Legend Stewart guests at Festival of Speed
Sir Jackie Stewart OBE and two of his FIA F1 World Championship-winning Tyrrell cars starred at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, when the four-day motoring event hosted by the Duke of Richmond attracted thousands of visitors to the Goodwood estate in West Sussex.
With Silverstone's British Grand Prix still fresh in the memory, the Goodwood Festival of Speed celebrated the history and 75th anniversary of F1, with many star drivers attending.
Ellesborough's Sir Jackie Stewart was one of the former F1 world champions to attend, and although he didn't drive one of his race-winning Grand Prix machines, his sons, Paul and Mark, did.
Sir Jackie said, "Every year His Grace and his team perform miracles to assemble amazing cars from the history of motor racing for this Festival of Speed. This year the weekend was built around the celebration of Formula 1 and its 75th anniversary. It was something very special to be part of.
"To see so many friends and former champions at Goodwood was something I will long remember. I was able to join other winners of the FIA F1 World Championship and share stories and memories and it was amazing to see cars, some driven by legends of the sport up the Goodwood Hill. “
Sir Jackie won world championship titles in 1969, 1971, 1973 - winning a total of 27 Grands Prix from 99 starts. Retiring from F1 at the end of the 1973 season, he never raced again, although has remained fully active in the sport since. His 'Race Against Dementia' charity battles to find a cure for the disease that his wife, Lady Stewart, suffers from.
The Belgian Grand Prix winning Maserati 8CM of 1933 was driven at Goodwood by James Wood on behalf of the Louwman Museum in Holland. Wood, a regular racer at the Goodwood Revival, drove the car that was raced in period by Tazio Nuvolari in demonstrations. Queenie Louwman also drove the car.
Mark Gillies finished second in the pre-war section of the timed Goodwood Shoot-out in Dick Skipworth's ERA R3A. The car was seen at the Kop Hill Hillclimb in Princes Risborough last year, and Gillies narrowly missed out on claiming top spot in the pre-war class, beaten narrowly by Julian Mazjub in a Maserati.
Also in action at Goodwood was Ross Gunn, driving the Aston Martin Valkyrie car that he recently raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and former Bukingham University student, Marc Gene, who was representing Scuderia Ferrari in one of the Italian teams latest F1 cars.
* The Beechdean AMR team left Norfolk's Snetterton Circuit on Sunday as leaders of the Silver-Am class of the British GT Championship after two one-hour races on Sunday. Andrew Howard and Tom Wood finished thirteenth and twelfth in races won by Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss (2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes) and Kevin Tse and Maxi Gotz (2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes).
The day's opening race did not go to plan for the Beechdean AMR team, when time was lost due to a small incident while Tom Wood was at the wheel. A trip across the grass and light contact with the trackside safety barrier caused light damage to the rear of the team's Aston Martin Vantage GT3, although the car was able to continue.
The British GT Championship will undertake a short summer break, with the next event scheduled for the end of August at Brands Hatch.
* The GT World Challenge Sprint Cup season continues this weekend at the Misano track in Italy. The event is the first championship round for GT World Challenge competitors since last month's Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa. Vale-based Steller Motorsport are one of the 44 competing teams on the entry list, and will field their number 24 Chevrolet Corvette Zo6 GT3.R in two one hour sprint races across the weekend. The team have formally listed Belgian racer, Matisse Lismont, as lead driver for the weekend and will name his race partner in the days leading up to the event.