Lotus Beats Cooper in F.J. 10-Lap Event in which Jimmy Clark Sets a Lap Record of 90.38 m.p.h.

IT is an extremely good omen for the 1960 Goodwood season, that, although a bitter wind blew and quite a lot of rain fell during the afternoon of March 19th, the stands and enclosures were filled for this year’s first B.A.R.C. Members’ Meeting. Perhaps the attraction was John Surtees’ debut as a racing motorist and if so the motorcycling champion did not disappoint his supporters. After making the fastest lap in practice Surtees finished second in the Formula Junior race to Jimmy Clark—Lotus beating Cooper—after a splendid drive. We had thought that fast as Surtees has been on some hundreds of training miles round Goodwood he might still have something to learn for four-wheeler racing technique and so it proved, for be lost the race because he was momentarily put off his line through Madgwick Corner by another driver who reacted to circumstances differently from the racing motorcyclists whom Surtees is accustomed to pass on corners. But the motorcycle champion handled his Cooper very well indeed and promises well in faster cars.

The meeting commenced with a 10-lap Scratch Race for sports cars up to 1,100 c.c. non s/c. J. C. Brierley’s Elva led all the way, hard pressed by von Sickle’s Lotus, until the last lap, when the luckless Brierley came to rest at Madgwiek Corner with engine trouble, allowing von Sickle to win at 83.29 m.p.h. after a well-judged drive. He was very comfortably ahead of the rest of the Lotus-Climax cars, of which those driven by K. Lyon and D. Randall were second and third; von Sickle also made fastest lap, at 85.21 m.p.h. A pity Lotus had no Lola opposition—the only Lola entered, C. Steele’s, didn’t run.

Continue reading on the Archive