The big freeze fails to faze Porsche fans at Goodwood.
Words: Matt Master
Photos: Ed Pike & Gary Hawkins
The 76th Goodwood Members’ Meeting will be remembered for two things. The first, of course, is the sad loss of Henry Hope-Frost just days before the event. Henry was the Goodwood lynchpin, his incredible knowledge and infectious enthusiasm encapsulating the very essence of this special place.
The second, will be the weather. It’s not often that you get to see billions of pounds worth of historic racing cars being driven as nature intended. Rarer still to see them raced in the snow.
The crowds that descended on West Sussex last weekend were as large as ever, undaunted by the sub-zero temperatures and bitter Siberian winds. And the race organisers, drivers and volunteer marshals greeted the whole thing with a typical, and very British, nonchalance.
The entire weekend was beset by nightmarish track conditions, with an ice-cold surface offering little comfort to comparably chilly tyres. The short grass run-offs were as often as not frozen, and the site of priceless pre- and post-war sports cars navigating Woodcote in twos and threes, all on their lock-stops, in a blizzard, was quickly the norm.
Proceedings on Saturday were halted at 11am for a ‘minute of noise’ to celebrate Henry’s famous ‘fever’, after which the parades and races were straight back underway in the sort of unfussy fashion the event’s former compere would surely have approved of.
Highlights over the weekend for Porsche fans were many and varied. There were no fewer than eight 904 Carrera GTSs taking part in proceedings, with the Ronnie Hoare Trophy won by Phil Hylander's beautiful silver car, driven by James Cottingham after a stunning duel with the Ferrari 275 GTB/C of Vincent Gaye.
Behind the leaders in this same race, the two early 2.0-litre 911s of Mark Bates and Ambrogia Perfetti battled tooth-and-nail, using all of the slippery track and plenty of snow-strewn grass as they traded places lap after lap. One of the things that continues to set Goodwood apart is the commitment and skill demonstrated by the drivers, for whom the word ‘exhibition’ has been hard deleted.
Porsche Cars GB had a major organisational presence again this year, providing support vehicles and safety cars from the current press fleet. They also brought the famous 924 GTP which was restored in 2016 by various Porsche Centres. This car, the only works Porsche to have raced in British livery, had never lapped at speed since its rebirth, and would prove quite a challenge off the line with its tall Le Mans gearing good enough for almost three-figure speeds in first gear.
Alongside this hen’s teeth rarity were older Porsche sports cars of even greater historical stature. In amongst the 904s was an Irish Green 906 and seasoned, UK registered 910, both of which took to the track in the Gurney Cup, howling up the pit straight towards Madgwick behind the bigger displacement GT40s and McLaren M1As. To see these cars at all, let alone to see them braking late into an icy right-hander, is pinch yourself stuff in 2018.
Porsche’s official presence over the weekend was crowned by the return of Moby Dick, the 845bhp, low-drag 935/78 special that lead out a cavalcade of privateer 935s alongside contemporary Group 5 rivals from Ferrari and BMW. The car had been shipped in from Stuttgart for the occasion, along with Jochen Mass, who raced the car at Le Mans in period and who seemed no less determined forty years later.
The crackle and road of these colourful, high-boost, be-winged specials rounded out a remarkable weekend for Porsche, and historic motorsport as a whole. A community in rude health and heartily united in the face of adversity.