Classic CarsWith the first of Goodwood’s two big annual events on the horizon, this month’s gem from the Classic Cars Archive harks back to the circuit’s heyday, when Grand Prix drivers were allowed to show off their racing skills outside the World Championship, and not just in single-seaters.
Here, Graham Hill has John Coombs’ pearl-white Ferrari 250 GTO motoring well in the 1962 Tourist Trophy race, in hot pursuit of fellow GP driver Innes Ireland’s similar car – after 100 laps, the two finished only 3 seconds apart, with Ireland just holding onto his lead after a late tyre-change upset his car’s handling. Other Formula 1 hot-shots – past, current or future – in the race were Jim Clark and John Surtess (who both crashed out at Madgwick when Clark spun while Surtees was overtaking him), Mike Parkes, Roy Salvadori, Ben Pon and Trevor Taylor.
That year’s grid line-up would have made a present-day auctioneer quite thoughtful. Five of the spectacular new GTOs – a couple competing in only their second race – were joined by the ex-Rob Walker Ferrari 250 SWB, hoping to repeat its TT win of the previous year – sadly it ended up crunched again the parked Surtees GTO after spinning off at the same place a few laps from the end of the race. Also taking part were three Lightweight Jaguar E-types in various stages of development, three Aston Martin DB4GT Zagatos, four Lotus Elites, plus a Porsche-Abarth and a lone Chevrolet Corvette. Not forgetting assorted Morgan Plus Fours, Sprites, a TVR Grantura and a Sunbeam Alpine.
Incidentally, despite just failing to win this race, Graham Hill enjoyed 1962. Having won Goodwood’s non-Championship Glover Trophy for Grand Prix cars earlier in the year, he went on to claim his first (and BRM’s only) World Championship. He’d also have his revenge by winning the following year’s TT, this time in the Maranello Concessionaires’ GTO with its distinctive blue nose, and remains the only driver to have won the sport’s three most iconic races – the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans 24-Hours and Indianapolis 500. A feat we can’t see being repeated in a hurry.
Words: Tony Turner
