At the 77th Goodwood Members’ Meeting the former Formula1TM legend and brand ambassador of the IWC Racing Team David Coulthard was the first to reach the finish line with the silver HK-Engineering Mercedes-Benz 300 SL race Gullwing by HK-Engineering and to win the Tony Gaze Trophy for classic GT cars that competed between 1954 and 1959.
Coulthard, who is a 13-time Grand Prix winner, once described the Gullwing as his “favorite car from the past,” and it seems fitting for him to pilot one of Mercedes-Benz’s most iconic vehicles around Goodwood’s famously challenging track .
The 13-time Grand Prix victor, who started from the middle of the front row, arrived at Madgwick for the first time ahead of pole-sitter Richard Woolmer’s Austin-Healey 100M Coupé. Coulthard briefly lost the lead to the youngster on the second lap as Woolmer lunged inside the Scot’s IWC-prepared Mercedes-Benz 300SL ‘Gullwing’ on the second apex at Lavant, only for Coulthard to reclaim the position almost immediately.
Woolmer was only 0.38 seconds in arrears at the end of the third lap, but sadly he was forced to retire his car shortly before half-distance. Coulthard’s lead over new second place man, Austin-Healey racer Mike Thorne, was a whisker over eight seconds at the start of the penultimate lap, with Jaguar XK150 driver Andrew Keith-Lucas and Austin-Healey ace Jonathan Abecassis squabbling over third place to the flag, with the former just getting the nod.
