1961 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood: Seventh T.T. For Moss

Victory for Stirling Moss looked to be certain in the 1961 running of the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood, and he didn't disappoint, winning in the same Ferrari 250 SWB as the previous year

Ferrari 250 SWB in 1961 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood

Moss's win was so predictable, his victory cake was baked before the start

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Britain’s oldest motor race, the Tourist Trophy, held for the fourth time at Goodwood, received an entry which could hardly be called International and when no less than seven of the entries withdrew, the race lost much of its interest. The Ferraris of Seidel and Berney were withdrawn from the big-car class, as were the Jaguar E-types of McLaren and Wicken; the latter, not having shown outstanding speed or reliability in sprint events, were withdrawn, reputedly on advice from the factory. This left the Ferraris of Moss and Parkes to face three Aston Martins, two Zagato-bodied ones for Salvadori and Clark and a normal-bodied one for Innes Ireland, all entered by John Ogier.

The other entry in this class was a Chevrolet Corvette entered by American driver A. I. Markelson, which was not seriously considered. With five Porsches in the 2-litre class, four of them Abarth-bodied, two being from the works for Graham Hill and Herbert Linge, the Morgans and the sundry other sports cars which made up this class looked unlikely to get a look in. In the 1,300-c.c. class Volonterio withdrew his slow Alfa Romeo Giulietta SVZ and Mackenzie withdrew his Turner, leaving nine Elites to contest the class.

In practice Moss had a mild shunt in the Ferrari when a tyre burst but made fastest practice time on Thursday in 1 min. 34.8 sec., to Parkes’ 1 min. 35.2 sec. On Friday he stepped into an aeroplane before practice finished to fly to Morecambe to switch on the illuminations, and Parkes did a bit of gamesmanship, roaring round in his bright red Ferrari to record 1 min. 34.4 sec. Salvadori was the fastest Aston with 1 min. 36.6 sec, and, barring misfortune, a Ferrari win for Moss, in the same Car with which he won last year, looked to be certain.

1961 Tourist Trophy race

Start of the 1961 Goodwood Tourist Trophy

Start of the race

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At the start Parkes made a good getaway, followed closely by Moss and the Astons, and only Peter Lumsden was left on the line in his Elite. On the first lap Parkes led by a whisker from Moss, with Clark, Salvadori, Graham Hill, Hahnl’s Porsche, Bill Allen’s Elite and the Morgans of Shepherd-Barron and Lawrence in close attendance. Gradually the field sorted itself out, with the faster cars which had made poor starts working towards the front of the field, Lumsden storming along and breaking the class lap record, while Moss took the lead from Parkes on lap eight, these two being well in front of the Astons of Salvadori, Clark and Ireland.

Graham Hill held a secure sixth place, obviously enjoying himself with the Porsche, but Fritz Hahnl was being embarrassed by Bill Allen’s Elite and Shepherd-Barrow’s Morgan. Parkes began to get a little wild in his efforts to keep with Moss and soon managed to demolish the wattle fencing at the chicane, and thereafter he regularly hung the tail out over the grass. The boot lid of Clark’s Aston came open, but he was not black-flagged and he waited until his pit called him in. Olthoff’s M.G. Twin-Cam set fire to its passenger’s seat and he stopped to have the exhaust pipe bent clear, while Shepherd-Barron had to drop out of his excellent 10th place because his back axle was beginning to seize, and Graham Warner, who had been moving through the field after a poor start, stopped on Lavant Straight and abandoned the car. Porsche lost a car when Linge, who had never been very high on the lap chart, pulled off at St. Mary’s.

Parkes made the first of his expected four stops for tyres after 19 laps, or just over 30 minutes of racing. The rear tyres were changed and he left within 40 sec. Next in was Salvadori, who changed all the tyres on the heavy Aston Martin and took on 5 gallons of fuel in just over a minute. Moss waited until his 24th lap before he came in to change all the tyres and take on a churn of fuel, taking only 34.9 sec. for his stop. One by one the big cars made their stops, the race order alternating according to who was in the pits and how long they stayed, but Moss was obviously going several more laps than Parkes on each set of tyres, hoping for one less change. Moss did not lose the lead after his stop and held Parkes at bay with a regular 7-sec. gap.

Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato of jim Clark in the 1961 Goodwood Tourist Trophy

Clark’s heavy Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato went through 14 tyres

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Incidents were ten-a-penny and the crowded stand opposite the pits received its moneys-worth with all the frenzied action. Shepherd-Barron had taken over Marten’s Morgan while the pit crew attempted to change a half-shaft on his own car, but it was eventually retired. Keith Green’s Porsche Carrera was in trouble with brakes and eventually a front brake drum was changed. Les Leston and Peter Lumsden were taking it in turns to break the class lap record in their Elites and Parkes broke the G.T. record with 1 min. 35.4 sec. (90.57 m.p.h.). The Corvette was causing no little amusement by holding everyone up on the corners and then steaming away from them on the straights, but traces of thick smoke from the exhaust spelled impending doom. The car had overheated and blown a gasket and it soon became a mobile smoke cloud, but the driver persisted in motoring round despite being shown the black flag several times, and eventually Markelson had to be practically arrested before he could be persuaded to retire.

From the archive

John Whitmore caused some excitement by hurtling through the chicane on the inside with the throttle jammed open on Barber’s Elite; he had been pressing the pedal so hard that it had jammed in the floorboards. Cuff-Miller had a moment in the Le Mans Sunbeam Alpine when the bonnet flew open and he called in to have it wired down, and Colin Escott spun in the T.V.R., which had been going quite quickly, when a con.-rod came out of the M.G.-A engine.

