On the Edge – Our Goodwood Debut

Goodwood. An evocative name for us petrolheads. The first circuit to open after the war and largely unchanged since, this must be on every classic racer’s bucket list, including ours, so you can imagine our glee at being invited to race at this year’s Members’ Meeting in the famous SF Edge Trophy – a celebration of Edwardian motoring for cars and aero engine specials built up to 1923. Suffice to say hands were bitten off and our vehicle of choice for such a prestigious race was the formidable 1914 Hall & Scott Aero-engined Peugeot Indianapolis, graciously provided by the inimitable Ivan Dutton of Shed Racing fame.

A pep talk from Ivan Dutton

Boasting a whopping 10,000cc, four-cylinder, 100bhp aero engine with a single overhead cam, the Peugeot is as intimidating as it sounds. Ivan built up this beast over a number of years, remaining as close as possible to the design of the original Indianapolis winning car. He’s been running the Peugeot on the road for some time now to iron out any bugs and we have to say, in comparison to our usual racing 3-litre Bentley, it drove with considerable ease (and speed). Getting used to the lack of front brakes took some doing though! Needless to say, when Ivan extended the invitation, it was an opportunity that was simply impossible to pass up (despite some protestations from our nearest and dearest).

Tom at the wheel of the mighty Peugeot Indianapolis. Credit: Martin Wall

Our founder, Tom Wood, whose limited yet eclectic racing experience covers Ford Kas, MX-5s and a 1920s Bentley (as featured in our 100 years of Le Mans video), thought a shakedown might be a good idea and so a preparatory journey began at the windswept Anglesey Circuit in Wales. Perfectly reinforcing stereotypes the Welsh weather dished up all four seasons of track conditions in one day and the Peugeot was put thoroughly through its paces. The car performed admirably, however, with 5-6 hours of faultless track time giving us a healthy dose of confidence in our ability to manage the required ten laps at Goodwood. From a handling point of view the Peugeot definitely felt more nimble than our Bentley and despite the lack of front brakes was more than happy to slide it’s way through corners to scrub off speed.

Following this successful sesh some further testing time at Goodwood offered a useful opportunity to get a feel for the circuit despite another multifarious meteorological melange, and you quickly begin to realise why so few amateurs and so many pro racers appear on the bill. It is fast. Even in a 110-year-old car.

A battle with the Curtiss-powered Monarch Special during a wet Goodwood test session. Credit: Alex Sanderson

There is very little braking required and quite a bit of sliding and frankly not a lot of space to gather things up if any of that goes wrong. After a brief excursion to the passenger seat at Anglesey during some “exuberant” cornering, Ivan fashioned a period-correct memory foam bolster which went some way to help keep our Tom in place, although it would have made exiting the car in a hurry more of a challenge.

As race weekend approached, a last-minute decision by Ivan to swap the twin carbs for a single Miller setup added an element of unpredictability, albeit doing wonders for his YouTube views – you can see the fitting here, and yes, this was the day before the race!

The monstrous new miller carb setup and “elephant leg” manifold.

The SF Edge paddock is a special place with some fearsome competition, including Duncan Pittaway with the thunderous “Beast of Turin”, Ben Collings’ 1909 Blitzen Benz with 120hp and Mark Walker’s Darracq “200hp” – a land speed record breaker that apparently boasts closer to 300hp. The stage then was set for an epic showdown, as well as some desperate attempts by Tom to not come last.

Race winner Julian Mazjub of Blockley Tyres telling Tom how to keep the wheels on. Credit: Mark Davis

It quickly becomes apparent that there’s a fair amount of parading involved at Goodwood and during our various queues and holding pens it was great to talk to some of the fans of the car that had been following Ivan and Suzie’s YouTube series of the build. Despite the largely untested carb the car held its own during qualifying, securing a respectable mid-grid start. We have no doubt it could have done significantly more but in an unfamiliar car we think Tom did pretty well! In the first race we finished 15th out of 25— an acceptable result for our inaugural outing at Goodwood, especially considering the calibre of the competition!

The first race. Credit: Martin Wall

The second race began with promise. Tom made an impressive start, overtaking four cars off the line and recording his fastest laps of the weekend. However, on lap three, disaster struck in the form of a front offside tyre blowout—mercifully on the Lavant straight and not mid corner. As dramatic as it was Tom was able to coast the car deftly to a stop among the daffodils lining the track but that’s not to say it wasn’t a bona fide “code brown” moment, not to mention a great photo opp, too!

Getting overtaken by our own tyre half way up Lavant. Credit: Goodwood

The aftermath was a mix of relief and mild embarrassment as we returned to parc fermé, complete with “loser’s trophy” in the form of the shredded inner tube hanging around Tom’s neck. The crowd were incredibly gracious in their appreciation, however, as he ambled in behind the Gordon Murray prototypes but this is racing. You can prepare and prepare and prepare but the unpredictability of chucking century old machines around a track at full send can never be fully eradicated, or sh*t happens”, for short.

The offending pinched inner tube – you can see the shattering effect when a tube pops at 5bar!

Despite the untimely end to our race, the experience was not to be missed. Racing at Goodwood was a vivid lesson in the challenges and charms of vintage motorsport, an epic stadium to partake in but an all too real reminder of just how far racing safety has come with modern inventions like roll bars and seat belts!

As ever Goodwood put on a tremendous show with fun for all the family. The Members’ Meeting is just that tad more intimate and easier to get around than the Revival and Festival of Speed events and we highly recommend it for the little ones. Napping facilities are also available, warmed by the exhaust of Grand Prix Sunbeams, as demonstrated by one of our fledgling crew members. As ever, we’re eager to return to Goodwood, perhaps next time in a vehicle equipped with front brakes and, just maybe, seat belts. Until then we’ll carry the memories of our debut at the SF Edge Trophy — proof of our commitment to celebrating, and participating in the rich tapestry of automotive history.

Blockley Tyres’ childcare facilities

Many thanks to Ivan Dutton of Shed Racing – check out his YouTube channel if you haven’t already. Thanks also to Ben Collings (driving the fearsome 1909 Blitzen Benz) for having us along.