Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Goodwood Revival has become the world’s premier historic motor race meeting. Recreating the glory days of the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit, built in the grounds of the family estate of the Earls of March, the Revival is far more than just a series of races for historic cars. It’s more like a freshly-opened time capsule, bringing a fabulous era lovingly back to life. “The atmosphere is fantastic, completely unique,” enthuses Peter. “It’s such a huge event now, and beautifully run. The biggest stars in motor racing are present, from today’s Formula 1 drivers, to the biggest names from the past. Everyone dresses in period costume, and there are historic air displays as well as motor races. This weekend has been an opportunity to celebrate all that’s been achieved in the last ten years, and I was delighted to be a part of it.”

Peter has raced at the Revival since the very beginning. “I’ve done Goodwood every year, but the only race we never seemed able to win was the RAC TT Celebration. We’ve always done quite well, and finished second or third on several occasions, and over the last few years we’ve been getting stronger and better and nearer to the win, but it’s always eluded us.” Not this time. In a thrilling hour-long race Peter and co-driver Bobby Verdon-Roe came through to take a richly-deserved victory at the eleventh attempt. “I’m absolutely chuffed to bits that we’ve finally won it!” said a delighted Peter. “Not only that, but I also received the Driver of the Meeting award – a stunning Rolex Daytona watch. That’s a really big high for me, and from a personal point of view, more than compensates for the disappointments of Silverstone.”

The Ferrari has faced an unequal struggle in the past. “The 330 is quite heavy compared to most of the other cars, such as the lightweight Jaguar E Types. They have the advantage that they were made in large numbers, and there are plenty of spares still available. By contrast, there are only four of these genuine racing Ferraris left, and it’s a challenge to keeping them going, and impossible to find lightweight parts. What’s changed is the circuit. It has been resurfaced and the tarmac is not as abrasive as it used to be, and that helps our tyre wear situation enormously. For the first time, our tyres have lasted the distance.”

“We always try to win, of course. The 330 is fast on the straights, and good on stopping, but perhaps not so good through the corners, because of the weight. Now we can manage the rear tyre wear more effectively during the hour of the race, and they last longer.”

Maintaining a quick pace throughout the event wasn’t the only challenge. Peter also had to be in two places at once. “I flew down to Goodwood on the Friday, completed the afternoon session, and qualified fifth. I had to be at Silverstone on Saturday, so Bobby did the second qualifying on his own, and went quickest. That got us back up to third on aggregate, and at Goodwood, where they operate a 3-2-3 grid, that’s the front row. I drove my stints at Silverstone, flew back to Goodwood on Sunday morning, raced in the TT, and then flew back to Silverstone.”

The Race

The day’s schedule had over-run, and the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration didn’t start until 15:23, when six-times Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx waved the flag. “I made a fairly good start,” said Peter, “perhaps better than Adrian [Newey], but I had to give him the advantage under braking into Madgwick. Then I was able to out-drag him on the run down to Fordwater, which meant I was second behind Justin [Law] and had Adrian safely between Jean-Marc Gounon in fourth and me.”

“I was desperately trying to get out of “BMW Mode,” admitted Peter. Having recently arrived from two three-hour stints at Silverstone, there were habits and techniques to overcome. “I had to remind myself to start using the clutch! This is a forty-year-old Ferrari and you can’t change gear the same way. It took a few corners until that became an automatic mental process again.”

“Having got past Adrian, I then had to take the lead from Justin, but it took four or five laps. He was a bit slower through Madgwick and Fordwater, but I had to be aware of Jean-Marc behind me too, who’d got ahead of Adrian, so I was defending through the corners and under braking, although I could pull away down the straights.”

“We were coming up on traffic, and I saw Justin caught in the middle. I eased back, saw the clear space, and got the run on him down towards Fordwater. I braked a tad later and got through. I then had Justin between me and Jean-Marc. I just got my head down and pressed on. Jean-Marc got through shortly afterwards, so Justin was down to third, although his co-driver got the place back later.”

“I just pulled away then, and established a four or five second lead. I saw the 20-minute board, and a lap and half later, started to close on a group of half a dozen tail-enders, so pulled in and handed over to Bobby before being held up.”

“The pitstop went well, and after everyone else had done their stops, we had a nine second lead with 18 minutes to go. A safety car period cost us that margin, but at the restart Bobby was able to pull out another lead of about four or five seconds, and that was enough for him to have a pretty fair shot to the flag.”

Bobby Verdon-Roe took the chequered flag after 39 laps by 2.2 seconds from Anthony Reid, driving second stint after Justin Law in the Lister Jaguar, with Martin Brundle finishing a rapid third in the Jaguar E Type that Adrian Newey had started. “That was a mega win!” enthused Peter. “We’ve been trying for so long, and it’s wonderful to have achieved it at last. Enormous credit to Tim Samways and the whole of his crew, they all worked so hard at preparing the car, and stuck at it. I’m also very pleased for the owner. It seemed to be a very popular win, and there was a big cheer went up when I took the lead, and an even bigger one when Bobby crossed the line. That must be one of the best wins I’ve ever had. The TT at Goodwood is the peak, the premier race at Goodwood, and it’s the one everyone wants to watch. It was a cracking race this year too! Fantastic!”

Results
The Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration

1 Hardman/Verdon-Roe – 1963 Ferrari 330 LMB
– fastest lap:1.27.679
2 Law/Reid – 1963 Lister-Jaguar Coupe
– gap 2.264s – fastest lap:1.27.722
3 Brundle/Newey – 1963 Jaguar E-type lightweight
– gap 14.999s– fastest lap:1.27.623

The Driver of the Meeting award was presented to Peter Hardman by Justin Hogbin, Communications Manager at Rolex UK.

Congratulations
Warmest congratulations to Nick and Sophie Leventis upon the arrival of Marley Haralambos Leventis, born at 09.31 on Monday 21st September 2008.

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© Strakka Racing 2008