The 2014 Goodwood Revival was the 17th running of this world class event, and marked the 75th anniversary of the open farmland belonging to Duke of Richmond and Gordon being requisitioned to become RAF Westhampnett.
The event also celebrated
• 100 years of Maserati
• 80 yeas of ERA (English Racing Automobiles)
• 60 years of the Maserati 250F
• 60 years of the Jaguar D Type
• 50 years of the Ford Mustang small-block
• Tribute to Jackie Stewart who in 1964 was invited by Ken Tyrrell to test the new Cooper at Goodwood – the rest as they say is history..
The circuit used for motor racing started off as the original perimeter road (Silverstone started the same but has been revised any times since).
As well as all the period motor racing that took place (all race vehicles are pre ’66, as 1966 is when the circuit closed), there was a particularly strong flavour relating to military events all those years ago, with culminated in Sunday’s military vehicle parade with 23 local WW2 veterans, along with the fly-by of only two flying Lancasters (accompanied by two Hurricanes and a Spitfire).
There aren’t many race meetings where there’s a flypast each morning (08.00 on the Friday) as well as a couple more during the day, so spectators were also treated other displays featuring Spitfires, Hurricanes, P51 Mustang, Hawker Hunters and a English Electric Canberra throughout the weekend.
Some of the cars are literally worth millions, but are raced hard, with proper noise from the exhausts! Unfortunately, al this racing malarkey comes at a cost, and we witnessed a Cobra spearing itself backwards into the tyre wall (driver was OK), a Riley 1.5 losing a wheel completed with halfshaft, Rowan Atkinson having nowhere to go in his Ford Falcon when a car spun in front of him apart from into the front of it, and the sobering sight of Klaus Lehr being ejected from his 1949 open wheel Grand Prix Maserati 4CLT as it spun into a tyre wall, fortunately the driver somehow walked away.
The Shelby Cup, for instance, was a race where all the cars ran small-block V8s featuring around 18 Mustangs, half a dozen Ford Falcons and a couple of Barracudas.
Talking of V8s, the Glover Trophy featured 19 V8s and a Ferrari flat12, but all were 1.5 litre Grand Prix cars from 61 to ’65,just think of the engineering!
Then there was the Lavant Cup, a race just for D Type Jaguars and XKSS derivatives.
The Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy featured bikes from ’51 – ’54, with riders such as Kevin Schwantz,Troy Corsa, Mick Grant, Tommy Hill, Steve Plater, and Steve Parrish (Sheene’s team member from way back).
The tin-top saloons had some drivers from the British Touring Car series including Jason Plato, Steve Soper, Matt Neal as well as other famous drivers such as Jochan Mass, Derek Bell, Tiff Needell and Emanuele Piro (5 times Le Mans winner), all giving the cars the beans……. Panels got bent, tyres got trashed ( a little Austin ended up on its side during qualifying, out was out racing the next day).
The tribute to Jackie Stewart saw him driving the actual F3 Cooper T72 (owned by John Cooper’s son Michael) he tested at the Goodwood circuit in ’64 (which set him on his single-seater carrer), with his sons Paul and Mark driving the Matra MS80 (the car in which he took his first world title in 1968) and Tyrrell 006 (the car in which he took his third world title in 1971, and then retired). When interviewed on the large screen, Stewart paid credit to his mechanics by saying “they were better at their jobs than I was at mine”. The safety of today’s Formula 1 (and motor racing in general) owes a debt to the Jackie, so if you ever get the chance to see the documentaries “The Killing Years” and “Jackie Stewart – The Flying Scotsman”, you’ll realise this guy’s contribution to motor racing safety.
The ‘nostalgia’ feel of the Revival is reflected in many ways, not least the period dress of the public, but a glace around the pits/paddock shows just about all the mechanics in white overalls with cloth caps. The safety cars are all pre ’66, as are some of the breakdown vehicles. You’ll even find a period Tesco with its window displays featuring items from yesteryear……..
Here are a couple of links for photos & videos
http://grrc.goodwood.com/section/goodwood-revival/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/goodwood-revival/TV coverage can be found on Wednesday 24th Sept 2014 at 21.00 ITV4
