Video: F3 racers swarm Goodwood

30th July 2020

Will Bibb

With 500cc motorcycle engines – either JAP or Norton power – chain drive and very basic tubular chassis, Formula 3 in the 1950s was an accessible and relatively cheap way to go racing. In period, F3 was a breeding ground for motor sport stars of the future including Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Peter Collins among many others.

Though it had been over sixty years since these diminutive oddballs duelled in period, they returned to Goodwood Revival to do battle once again. Many of the machines in the 2015 edition of the Earl of March Trophy have illustrious racing histories with famous drivers – including the actual Cooper-Norton Mk9 that Ivor Bueb won with at Goodwood in 1955. In 2015 however, it was Peter de la Roche – at the time aged just aged just 17! – who pushed for victory with an outrageous overtake around the outside at Woodcote to give him the win on the very last lap.

Here we see the start of that race, with de la Roche in amongst the leading pack as ‘club 500’ spluttered off the line and shuffled for position in the first lap. Twenty minutes of close-quarters racing ensued…