This year’s Goodwood was more than just a festival of speed as it was also a festival of crashes. Two of the most iconic race cars of our generation had an unexpected encounter with the hay while tackling the hill climb. Footage shot by attendees shows the Porsche 911 GT1 and McLaren F1 GTR suffering minor damage after the drivers lost control of the 1990s endurance race cars. Just so we’re clear, these are the real deal rather than replicas.
Carrying the racing number 26, the 911 GT1 is none other than the Le Mans-winning race car from 1998. Laurent Aïello, Allan McNish, and Stéphane Ortelli were the first to cross the finish line after 24 hours, completing 351 laps or one more lap than another 911 GT1. The triumphant endurance racer attended this year’s Goodwood to celebrate Le Mans’ centenary but it didn’t go as planned as the driver lost the car’s rear, both literally and figuratively.
Although it initially only lost its wing when it hit the hay, we can see the 911 GT1 in motion without the engine cover later in the video. Both massive body parts were then put in a trailer hauled by a Toyota Proace van. By the looks of it, Porsche shouldn’t have any issues putting them back onto the race car.
Coincidentally, another endurance machine from the same era suffered a minor accident as well. The McLaren F1 GTR in question carries the racing number 60 and belonged to Team Lark. It was driven back in the day by Naoki Hattori and Ralf Schumacher in the Japanese Grand Touring Championship (JGTC). In the 1996 season, it won the inaugural race at Suzuka where the McLaren F1 GTR scored a one-two finish. The #60 car went on to win a couple more times that season, at Sportsland SUGO and Mine Circuit.
The BMW V12-powered race car showed its tail-happy nature at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. While the damage is likely minor, the repairs are still probably going to cost a small fortune given the nature of this specialty vehicle. We are fairly certain we’re going to see more of this legendary race car at future events, but suffice it to say, the insurance company isn’t exactly thrilled.
As we said in the beginning, there were quite a few crashes at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The unreleased second-generation Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe, a classic Jaguar, and a Hyundai RN22e were all involved in incidents, but thankfully, no one was injured.
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