Tordoff Tells of Drive Through Field
The Fordwater Trophy opened Saturday’s race action at the 2018 Goodwood Revival and after a might effort from Sam Tordoff put his Porsche 356 on pole for the race, it all went wrong in the opening seconds as Sam stalled the car and only got going once the entire field had streamed past. A superb drive back through the order saw him reach second place at the end and set fastest race lap – the Aston Martin DB2 of Darren Turner just over six seconds out of reach.
We tracked down British Touring Car Championship racer Sam in the paddock after the races to ask him about his dramatic race:
“It was an horrendous beginning to the race, I had lots of revs, I’m still not clear how or why it stalled! I couldn’t get it started and began to think I had a problem.
“Then it got going and it was an exciting race in the end, I think the crowd liked it, I got a good reaction on the slowing down lap! I was pushing hard, I think that was the hardest I have ever driven that car and she held up well.
“We have had a few teething problems with the car, it is a 1954 car from California, where it lived the first 50-years of its life. It came over to England with a previous owner somewhere around 2010, and we have owned it for just over 12-months now and have taken it to Silverstone, Le Mans Classic, Goodwood Members’ Meeting – and we are still learning the car.
“This is its first ever Revival, so to qualify on pole and finish second is fantastic. Normally I am racing stuff that is ultra-modern so this is a step back in time. It is not an easy car to drive, it doesn’t do a lot right, it has narrow tyres, drum brakes all round and with only a 1500cc engine there isn’t a lot of power- it doesn’t turn, doesn’t turn and doesn’t accelerate!
“Having said that, it’s great fun to drive and it is all about momentum. Goodwood is a power circuit and that is the one thing we don’t have, but it’s light, nimble – and capable of competing with the best. You always enjoy overtaking and I think I did 29 in that race, just not the final one I needed!”
