By Simon Hildrew

Kent racers on two wheels and four were in action at the annual Goodwood Revival Historic Motor Racing Festival.

Goodwood regulars Nick Swift and Bill Sollis, from Tenterden and Tonbridge respectively, were in the hunt for top-10 finishes in their St Mary’s Trophy Race driving their 1960s Mini Coopers.

As a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, racing on each of the festival's three days started with a minute's silence.

Pairing with star drivers for two 25-minute races, Swift and Sollis qualified in seventh and 11th for race two.

In the opening three laps they ran ninth and 10th, with the much-faster Ford Cortinas and Galaxies ahead. But on lap four the Ford Galaxie of Gregor Fisken came into contact with two Cortinas at Woodcote, allowing Swift and Sollis to nip into seventh and eighth.

On lap six Charlie Cooper, in another Mini, slid wide at the exit of Madgwick corner and hit the tyre wall. Tom Sharp’s BMW 1800 had also parked up, so the marshals had to recover both cars, causing a lengthy safety car period.

Just six minutes remained when the race restarted. Swift and Sollis gained another place on lap 11 when Justin Law’s Cortina pulled off, but with three laps to the finish Sollis lost out to Alex Furiani’s Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint and was also handed a 10-second time penalty for having a false start, demoting him from eighth to 11th at the end, with Swift in sixth.

In the previous day’s part one race, a grid of 22 former and current 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers, with an impressive 32 wins between them, had the chance to show off their skills in the same cars.

Alex Brundle, driving Sollis' Mini, had a titanic battle for 11th place with Andre Lotterer, also in a Mini, for the best duel of the weekend.

Stoffel Vandoorne, in his Cortina, overtook the pair at the halfway stage, dropping them to finish 12th and 13th with Lotterer ahead of Brundle by just over half a second.

Three times Le Mans 24 Hours winner Brendan Hartley, sharing Swift’s car, had his own three-way Mini battle with Karun Chandhok and Tom Blomqvist, coming out ahead of them to finish 16th. The two races were a combined result, leaving Swift and Sollis in ninth and 10th positions.

Switching to bikes, the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy featured pre-1954 models over two races, with two riders per bike sharing the riding in each race.

Two former British Superbike riders from Kent competed in the two 25-minute contests. Edenbridge-based Tommy Hill, who won the BSB title in 2011, was paired with Classic TT racer Andy Molnar on his 1954 Manx Norton.

Problems in qualifying meant they only completed two laps and ended up 29th out of 30 bikes. Better luck came in the two races, though, with some great riding by the pair and with the help of retirements and time penalties for pit-lane infringements for other competitors, they finished 13th and 10th making a combined result of 12th.

Sheene's nephew, Maidstone's Scott Smart, also suffered some qualifying issues with the 1954 Royal Enfield Meteor he was sharing with owner and former Isle of Man TT racer Steve Linsdell. They only managed three laps and started the two races just one place ahead of Hill and Molnar.

Their races also proved a lot more successful with reliability and outright pace, claiming two seventh places, resulting in a combined sixth place overall.