Gerry Marshall Trophy touring cars set to battle into the dusk at 75MM
With headlamps picking out the high-speed lines and those all-important braking points around the Goodwood Motor Circuit on a dark and chilly Saturday evening in March, drivers in the annual Gerry Marshall Trophy thrash for Group 1 saloons are going to have to concentrate that little bit harder during the fourth annual tin-top retrospective.
And that’s because – and we’re delighted to share the news – the two-driver, one-hour event that’s sure to be a real highlight of the 75th Members’ Meeting on March 18-19 will run into the dusk on Saturday.
If competitors and spectators thought the super-fast and historic Goodwood venue, home since 1998 to the Revival Meeeting and since 2014 the Members’ Meeting, was tricky in the daylight, wait until drivers take part in – and fans witness – a paint-trading and door-handle-to-door-handle contest running into darkness.
The format for the event that’ll once again attract many of the great cars that raced in Group 1 championships around Europe during the 1970s and early ’80s, many in period liveries, features an hour-long Saturday race, with mandatory pitstops for driver changes, and a single-driver Sprint race on Sunday. By means of spicing up the show in that shorter dash for glory, the bulk of the grid – the winner and any cars that covered at least 95 per cent of the winner’s distance – will be reversed. So expect plenty of charges through the field, especially from any quick cars that didn’t finish the Saturday race.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on one car in particular – a machine that’s synonymous with Gerry Marshall and that’ll make its Goodwood debut: the Vauxhall Magnum DTV that the Big Man raced to class honours and second overall in the Spa 24 Hours in 1977. The famous Vauxhall was sold last year by Goodwood partner Bonhams and has since undergone a full ‘revitalisation’ programme in readiness for 75MM.
Joining Gerry’s iconic machine will be a trio of period-authentic Ford Capris and plenty of other Group 1 classics – BMW 530s, Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Escorts, Mini 1275 GTs, Rover SD1s and Volkswagen Golf GTIs – all pedalled by well-known names. Already confirmed are British Touring Car champions Tim Harvey and Andrew Jordan, along with fellow BTCC top-names Stuart Graham and Patrick Watts. These guys, and the others who will inevitably sign up in the coming weeks, will be teaming up with the cars’ owners, many of whom regularly hold their own among such exalted company.
Two things are guaranteed for the fourth Gerry Marshall Trophy in just over two months’ time: there will be classic battles up and down the field and, on Saturday at least, some cars’ headlamps won’t be as effective as others…
Find an early trackside vantage point on whichever day you’re planning to come – you won’t want to miss it!
75MM
Gerry Marshall Trophy
2017
Touring Cars
