I took my GTD to Goodwood race circuit on Thursday for some testing following some work that I had carried out on the car a few weeks earlier by Frank Catt. It turned out to be quite an eventful day!
The car performed very well in performance terms (despatching a number of Ferrari 360s) but I had an oil leak on the engine where one of the bolts on the manifold had managed to come loose. Given that this required a socket with a universal joint and the appropriate head on it to fix, I figured I would be on my way home. However, as it happened, one of the marshals at the circuit was one of the Gulf-Wyer team mechanincs who worked on the GT40s in 1968 and 1969 - and he helped me sort the problem (to which I owe him a big thankyou) so that I could resume on the circuit in the afternoon. As he put it, if there is one car that deserves to be on the track today - it is yours!
Whilst I was there, I was approached by guy who heads up the Goodwood Revival. Now for those of you who do not know what that is - you should! To me, this is the premier motor racing event in the world, and each year around 100,000 thousand people attend a series of races at Goodwood featuring all the top historic racing cars (and bikes) of the 50s and 60s. And the guests are asked to dress in period clothing which al just adds to the atmosphere.
He informed me that this year they wanted to celebrate the 1966 Le Mans win and wanted to have the three MK II cars that won on display at the circuit (atop poles). I understand that the owners of the original cars were not keen on that (although I think they may still be coming to the event for parading on the circuit) so Goodwood are looking for three MKII GTDs to display instead - and they would pay for these cars to be repainted in the colours of the cars that won in 1966. I am sure that the work that would be carried out on the cars at Goodwood's expense would be first rate - everything they do is first rate.
The trouble is that there are very few MKII GTDs that I am aware of. Does anybody know of who owns a MKII GTD (or other quality GT40 replica manufacturer) so that I can find out if they are interested in having their car take part in the display?
Martin
The car performed very well in performance terms (despatching a number of Ferrari 360s) but I had an oil leak on the engine where one of the bolts on the manifold had managed to come loose. Given that this required a socket with a universal joint and the appropriate head on it to fix, I figured I would be on my way home. However, as it happened, one of the marshals at the circuit was one of the Gulf-Wyer team mechanincs who worked on the GT40s in 1968 and 1969 - and he helped me sort the problem (to which I owe him a big thankyou) so that I could resume on the circuit in the afternoon. As he put it, if there is one car that deserves to be on the track today - it is yours!
Whilst I was there, I was approached by guy who heads up the Goodwood Revival. Now for those of you who do not know what that is - you should! To me, this is the premier motor racing event in the world, and each year around 100,000 thousand people attend a series of races at Goodwood featuring all the top historic racing cars (and bikes) of the 50s and 60s. And the guests are asked to dress in period clothing which al just adds to the atmosphere.
He informed me that this year they wanted to celebrate the 1966 Le Mans win and wanted to have the three MK II cars that won on display at the circuit (atop poles). I understand that the owners of the original cars were not keen on that (although I think they may still be coming to the event for parading on the circuit) so Goodwood are looking for three MKII GTDs to display instead - and they would pay for these cars to be repainted in the colours of the cars that won in 1966. I am sure that the work that would be carried out on the cars at Goodwood's expense would be first rate - everything they do is first rate.
The trouble is that there are very few MKII GTDs that I am aware of. Does anybody know of who owns a MKII GTD (or other quality GT40 replica manufacturer) so that I can find out if they are interested in having their car take part in the display?
Martin
