60 Years of the Lotus Cortina
As always the Goodwood Members Meeting celebrated some significant milestones for infamous cars and marques, one of which for the 80th Members Meeting was the 60th year since the Lotus Cortina was introduced.
The Cortina was introduced in 1963 as a hot version of the Ford Cortina. Developed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, the car featured a highly-tuned 1558cc, twin cam four cylinder producing a wopping 105bhp. Other features included improved suspension and brakes, and a lightweight body. It became a very popular choice for racing drivers, winning numerous championships throughout the 1960s.
Jim Clark first drove a Lotus Cortina in 1964 and went on to win a multiple races that year, including the British Saloon Car Championship. He continued to race the Lotus Cortina throughout the 1960s, and his success in the car helped establish it as a highly capable racing vehicle.
In addition to winning the British Saloon Car Championship, Clark also achieved success in endurance races driving the Cortina. In 1965, along with co-driver Jack Sears, they won the prestigious Brands Hatch 6 Hours race in the car. Clark's performances in the Lotus Cortina helped confirming his reputation as one of the greatest racing drivers of his generation, and also established the vehicle as one of the most successful saloon cars of all time.
At the 80th Members Meeting the Jim Clark Trophy race was a 45 minute race featuring a 30 car grid and drivers including some Touring Car and GT Racing elites.
It was great to see the car liveries venturing away from the iconic white with green stripe into brighter and bolder oranges, blues, reds and many more.
The racing action was phenomenal with all 30 cars sliding round every corner, often entering two or three abreast seeing how brave drivers were being on the braking zones.
Every car had two drivers with a mandatory pit stop to switch drivers, the teams practice to make sure they don’t lose any time.
After 45 minutes and with a total of 29 laps David Dickinson and Andrew Jordan won the trophy in a JRT prepared car. Brundle and Thomas came across the line four and a half seconds later to take second in the number 33 car.
The real battle was taking place for third place with four cars, numbers 25, 711, 57 and 51 all trading places. With mere metres to go, it was touring car legends Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden who took the third place position. The four cars taking 3rd through 6th places were separated by 1.3 seconds, a fine margin over the full 45 minutes.
Overall a fantastic race to watch from start to finish. For more photos check out below.
Photos and words by Mitcham Media.
