Video: 2024 RAC TT Celebration highlights | Goodwood Revival

A race for closed-cockpit sports GTs from 1960-1964, sees the fastest, most iconic grand touring cars of Goodwood’s golden era battling it out in a one-hour two-driver thrash on the Sunday of Goodwood Revival, exclusively powered by sustainable fuel.

2024 RAC TT Celebration highlights

In theory, a damp surface should not underpin the best conditions for pedalling an AC Cobra quickly, but Oli Bryant didn’t get that memo. Despite having to contend with a wet Goodwood Motor Circuit, he carved his way through the pack to second place in the one-hour, two-driver race. When he handed over to pro driver Jake Hill, he had left things in a good position.

Hill continued the good work, making his way past the CUT 7 Jaguar E-type that was suffering in ever-improving conditions, the wetter surface having favoured the Coventry machines. Once Hill had some clear air, he took full advantage of it to build as big a lead as possible. And he needed to, as the TVR Griffith pedalled by fellow BTCC racer Tom Ingram was gaining on him. 

When the Blackpool machine caught the Cobra, spectators were treated to lap after lap of close quarters racing, the two drivers giving each other just enough space but not a millimetre more. After a few looks down the side of the Cobra, Ingram finally found his chance to make a move stick and took the lead. He wouldn’t give up the position, staying ahead until the chequered flag was waved.

Completing the podium was the AC Cobra of Andrew Smith and Dario Franchitti. In the post-race interview, Franchitti admitted to keeping an eye on the big screens to watch the battle for the lead unfold – all while wrestling the V8 bruiser around Goodwood at podium-sitting pace. That’s what we call talent to spare.

Official Practice 2 for the RAC TT Celebration

The RAC TT Celebration field were in need of some decent running on Saturday morning after the truncated Official Practice 1 on Friday, and the drivers took to the Motor Circuit as though it was Christmas morning, immediately getting up to speed to make the most of their second and final Practice session before the flag drops for the main event on Sunday afternoon.

While the majority of the historic racing at the Revival is majored on the show, there is a steel to the competition in the RAC TT Celebration, a competitive edge that would see any one of these driver pairings incredibly keen to take victory. A win on Sunday would be a rather large feather in the cap.

And it was the Newey family who put themselves in prime position to take the glory as Harrison, the son and team-mate of renowned F1 world championship-winning designer Adrian Newey put in a series of quick laps to secure pole position. The Newey E-type held a four-tenth cushion over Tom Ingram and Mike Whitaker’s TVR Griffith at the head of a star-studded field.

Nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and his team-mate Frederic Wakeman will line up third in the Lister Coupe, heading a trio of AC Cobras set to be driven by Gordon Shedden, Andre Lotterer and Dario Franchitti.

Aside from the A-list grid, what gets us excited for the RAC TT Celebration is how closely matched the field is. The top ten are all within a couple of seconds of each other, and the battle at the front looks set to be enthralling. Don’t miss the flag drop at 14:30 on Sunday.

Photography by Jordan Butters. 

2024 RAC TT Celebration grid (Top 15)

Official Practice for the 2024 RAC TT Celebration

The first of a few runs out for our RAC TT Celebration stars happens on day one of the Goodwood Revival with Official Practice. In 2024, our grid found itself almost literally tossed into the deep end. Rain lashed the circuit and the plump cross-ply rubber of the thunderous TT GTs struggled to spit the precipitation out from between the tread blocks.

The treacherous conditions manifested in drama fairly swiftly, as Goodwood legend Duncan Pittaway lost the tricky Cheetah into the barriers, ending the session much earlier than planned. Further running has been pencilled in for Saturday in the interests of giving the drivers the seat time they’re entitled to.

Nevertheless, some times were put down, even with less than ten minutes of lapping elapsed. As the car with the most laps – itself only managing five – it’s unsurprising the AC Cobra of Alex Buncombe and Jack Tetley managed to go 1:49.507, almost three seconds up on the pursuing E-Type of Alex Brundle and Richard Kent. We hope for clearer conditions when we resume on Saturday, to get a real feel for race pace.

Which cars are in the RAC TT Celebration?

Staple models you can see in the RAC TT include the Jaguar E-Type Lightweight, AC Cobra, Bizzarrini 5300GT, TVR Griffith and Corvette Stingray. The Sunbeam Lister Tiger Le Mans Coupe also features, as does the Lister-Jaguar Coupé, Tojeiro EE-Ford, and a beautiful oddity in the form of the Cheetah.

Which drivers are in the RAC TT Celebration?

As you’d expect, the lineup is glittering. Emanuele Pirro, Nicholas Minassian, Tom Kirstensen, Gordon Shedden, Tom Ingram, Jimmie Johnson, Richard Attwood, Dario Franchitti –all took part in last year’s TT and all return to do it again in 2024, just to name a few. Romain Dumas will be aiming for glory in a Jaguar E-type lightweight, as will Adrian Newey in his own E-type. Jean-Eric Vergne will be on the Grid in the Sunbeam. Everyone who’s anyone at the Goodwood Revival wants a drive in the TT so this is going to be a stand-out race of the weekend.

When is the RAC TT Celebration?

Official Practice and Qualifying sessions for the RAC TT Celebration take place on both Friday 6^th September and Saturday 7^th, before the full race takes place on Sunday 8^th as the main fixture of the afternoon. You can find the exact timings for the race in the 2024 Revival timetable. 

Previous winners of the RAC TT Celebration

The 2024 Goodwood Revival takes place on 6^th-8^th September. Click here to view the full entry list.

You can also see the full Goodwood Revival timetable here.

Photography by Joe Harding, Jordan Butters, Toby Whales and Jochen Van Cauwenberge.