Meanwhile Parkes had made his second stop for all four tyres to be changed and 10 gallons of fuel to be added, which dropped him well behind Moss, who showed no signs of stopping, his less flamboyant style obviously using less rubber. Parkes stropped further back when, after an off-course excursion behind the bushes at Woodcote, part of the undertray began to drag on the road and he was black-flagged to have it replaced, losing 70 sec. in the process, dropping to fourth place behind Salvadori and Ireland. Retirements began to mount steadily and Clive Hunt’s Team Elite Lotus went out with the front suspension pulled away from its mounting on the glass-fibre body; this trouble had affected Allen’s Elite in practice and later in the race caused Sherman’s Elite to hit the chicane wall when the suspension collapsed as he negotiated this obstacle. Olthoff retired his M.G. with rear axle failure – poor reward after changing this component during practice. Bill Shaw crashed his A.C. at Madgwick without personal damage.

Porsche-Abarth 356B of Graham Hill in the 1961 Goodwood Tourist Trophy

Hill led the 2-litre class in his Porsche-Abarth

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Graham Hill made his first stop after 1 hr. 40 min. of racing, changed the left rear wheel, took on 10 gallons of fuel and went his serene way, leading the class by two laps and breaking the class lap record every so often. Earlier Moss had made his second stop for all four tyres to be changed and left still with a two laps lead over Salvadori. Peter Lumsden lost his lead in the 1.300-c.c. class when he made a long pit stop for oil, and Les Leston went into the class lead. Parkes made his third tyre stop and changed all four wheels and took on 10 gallons of B.P. However, with the stops of Salvadori and Ireland he was now back on the same lap, having covered 70 laps after 2 hours’ racing, still 2 laps behind Moss, who made his third and last stop at 5.20 p.m. for rear tyres and fuel.

As the race drew towards its close Parkes made a surprise fourth stop only 30 minutes after his previous stop, changed the rear tyres and took on fuel. When Salvadori and Clark made their stops shortly afterwards Parkes moved back into second place, and although Salvadori tried hard in the last 15 minutes to pull back a 7-sec. deficit the heavier Aston Martin just did not have the steam to make up any ground. Paddy Gaston caused some last-minute interest when his supercharged Sprite caught fire under the bonnet but it was brought under control and his ailing car was brought in to finish, but Shepherd-Barron got through his second Morgan when Marten’s car ran its bearings and the car was abandoned.

Moss completed his 109th lap shortly after 6 p.m. to become a worthy if expected winner, having used better strategy than Parkes. Salvadori did well to keep on the same lap as Parkes in third place, and Graham Hill motored very effectively for sixth place although he was not so far ahead of Les Leston’s Elite which had been reduced to top gear for the last hour or so of the race, but which finished seventh and won the 1,300-c.c. class from Lumsden. – M. I. T.

Mike Parkes and Stirling Moss in the 1961 Goodwood Tourist Trophy

Parkes ahead of the leading Ferrari of Moss

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1961 B.A.R.C. Formula Junior Championship

As a curtain raiser to the T.T. the B.A.R.C. once again held their Formula Junior Championship in two 7-lap heats and a 15-lap Final. Australian driver Gavin Youl had surprised everyone with his M.R.D.-Ford in practice, shattering the official lap record and in the first heat he led for a couple of laps before succumbing to the onslaughts of Gardner, Rhodes and Bill Moss in Lotus, Cooper and Gemini, respectively. Alan Rees won the second heat in his Lotus from Dick Prior and Dennis Taylor, both Lola mounted. McCowen’s Gemini was fourth until the last lap, when he unnecessarily smote the chicane fencing and retired.

In the Final, containing the first twelve from each heat, a first lap mix-up at Madgwick involved six cars when Leighton spun his Lotus. Chris Andrews was the only man hurt, receiving a broken arm and head iniuries. Alan Rees went into a comfortable lead which he never looked like losing. Dennis Taylor held a comfortable second until his engine began to smoke and he was caught by Gavin Youl, who had been involved in a dice with Bill Moss until the latter began to slow. – M. I. T.

 

1961 Tourist Trophy tattle

So sure were the B.A.R.C. that Moss would win that they had a cake made with seven candles on it to celebrate his seventh T.T. win. Perhaps next year the B.A.R.C. could issue the results before the race – it would-save that 1 1/2 hour wait the Press men had this year.

Parkes made four stops for tyres and fitted 12 new ones and took on 25 gallons of fuel. Moss made three stops for 10 tyres and 25 gallons of fuel, Salvadori changed 14 tyres and took on 36 gallons of fuel in four stops, Clark 14 tires and 26 gallons of fuel in four stops, Ireland 10 tyres and 26 gallons in three stops. Graham Hill? One stop, one tyre, 10 gallons of fuel!

The Corvette refused to lie down and die! Spluttered the B.A.R.C. official with the black flag, “That’s the first time I’ve actually had to hit a car to stop it.” One of the Americans called the B.A.R.C. “a —— bunch of amateurs,” then shortly afterwards the announcer broadcast a plug for the B.A.R.C. book which celebrates 50 years of race organising!

Press facilities for a long-distance rave at Goodwood are pitiful. How one is expected to keep a lap chart, standing on a wind-blown corner, only the B.A.R.C. officials in their greenhouses seem to know.

The non-appearance of the E-types was not good publicity for Jaguars. Let’s hope a winter of development will see a Championship-winning car for the 1962 G.T. races. Nor is it good publicity for three Lotus Elites to break their front suspensions.

Who says that Formula Junior is going the way of the 500s? In the Final the finishing order was Lotus, M.R.D Ford, Lola, Lotus, Gemini, Emeryson and Cooper.