Big boost at Goodwood

F1 turbos primed for spectacular high-speed demo | By Paul Lawrence

Goodwood’s 72nd Members’ Meeting will include the biggest gathering of historic turbocharged Formula 1 cars for nearly 30 years.

They will take part in demonstration runs at the March 29/30 event, as will low-drag Le Mans cars of the 1970s and 1980s. There will also be a rallysprint for 1980s Group B machinery.

Aside from a full 12-race programme, the spectacle of hugely powerful turbo F1 cars will be one of the major features of an event that aims to recreate the BARC members’ meetings of the 1950s and 1960s. As many as 26 F1 cars are expected, including examples from Renault, McLaren, Lotus and Ferrari, as well as less successful models from Zakspeed, Toleman, ATS and RAM.

Rob Huff, 2012 World Touring Car champion, will make his F1 debut at the wheel of a 1982 Renault RE30B. He will also race a Rover 3500 in the star-studded Gerry Marshall Trophy race for Group 1 Touring Cars.

“To race a Rover SD1 will take me back a few years,” Huff said, “because my granddad used to take me to school in one every day. Getting behind the wheel of the Renault turbo is going to be something pretty special, too.”

Fellow WTCC champion Andy Priaulx will also tackle the Touring Car race in a BMW 3.0Si. Rivals include Jochen Mass (BMW 2002), Stuart Graham (Chevrolet Camaro), Nicolas Minassian (Ford Capri), Mike Wilds (Triumph Dolomite Sprint) and John Cleland (Vauxhall Magnum).

The 60-minute Moss Trophy race for pre-63 GT cars will run into dusk on Saturday evening, with half a dozen Ferrari 250s taking on Jaguar E-types as well as 2013 TT winner Simon Hadfield in the Aston Martin DB4GT of Wolfgang Friedrichs.