What’s on this week
Roald Goethe’s fleet of Gulf-liveried racing cars covers evocative marques such as Aston Martin,
Audi, Ford, Mclaren, Porsche, Tyrrell and more. The ROFGO Collection, as it is known, has been lovingly documented in a new book written by esteemed motorsport historian Doug Nye, who tells the history of the wide variety of machines from Formula 1 to Can-am, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500 that all have the classic blue-and-orange paint scheme in common.
Goethe, a German enthusiast who raced at
Le Mans three times between 2011 and 2015, started his collection with the ex-john Wyer Automotive
Ford GT40 chassis #1084. It soon snowballed with the help of classic car entrepreneur Adrian Hamilton. Among its number are hits like the Porsche 917 chassis 031/026 that finished second at Le Mans in 1971, Jacky Ickx’s 1969 German Grand Prix-winning Brabham BT26 chassis A/4 and the Mclaren M8D chassis #4 that won all three Can-am events it started in
Denny Hulme’s hands in 1970.
In equal measure there are failures that many will have (with good reason) forgotten. There’s the Aston Martin AMR One, which remains Prodrive’s most recent attempt at a prototype since chassis #002 completed a mere two laps at Le Mans in 2011, and a Courage-aer C65 LMP2, which had three anonymous races in 2005-06. It’s a diverse and fascinating collection, and many remain in active use in historic events under the ROFGO Racing banner, not least the Mclaren M14A (ex-denny Hulme and Peter Gethin) and Tyrrell 007 (ex-patrick Depailler), which have been raced regularly in the Monaco
Historic since 2012.
Nye recounts the story of each car’s gestation and racing life, including detailing their respective owners prior to joining the ROFGO Collection, accompanied by photographs from period as well as specially commissioned shots that reveal their fully restored current glory. Among the highlights in this regard are the Kremer-porsche K8 driven by Derek
Bell at Le Mans in 1994 – with prominent Autosport logos visible – and Aston Martin DBR9/8 ‘dirty girl’ that won the GT1 class at Le Mans in 2008, with all the grime that resulted from its travails in that year’s terrible weather thankfully preserved. Detail shots also reveal a labelled track map in the footwell, although drivers Darren Turner, David Brabham and Antonio Garcia had little need for that.
Also included are cars that Goethe, whose sons Oliver and Benjamin currently compete in the GT World Challenge Europe and Spanish F4 Championship respectively, drove in his amateur racing career. The Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, Aston Martin Vantage GT2, Mclaren MP4/12 GT3 and Vantage GTE – in which Goethe was a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship Gte-am-winning line-up in 2015 alongside Jamie Campbell-walter and Stuart Hall – each hold a special place in its owner’s heart.
“Everyone has driven it at some point – even my wife!” says Goethe of the Gallardo. “We still use it regularly as a test car – it’s an enduring yet sexy workhorse.”
The book, limited to 900 copies, also features full car specifications and chassis race histories for handy reference. It serves as a fascinating window into one of motorsport’s most impressive private collections and a fitting starting point for enthusiasts of all Gulf-liveried racing machines.