The feature race for Sunday is always the high octane RAC TT Celebration, where the rawest and most powerful GT cars of the 1960s regroup for battle around Goodwood’s fast, flowing layout. Power and handling are equally important, and this year the car to have proved to be the AC Cobra in what proved to be a vintage occasion for Carrol Shelby’s mighty masterpiece.
Race report: RAC TT Celebration – Revival 2019
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A trio of Ford’s mighty 427 engines filled the front row of the grid when the Cobras of Bill Shepherd/Romain Dumas and Christopher Wilson/André Lotterer were separated by the Ford-powered Tojeiro of David Hart/Nicolas Minassian.
Shepherd got off the line first but was stymied by a huge amount of wheelspin as the pastel green Cobra slithered furiously beneath him, allowing Minassian the opportunity to show where enormous commitment into Madgwick can get you as he barrelled through to take the early lead.
As was the case in the ‘60s, Ford was pressed hard by Chevrolet as a phalanx of Corvettes began to get among the leaders. These evenly-matched V8 rivals went at it like it was 1964 all over again, resulting in some brilliant on-track battles for the crowd to enjoy and the occasional wrinkled fender for the owners to ruminate upon after the chequered flag.
In the end it was the pole-sitting car that emerged to take victory, with three-time Le Mans winner Lotterer crossing the line in the baby blue Cobra to seal a well-deserved victory.
Photo by Jordan Butters.
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