It was glory for the big Galaxie this time round at the Goodwood Revival. The ex-Ford of France, and Alan Mann Ford was again piloted by French endurance superstar, Romain Dumas, but this time joined by Bill's son, Fred Shepherd.
The two started the weekend well, both securing pole positions for their respective races, both with over a second's worth of margin to the next best car.
Romain took the reigns of the lumbering 427 for the pro's race, lining up on the inside of the front row. Initially, the Alfa Romeo of Frank Stippler got away best, streaking into an early lead before the balance of power-to-weight shifted into the Galaxie's favour, straight line speed, Romain swamping the little Alfa on the run through the hair-raisingly quick Fordwater kink. Dumas continued this pace, building a healthy lead until, once again, the power-to-weight balances shifted, with the brakes on the heavy Galaxie beginning to fade and the rear tyres deciding they'd had enough! Stippler, often to be found sideways, slowly reeled in the Galaxie, culminating in an attempt at Lavant that saw the German put all four wheels of his pocket rocket alfa on the infield grass. Romain, however, persevered, seeing the chequered flag first, but with Stippler hanging onto his bumper, just a quarter of a second behind.
Following Romain's win on the Saturday, all eyes were on Fred for Sunday's deciding race. Again, lining up on pole, Fred got the big Galaxie away from the line well, arriving to Madgwick at the head of the pack. From here, the budding V8 specialist built firmly upon the fresh air in front of him, managing to pull out a 9 second gap to the Cortina of Mike Jordan behind. However, following a full course safety car, the field was compressed again for the restart. Fred once again, got away well, leading the pack, but behind him things were changing. Olivier Hart made a move on Mike Jordan, taking second place, and looked well-poised to challenge Fred and his now somewhat second-hand rear tyres. This plan was scuppered, however, by the sudden appearance of Gregor Fisken, who's red Galaxie seemed to have been rejuvenated by the safety car's tenure. Fisken and Hart battled hard for the remaining few laps, giving Fred the breathing room he needed to stroke the Galaxie home, 2.5 seconds ahead of the pack.
This result allowed no doubt on aggregates, with Romain and Fred taking a perfect sweep for the weekend. Two pole positions, two fastest laps and two race wins!
Comments