And the fourth edition of the two-day extravaganza that evokes the spirit of the 71 British Automobile Racing Club-run events held at Goodwood in period offers a packed programme of races for single-seaters, sportscars, touring cars and motorcycles.
A mixture of popular returnees from the previous three reincarnations, which started in March 2014 with the 72nd Members’ Meeting, and all-new contests will bring together a superb variety of cars, with owner-drivers and well-known professionals going head-to-head on the superfast, 2.4-mile Motor Circuit.
Back by popular demand after joining the roster in 2016, the S.F. Edge Trophy, named after pre-war racer and record-breaker Selwyn Francis Edge, caters for spiritedly-driven and indecently quick Edwardian Specials of a type that raced up to 1923. Watching intrepid pilots perched on these spindly tyred creations trying to carry as much speed as possible left everyone in awe – and craving more.
The most popular of the Members’ Meeting races, the Gerry Marshall Trophy, named in honour of one of Britain’s best-loved and most successful tin-top racers, is a two-part, two-driver thrash for Group 1 saloon cars of a type that raced from 1970 to 1982 – with all the cars running in their original liveries and many of them featuring original drivers.
The name Mike Hailwood resonates strongly among fans of two-wheeled racing. ‘Mike The Bike’ was one of our greatest World Champions, winning numerous titles and Isle of Man TT races. This race, for two-stroke 250cc and 350cc Grand Prix motorcycles of a type that raced between 1970 and 1984, returns after a thrilling debut in 2016. The air will be filled with the smoke – and smell – of these two-stroke classics.
Archie Scott Brown was a hugely successful British sportscar racer, who overcame physical handicap to achieve great things in big powerful Lister sports-racers. How appropriate, then, that an all-new Lister event, for cars that raced up to 1966, should be named in his honour.
The Brabham name, that of late, great Australian pioneer and three-time F1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, returns to the Members’ Meeting for the first time since 2014. For rear-engined Grand Prix cars of a type that raced between 1954 and 1960, the Brabham Trophy will feature many of the most successful machines from the World Championship’s 2.5-litre period.
Another new event for Goodwood goers to embrace, the Varzi Trophy will cater for French and Italian Grand Prix and Voiturette cars of a type that raced up to 1939 and is named after charismatic Italian ace Achille Varzi, who switched from motorcycle racing to four wheels in 1928 and battled with all the great pre-war aces of the day.
No prizes for knowing who the race for GT cars of a type that raced at Goodwood from 1960 to 1966 is named after. Returning to the Members’ Meeting line-up for the third consecutive year, the Graham Hill Trophy will feature beautiful machines that did battle in the RAC Tourist Trophy during Goodwood’s glorious heyday when top aces powerslid round the Motor Circuit in AC Cobras, Aston Martin DB4GTs and Jaguar E-types.
Stand well back, for the Pierpoint Cup brings big American V8 grunt back to Goodwood – and appears for the first time on the Members’ bill. Named after 1965 British Touring Car Champion Roy Pierpoint, who took the title in an Alan Mann Racing-prepared Ford Mustang, it will feature muscle cars that raced up to 1966.
The one-litre ‘screamers’ that were de rigueur in the ultra-competitive F3 arena between 1964 and 1970 produced two fantastic Members’ Meeting races in 2015 and 2016, and they’ll be back in 2016 to once again contest the Derek Bell Cup, named after local ace, period F3 racer and Goodwood favourite Derek Bell.
Named after engine building/tuning wizard Harry Weslake, who designed the cylinder heads on the original Austin A-Series engine in the Mini and Morris Minor, among other classics (the 1967 Eagle-Weslake V12 F1 beauty, anyone?), the Weslake Cup makes its Members’ Meeting debut in 2017 and caters for, unsurprisingly, A-Series-engined sports and GT cars that raced between 1958 and 1966.
The fastest race of the Members’ Meeting weekend, the Surtees Trophy, carrying the great John Surtees’ name for the first time since 2014, features fabulous Group 7 sports-prototypes of the 1960s that raced in the fabled North American Can-Am series. With more power than their hard, treaded tyres can handle, the cars, including the glorious Lola T70 Spyder like the one Surtees used to win the inaugural Can-Am title in ’66, are a sight – and sound – to behold.
Photography by Drew Gibson, Tom Shaxson, Jochen Van Cauwenberge, Pete Summers, Dominic James and Nick Dungan.
75MM
Gerry Marshall Trophy
S.F. Edge Trophy
Graham Hill Trophy
Pierpoint Cup
Surtees Trophy
Weslake Cup
Derek Bell Cup
Varzi Trophy
Brabham Trophy
Scott Brown Trophy
Hailwood Trophy
2017
Touring Cars
Single Seater
Bikes
Sportscar
F1
Pre-War
Grand Prix