Two very special cars at the 82nd Goodwood Members Meeting
There were so many wonderful cars to see that it seems inappropriate to choose just two, but I will anyway.
The first is arguably one of the finest and you could say most beautiful racing Ferraris ever built, the Dino Spider 206S.
Introduced for the 1966 racing season only 13 spider versions were manufactured – making this a very rare and valuable car, so to see one racing at Goodwood was a very special moment.
The styling is a scaled down version of the revered Ferrari 330 P3. The 206S has a Formula 1 derived 2 litre V6 engine which revs to 9,000 rpm and has a very impressive power to weight ratio, as the car tips the scales at approximately 660kg.
I make no apology for including a selection of colour images – after all a Ferrari racing car can only ever be in one colour – red.
The car took part in the Gurney Cup and won in magnificent fashion, coming from 16th place to be the first to cross the finishing line – although it did pick up some battle scars during the race when it rear-ended a Ford GT40.
You can watch the whole race by clicking on the official Goodwood video below.
For more information about this car you might like to watch this short video by Max Girardo.
The second car is the John Player Special Lotus 97T. I have always loved the black and gold livery and Formula One cars of the 70’s and 80’s. But what makes this car so special is this was the very car driven to victory by Ayrton Senna at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril in 1985. The Member’s Meeting coincided with the 40th anniversary of Senna’s maiden Formula One win in horrendous wet-weather conditions. He finished the race having lapped almost every other car in the field and was over a minute ahead of his nearest rival, Michele Alboreto in a Ferrari. It was a masterclass in car control; racing in conditions which today would almost certainly have stopped the race going ahead. The genius of Senna was established on that day 40 years ago.
It was a privilege for me to stand so close to this car in admiration of the not just the car but one of the all time greats, who sat behind the wheel and demonstrated his unique driving talent to the world.
At Goodwood the car was driven around the track by Ayrton’s nephew Bruno Senna.
Goodwood have also compiled a video of some of Senna’s greatest drives, which includes his maiden victory at Estoril. Well worth watching.
If you enjoyed this entry then you might want to read my last post –
Am I a petrolhead? … capturing the spirit of the 82nd Goodwood Members Meeting
alan frost photography 
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