This Ferrari 206S went from 16th to first at Goodwood

Things didn’t work out that way, though. The nature of a historic racing car that’s as special as this is that no parts are available, so there were components that needed making before it could turn a wheel. Winter came and went, and the freshly reassembled 206S was finally ready for testing three weeks ahead of its appearance at Goodwood. David Franklin was able to get some seat time, but his co-driver Frank Stippler didn’t even sit in the car before getting into it for the Official Practice session of the Gurney Cup on Saturday. Until that moment, nobody knew whether the tall German driver would even fit in the small Italian sportscar.

A career driving a variety of racing machinery has left Stippler adept at quickly feeling his way into a new car. He still has his preferences, though, and the 206S fits right in. “The best fun I have had at Goodwood is with lightweight cars,” he said. “I like nimble cars.” The long straights and high-speed corners here, however, tend to favour big horsepower. When we spoke to Frank on the Friday before the event, he didn’t rate the light and lithe Ferrari’s chances against the big-hitting Ford GT40s. “Power helps here, so I guess we won’t be too competitive,” he conceded. 

David, who enters his 61^st season of motor racing, sees things differently however. “The goal is just to finish, but I just have the sneaky feeling the car could do quite well,” he told us ahead of the weekend. Both agreed, though, that wherever the 206S finished in the race, it would be one of the best-looking cars in the field.

The team were able to test the car twice prior to 82MM, the second outing taking place at Hockenheim a week before coming to Goodwood. “It’s very fast,” said David. “It has over 300bhp, and it only weighs 600kg so the power-to-weight ratio is very, very good. It has disc brakes all round. There are no real aerodynamics on it at all, so at high speed it gets a bit ‘hairy fairy’, but in slow and medium speed corners the car is very good.

"Generally when Ferraris are set up properly, they do feel a nice car. This is no exception. We’re starting from square one with the car. It still needs time to get the most out of it, but it’s an easy car to understand – the set-up, the suspension. You can adjust everything on it.”

Beneath the aluminium curves lies a mid-mounted 2.0-litre four-cam V6 engine that revs to 9,000rpm and makes a noise that’s every bit as evocative as the way it looks in its red paint. And it is quick, as was aptly demonstrated during a thrilling Gurney Cup. 

When Frank Stippler took the wheel when the race restarted following a red flag, and he was dead last. He had twenty minutes remaining to fight his way through as much of the field as possible. What transpired was not just the drive of the weekend but one that will go down in Goodwood lore. He fought his way through to catch the Ford GT40s of Rob Huff and André Lotterer who were engaged in their own battle for first. That was until Frank made his bid for the lead, earned it, and kept it until the flag dropped. 

Speaking after the race, Stippler told us: “It was very spectacular. We had all the luck on our side. We qualified third so we were on the front row. The car was very nervous during qualifying and difficult to drive.” Pre-race tweaks transformed the car’s handling for the race.

“We were completely lucky that the car was perfectly balanced at the start of the race,” said Frank. “When I got to the first corner, I thought we might have a chance. Towards the end of the race, the GT40s started to drop back. Because of the weight, their tyres were fading away, their brakes were fading away, but my car was getting quicker and quicker.”

It was a stunning result for the sole Ferrari in the race. And we’re promised more performance to come. Maybe there is one substitute for preparation: raw talent.

The 82^nd Members' Meeting is live now! You can watch every moment of the action on our live stream right here on GRR.

Tickets for the 83^rd Members’ Meeting will be available for a limited time immediately after this year’s event for Members and Fellows of the GRRC. Admission and Grandstand tickets will go on sale on Monday 14^th April for Members, and Wednesday 16^th April for Fellows.

Photography by Pete Summers, Joe Harding, Jordan Butters and Charlie Brenninkmeijer.