New Classic Alfa production - Brake fluid reservoir for early 105 cars, available in June

Finally here! Right-hand drive outer headlamps for Bertone GTV from 1968-76 (GT Junior from 1971)

Classic Alfa Track Day at Goodwood - 14.09.2006

Our first ever Classic Alfa track day at the historic Goodwood Circuit was fully booked with a broad range of 35 cars from the Giulietta and Giulia range. The weather forecast however didn’t look to be on our side and the morning looked rather foreboding as I left London at 5am.

Arriving at the circuit, we were greeted by the friendly Goodwood staff at the rather smart and very new Stewart Pavilion at 7.30am and the ever enthusiastic & helpful Chris Snowden led the morning circuit briefing for our eager drivers.

101 spiders through the chicane

Steve Rogers’ 1300GTA replica

Out on the track at 9am sharp we had a fantastic mix of Giuliettas (5 Spiders, 2 saloons, 3 Sprints and an SZ) and Giulia 105 cars. This included 3 1600 GTAs (!), an extremely varied and large selection of Bertone GT’s including the 75 twin-spark engined GT of Duncan Richardson (finished only the night before at midnight!) and the rapid fibreglass 2000GTV belonging to Bill Smith. Other 105 variants were a Duetto, Chris Robinson’s 2 litre’d Super and Andrew Jackson’s racing Super.

For some reason the marshals decided to run 15 minute sessions rather than the 10 we had specified until this was spotted at around 11am by which time quite a queue had built up. This reduced a bit after lunch but it was obvious that for next year we would need to switch to a 10 cars per session format (despite its stricter noise restrictions).

The weather slowly but steadily improved throughout the day and many enjoyed the mix - isn’t learning to drive quickly in the wet is a valuable skill after all?

Roz Shaw’s Sprint GT and Gran Turismo’s GTJ coming through the chicane

Ray Blake & Michael Hughes’ Duetto in pursuit of Paul Featherstone’s 101 Sprint

Despite the slippery morning circuit everyone drove well & there were only a couple of minor “offs” where drivers found the limits of rear wheel drive when they strayed onto Lord March‘s lawns!

Special mention should go to Ray Blake & Michael Hughes’ immaculate Duetto being driven with great spirit, Andrew Jackson’s beautifully executed pirouette at St.Mary’s and James Wiseman’s keen desire to take home some commemorative Goodwood gravel in his stunning SZ.

The day also provided an opportunity for a number of customers to shake-down their race cars - Richard Frankel’s newly prepared 1600GTA was going very well as was John Penfold & John Dooley’s ex-Richard Ward Giulietta Ti. Roz Shaw tested tyres for her Sprint GT while Andrew Thorogood (Giulietta Ti) and Keith Waite (1750GTV) were testing their own race cars.

James Wiseman’s lovely SZ

Paul Featherstone’s 101 Sprint

By the afternoon the circuit was dry & the pace had quickened considerably. Goodwood is a fast & enjoyable circuit which provided a lot of entertainment for everyone including a number of drivers exiting the chicane very “enthusiastically”. It’s an easy circuit to remember and therefore you can quickly start to improve your entry speeds & line through the corners with every lap without constantly worrying about which section of the circuit is coming next! ARDS instructor Chris Snowden was kept busy all day doing tuition sessions for those who’d pre-booked and a few on-the-spot bookings in the afternoon.

Ken Carrington was there throughout the day taking pictures of everyone as they came through the chicane and later at various other points around the circuit. Excellent prints are available for any of the drivers (or anyone else for that matter!) to buy from Ken and you can contact him via email at ken.car@blueyonder.co.uk Thanks to Ken for the images we have used here.

What struck me most by mid-afternoon was the fantastic atmosphere that had built up through the day with everyone chatting around each other’s cars in between sessions. A number of customers had turned up just to spectate and they all stayed on for a number of hours chatting with drivers and cadging the odd ride.

The Frankel GTA sideways

The Thorogood Ti

Ron Simons, the well known Alfa 75 racer and Nurburgring Driving coach, was over from Holland demonstrating his fantastic suspension kit (which we have just started distributing) with rear coil over units allowing you to dial in the ride height you need at the rear. He also had on display the top of the range version which has fully adjustable (with the units on the car) shock absorbers front & rear. Thanks to Bill Smith for letting Ron use his car as a demonstrator for the number of Alfa trade people who were given some very rapid & entertaining laps by this exceptional driver.

The enthusiastic spirit of the day was reflected at the impromptu evening gathering for drinks and a meal at the lovely Anglesey Arms (5 minutes from the circuit) which ran on until about 11pm.

This being our first event of this type meant that we learnt a few things on the way and have decided to hold at least one (possibly two!) a year at Goodwood as the circuit provides the perfect “classic” setting for our classic Alfas. We will be purchasing a quantity of clip-on silencer “cans” to allow us to use the 98dB 10 car format without fear of paid up customers being turned away on the day for being too loud (our concern this year). This means next year we will be able to guarantee about 8 sessions per day for every car present which will be fantastic.

Thanks to everyone that came for their enthusiasm during and after the day and their safe & considerate driving. I hope you will all return next year!

For those of you who want more of an idea what it can be like taking a 105 Alfa out on the track have a look at this link -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPADQCoS1-w