The World is watching the action both on and off the circuit at the fabulous Goodwood Revival. This adds tremendous pressure on the teams preparing and managing cars for the event. We are very pleased to report that our ‘famous five’ performed faultlessly and that their drivers excelled in very competitive races, sometimes under very changeable conditions.

The RAC TT Celebration Race is the ‘highlight’ of the weekend and features star cars and drivers who are determined to do well. Project 214 driven by Julien Draper and Stuart Graham was an outstanding 6th overall and 22 XKX, the ex-Le Mans DB4GT Zagato driven by Matthew Draper and Marino Franchitti was an excellent 12th – the first two Astons ahead of the other 5 in the race!

The Freddie March Memorial Trophy Race saw our team of David Bennett with his ever-reliable DB3S and Mark Midgley in DB3/6 battling it out with David finishing a brilliant 12th, having started 21st and setting the fastest Aston lap, followed closely by Mark in the earlier Aston, finishing a very competitive14th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having not had an outing in his DBR1 all season, Adrian Beecroft braved treacherous conditions with this incredibly valuable car to bring it home amongst the great and the good in the Sussex Trophy Race.

 

 

 

Confirmed as the most prestigious historic motor sport event on the planet, the Goodwood Revival attracts only the very best and the Woodgate prepared ‘Famous Five’ certainly fit that description. Our team this year includes a stunning collection of racing Aston Martins;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DB3/6 – The Freddie March Memorial Trophy Race – Mark Midgley

DB3S/10 - The Freddie March Memorial Trophy Race – David Bennett

DBR1/4 – The Sussex Trophy Race – Adrian Beecroft

DB4GT Zagato– The RAC TT Celebration Race – Mathew Draper & Marino Franchitti

Project 214 – The RAC TT Celebration Race - Julien Draper & Stuart Graham

We wish our drivers a safe and enjoyable event and hope all Aston Martin enthusiasts will be cheering them on. Please stop by in the paddock over the weekend and say ‘hello’.

We were very pleased to prepare and look after three ‘Legends’ for the special 45 minute race on the full circuit that precedes the annual Le Mans 24 hour race. The well known DB3S/10 Team Car of David Bennett which has been in our care for some years was joined by DB3/6, fresh from a complete engine re-build in our workshops. Added to these two was the stunning DB4GT Zagato of Chris Scragg. Pics: 1.David Bennett in DB3S/10 2.Chris Scragg’s DB4GT Zagato 3.Mark Midgley in DB3/6

The Silverstone Classic is now probably the biggest historic race meeting in the world and naturally the Woodgate team were there in force. This year we were supporting 6 cars and a very successful weekend it was for all. The line-up included a pair of DB4GT Zagatos for Julien Draper and Chris Scragg, David Bennett shared his faithful DB3S/10 with Chris Woodgate, Mark Midgley in the newly restored DB3/6 and Robert Rawe in his road going, but well raced DB4. Also receiving support from the Team was Jon Gross in his recently acquired Envoy Formula Junior. Our fully equipped workshop facilities which are actually within the Silverstone complex help provide on-site services at ‘the Home of British Motorsport’ as well as our regular support for other UK and European race meetings.

 

The infamous Spa Francorchamps circuit is daunting in the best conditions, even more so in the driving rain that settled over the Ardennes forest for much of the popular 6 Hour Race weekend. That didn‘t deter Robert Rawe who drove his road-going DB4 from the UK, raced solo in the 2 hour Gentleman Drivers race finishing 1st in Class, 1st Aston and 21st overall from 72 starters!

This was followed by the 1 hour British Sports Car and GT Challenge where Robert was a stunning 4th overall in his Lightweight DB4.

Robert said, ‘It was great fun and the slick pit work by Chris & the Team kept me in the thick of the action throughout the weekend".

Well done Robert, fantastic results.

Team Woodgate were dominant at Donington for the VSCC's prestigious See Red meeting with David Bennett 1st overall in the 50's invitation race.

David's ever-reliable DB3S/10 led home a varied field of sports and GT cars which included a podium spot for Jon Gross in the Woodgate supported DB MkIII.

This was a fitting end to the season for these two well-campaigned racers — both cars and drivers!

