Earl of March Trophy Goodwood 17th September 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduction Oh, to be at Goodwood for the Revival in September! Well perhaps not on Thursday, as the weather was miserable. Fortunately the rain held off until lunchtime, by which time most cars had found their allotted garage and our Scandinavian friends were hosting their traditional welcome. The Aquavit certainly warmed the cockles, and the herring was…interesting. Everybody huddled beneath the awnings, and the craic was good as old and new friends traded stories. Neil Hodges presented some newly discovered Pathe News footage of 500s in action, including features on the Cooper Streamliner, the 1950 Ladies Race from Brands Hatch and the 1954 Eifelrennen. The Monopoletta of Manfred Dieks was unable to attend. After some hurried transatlantic calls, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Particularly interesting was the Cooper Mk VIII of Karl-Heinz Meub. The rear of the chassis is modified to take the BMW boxer twin and shaft-driven gearbox, which then runs a short chain to the final drive. The low engine allows for a much lower, sleeker rear bodywork, with large waist ducts for intake and cylinder cooling. The BMW engine was never as competitive in period as had been expected, but Karl-Heinz would set some healthy times once he had the gearing sorted, and the engine made a lovely crisp noise compared to the regular singles. |
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Friday Qualifying Friday dawned cold, but significantly drier than the day before. Now all in period dress, Shirley looked particularly glamorous in fur, and most of the other reprobates scrubbed up remarkably well. No major problems occurred before a lunchtime practice session and 31 cars took to the track in fine, breezy sunshine. The Moss-Kieft prototype suffered fuel feed problems immediately and was unable to set a representative time, but John Turner, Neil Hodges and Richard Utley were quickly on the pace. Third time around Mike Fowler put a wheel on the grass on the exit of the chicane and spun wildly for some fifty yards, before exiting backwards down the service road in the direction of the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suddenly things got serious when Nigel Challis flipped his Cooper. Nigel has no recollection of the accident but it appears that one of the universal joints failed as he entered the corner. The flailing half shaft locked the rear totally, flinging the car into a wild slide. The wheel dug in, flipping the car into a triple roll in the air, before landing on its wheels. Nigel now sports a new, improved, nose, a broken thumb and sore shoulders but otherwise was in remarkably good shape. After a precautionary night in hospital he was back at the track in time for the race and seemingly more concerned with attending the Goodwood Ball “or the wife will kill me” than the previous day’s events. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some twenty minutes later, the session was restarted, though without the Alfa Dana which refused to restart as the piston had impacted the spark plug electrode. David Lecoq had sneaked pole from John Turner by two tenths. A couple of seconds back were Richard Utley (celebrating his 50th anniversary of racing at Goodwood), Geoff Gartside was a little off this group, and behind him was another prospective battle, with And finally the Heywood Comet, having its first competitive run for fifteen years. The car was smoking heavily due to over oiling, causing one wag in the commentary box to dub it Halley’s Comet, and was gradually losing its tailpipe and gears. Saturday Race An absolutely perfect day for racing, clear blue skies, Spitfires and the return of Nigel Challis to cheer everyone – all being keen to shake his damaged hand and pat him on his sore shoulder! All thirty cars were present and correct in the Assembly Area – a beautiful sight six abreast and deafening sound. Whilst waiting for the track to be cleared, Murray Walker was a welcome guest chatting to several drivers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Setting off on the warm up lap, the Comet was still smoking noticeably, but everyone else seemed to be OK. The start of the Earl Of March Trophy race favours the Norton engine (with the long drag up to Madgwick) and the Revival regulars (who know that the flag may fall before the 5 second board has been withdrawn), so it proved to be a complete reshuffle of the grid order. David Lecoq made the best of pole position and led into Madgwick, followed by John Turner, Richard Utley and Rodney Delves. Geoff Gartside (dodgy clutch or not) made a great start, but was still passed by Mike Fowler. Similarly Shirley, Skip and Gordon Russell were fast away, while Neil, Marek and David Stevenson dropped like stones down the order. The run from Madgwick to St Mary’s was particularly exciting with several groups running three abreast along the straight. At the back a couple of cars failed to get away cleanly. |
