THREE racing drivers escaped serious injury in a dramatic high-speed crash during a race at the Goodwood Revival.

Their cars collided, sending one spinning towards the spectator area.

Driver Chris Smith suffered leg injuries and bruising but appeared otherwise unharmed after he was cut free from the mangled wreck of his classic Lotus Climax 18.

A safety bank stopped his car spinning into spectators whose vantage point was a few feet higher than the track.

Thousands of people flocked to the three-day race meeting which recreates the atmosphere of the Fifties and Sixties at the famous track near Chichester.

Crowds lined the trackside to watch legends of motor-racing, television personalities and celebrities race classic cars at the seventh annual meeting.

Sir Stirling Moss, Rowan Atkinson, Tiff Needell, of Top Gear fame, and F1 pundit Tony Jardine were among the famous names.

Bands played music from the Fifties to set the scene, while fish and chips were sold wrapped in newspaper from the era and spectators dressed in period clothing.

But the fun turned to horror yesterday during the Glover Trophy, the weekend's penultimate race.

Fire and ambulance crews arrived at the scene where they put up a screen and and a tarpaulin around Smith's car shortly before 4.15pm.

After half an hour, he was carried away from the scene on a stretcher and taken to hospital.

A cavalcade of police motorbikes and a 4x4 vehicles led the way to clear the roads.

A spokeswoman for Goodwood said: "Chris Smith, who was driving in the Glover Trophy race, suffered lower leg injuries. Although he is yet to be x-rayed his injuries are not believed to be serious."

An onlooker said the car did not look as if it had overturned but the front was ripped off.

He had seen a stray wheel from one of the other cars but said Smith's car had suffered the worst damage.

A red flag was held up to tell the other drivers to stop racing and track marshals helped push the cars back to the paddock.

The other two drivers involved were not thought to be injured.

The 16-lap race for 1.5 litre Formula One and Formula One based Tasman cars, which originally raced between 1961 and 1965, was restarted at about 6.25pm.

Earlier in the day, racing legend Sir Stirling appeared on the bandstand in front of admiring crowds.

Sir Stirling, who celebrates his 75th birthday next weekend, then drove proudly on to the track in a silver Mercedes where he was presented with a cartoon depicting his racing days and a Mercedes victory pin, a replica of one he lost almost 50 years ago.

He said: "I am incredibly grateful and the cartoon is staggering. I have had a great day and it is wonderful to have this pin. It is a pin given to Grand Prix Mercedes drivers and I mislaid mine sometime in 1955. I am so pleased to have another one."

Looking glamorous in a voluminous black dress and hat, his wife, Susie Moss, said: "We have had a lovely day and it has been absolutely wonderful for Stirling."

Goodwood owner the Earl of March jokingly complained the girl in the cartoon had not been drawn quite to his liking.

Later in the day Sir Stirling greeted his friend Sir Jack Brabham, three times world racing champion.

A commentator read out messages to Sir Jack from his son in Australia and other racing friends before a parade of cars toured the circuit in his honour.

Actor Rowan Atkinson is a familiar face at Goodwood but showed a somewhat pessimistic side to his alter-ego Mr Bean.

When asked about this chances of winning his 11.40am race, he said: "I am not intending to win because I know I can't."

One of his mechanics, Tim Sunders, admitted there were stronger cars in the race but said Atkinson was sure to put up a good fight.

Nevertheless, as the cars pulled away from the driver's enclosure on to the famed racetrack, Atkinson looked determined, driving a unique 1954 Jaguar Mk VII built of lightweight magnesium alloy.

Tiff Needell relived his youth, recalling how he used to watch the races at Goodwood as a young boy.

He said: "It is like a living time warp. I remember growing up here watching the cars and wishing I was driving them.

"Now I am able to and it is just great. It has been a fantastic day and I am pleased to see the spectators have really made an effort to dress up.

"I came third in my race yesterday. It was a fight to the finish but I think third is very respectable."