Another fantastic season ended with a invite for the fifth year running to race in the RAC TT Celebration one-hour race at Goodwood. The invitation was accepted without hesitation, meaning the Ex Jackie Stewart E-Type was able to make its yearly outing once again in the most prestigious historic race in the world.

Ex Jackie Stewart E-Type

After a seasons racing in the Heritage GTCC series Mike was able to put forward the suggestion to Goodwood for the Heritage GTCC racers John Bussell and Andy Rouse (former British and world touring car champion) to partner each other in the E-type. This would be Andy Rouse’s first appearance in a Jaguar, and in the TT, since winning the Silverstone TT race in the XJ Coupe in 1976. Mike actually attended the meeting in 76’ with Christine his wife.

John Bussell, Left. Andy Rouse, Right. Talk Tactics

With two vastly experienced drivers the team felt that we could be highly competitive, aiming to break into the top five places for the first time since having been invited five years previous. A positive test session with Andy two weeks prior had stood us in good stead for the event, with Andy saying after that the car was perfectly set up for the forthcoming event.

Aiming for the perfect lap!

The first qualifying session of the weekend was late on the Friday afternoon with Andy out first to set a time. A good yet unclear run saw Andy post the quickest time ever set in the E-Type with a 1.30.1 leaving them 10th on the grid going into the second and final session on Saturday. During the first session however, John took over and passed the pits after about three laps somewhat slow and eventually pulled to a stand still on the infield. Panic set in throughout the team, as nobody other than John, knew what problem had occurred with the E-Type.

Beautiful array of sixties sports cars

The session ended and John was pulled into the paddock saying that; “its either an electrical, or fuel problem, that had caused the car to stop”. After examination by Richard our head mechanic, who was still recovering from a broken ankle and on crutches, it transpired that an over loaded fuse was the cause of the problem. This was easily addressed, leaving the team ready for the second qualifying session on Saturday.

Andy making his way through traffic

Morning dawned on the Saturday with new tyres to put onto the car and a tank of fuel everything was then set for qualifying. The second session was at midday and again Andy was the first driver out aiming to set a better time than the day before. Unfortunately traffic did not allow Andy to get a clear lap or John to better the time set by Andy on the Friday. Both drivers feedback indicated that the new tyres had not given as much grip as the used set that has been on the car the day before. When the final times were announced it was clear many of the other competitors had gone quicker than on the Friday, and the car would start from 16th on the grid, right in the middle of the field for Sundays race.

The car entering the pits after qualifying

The car on a positive note had run without problem leaving very little to be done before the main event on Sunday. Both drivers were happy with the car and knew that even though the pace of the field had jumped up another notch on previous years, we would be in with a chance by having two drivers able to consistently stay on the pace for the hour. This was not the same for some of the other front running cars whose second drivers were notably slower than their partners.

Daybreak on Sunday saw a colder start than the two previous mornings but, by mid-morning the skies once again cleared and sunshine was forecast for the rest of the day’s racing. The car was soon fuelled and ready to race. All that was left to do was simply keep fingers crossed for a problem free race.

(Above) The brass band playing before the start
(Below) “Lovely lady!” showing Andy his starting slot

Two o’clock came and with the grid in formation the flag was dropped to signal the start of the hour race. Andy made a positive start gaining two places. Progress thereafter was slow and Andy kept a good consistent pace to stay amongst the midfield pack. Just before the twenty-minute mark of the race, two incidents occurred. Firstly an AC Cobra planted itself firmly into the wall, and then another lap later Graham Bryant, in another Cobra, spun and was beached in the gravel trap. This then caused the pace car to appear whilst the two Cobra’s were removed from the circuit.

Ready to go, SSN300 and CUT 7 prepare for the start

This allowed Andy to dive into the pits, amongst others, just as the twenty-minute pit window had opened. A quick stop and John then took over, having gained many places due to such a fast stop and the fact the team tactics had paid off. The plan had always been to try and make the stop when such an incident occurred to try and take advantage of having two competitive drivers. A lot of the other competitors had slower second drivers and had decided to stay out to make maximum of their first drivers extra pace.

Andy enters the pits

John departs

Mike and the mechanics!

When the dust settled and the pace car returned back into the pits the car was now running within the top five of the field. John was in fourth place with the Lister of Justin Law just behind. John and Justin where nose to tail lap after lap. Slowly gaining in the distance was Martin Stretton in the Bizzarini. Stretton was right on the tail of Justin and coming out of the chicane and all three cars were neck and neck down the start finish straight. Justin was on the outside, with John in the middle and Martin half a cars length behind and gaining into the braking area.

Cut 7 in close pursuit

As they hit the brakes, Martin left it too late and turning into the first apex three abreast his two right wheels headed over the grass causing him to go straight on into a tyre wall. John only saw Martin at the last second and was able to just keep away from being collected and taken off.

The accident seemed serious and the pace car came out along with two ambulances that John waved past so they could quickly get to Martin, only for the Lister to use this opportunity to pass John under yellow flags and drop us back to fifth. Ten minutes passed under the pace car and with Martin trapped in the car and unable to be removed the race was stopped before the hour mark elapsed.

The focus now had to be on Martin and when he was finally removed from the car they suspected he had broken his elbow. This shows how important modern roll cages prove to be, as without this the outcome could have been devastating for the event as a whole. The incident cast a cloud over the race and the result seemed hollow compared to if the race had finished under normal racing conditions.

With all this aside it was still our best ever finish in five years of competing and we should have actually been fourth had it not been for John waving the ambulance by. A great result and special thanks must go for all the support shown by customers and spectators who attended throughout the weekend. 

How to drive an E-Type sideways