Video: 2024 Goodwood Trophy full race | Goodwood Revival

25th September 2024

Rachel Roberts

The Goodwood Trophy was the curtain-raiser on Saturday morning, where drivers would have been rather relieved to see dry conditions after the wet Official Practice session on...

After a delayed start, the action got underway, now shortened to a 20-minute race, and seven-time Goodwood Trophy winner Gillies made an excellent getaway to take the lead in his 1931 ERA A-type R3A. In contrast, Hall had a poor start in the V16-engined BRM Type 15 to drop down the field in the opening moments. His loss, however, was Ian Baxter’s gain, moving up to third in the 1937 Alta 61 IS.

In a race that particularly evokes the feeling of the early days of racing here at the Motor Circuit, these Grand Prix and Voiturette cars were battling for position throughout the field. There was a scrap between the ERA A-Type of Nicholas Topliss and the ERA B-Type of Paddins Dowling for seventh, while further up, Baxter and Hall continued to jostle for third with the latter coming out on top.

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Excellent recovery skills were demonstrated by Duncan Ricketts, who, running in ninth, spun his Parnell Challenger from 1939 onto the grass and narrowly avoided a collision with Brad Baker as he righted the car to rejoin the track.

With the clock starting to tick down, Baxter retook third from Hall, who dropped down to fifth, struggling as other drivers continued to overtake. He would ultimately finish eighth, but Baxter wasn’t content with third. A sudden increase in pace saw him match the lap times of leader Gillies, who had built an eight second lead. That was quickly cut. Eight seconds turned to five, and as Baxter breezed past Blakeney-Edwards to take second place, the gap between leader and chaser was reduced to three seconds with only a handful of laps to go.

It would come down to the final lap to see whether Baxter would catch Gillies to win for a second year in a row, or if the winning experience of Gillies would give him enough of an edge to hold on for victory…