All the team were looking forward to the 77th Goodwood members meeting with some anticipation. We had three cars out including the GT 40, Corvette Stingray and of coarse the Boss Mustang which we had been working hard to prepare for the meeting so the car was relatively untested in a race environment as we had stripped it down over the winter in preparation for the new season.
As we have written comprehensively on the GT 40 and the Corvette in previous blogs we are going to concentrate on the Boss Mustangs outing. However we had a great result in the Gurney Cup finishing second to Cameron Jackson’s very quick Crossle Oldsmobile and in front of the hard charging GT 40 driven by Joaquin Folch. The Corvette unfortunately faired less well in the Gerry Marshall Trophy race after a promising start the prop shaft let go which rendered the team as a DNF on this occasion.
The Boss Mustang was next up and after an exciting qualifying and a great result at the pointy end of the grid we were relegated in the race to start at the back on Sunday as the officials wanted to see standard manifolds fitted to the car and there wasn’t time so we took our punishment and slotted in last on the grid. It’s always exciting starting the race at the back when you know you have a great car under you and you are out of position.
There was going to be a lot of over taking in this one and patience needs to be mixed with aggression as once that light (or this case flag is dropped) the clock is ticking ! The car was handling beautifully and just stormed through the pack. By the last lap we were third behind the leading Rover SDI of Stig Blomquist and directly behind Jack Young in the other Boss Mustang. Realistically we needed one more lap to come to terms with the charging front two cars but it wasn’t to be on this occasion but we got mighty close on the last lap and going from the back to the front is always a special experience for a driver. Getting on the podium was a great feeling and the crowd were very appreciative of our valiant efforts to get to the front so a great race and a real adrenalin rush throughout. I was delighted with the car and for a big American she handles the tight corners a treat.
Thanks to the team for some great preparation which was certainly put to the test on the day.