75MM – The house Prizegiving

20th March 2017

Bob Murray

After an incredible weekend of historic motor racing at Goodwood, the 75^th Members’ Meeting House Shield for 2017 goes to… Torbolton House. The victory breaks the stranglehold that Methuen has had on the competition since the latterday Members’ Meetings began four years ago.

Torbolton captain Emanuele Pirro couldn’t hide his delight at the prizegiving ceremony in the Great Hall on Sunday evening, after the last race of the weekend. The five-times Le Mans winner gave the headmaster for the evening a huge kiss as he accepted the shield. Lord March didn’t seem to mind, though he did promise all the captains a “good caning” later.

“All the planets align for once in a lifetime,” said an ecstatic Pirro, whose house amassed 4628 points after victories both on the Motor Circuit and on the playing fields of Goodwood where visitors young and old contributed to the tally in everything from a tug-of-war to rugby and cricket tests.

It was a particularly sweet victory for Pirro who has seen Anthony Reid’s Methuen House dominate the competition for the past three Members’ Meetings. Torbolton was second to Methuen last year, ahead of Aubigny (Nicolas Minassian) and Darnley (Jochen Mass).

There was a moment’s reflection during the prizegiving as Lord March recalled his ”great friend and great Goodwood supporter” John Surtees, who died on March 10^th. “He was an extraordinary chap who shot from the hip,” Lord March told the assembled throng. Earlier he had driven a Lola T70 on a tribute lap of the circuit, ahead of a minute’s noise to honour the world champion.

“I’m sure John heard all the noise and thanks us all for it… as will no doubt all the local residents,” said Lord March.

Most of the podium drivers from all 12 of the meeting’s races were present to accept their trophies along with a commemorative bottle of Goodwood ale, each with its unique silver cap. 75^th Members’ Meeting official timing partner IWC Schaffhausen thrilled special winners with the presentation of an exclusive IWC watch.

Among the other awards during the presentation was fastest lap of the meeting which this year went to Simon Hadfield in a Lola T70 at 1 minute 19.66 seconds.

The 16 Members’ Meeting governors present on stage chose their favourite cars among the demo drives this year. Cars singled out for praise included David Clark’s Harrods McLaren F1 GTR, the Texaco-liveried Ford RS500, Henrik Lindbergh’s Lola de Cadenet-Ford T380, the Porsche 911 GT1-98 brought specially to Goodwood from the Porsche Museum, and BMW Group Classic’s 1987 BMW M3 E30, driven in the Group A demo by Roberto Ravaglia.

Photography by Pete Summers