The races with historic cars of different classes, which take place in Goodwood during the traditional autumn festival Goodwood Revival, are quite an interesting spectacle.
Firstly, where else on the track can you see old Fords, Jaguars, Austins, Alfa Romeos and, for example, Standard Vanguards that were built more than 60 years ago, but in absolutely perfect condition?
Secondly, and most importantly, they are driven for fun by world motorsport stars such as Jenson Button, Tom Christensen, Jimmy Johnson, Roman Dumas and others.
Moreover, this is not a joke competition at all: top-class racing professionals drive these automotive antiques to the limits of the technical capabilities of far from perfect technology and do it in such a way that it is impossible to tear yourself away from this spectacle.
During yesterday’s St. Mary’s Cup race, Jenson drove the Alfa Romeo Giulietta TI, an Italian rear-wheel drive sedan that Alfa Romeo produced in the 1950s. In qualifying he set a 3rd fastest time, but in the first laps after the start he lost several positions, after which the fun began.
Aiming to make a comeback, Button initially battled for 5th position with Karun Chandhok, a former Formula 1 driver and now his colleague in the Sky Sports expert team. Karun, driving the same old Standard Vangard, resisted for a long time, but made a mistake and his car spun. He returned to the track, but outside the top ten.
Jenson then had to battle against drivers driving front-wheel drive Austins with more powerful engines, meaning he was unable to resist Tom Christensen. “Mr. Le Mans”, starting from a distant 24th position, about halfway through the distance, quickly moving through the peloton, reaching 3rd place.
But Jenson had a tight duel for fourth place with Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion and his No. 24 crew member with whom he raced at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. on Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
The intense battle, which saw them switch positions many times, literally continued until the last meters of the race distance, but Button still crossed the line a fraction of a second earlier.
This is how the 2009 World Champion commented on this achievement: “If you want to have a lot of fun and scream with delight, watch the recording of this race! This was probably the best battle I have ever experienced! If you start watching, I promise you will watch until the end!”
We can confirm that this is not an exaggeration at all: a recording of the race can be found on YouTube: 2023 St Mary’s Trophy/Goodwood Revival.
And it was won by Roman Dumas, a multiple winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, who was unparalleled at Goodwood, not only because he is an excellent racer, but mainly because he drove an old Ford Thunderbird with a huge 7 liter engine . , and cars with engines that were relatively modest in volume and power, it was impossible to keep up.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
