Famous faces and fantastic racing

Goodwood Members Meeting Blog – by Albert Wall

Unlike last year, this was a weekend to remember.

Goodwood had decided to move the annual Members’ Meeting back a few weeks in the hope of some warmer weather and it certainly paid off. Our Accounts Manager Annelise and assistant Luke, despite their brave efforts in the snow last year, had been substituted for, shall we say, the “Warmer Weather Team” (not huge fans of the cold)! This team was made up of Philip and Julie Porter, Goodwood newbie Tania Brown, and myself.  We were also joined by our sales duo Rob and Sue, who drove customers to us throughout the weekend keeping us busy.

From left: Philip & Julie Porter, Derek Bell MBE, Tania Brown, Rob Schulp, Sue Farrow and Albert Wall

Not only did we have the pleasure of Derek Bell MBE joining us for four book signing sessions over the weekend, it gave us the opportunity hear some new and witty one-liners from Rob.

There was a fantastic atmosphere on the stand, no doubt created by the 5 times Le Mans-winning legend, which attracted some famous faces, including Gordon Murray CBE and the Duke of Richmond, which was a real honour. A big thank you to all who came to visit us over the weekend. It was a great pleasure to see so many familiar supporters and the opportunity to meet some new ones.

To the races! Tania enjoyed seeing her partner Adam Jones race with the pre-1930s vintage sports racers in the John Duff Trophy. Despite a heroic hillclimb-type start, making up several places on the grid, he was caught up by some of the more powerful cars during the race. Congratulations on the Goodwood debut, Adam.

Although it was a busy weekend, I still managed to get out and watch one race, the Graham Hill Trophy. After being dominated by the TVR Griffith, it was won with ease by Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen in the Jaguar E-type after the exhaust of the Griffith became disconnected and started dragging along the tarmac, forcing a unwanted pit stop. A real shame as both Philip and I thought we were in for a repeat of last years’ thrilling battle between the same E-type and the Ferrari Breadvan.

In summary, I was delighted to be able to say I attended the very successful 77^th Members’ Meeting.

Bring on Festival of Speed!