Every year in early September, car enthusiasts migrate back to West Sussex, England for Goodwood Revival, a celebration of vintage racing on the historic Goodwood Circuit. It’s a magical sight to see so many rare, multi-million dollar race cars pushing their limits on a track. A welcomed change of pace from their natural habitats. Unfortunately, cramming a bunch of old racers onto a circuit can be a recipe for disaster, as historic racing driver Andy Newall learned the hard way at this year’s event. Revival claimed its first victim of the weekend on Friday, a rare racing version of the iconic Ferrari 250 GTO.
During the RAC Tourist Trophy qualifying race, a 1964 250 GTO/64 Series II piloted by Andy Newall crashed while trying to pass a Corvette Stingray and 250 LM. According to the announcers, Newall failed to anticipate the LM’s braking mid-corner on a right turn, causing him to swerve to the left to avoid rear-ending the other priceless Ferrari on the track. This maneuver lead to a snap-oversteer-induced spin that even the car’s air brake couldn’t help with, rocketing the GTO into a tire wall sideways.
Unfortunately, the damage is quite substantial; upon parking the car, we can see that the entire right side of the Ferrari is dented and scraped, and it looks like the car is barely drivable.
Only 3 of these cars were built in 1964, retaining the GTO platform but introducing new features and a design that paved the way for the mid-engined 250 LM. Even if the damage isn’t as bad as it looks, this is going to be one expensive repair job.