The prestigious Le Mans Classic is the highlight of the European historic racing calendar and is held every two years on the full 24 hour circuit with the world-class entry split into teams of cars representing 6 eras of racing from 1923 to 1979.

Competing in Plateau 3 for cars 1957 to 1961, the fabulous Aston Martin DB3S/10 of David Bennett and co-driven by Chris Woodgate performed faultlessly throughout the gruelling 2 daylight and 1 night sessions to finish a very credible 15th overall from 69 entries.

This stunning result against fearsome opposition ensured that the 6 car team including the DB3S, a 4.5 litre Bentley, Talbot Lago, Ferrari 275, Chevrolet Corvette and Chevron B36 were awarded the event's overall top prize.

The ex-Le Mans DBR1 of Adrian Beecroft romped home to 2 overall wins at the recent AMOC St John Horsfall meeting at Silverstone. Chassis DBR1/4 which finished second in Aston Martin's famous 1-2 in the 24 hour race in 1959 has proved a consistent winner in Adrian's hands and he now has a commanding lead in class A4 in the AMOC Championship.

With support from Chris and the Team, the usual suspects enjoyed one of the best UK meetings of the year at the Silverstone Classic. David Bennett in DB3S/10, Adrian Beecroft in DBR1/4 and Jon Gross in his ex-Sebring DB MkIII mixed it with a stunning grid of 42 pre-1960 Astons in the Roy Salvadori Trophy Race.

Equipé Woodgate were in action with a full complement of Aston Martins to help celebrate the 10th year of this fabulous event with the ex-Team DB2 of Oliver Leyba, David Bennett in his familiar DB3S/10, also DB3S/7 with Alain DeCadenet and Andrew Hall, Adrian Beecroft enjoying the DBR1/4 and the famous DB4GT Zagato 1 VEV, and after some years of ‘resting’, Project 214 with Julien Draper and Gillian Goldsmith aboard.

The weather was fantastic and so was the action on the track —

- Oliver Leyba stuck the DB2 on the front row in qualifying and finished a great race to come 3rd overall in the Fordwater Trophy Race.

- David Bennett sharing with Robin Brundle in the 90 minute Freddie March Memorial Race finished a credible 8th overall despite an 'off' by Robin with 3 laps to go which required a quick stop to check the rear end damage.

- The DeCadenet/Hall DB3S was also in the points in 7th after a thrilling finish and was just pipped on the line by 100th of a second by a similar DB3S.

- Adrian Beecroft enjoyed both of his races; in the TT Race sharing with Tony Dron to finish 20th amongst the heavy metal and ‘hot shoes’ with the DB4GT. In the Sussex Trophy Race, the DBR1, having had a very successful season, with another 2 firsts overall recently at Oulton Park, cried enough and is looking forward to much-deserved TLC over the winter.

- In his first race with Project 214, this famous car was brilliantly driven by Julien Draper, duly assisted by Gillian Goldsmith to finish 13th. Julien’s best lap was 1.31.578 which was the fastest time by an Aston and compares very favourably with the many professional drivers in the race. We're looking forward to seeing him in action again soon.

The Goodwood Revival is undoubtedly the best historic motor sport event in the world, providing for both spectators and competitors the chance to experience spectacular cars in this most historic setting. This year’s Freddie March Trophy Race saw a fantastic grid of sports cars in the spirit of the famous Goodwood Nine Hours races staged between 1952 and 1955. The Rex J. Woodgate team prepared and managed the entry of DB3S/7 driven by David Richards and DB3S/10 driven by David Bennett. Both Davids had action packed races and after 14 laps, DB3S/7 was the first Aston home in 10th position with DB3S/10 not far behind in 15th and with fastest Aston lap time of 1:37.308.

Sussex Trophy

In Goodwood’s heyday, this was at all-comers‘ race for sports cars, with grids comprising mainly British limited-production racers interspersed with a few thoroughbred cars. At the Revival, this is an event for production sports-racing cars "in the international spirit’ that raced between 1955 and 1960. The DBR1 of Adrian Beecroft was once again in action in this very competitive race.

The Spa 6 Hour race is the ultimate test in historic racing for it combines the famous and very challenging Spa Francorchamps Grand Prix circuit and usually 85 plus cars ranging from period sports racers to 7 litre GTs, including GT-40s with the changeable Ardennes weather...and the race runs into the night!

