The weekend didn’t quite work out as planned: the engine ran rough in practice (it took us a while to figure out that it didn’t like Goodwood’s posh, high octane fuel – once we filled it with stuff from Sainsbury’s it was absolutely fine), then we lost third gear in qualifying. Then, as the race approached, so the clouds gathered. Hideously sensitive to set up, we had to decide which way to go and because I was always told to play the weather you have, not that which you expect, we went for dry settings.
Which turned out to be a big mistake. I went first and what was absolutely infuriating was that the rain was enough to wet most of the track, but with a dry line for the cars. Which meant overtaking was almost impossible because the moment I moved off line, the car wanted to spin. Poor Richard caught a deluge and did brilliantly just to stay on the track and bring it home somewhere near the top ten.
I mention this now for three reasons: to say happy birthday to a man with as good a claim as any to being the best bloke in motor-racing, to recall a Goodwood themed anecdote the day before a race weekend and to introduce another Lister that most certainly won’t be racing at Goodwood this weekend or any time soon.