Thank Frankel It's Friday – Here's what I'm racing at Revival

There are plenty of people out there with gorgeous cars who can’t get onto any grid at the world’s most prestigious historic race meeting, so when I finally run out of luck and race at the Revival no more, the only appropriate way to feel is damn lucky to have done it at all. But this will not be that year.

For that I have to thank Michael Quinn, perhaps better known to the motoring community as the grandson of Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons. He has a gorgeous early E-type whose all but standard state of tune has not stopped him campaigning it vigorously, most recently at the Le Mans Classic. He had an entry and wondered if I cared to share the drive with him.

At first I thought this must be in the RAC TT Celebration, hitherto the Revival’s only race for 1960s sports cars to require two drivers. But no. This year’s Revival will see the inaugural Kinrara Trophy race on Friday evening. Superficially, the entry seems similar to the kind of cars that you might see in the TT, but look closer and you’ll see a far greater prevalence of those cars that, through no fault of their own would struggle to stay with the front running TT crowd. And the result is one of the most extraordinary grids ever assembled at Goodwood. The entry list comprises three Ferrari GTOs and no fewer than nine SWBs. There are five Aston Martin DB4GTs and seven Jaguar E-types, most of which I imagine will not be lightweights given the fixture’s pre-63 cut off.

Michael and I have not one prayer in a thousand of being competitive among this lot in what amounts to a street E-type with not much more than a roll cage and fire extinguisher by way of racing apparatus. This bothers us not at all and, in many ways, is something of a relief.

Last year I was in a Ferrari 750 Monza on a grid made up exclusively of 1950s Ferrari racers. It was the first time the car had raced at the Revival among cars not possessing insuperable advantages like larger engines with far more power and disc brakes. I knew the Monza should be competitive and felt pressure to ensure that it was. In the end I had a wonderful race and was lying second when a widget in the diff spoiled all the fun with five minutes to go, but the build up had been nervy to say the least. By stark, staring contrast, this year Michael and I will go out with no pressure at all, try to keep out of the way of all those flying Ferraris, probably come last and hopefully have a giggle and a beer about it shortly thereafter. At Goodwood you are part of a pageant and so long as you don’t spoil the show, it really doesn’t matter where you come. Or that is what I shall being saying to myself.

And for drivers the Kinrara Trophy comes with one more huge advantage, which is that once you’ve done your race, you can spend two days straight at the Revival without having to worry about a thing. Your race is run and you can soak up the sights and sounds of the world’s greatest sporting event without a care in the world. I hope to see you there.

Photography courtesy of Andrew Frankel and Jochen Van Cauwenberge