THIS year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed featured a special reunion of a Bathurst 1000-winning car with its victorious drivers.
The Jaguar XJ-S that won the 1985 James Hardie 1000 was on hand for the iconic English historic motorsport festival, where it was driven up the hillclimb course by both John Goss and Armin Hahne.
The Tom Walkinshaw Racing-built machine was one of three Jaguars that descended on Mount Panorama for the first ‘Great Race’ run fully to Group A touring car rules.
While the sister #8 machine of Walkinshaw himself and Win Percy took pole position and was the most fancied to win, Hahne and Goss emerged to take a popular victory despite being hampered by a broken seat for a large portion of the race.
The victorious car had been part of TWR’s European Touring Car Championship-winning squad in 1984 and was scheduled to be part of a return assault to defend its Bathurst crown in 1986, but the plug was pulled on the campaign.
The car did return to our part of the world, though, racing in New Zealand’s Nissan-Mobil 500 enduro series in early 1987 as part of the Jaguar’s swansong in Group A competition.
Melbourne-based Jaguar specialist Mike Roddy purchased the car from a private owner in Scotland almost two decades ago and brought it back to Australia, where it has been a regular sight in historic Group A touring car racing.
The seed for a reunion with its original crew had been planted at Goodwood this time last year.
“What started as a chance conversation at the festival exactly one year ago somehow gathered momentum into dad and I having the privilege of bringing his beloved ‘85 Bathurst 1000-winning TWR XJS to be reunited with both of its original winning drivers at this years festival,” Mike’s son Jordan Roddy wrote on their Bespoke Motor Cars social media channels.
“John Goss and Armin Hahne both made the journey with the car and drove it with the kind of aplomb and verve that you could only expect from the legends they are.
“Armin hadn’t seen the car since winning the race almost 38 years ago and John had only driven the car once since then (2007 Muscle Car Masters in Sydney), so it was a very special reunion to witness.
“As someone that has grown up idolising these men and also had the car in the family for 17 years, it was something I’ll never forget.
“I feel immeasurably fortunate share these kinds of experiences with dad, not many people are so lucky.
“To bring the car together with the guys was amazing, but to do it at the greatest racing gathering on earth made it just that little bit cooler.”
The Jaguar wasn’t the only car among the exotic machines running up hill at Goodwood to have a prestigious Australian race victory on its CV.
Kris Matich piloted the McLaren M10B that his father Frank Matich raced to victory in the 1970 AGP at Warwick Farm.
