Return of the king: Kristensen back at Goodwood Revival

23 July, 2015

Le Mans–legend Tom Kristensen will make his return to this year’s Goodwood Revival event, which is being held at the Goodwood Circuit in England on September 11–13, after a two-year hiatus. Kristensen will compete in the RAC Tourist Trophy (TT) category, alongside numerous heavy hitters from years gone by.

Held annually at the historic circuit, the Goodwood Revival sees a plethora of vintage racers of all backgrounds take to the track. With only cars and bikes from the 1950s–’60s motorsport era present, teams and fans often get into period-correct mood themselves, donning vintage garb and creating a memorable portal into Europe’s rich motorsport history.

Kristensen will be joined by fellow former 24 Hours of Le Mans victors Emanuele Pirro, Richard Attwood, Jackie Oliver, Andy Wallace, Jochen Mass, and Mark Blundell. Kristensen retired from full-time racing in November 2014, ending a career that included a record six wins at Le Mans.

But as is the custom at events like the Revival, the cars are the real stars. Over £150,000,000, or NZ$353,480,000, worth of cars will be competing in the TT alone, with Kristensen to be behind the wheel of a 1963 Lister Coupé — a car campaigned previously by former British Touring Car–driver Anthony Reid.

Many more legendary drivers and riders from past and present are yet to be announced, with Formula 1, IndyCar, sports car, touring car, MotoGP, superbike, and road-racing competitors all set to be represented.

The other Q car

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.

Lunch with Bill Leckie: An Imp’s tale

Seeking limelight is part of Bill Leckie’s DNA, but when I asked him if anyone had written about his career and the cars he created, he didn’t think so. Even so, I was delighted when he agreed to sit down with me over a pie and coffee to reminisce. I started by asking how it is that someone who is so fanatical about F1 only ever raced saloon cars? Well, we’ll get to that, but where did things start? “I went to Cornwall Park Primary School and then to Remuera Intermediate where I became good mates with Geoff Perry, son of the legendary motorcycle racing legend Len.” Geoff Perry was 23 and on the edge of stardom when he was killed in a mystery air disaster over the Pacific in 1973. “We used to race around his backyard on a cutdown motorbike. It was friendly competition that I suppose helped hone our racing instincts. There was never much between us and so, by 11 or 12, I had a definite leaning towards speed.”