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The cars completed the first lap still in one long chain, like a swarm of angry and confused hornets. David led by a second from Richard, Rodney, then Second time through, and John Turner was into his stride, right on David’s tail. These two had pulled four seconds on another tight battle between Richard and Rodney with Skip catching fast. Skip was attacking the circuit, passing |
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A train of three cars comprising Mark Woodhouse (going very fast), Gordon Russell and Neil Hodges, maintained their momentum and streamed past both on the run through Fordwater and St Mary’s. Further back Tony Steele was getting into his stride and beginning to pick off backmarkers. Pekka Nystrom coasted into the pits to retire the Kiehn. Lap 3, and John made his move for the lead. He passed David out at the back of the circuit, only for the engine to let go on the Lavant Straight. The exhaust valve had stuck partially open, and John reported some worrying noises from the bottom end. David came through some eight seconds ahead of the Richard and Rodney. Skip appeared a second behind, with a suspicious dent in the bulbous nose of the Staride. An optimistic run at the Chicane had him punting Rodney on the rear tyre. Richard, Rodney and Skip now ran as one. Neil had a hairy moment as Gordon tried to close the door at Lavant, but was past and after Peter. David Stevenson and Per Hageman were locked in battle. Having been alongside several times, Geoff finally got a run on Mike along Lavant Straight, and went for committed run into Woodcote, refusing to be shut out. Finally through, he then faced the problem of the second part of the corner, just about catching a tank-slapper on the exit. Having sorted that problem, he then found himself heading for the Chicane barrier rather too fast. Somehow he sorted that and scrabbled through the Chicane. As if the gods had it in for him, all this throwing the car around had upset the float bowls, and the engine began to stutter! Fearing Mike would nip back past along the pit straight, Geoff lifted slightly and prayed. Fortunately the engine coughed clear, and Geoff was off after Per, red mist well and truly descended. Mike had been off his usual form all weekend (“no real excuse, perhaps I just haven’t have the knack of the circuit”), and was now in the sights of James Holland and Marek. Roy Wright had passed Shirley who was now racing the brakeless
Lap 5 saw three retirements. Jason Wright and Shirley both retired near the Chicane. Bill had fitted a newly rebuilt magneto to the Mk IV for Goodwood and frustratingly the screws holding the cap had all come loose. Sparkless, the car coasted to a halt, and Shirley was disappointed to post her first Revival DNF. Paul had felt his engine tightening at St Mary’s, and coasted looking for a safe place to pull off that would minimise yellow flag time. With no engine tensioning, the primary chain decided to jump off and he dived for the grass. At the front, Skip managed to pass Rodney for third place. Ten seconds back, Neil found his way past Peter for fifth place. Gordon was five seconds off Peter and four seconds ahead of David Stevenson. Per Hageman was close behind, but being chased down by Geoff who was closing down the large gap. James Holland had found a way past Mike, and as they passed the pits, Marek also looked to make his move. Roy Wright was some way back but closing. Tony Steele was on his own, then Olle Linde and Lap 6, and the Staride dived for the pits, the magneto failing suddenly. Rodney once again set about attacking Richard. Otherwise, positions were unchanged, though Marek was closer to James for what was now tenth place. And through lap 7, most time gaps were stable or slowly extending. Neil Hodges was flying, and certainly ruing his poor start. He set a 1’51” personal best, another three seconds faster than in practice and right on the pace of the cars ahead. This was particularly impressive as he had other things on his mind. A small fuel leak had got much worse, soaking his legs in methanol, and raising concerns that he might run out of fuel. Wisely, he had stashed his drinks bottle in the car, and splashed his legs with water. He then decided to ditch the empty bottle but, concentrating on throwing it far enough off track he somewhat forgot that there was a corner approaching and got distinctly loose through St Mary’s! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| And so on the final lap David put in a fast one to win comfortably. Richard Utley came in second, just holding off Rodney Delves. Neil Hodges, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classified Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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With no duties to perform on the final day, drivers were free to enjoy Lord March’s Goodwood Ball, which this year was celebrating the 200th anniversary of Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar. Several drivers were keen to match, with champagne, what their mounts consume in methanol. Consequently there were some very subdued faces creeping into the Paddock through the morning. |