24h Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be a part of the 75th Goodwood Members’ Meeting set to take place March 18th and 19th, through the former glory of race cars as well as drivers, including two previous winners, Jochen Mass and Emanuele Pirro.
The name Goodwood immediately brings to mind the Festival of Speed or the Revival, but it's the Members’ Meeting that kicks offs the season of festivities in March. The Members’ Meeting dates back to 1948 when the ninth Duke of Richmond opened the circuit to the members of the British Automobile Racing Club. Resumed in 2014, the meeting had not taken place since 1966, that is why the cars eligible for different trophies competed between 1948 and 1966.
Nonetheless, the Members’ Meeting is not just a succession of moto and auto races: every visitor, driver or not, is assigned a "house" whose members of all ages compete in a series of open air games and sporting events to win the coat of arms of the Goodwood house. A captain is designated for each of the four houses, the names of which are taken from the titles of nobility of the Duke of Richmond, father of Lord March, the founder of Goodwood events.
All four captains have participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans! The Aubigny house, represented by a fleur de lys, will be led by French native Nicolas Minassian (17 entries and two overall podium finishes with Peugeot in 2008 and 2011), and the Darnley house and its wild boar will be led by German driver Jochen Mass (winner at Le Mans in 1989 with Sauber Mercedes). They will compete against the Methuen house led by Brit Anthony Reid (third at the 24 Hours in 1990 with a Porsche 962) and the Torbolton house led by Italian native Emanuele Pirro (four-time winner with Audi between 2000 and 2007.
In addition to the competition, demonstrations are planned, such as the duel between the winning Matra MS670 and its underling, the Ferrari 312PB, at the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the viewing of legendary GT1s manufactured by Porsche, Mercedes, Jaguar, Ferrari and McLaren.
Would you like to go to Goodwood, located near Chichester, in south England on March 18th and 19th, to tide you over until the ninth edition of the Le Mans Classic (July 6-8, 2018)? Unfortunately, the only seats still available are reserved for club members, but the event will be live-streamed on the official website.
Photo: Emanuele Pirro, present at the Le Mans Classic in 2016, will be one of the "captains" at the Goodwood Members' Meeting.