The Mark Taylor's DB4 is a 3.7 litre FlA spec racer which has seen considerable action in long distance races and has consistently punched above its weight in the ADAC European series.

The Woodgate team are very experienced at preparing and managing multi-driver races and this was demonstrated in the 2007 Six Hour race with an incredible 5th place overall and 1st in class for Mark and co-drivers, Michael Vergers and Phil Bennett

The Aston Martin Owners Club Championship is a very competitive series and the Classic grid for post-1960 cars is particularly action-packed with lightweight DB4s up against highly modified V8s and more recently the new ‘Factory’ racer the N24 V8 Vantage.

Nicholas King has competed in this series with the Rex J. Woodgate prepared DB4 for some years and has always been at the sharp end of the grid. As well as racing the car in the Intermarque and the 2-driver races at AMOC meetings Nick finished an excellent 4th in class in the 2007 Championship even though he missed competing in 3 rounds.

This car in the hands of Nick's usual co-diver, Phil Bennett holds many lap records and is consistently on the podium.

The Historic Grid for the AMOC Championship is an exotic mix of pre-1960 Astons including very quick pre-war cars in amongst the 50’s DB2s and DB3S and DBR1s. The 2006 Championship winner Jon Gross was ‘resting’ the Woodgate prepared DB MkIII for the 2007 series so all eyes were on Adrian Beecroft in the fabulous DBR1/4.

David Bennett was also contesting a few rounds of the AMOC series in DB3S/10 providing the Woodgate team with a stunning 1-2 result at the Club's premier meeting — the St John Horsfall at Silverstone.

Adrian had a cracking season in the 2nd place finishing '59 Le Mans Aston easily dominating the A4 class in the AMOC Championship and clocking up 4 firsts overall, 4 seconds and 1 third from 9 races.

The recent AMOC St John Horsfall race meeting at Silverstone saw the same stunning result as in the 24 hour Le Mans event almost exactly 50 years ago with the DBR1's coming first and second. Adrian Beecroft was in action in 5 races— 3 in DBR1/4 and 2 races in the famous DB4GT Zagato 1VEV. Our own Chris Woodgate, guesting in the Gross DB MkIII was the first Aston home in the very competitive 50's Sports Car Race.

David Bennett was also in action in his DB3S finishing a credible 4th in the Historic Championship race providing another successful meeting for ‘Equipé Woodgate’ at this annual event.

Photo courtesy scmmotorsportpictures.co.uk

 

We are constantly developing up-rated Aston parts for both road and competition use and keep stocks of many original and hard-to-find spares. Latest stocks of our specially developed 3 litre pistons, oil pumps, connecting rods and crankshafts have arrived and our newly designed flywheel with integral ring gear has proved very successful in many applications. Please give Chris a call for full details.

Image courtesy Linzi Smart

As usual the Woodgate team were very busy recently at the AMOC St John Horsfall race meeting at Silverstone with a full programme for cars in most races. Class wins for DLW, the lightweight DB4 - the ‘most raced Aston‘ and now prepared by us. Also for the Gross DB MkIII - in its 29th season with Woodgate support. And an outright win in the David Brown relay race for DBR1/4. Also seeing action was the very famous DB4GT Zagato 1VEV.

The Team also prepared an N24 for the GT4 Championship which required certain modifications for refuelling, slicks, etc and performed faultlessly in the hands of Adrian and Chris for 90 minutes. Chris was also out successfully in DLW and the MkIII. A very busy day with big smiles all around.

We are delighted to announce that Competition Supplies Ltd are now on-site in our Silverstone premises affording clients a one-stop shop for all racing supplies. Bruce and Sean bring many years of experience in providing enthusiasts and professional race teams the ‘right’ parts and equipment for all competition requirements, Our base at Silverstone ensures we are in the heart of the action— for testing and race events.

Image courtesy Linzi Smart

‘DLW’ continues its long history and is now prepared at our Silverstone premises along with many other Astons and numerous other marques - both road and racing. This well-known DB4 has been rigorously tested by Michael Mallock and has proved both fast and reliable with class wins at all events entered this year.