Video: 2023 Lavant Cup full race | Goodwood Revival

09th September 2023

Simon Ostler

On what was the hottest day of the year, an unheard-of stat for the second day of the Goodwood Revival, we were incredibly excited for the start of the Lavant Cup presented by Sky Cinema. It's the all-Ferrari race, comprising a grid of V12-engined GTs from the early 1960s.

In all, we were preparing to listen to the howl of eight 250 GT SWB/Cs, a 250 GT Lusso, a 250 GT SWB, a 250 GTO, two 250 LMs, a 330 GTO and of course the 250 GT SWB ‘Breadvan’. The sound on the ground was every bit as overwhelming as you would expect, as 192 cylinders fired in unison away from the start.

There was action at both ends of the field on the opening lap, firstly towards the back as the Ames Alexander in the ‘Breadvan’ stormed away from last on the grid, overtaking a whopping eleven cars around the first six corners. Towards the front, however, our leader Rob Hall in a 250 LM span at the entry to St. Mary’s and barely kept it out of the wall. He was able to continue, albeit down in seventh place.

That left Emanuele Pirro out in the lead, and he looked cool and composed at the wheel of his 250 GT SWB/C, even as temperatures sored into the low 30s.

From there, it was a wonderful spectacle as these beautiful cars settled into a rhythm around the Goodwood Motor Circuit, the sound of all those Colombo V12s echoing around the South Downs. This could well have been the peak of the Revival weekend.

There wasn’t long to revel in the moment however, because this race also included the talking point of the weekend. Karun Chandhok, racing in the 250 GTO, had an alarming moment that saw his race come to an abrupt and premature end.

After a period behind the safety car, we were treated to three more minutes of racing to finish off what was a truly memorable race. It’s very possible that we may never see some of these cars racing ever again, so what a brilliant farewell this was.