Bryant and Smith re-united at Goodwood for podium finish in the RAC TT Celebration – 18th September 2020
Goodwood Motor Circuit hosted the “Goodwood Speedweek” for the first time in 2020. This behind closed doors event brought together much of the action from Members meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival, with live streaming and live TV coverage throughout. Olly shared the 1964 AC Cobra “GPG 4C” with Andrew Smith in the RAC TT celebration. This packed schedule meant just the one practice session to acclimatise both drivers to the car and circuit. Both drivers showed strong pace and lined up P5 for the race. Smith took the wheel for the start as in previous years and was immediately on the pace. Pitting from P3 before half distance. The pit stops where a mandatory minimum length to allow time to clean the cockpit between driver changes as part of the new Motorsport UK regulations to fight the spread of CV-19. Even so, the timing of the stop meant that Olly resumed as race leader. Such was the pace of 2019 TT winner and Porsche Factory driver Andre Lotterer in the Costin bodied Lister Coupe, that Olly was unable to keep him behind, and soon settled into a rhythm in second place. Mike Jordan’s TVR was closing in and for laps the pair battled until Mike used the lighter weight and higher top speed of the TVR to find his way past on the run to no-name. At the chequered flag, Olly brought the famous ex-Roy Salvadori AC Cobra home in 3rd place, another TT podium to add to the car’s illustrious history.
Olly also took part in the newly named Moss Trophy race for pre-1963 GT cars. This race run into dusk on Saturday evening and was a fitting tribute to the late Sir Stirling Moss. Sharing the 1962 Jaguar E-Type FHC with Phil Keen, the pair lined up 5th on the grid. Unfortunately the car struggled for pace in the race due to a lack of straight line speed which hampered their run. A clutch issue compounded this and off the start as the engine bogged down Olly went from P5 to 16th by the first corner! A good recovery from Phil got the car back to P7 at the flag but this was not the result they were looking for!
The Goodwood Speedweek also had a timed 1 lap shootout of the circuit. Olly was entered in the 1995 Ford Mustang GT-S1 which he’d driven at the Festival of Speed in 2019. The engine threw a power steering pump belt during warm up and missed the first practice session. The team managed to source a replacement in Chichester and Olly was able to run from Saturday onwards. Olly improved by 3 seconds on each daily run and recorded a fastest lap in the Sunday final of 1m19.731 to end up 10th overall and 2nd in the Touring Car class. Full video coming soon!
- Categories: 2020 Season, News
