Button and Newey Jr miss out on Goodwood’s win

Adrian Newey’s collection of cars, among other rarities, also includes a 1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight sports car, and this weekend the car again took part in the traditional Goodwood Revival festival.

One of the highlights of the Historic Vehicles Festival is the 1960s classic car races, commemorating the then popular Tourist Trophy held at this track in Goodwood.

Jenson Button has performed in such races on more than one occasion, but the day before yesterday the 2009 world champion sat behind the wheel of the Jaguar E-Type for the first time. It didn’t take long for the car to get properly tuned as he didn’t like the way the suspension worked and needed to make it much stiffer. But the efforts were not in vain: In today’s RAC TT Celebration, Button started from second position.

He took the lead on lap one, quickly built up the lead, and by the time Jenson’s shift was over, he had to give way behind the wheel to Harrison Newey, son of the famous race car designer, the white E- Red top type was now almost 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.

But as soon as Harrison left the pits and hadn’t had time to do a lap yet, the car’s transmission broke – unfortunately the race for No. 22 crew ended there.

“Actually it was fun, the car worked perfectly, we managed to get the optimal balance – Adrian did a great job,” Jenson reacted upset. – Piloting was a real pleasure, although rubber degradation was still affected. The rear wheels were already holding the track badly and the car skidded heavily. You always want to go as fast as possible, but keeping a fast pace was not easy.

Unfortunately, something went wrong as soon as Harrison took over. I think the problem is with the gearbox or with the final drive. This festival is an absolutely amazing event, and of course we wanted to win this race. Unfortunately this is not always possible, like motorsport, but still we put on a good show for the public and enjoyed the atmosphere that accompanies the festival.

I hadn’t driven a Jaguar E-Type this weekend and Harrison had never raced at Goodwood, but when I got behind the wheel I gradually gained confidence, I could really attack and of course I gave it my all. When you drive such a car, you have to be careful, try to shift smoothly, which I did, but still you have to remember that the car was produced in the 60s. However, it is the rider’s job to get the most out of the technique.”

Of course, not only Jenson was upset, but also his partner and the owner of the car, Adrian Newey, who admitted with a sad smile that the gearbox probably needed to be replaced. However, in the UK, the repair and maintenance business is well developed, so it is hoped that this Jaguar will start up again at Goodwood next year.

In 2009, Adrian Newey won a race at this track in his E-Type, and then his partner was Bobby Rahol, a veteran of American motorsport. In 2012, he repeated this success, but with a different partner, with Martin Brandl. Today victory was also close, but as Jenson Button said, “This is motorsport…”