Racing at Goodwood doesn't always go to plan... | 1964 AC Cobra | 83rd Members' Meeting

My only prediction is, hopefully, the car is in one piece and I've got a big smile on my face. And that's all I can ask. I mean, it's sunny, we're at Goodwood, I'm incredibly excited. It's just a wonderful day. It's going to be great. My name is Saif Hassam, from Abu Dhabi, the UAE, a long way from here. And I'm driving this beautiful Cobra. I've been watching Goodwood since the very first revival, so that's forever. And I've been coming to Goodwood for the last five or six years. It's been a dream of mine to come here, and here I am. I've been very lucky to participate in the revivals and the members' meetings and some of the Festival of Speeds for the last five or six years. And it's just such a privilege to have the opportunity to come here. So this is an independent competition car. There were almost 1,000 Cobras that were ever made. Probably 600 or 700 of them were 289s, 45 of which were competition cars. And of that 45 competition cars that exist, roughly 15 were factory cars and the remaining 30 were independent period competition cars. And everybody knows about the FIA Cobras, but this one is a USRC Cobra. It's a US competition car, a little bit wider in the hips. And it was a car that competed in the US versus the cars that competed in Europe. It's an interesting car because in 64, 65, Shelby ran out of the supply of Ford engines. And so this is one of the few, we think, under 10 cars that were made with very specific Shelby-stamped motors that were made by Ford but stamped by Shelby. So it's engine number four, chassis number 2534. So it's a cool car with period independent competition history in the US. So I'm sitting, it's COVID, and I'm thinking, I really want to get out there. And what better time than to speculatively buy a Cobra from the US from a guy called Lynn Park, a.k.a. Mr. Cobra, one of the largest Cobra collectors in the world. And so he actually sourced this car from me, from a guy that I'd owned it for 40 or 50 years. So almost a single owner. And the condition was safe, you've got to go race it. So I'm sitting there in COVID, I've now bought this Cobra, and I know that I have to make it onto Goodwood. No pressure. Luckily, his grace was very kind to sort of have me, and here I am. So I've owned it for about six or seven years now. My favorite thing is, you know, you don't quite know what the car is going to do until you get to the corner. So she's full of surprises. So the Cobras love to surprise you, and it's never a dull moment. And it really is a rewarding car to drive from that standpoint. It's always a very physical car to drive, especially in the wet. And so I feel like every time I step out of the car, I've achieved something. It's very hard to get a lap time out of, and it's just a very rewarding car. It takes a certain kind of driver to tame these things. They're amazing to drive, incredibly capable. But there's something about driving a car with zero aids, no traction control, with a full manual box, and the unpredictability of how these things handle in corners, and around a very unforgiving and technical track like Goodwood. I can't think of a more rewarding driving experience than driving these old historic cars. It's proper driving. Every time you come here, it's just such a privilege. It's so exciting. It's like the first day at school. There's a little bit of nerves, but also a lot of excitement. It's the first time you see a lot of friends in the paddock for the season. So yeah, I'm excited to go out and have some fun with my mates, basically. We left testing. The car felt great, actually. It felt really consistent. So I'm just hoping that the car remains consistent for this session. And if there's anything wrong, we'll just make slight adjustments. But the car feels good. I'm feeling relatively confident. It's just the grid is a little bit of a different grid to what we're normally used to. But we'll just go out there and aim to have fun. I mean, with this weather and this crowd, it's going to be a good time. We definitely refined my driving style to how the car is now set up, which is a little bit different to how we've traditionally had it previously here. So we've made a couple of changes with a new team. And it's just a little bit of nuance, how much speed to carry into various different corners. The thing about driving at Goodwood is maintaining a high minimum speed in every corner here because it's such a high-speed track and not killing your momentum. So I'm just going to keep that in mind and try to do the best that I can. Everybody at Goodwood is absolutely amazing. I mean, I don't need to talk about all the pros because they're absolute superstars. The who's who. But even the amateurs, I think the level here is so high. Just to have the opportunity to race at Goodwood, you know that the amateurs or the gentleman drivers are amongst the best in the world in historics. So it's always a high bar and it's always a privilege to mix it up with them. Meeting at Goodwood and we are now into the practice session for the Phil Hill Cup. Now, this is going to be a 20 minute race when they get to racing. They're not racing yet. They're qualifying, of course, for GT cars and sports prototypes in the spirit of the Sebringer 12 hours between 1964 and 1966. So it's a lovely mix of machinery. That was a busy session, a lot of traffic out there. And, you know, I'm losing a little bit of confidence compared to when we were last year testing, particularly under braking, going from the really high speed stuff into some of the slower corners like Woodcote in the back, just struggling a little bit under braking. I don't quite have the bite that I was hoping that I'd have. I'm not quite able to slow it down as much, but it's slippy out there. A lot