Mesmerising Edwardian racers thrill Goodwood crowds

By James Page

| 22 Mar 2016

A number of spectacular incidents proved a big talking point at the weekend, but it was the world-class grid of Edwardian racers in the SF Edge Trophy that left the most lasting impression from 74th Members’ Meeting on 19-20 March.

Racing at Goodwood for the first time ever, the diverse field – from pint-sized GN Wasp to monstrous 200hp Darracq – proved hugely popular. The variety was emphasised by the battle up-front, with a leading trio comprising Duncan Pittaway in his little 1921 GN, Julian Mazjub’s 1916 Sunbeam Indianapolis and Mathias Sielecki in the famous 1923 V12 Delage.

Sielecki, who’d never raced the car before or competed at Goodwood, was on fine form, he and Mazjub having the top-end grunt to overhaul Pittaway at the end of the pit straight and going into Woodcote, but having to give best on acceleration and handling. Mazjub was typically determined in the highly original Sunbeam – which is still running its original crankshaft and con-rods – at times overtaking back-markers with all four wheels on the grass.

In the end, victory went to Pittaway, who raced for the line with the Delage only two-tenths of a second behind. “On the straights, all I could see in my mirrors was this enormous radiator,” he enthused afterwards. “And when we were cornering side-by-side, I was looking up at these huge cars – they scared the bejesus out of me!”

Saturday’s racing had closed with the all-GT40 Alan Mann Trophy racing into dusk. David Cuff handed over his car to Steve Soper, the Touring Car legend romping to victory. Behind were a number of memorable cameos from the likes of Rob Huff, who surged through the field during the opening laps.

Chris Ward looked like repeating his victory in part one of the Gerry Marshall Trophy when he ran away from the field in Sunday’s rerun. He narrowly avoided clouting the end of the pitwall – suddenly changing his mind about coming in when the safety car was deployed after a number of cars went off on oil dropped by Tiff Needell’s Rover SD1 before St Mary’s.

Ward was the last of the front-runners to stop when the pit-window opened, handing over the SD1 to Gordon Shedden. Roger Bryant had been one of those to go off, but avoided hitting anything and handed over the Camaro to his son Oli. Bryant Jnr then set about slashing Shedden’s lead, setting fastest laps on his way to catching and passing the BTCC star. Incredibly, having contended on so many occasions over the years, it was the Bryants’ first win at Goodwood.

James Cottingham and Andrew Smith were having a fabulous scrap for the lead of the Graham Hill Trophy in their Shelby Daytona Coupes after pole-sitter Brad Ellis had been crowded out at Madgwick on the first lap. Ellis’ E-type later joined a four-way battle for third before Karsten Le Blanc thumped his Cobra into the bank at Fordwater. The race finished behind the subsequent safety car.

The safety car also made an appearance in the Derek Bell Cup. After some bumping at the start that led to the front wheels of Stephen Smith’s Chevron being flicking into air off the back of Paul Kite’s Brabham, the pack of 1-litre F3 ‘screamers’ was reduced to line astern after Ian Bankhurst (Alexis) and Michael Scott (Brabham) went off before St Mary’s. Michael Hibberd scampered away at the restart to take the win in his Brabham BT18.

Sunday’s programme was, in fact, punctuated by a number of stoppages. Stephen Bond mercifully escaped with only minor injuries from a huge accident in his Lotus 18 during the Brooks Trophy – eventually won by Barry Cannell’s Cooper. Michael Smits, meanwhile, was airlifted to hospital following an accident at Woodcote in his Lola T70. The Bruce McLaren Trophy was subsequently abandoned.

The delays meant that the final three races were reduced to 10 minutes apiece. Will Nuthall was impressively committed aboard his Cooper-Bristol, taking a comfortable win in the Parnell Trophy. After Lotus-Cortina rival Steve Soper retired at the end of the opening lap, Richard Meaden won the Whitmore Cup, and Sam Hancock (Cunningham C4R) streaked away from the Peter Collins Trophy field to close proceedings as darkness fell.

Away from the racing, the ever-popular demonstration laps once again played a starring role at the Members Meeting, with the awesome Group 5 prototypes forming the most evocative parade. Derek Bell was reunited with the very Porsche 917 that he tested at Goodwood in 1970, the group of flat-12 titans being joined by Ferrari 512s, Lola T70s and a McLaren M6 to create a fabulous wall of sound around the circuit.

The ground-effect era of Formula One was celebrated with two groups of cars, from Dario Franchitti in a twin-chassis Lotus 88 and a spirited Bobby Verdon-Roe in a McLaren MP4/1 to Joaquin Folch-Rusinol in a Brabham BT49. The latter’s designer, Gordon Murray, was on hand. “We didn’t appreciate the aerodynamic forces we were dealing with,” he said. “At Zeltweg one year, we measured that the cockpit on Nelson Piquet’s car was opening up by 10mm at high speed as the sidepods were pulled down by ground effect.”

The popular Super Touring racers also took to the circuit, piloted by the likes of period Touring Car aces Andy Rouse, Emanuele Pirro, Patrick Watts and John Cleland.