’s Shoot-out. Justin Law clocked the fastest time with 46.90 in his Jaguar XJR 12 D. He was 0.46 sec ahead of Rob Bellm, yesterday’s fastest in his Mclaren. Among the participants was Sally Mason-Styrman with her Ferrari MM 166. She was the first participant to take the start for the hill climb at the start of the first Festival of Speed in 1993. She has taken part in all editions since then.
Today, there was already a warm-up for the big celebrations of the Maestro’s: Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx and Roger Penske. From Saturday, we expect more participating cars and will report back then.
Report: Joris de Cock
Photos: Joris de Cock, Goodwood Press Office