[Video] 2023 Fordwater Trophy full race | Goodwood Revival | GRR
The recipe promised much and the result delivered. For the 2023 Goodwood Revival, the two-driver Fordwater Trophy race celebrated Porsche’s 75th anniversary with a grid made up entirely of early 911s (and some super-early 901s before the model name was changed).
With a total of 27 closely matched cars on the grid, the only other thing we needed was field of world class drivers to pedal them as fast as they would go. Fortunately, there was no shortage of expert helmsmen keen to get involved. F1 drivers? Check. Touring car stars? Check. The entry list included such exalted names as Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Tom Kristensen, Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal. If anyone could tame the notoriously twitchy early short wheelbase 911s, surely it was this pack.
Add in ideal weather conditions and the Fordwater Trophy was a top drawer shootout. Things started as they intended to carry on when Oliver Webb made a stunning move around the outside of James Thorpe at Woodcote, sparing barely an inch but managing to get through without touching. Richard Tuthill had less fortune when suspected fluid on the surface sent him on an irretrievable journey to the tyre wall. That resulted in a safety car while the barrier was speedily rebuilt.
Once the race was back on, Andrew Jordan demonstrated exactly how you put an early Porsche 911 around Goodwood, creating a comfortable lead for himself and taking the chequered flag with 13 seconds to spare ahead of the second place car of Philip Quaife and James Thorpe. The podium was completed by William Paul and Rory Butcher.
In the post-race interviews, Jordan described his winning performance as a “nice gentle drive” which might just have been the understatement of the weekend.