The name behind the race: Gordon Spice

Spice’s CV includes notable outings in single-seaters and endurance racing, but it was when racing saloon cars that he really made his name. His first foray into motorsport came in 1962 with an MG TF but it wasn’t the best start; he failed to finish any of the five races he entered, and sometimes didn’t even start. Fortunes improved the following year when Spice guided his Morgan +4 to overall podium finishes and class wins. Lawrencetune upgrades to SLR specification made the car even more competitive, right up until the moment it was written off at Goodwood.

Full-time unpaid work at Lawrencetune gave way to a job at renowned Mini tuning outfit Downton Engineering. That came with a wage, and it also came with support for his racing ambitions, and so began his time racing Minis, which lasted until 1970. By then, though, Spice had begun moving on to other formulae.

In 1969, he shared a Ford GT40 for several outings, the most successful of which was a third place at the Jarama 6 Hours. Much as he’d been tempted by endurance racing, another opportunity knocked. For 1970, he committed to a season of Formula 5000 racing. It would be his first foray into single-seater racing, but by mid-way through the season the budget ran out. He returned to the formula in 1971 and ’72.

He then made his return to saloon cars, racing a Ford Capri from 1973 to ’82. In that period, Spice took overall victory in 27 British Saloon Car Championship races and took class victory in six consecutive seasons. Little wonder, then, that when Spice’s name was immortalised with a race at Goodwood it’s one that recaptures this era. But there is yet more to his career.

He had rekindled his F5000 racing alongside saloon cars in 1975. He took his sole single-seater win at Oulton Park when the gamble run on wet tyres paid off. There was no precipitation, but melting snow ran onto the track to create a wet surface. A heavy crash while testing at Mallory Park hospitalised Spice for several weeks and led him to decide to quit racing open-top cars.  

In 1977, Spice began an almost unbroken run of competing at Le Mans until 1989 (he missed only the 1983 running of the event). He had prior form at La Sarthe, having raced a Deep Sanderson in 1964 and a Ferrari 512S four years later. Spice and his co-drivers finished third overall in 1980 and ’81 in a Rondeau, before collaborating with Ray Bellm on a Spice-developed Tiga which was succeeded by a series of Spice cars. Class wins were not unusual, and with Ray Bellm, Spice won the 1985 C2 Constructors’ Championship in his own car.

Spice was determined to have fun racing and refused to take it too seriously, yet for all that he had a record of victories that many drivers would envy. There will never be another driver like him, because modern motorsport simply wouldn’t accommodate his way of doing things.

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