Slippin’ & Slidin’ at Goodwood Members’ Meeting

Moving the 78^th Goodwood Members’ Meeting from spring to autumn surely meant taking risks with the weather. But watching the drivers slip and slide in the rain surely made GMM a very spectacular event to watch.

For a sold-out crowd, this year’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting provided the audience once more with top-rate driving and a star-cast behind the wheel. Mr. Le Mans Tom Kristensen teamed up with Sam Hancock in a Lanzante-prepped Ford GT40 for the Gurney Cup on Sunday. They had to be satisfied with second place behind the GT40 driven by James Cottingham and Andrew Smith, with Dario Franchitti placing third.

The race was neutralised early on after Chris Goodwin spun his Lotus 23B off and hit the bank. Former Audi and Porsche works Le Mans driver André Lotterer made sure the audience would not forget his participation at Goodwood. In one sense by setting fastest lap of the event in a Ford GT40 (1’20”853) and in another sense by recovering from a monumental spin with a heavy dose of the right foot and tyre smoke all over the place. No harm done, but what a moment it was.

Ayrton Senna

GMM ended on Sunday with a touring car battle in the Gerry Marshall Trophy, won by Jake Hill in his Ford Capri. Craig Davies used the superior power of his V8 Mustang to challenge Hill for the lead on the straights. Both would go off in the search of victory but were able to rejoin the track. Hill kept the lead, Davies would end up fifth.

The demonstration of 14 Jaguar Sport XJR-15s was spectacular, as promised. But so was the moment Bruno Senna went around the track in his famous uncle Ayrton’s 1991 McLaren MP4/6, the last V12-equipped McLaren. Also, the car that would take Ayrton Senna to the last of his three world titles.

Rally heroes

Rally cars and drivers featured prominently at Goodwood as well, with a super stage laid out on parts of the track and service roads. Fastest in the modern era was Gary Le Coadou in a Toyota Celica GT-Four, whilst Martin Overington took the cheers and victory in the older-era class in his MG Metro 6R4. Stig Blomqvist performed in an ex-Carlos Sainz Ford Escort RS Cosworth.

Dates 2022

Goodwood has also released the dates for their 2022 rendez-vous:

• 79th Goodwood Members’ Meeting, 9-10 April
• Goodwood Festival of Speed, 23-26 June
• Goodwood Revival, 16-18 September

Ticket sales start on November 8^th on the Goodwood website, but GRRC (Goodwood Road Racing Club) members get an early access. For GRRC members, sales start October 31^st. GRRC Fellowship members can start buying tickets on November 1^st.