Goodwood Revival Preview
It’s that time of year again. The last, biggest and most distinctive of the year’s historic car meetings is upon us – the Goodwood Revival.
Many in the crowd will devote as much time and energy to compiling their outfits as the teams do in preparing the pre-1966 cars (and it really is any age, as long as it’s pre-1966), while some of us will throw on a pair of overalls with a couple of Alfa patches and a cheap Amazon tweed cap.
But what you – and I – are interested in is the Alfa Romeo machinery on track. This year, sadly, the marque’s presence is limited to three events although, as we’ll see, one of them promises to be spectacular.
First up is the Goodwood Trophy, with cars representing the late 1940s and early ‘50s. Normally we’d hope to see Peter Greenfield’s Alfetta 159 and Julian Majzub’s awesome but fragile 308C. This year, sadly, the 308C (from 1938, but raced into the late ‘40s) is the only Alfa representative – and no other pre-war cars are entered in any of the events they’re eligible for. That’s a real shame – normally we’d expect to see a couple of 8Cs on track during the weekend.
The Fordwater Trophy – for production-based sports and GT cars from 1955-1960 – will see the second Alfa model represented with Andrew Lawley entered in his pretty – rare – Alfa Giulietta Sprint Veloce lightweight.
The highlight for most Alfisti, though, is likely to be the St Mary’s Trophy. This event alternates between late ‘50s and early ‘60s saloons. Last year we saw the 101 Giuliettas battling with the American muscle cars – this year it’s the turn of the Giulia Sprint GTAs – no less than seven of them, including Alex Furiani’s example, which in the hands of Frank Stippler finished 2nd in the Part 1 Pro race and took second place overall two years ago. Stippler will again be the Pro driver in that car and will be joined in the GTAs by Jochen Mass, Emanuele Pirro, Jean-Eric Vergne, Andrew Jordan, Marino Franchitti and Charlie March. March will partner ARCA and AROC sim racer Mike Hilton, who will contest Part 2 in his ex-Jolly Club car, featured in Alfa Romeo Driver Podcast Episode 73 – https://aroc-uk.com/episode-73-of-the-alfa-romeo-podcast-available/
Qualifying for all three events is on Friday – the Goodwood Trophy is at 11.05, the Fordwater Trophy at 12.05. Part 1 of the St Mary’s Trophy – the Pro drivers – is at 12.35 and Part 2 – the Gentlemen drivers (usually, but not always, the owners) is at 17.50.
The Goodwood Trophy race is at 9.35 on Saturday with the Fordwater Trophy at 12.30. Part 1 of the St Mary’s Trophy is at 13.30, with Part 2 on Sunday at 17.10. And, for those interested in such things, there will be races not involving Alfas in between, as well as the usual selection of activities at the circuit and ‘across the road’.
At time of writing, Saturday was sold out and Friday and Sunday had limited ticket availability, but everything’s streamed live and the highlights will be on ITV and ITVX just follow this link