of oil from a lot of the other sessions. So we're definitely working quite hard for it. Generally speaking, I think the lap times are quite a bit slower for every car. So I commend the guys that are sort of setting, you know, pole and whatnot. They're definitely working very, very hard for it. The cars are loose out there. I think we've maybe taken a little bit of a step backwards with regards to very specifically braking. I can't quite brake as deep and as hard as I was during testing. So we're missing that little bit of performance. I think the guys are going to take a look at that in between sessions. But otherwise, the car's balance feels quite nice. It's just the track conditions with all of the oil that's out there that you can't quite see. You kind of, you hit the oil and then you find out that it's, you know, you kind of lose your rear end. And so it's a confidence thing as well. And generally there's oil everywhere. So it's just a question of getting that scrubbed off and also gaining confidence throughout the weekend. I think the more we run, the higher the confidence is, the more better than we are. 15 minutes for a qualifying session is quite short. So you really have to be attacking from the get-go. So if you're missing that little bit of confidence, you really pay for it around here, especially with all these guys. I don't want to make too many changes to the car and have another adventure. I'd rather know what I have for the weekend and work with that. And just sort of make small incremental changes and then just improve upon that. We kept it nice and clean. I have no driver excuses. I found, you know, I was able to manage the traffic quite well. So I bought myself a lot of space and a lot of clear air. So really, no excuses there. I just need to go a little bit faster and have a little bit more confidence in the car. So it goes the Bill Shepard one. Bill Shepard was first? Yeah, Matt. But Matt did a 27.1. It's not a million miles away. And then it's the Buncombe one, I think, and then you. OK. And what was Shepard's time? He did a 26.6. I was just missing quite a bit of confidence on the brakes during qualifying yesterday. Just a bit of a long pedal, not much feeling on the brakes. And you really can't afford to drive around here without confidence. And so we've been busy trying to address that situation. Bleeding the brakes a little bit, changing the brake pads. So I've got quite a bit to do in the opening lap, or the out lap rather, just trying to bed those brakes in to make sure that they work for the race. So it was mainly focused around the braking. We left the rest of the car as is because just too many things is not a good thing around here. So little, little increments. I think we're going to have to have a great start to begin with. We usually start quite well here. So we'll just focus on trying to get a good start. And you know, usually the first three, four laps are quite spicy around here. So we'll just try to get a good position. And then once the race settles in, try to focus on executing good laps and try to move further up the field. But it's a short race. A lot's going to be going on, 20 minutes, starting in 15th. I mean, I've got a lot to do. So hopefully we'll just have a great time, have fun, and see what happens at the end. This is the most unpredictable place to race. The track is an absolute bogey track for everyone. It's a big boy circuit. And the drivers here are very, very experienced. And so I think just trust my instinct and see what happens, really. You have to react. Flag is waving from the back of the grid, the signal to the starter. We are ready to go when you're ready to drop the Union flag. And down he comes. One of the Cobra's fluids had a bit of contact, somehow missing the inside, and not just managing to stay off the circuit. Real, real shame there. Can't have a seven. Somehow avoided everyone. But a real sort out in the front. You know, there's so much going on. But it was, I mean, you can see it on the GoPro. Bam. Immediately I was off. And I might have clipped someone there. Yeah. But I didn't hit the wall. And I thought maybe continue, but you can see. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. That's racing. Yeah. Well, I had an absolutely brilliant start. And even before the start, I was, if you remember, I was talking about my confidence with the brakes. So on the out lap, I was feeling the brakes were beautiful. So I was looking really, really positive for the race. I was in a great mood. And I thought we'd make some pretty strong progress. Got an amazing start. We're well in the top 10. And, you know, it's a very feverish start. And someone, and I'm not sure who, clipped me from behind and just spun me around. But unfortunately, that was my race. But, you know, these things happen. And you accept it going into it. And, you know, I'm happy everyone's pretty much OK. Car is looking a little bit secondhand. But we'll, you know, it'll rub out. And we'll get it fixed. And we'll be out the next time. You know, still smiling. Still a great day at Goodwood. Very happy to be here. And we'll keep going. It's all part of racing. You know, the boys at JRT are absolutely amazing. So we'll get it out and running. And we'll be out racing in Dijon again. And then we'll be back for the TT, hopefully, the revival. So, you know, we'll get a chance. We'll get a second crack at it. And hopefully with better luck. Everybody's here for the passion of it. You know, everybody's sort of, you know, really indulging in the atmosphere, the vibe, the passion, the cars. And it's just the most positive, wonderful weekend that you can possibly have in motorsport, I think. And it's the best of British, the best of motorsport. So I encourage you all to come down and give it a try. And you won't leave disappointed, that's for sure.