The Freddie March Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival 2017 was held Saturday, September 9 at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex, England. The race for classic sports-racers from 1952 to 1955 featured a fabulous collection of cars such as Jaguar C-Type, Aston Martin DB3 and DB3S, Austin-Healey 100S, Ferrari 500, Maserati A6GCS, Allard and HWM, among others.
Former Silverstone chief instructor Chris Ward was at the wheel of a Cooper-Jaguar T33, a combination that won this race at Goodwood back in 2015. Despite heavy rain and plenty of standing water, Ward managed to drive the Cooper T33 to pole position by more than a second but a technical infringement meant it had to start the race from the back of the grid.
Ward and the JD Classics Cooper were in their element as the race began, making up more than 14 places on the 28-strong grid by the end of the first lap. Just four laps later, and with Ward continuing his charge, the Cooper was up to second but faced a stiff challenge in the leading Aston Martin DB3 of Rob Hall. In fact, it wasn’t until the first corner of the final lap that Ward managed to pass, holding off the DB3 to the chequered flag to take victory by 0.2 seconds.
It was a blistering performance for Ward who steered the silver Cooper on its bumpstops in contrast with the super-smooth Hall. Both drivers drove brilliantly to pull clear of eventual third-place finisher, teenage sensation Richard Woolmer in Matthew Collings’ brutal HWM-Cadillac.
Ward said: “It was great fun. Rob drove a great race and placed the car perfectly. He certainly didn’t make it easy for me.”
Post-race, Chris Ward incurred a five-second penalty for clipping the chicane, demoting the Cooper T33 to second place.
Goodwood Revival 2017 – Freddie March Trophy Race Results
- Rob Hall, 1952 Aston Martin DB3
- Chris Ward, 1954 Cooper-Jaguar T33
- Richard Woolmer, 1954 HWM-Cadillac
Goodwood Revival 2017 – Freddie March Trophy Video
[Source: Goodwood; JD Classics; photo: Drew Gibson]
