Nick Padmore made himself the perfect weekend at the 73rd Goodwood Members' Meeting on Sunday. The Newdigate-based racing driver dominated the Bruce McLaren Trophy Can-Am race by taking victory and also setting a new overall lap record for the historic West Sussex circuit in the process.
Padmore also took part in the High Airbox F1 High-Speed Demos, on both days, which saw him at the helm of historic F1 racer, Max Smith-Hilliard's, 1971 Surtees TS9B Cosworth.
The display fielded two grids, made up of some 33 Grand Prix cars, originally raced between 1971 and 1975, and Smith-Hilliard's WDK Motorsport-prepared piece provided a great spectacle for the spectators.
Also marking his Goodwood race debut, Padmore quickly acclimatised himself with Phil Hall's Team Surtees Lola T70 Spyder in Saturday's 15-minute qualifying session and was immediately at the sharp end of the timesheets before finally snatching pole position by nearly 0.8sec on his ninth timed lap from the McLaren-Chevrolet M1B of Chris Goodwin.
Sharing the front row with Goodwin and Jon Minshaw for the start of Sunday afternoon's race, Padmore struggled to get traction off the line and had dropped to P5 as the field headed into Madgwick. However, he immediately made up for lost time and as the cars crossed the line to start their second lap, he was in 2nd place, sandwiched between leader Jay Esterer and Minshaw.
The following lap, Padmore regained the lead from Esterer with a bold move and he consistantly pulled a healthy margin over Goodwin and Alex Buncombe for the remainder of the 15-lap race.
Despite having to deal with traffic for most of the race, lap 9 saw Padmore set a new official lap record for Goodwood with a blisteringly quick lap of 1:18:217, shaving some 0.737sec off of the existing record set in 2010.
The achievment was later recognised when Padmore was presented with a stunning IWC watch by Lord March during the prize-giving presentation on Sunday evening.
Nick Padmore:"Well it just doesn't get much better than this! I don't feel like it's quite sunk in yet - the whole weekend seems like a bit of a blur, I can't believe it!
"Thank you so much to Phil and Max who have given me the opportunities to drive two incredible race cars at this fantastic event - I've loved every moment. Also a big thank you to Complete Motorsport Solutions and WDK Motorsport who ran the Lola and Surtees this weekend - everything was absolutely spot on.
"It's fantastic to break the lap record - especially as it's stood for so long - and add my own little bit to this circuits' history. I've had so many messages of support; it's been a bit overwhelming, but it really means a lot - thank you!
"Lord March really does know how to put on a good show and the Members' Meeting this year was no exception. Thanks to him and his team, a truly golden era of motorsport can continue to thrive and give younger, and future, generations the opportunity to see and hear these awesome racing machines."
VIDEO:
Watch the on-board footage of Padmore setting the Goodwood Circuit lap record...www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXRzQa8czZk
