Phil Keen brought the curtain down on the 2018 Goodwood Revival Meeting with a brilliant drive to win from the pitlane. The British GT charger had qualified Jon Minshaw’s Lister-Jaguar on pole, only to have problems on the grid. The car was pushed into the pitlane, Keen being obliged to watch the entire field flash past before he could embark on the mother of all comeback drives.

Front-row starter Roger Wills disappeared off up the road at the start, leading Sam Hancock’s Ferrari 246S Dino by 2.59sec at the end of the first lap, with Oliver Bryant’s Lotus 15 mere inches behind. Wills continued to eke out the advantage as Hancock and Bryant squabbled, while Keen tore through the pack. He repeatedly dipped below his qualifying times, tripping the beams on the second speed trap on the Lavant Straight at 150.4mph. With ten minutes of the 25-minute race left to run, he had worked his way onto the back of Hancock’s Ferrari who had been dropped by Bryant’s nimble Lotus. On lap 15, Keen made his way up to second place with a bold move on the outside of Madgwick and set off after Wills. He ate into the Kiwi’s lead and worked his past on the penultimate tour after Wills dropped a wheel over the kerb on the exit of Lavant and was forced to correct a wobble. He didn’t slacken his pace to the flag, his team manager shedding a tear as the Lister crossed the finish line.

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