FEVER BEATS THE BIG FREEZE

Henry Hope-Frost tribute and spectacular racing made this one Members’ Meeting to remember

’Highlights included David Coulthard battling in nearblizzard conditions’

Visitors to this year’s Goodwood’s Members’ meeting were greeted by the sight of Ford GT40s and Porsche 904s covered in snow, but were treated to some unmissable action on track.

Highlights at this two-day event included David Coulthard battling in near-blizzard conditions to keep a Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’ in shape during the Salvadori Cup, and Kerry Michael’s Ford Escort RS2000 beating everything from Rover SD1s and Golf GTIs to Triumph Dolomite Sprints to snatch victory in the flagship Gerry Marshall Trophy race on the Saturday. The only real loss at this year’s event - which is fast becoming a rival to the Revival, albeit minus the warm weather, 1960s theatricals and big crowds – was the Hailwood Trophy race for 1970-84 motorcycles, which was cancelled due to challenging ontrack conditions.

Off-track there was also a touching tribute to longstanding Goodwood commentator, Henry Hope-Frost, who was tragically killed in a road accident only a few days before the event took place. Visitors were encouraged to remember Henry with ‘Fever’themed stickers and charity donations. Formula 5000 cars that took part in demonstration runs throughout the event revved their engines for a minute in the paddock to pay tribute to the motor sport authority, too – a suitably noisy send-off that we suspect Henry would have thoroughly approved of.

David Griffiths’ 1964 Triumph TR4 forces Ian Dalglish’s 1965 Porsche 911 to take a wider outside line during the Ronnie Hoare Trophy, which caters for 1963-66 sports cars.

Martin Overington’s Bentley 4.5-Litre ‘Blower’ went head-to-head with Jochen Mass in the Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK in the Carracciola Sportwagenrennen, a race for pre-1939 sports cars.

Classic specialist, JD Classics, entered its 1980 Rover SD1 into the Gerry Marshall Trophy race, ably piloted by Top Gear presenter, Chris Harris.