24h Le Mans
This weekend is the Goodwood Revival, one of the most popular vintage car gatherings in the U.K. Every year since 1998, the event has attracted several 24 Hours of Le Mans winners looking to take part in one of the races on the program.
The grounds owned by Lord March, known as the Duke of Richmond since his father's passing, host two major vintage car events every year: the Festival of Speed hill climb in early summer, and the Revival in early September, similar to the Le Mans Classic with circuit races separated by grids known as Trophies. A unique aspect of the cars (or motorcycles) watched by spectators donning vintage costumes: they would have been eligible to take the start at races back in the golden age of the circuit between 1948 and 1966.
Like at the Le Mans Classic, the cars are primarily driven by their owners, but certain grids welcome professional drivers, such as the St. Mary's Trophy or the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration, in which line-ups are comprised of one gentleman-driver and one professional driver. Naturally, it's at these two extremely popular races that most 24 Hours of Le Mans winners can be found, though some like to take part in other races as well. For example, five-time winner Emanuele Pirro, Jochen Mass who claimed the top step on the podium in 1989 with Sauber Mercedes and Richard Attwood who gave Porsche its first overall victory at Le Mans in 1970.
PHOTO GALLERY (Copyright - Louis Monnier/ACO): Young and old alike enjoy dressing up in yesteryear outfits; cars on the starting grid; smoke billows in the paddocks as these remarkable vintage cars start up.
Used to their modern GTs or prototypes, today's stars like three-time (André Lotterer) and two-time (Romain Dumas) winners of the 24 Hours love being at the wheel of these GTs (RAC TT) as well as sedans (St. Mary's) from the 1960s, the era of Jackie Oliver who won in 1969. Though retired, they're a bit before the time of Mark Blundell (winner with a Peugeot 905 in 1992) or five-time winner Derek Bell who won his very first race at the Goodwood circuit!
In addition to Le Mans overall winners, several other individuals well-known in the endurance world will attend the Goodwood Revival, such as Nicolas Minassian, former official Peugeot driver and sporting director of the LMP2 team IDEC Sport, as well as official Ford driver Andy Priaulx, official Toyota driver Mike Conway, and Jonny Adam and Darren Turner, official Aston Martin drivers who reached the top step on the LMGTE Pro podium in 2017.
Classic car endurance racing fans can still get tickets (there is still availability for Friday and Sunday) or live stream the races on the Goodwood Road & Racing YouTube channel.
PHOTO (Copyright - Louis Monnier/ACO): The RAC TT Celebration at the 2017 Goodwood Revival.
