Sterling way to pay tribute to a legend
THE legendary Sir Stirling Moss, who passed away at Easter 2020, will be commemorated at Goodwood’s returning headline motorsport events in 2021.
Moss was no stranger to Wales and Welsh racing cars, competing in his younger days at the motor races including the 350cc and 500cc international records at Montlhéry in France in November 1950, the team drivers being Moss, Ken Gregory and Jack Neill. They came away with 13 records.
Swansea’s Cyril Kieft asked Moss to drive for him for the 1951 season but Stirling did not rate the car highly.
Ken Gregory, then Moss’s manager, persuaded Kieft to take over a design conceived by Dean Delamont, John Cooper and Ray Martin. Martin would build the prototype to Stirling’s specification and Kieft would badge the car and build production versions.
The CK51 was an advanced design featuring a distinctive suspension arrangement using a swing axle, suspended by elastic with negative camber. Moss and Gregory also became directors of Kieft Cars Ltd, which eventually moved to Wolverhampton.
Moss took the car to wins at Castle Combe and Goodwood in the then 500cc Formula Three category.
The Kieft also raced at Swansea’s Fairwood Aerodrome events in the mid-50s, and at the wheel of a car constructed by Kieft it was at the Goodwood Motor Circuit that Moss won his very first motor race, on September 18, 1948, a day after his 19th birthday.
In the years that followed, Moss contested 56 races at Goodwood, winning 21 of them and finishing on the podium a further 13 times.
Goodwood was the scene of four of Moss’s seven Tourist Trophy victories; two for Ferrari and two for Aston Martin, including clinching the British marques world championship title in 1959. It was also the scene of his career-ending accident on April 23, 1962.
One of the founding patrons of the Festival of Speed, and a regular competitor at the Revival, it’s little wonder that Moss became a favourite of the fans, who christened him ‘Mr Goodwood.’
Given his racing record, it is fitting that Moss should be remembered at the 2021 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, the theme for which is ‘The Maestros – Motorsport’s Great All-rounders.’
The anniversary of the famed
Italian road race, the Mille Miglia, passed some days ago. Moss won it in 1955, with the invaluable help of co-driver Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson.
The daring duo completed the epic 1,000-mile race at an average speed of 99mph, a record which will stand for ever as the road race is no longer run as it was.
Honouring this achievement at the Festival of Speed, Mercedesbenz will display the fearsome 300SLR ‘722’ in which the pair competed – it is rarely seen outside the Mercedes-benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Mercedes-benz will also bring a W196 Formula 1 car of the type Moss used to win his first Grand Prix at Aintree in 1955.
The Goodwood Revival in September will host perhaps the largest ever gathering of his competition cars, celebrating his life and career in a way that sadly wasn’t possible in 2020.
Returning for the parade will be the ‘722’ in what will be one of its last public outings for many years.
Assembling on the track with it will be the Lotus 18 in which Moss defeated the mighty ‘Sharknose’ Ferraris at both Monaco and the Nürburgring in 1961.
Returning to Goodwood will also be the Rob Walker Racing Ferrari 250 GT SWB which Moss drove to his last Goodwood win, at the Tourist Trophy in 1961.
Many of the Moss parade cars will also be racing in earnest again during the Revival, including the Aston Martin DB3S in which he finished second at Le Mans, and the Nürburgring 1,000km-winning DBR1.
Also invited to compete in those two races respectively will be his Reims-winning Jaguar C-type and Cooper T49, while a real rarity, the Ferguson P99 four-wheel-drive Grand Prix car which Moss piloted to victory in the International Gold Cup in 1961, will join the grid for the Richmond Trophy.
The Revival is also the setting for the second running of the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy.
Formerly the Kinrara Trophy, this race was renamed for Goodwood Speedweek in 2020, and will now be a permanent fixture on the Goodwood calendar.
Contested by Jaguar E-types, Ferrari 250s, Aston Martin DB4 GTS and AC Cobras, this has been described as “the most beautiful race in the world”, taking place as the sun falls on the Friday night of the Revival weekend.
Finally, the 78th Members’ Meeting in October will see the third running of the Moss Trophy for GT cars of a type which raced up to 1962, a fitting way to keep the Moss name alive at Goodwood’s most exclusive race meeting, helped on his way to those glories by that Swansea Kieft association.
WELSH rally driver Tom Cave has been testing his Hyundai i20r5 in the North Wales forests, covering some 200km, his first drive in the car for eight months.
Cave said: “I was up to speed after 10km so I guess the ability stays with you. My 2021 programme for events is still unclear but we are working hard behind the scenes to pull something together.
“Whether we will be there for the first round of the British Rally Championship is yet to be seen. At the moment it looks unlikely unless things come together soon, but who knows?”
Swansea driver Phil Turner has also been testing his newly-built Skoda rally car prior to the start of his new championship season.
THE British Automobile Club, which operates the Pembrey circuit near Llanelli, has commented further about prospects at the venue and others they operate.
BARC chief executive Ben Taylor said: “We’re pleased to get some spectators on May 17, but June is the important time when we can go back to full crowds.
“The whole year has been challenging and difficult, and I understand the frustrations of all racing circuit operators but we have a good relationship with our local councils and authorities.
“We have to get over this very difficult year, as do other businesses, and go again. We’re still fighting!”