We’re sure there were nerves aplenty among the ranks of the drivers in the GT1 demo as rain sprinkled the Motor Circuit on Sunday morning of the 80th Members’ Meeting. Or there weren’t, given all were highly experienced drivers, with some enjoying a reunion with cars they once raced at Le Mans.
GT1 dream machines return to Goodwood in the sunshine
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Messrs Mowlem, Treluyer and Turner took on the Saleen S7-R, PlayStation-liveried Viper and DBR9 they all respectively raced. The latter won his class in fact. Sam Hancock while not a driver of a DBR9 in period, did enjoy the hot seat of the Vantage GT2 in 2011 and even the ill-fated Lola-Aston Martin LMP1 car in 2010.
The dab hands needn’t have worried as by the time their 10:50am slot arrived, prior competitors and the sun had done their thing. In fact, the sun was out and the taps could thoroughly be opened once again.
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While the waning light of the Saturday evening demo was evocative to say the least, it’s nice to be able to see these cars in full light, in detail at pace. The drivers had their eye in too, so while last night was quick, the added comfort that comes with a prior run and a bit more daylight was obvious.
The truth? Seeing these things monster our Motor Circuit makes us wish they’d come back. We spoke to a few owners and drivers throughout the weekend and all were in agreement, this was a true golden era of endurance racing. Will cars like this comprise some of the best historic racing grids of the distant future? Will they be seen like we see the cars of the RAC TT today? We’d love to see it.
Photography by Joe Harding and Jochen Van Cauwenberge
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