During Saturday’s rainy day racing at the 76th annual Goodwood Members Meeting, a pair of Porsche racers, Ambrogio Perfetti and Mark Bates, went toe-to-toe in one of the best vintage racing battles we have seen in a very long time. The pair were enrolled in the Ronnie Hoare Trophy race, chasing each other around the circuit for the honor of fourth position in class at the time. Ahead were a pair of 904s and a Ferrari 250. But for these two it may as well have been the final lap of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as hard as they were pushing. With rain on the circuit, there were plenty of four-wheel drift moments and lots of close side-by-each racing action.
Over the course of this short few laps of the 20-minute race session, the pair trade places a handful of times. Mister Bates in the white-with-red-stripe 911 demonstrates a much wilder driving style, and takes a lot of risks that other vintage racers might deem unnecessary. Perfetti, meanwhile, maintains a reasonably level head with his racing, taking a conservative line and only minor oversteer driving. Both of these short-wheelbase narrow-body Porsches seem to be prepared to a similar level, but set up in a very different manner. A tail-happy driving style certainly makes the racing exciting and interesting.
We won’t give away the ending, but be sure to watch this entertaining run all the way to the end. If only all vintage races were this exciting!
