Goodwood Revival 2011

The middle week of September was a crowded one for the CDN team with coverage of the Frankfurt motor show but we still found time to get our period tweeds out and head down to Sussex to cover the Revival weekend. This historic motor racing festival runs over three days, with Friday set aside for qualifying and practice, and races on Saturday and Sunday, with aggregated times to decide the final winner.

Special themes this year included 50 years of the E-Type and this years' Fordwater Trophy grid was composed exclusively of this classic front-engined GT, including Lightweight and Low Drag versions that took on the Ferraris and Cobras of the period. It also celebrated 75 years of the Spitfire, paying homage to the memory of this remarkable fighter plane which was designed and built in nearby Southampton by Supermarine. No fewer than 12 flew overhead in formation, so we were treated to the song of two of the best-sounding engines ever heard: a dozen Rolls-Royce V12 Merlins overhead and a field of race-tuned straight-6 Jaguar XK engines – a pretty rare treat indeed.

Less glamorous but no less interesting was 100 years of Ford in the UK, celebrating a century of milestone cars from the blue oval, while for motorcycle fans there was also the Barry Sheene Trophy race, a grid of classic BMW, Norton, Matchless and Gilera motorcycles in memory of this famous racer.

Revival also celebrated the centenary of the birth of Juan Manuel Fangio, with demonstration laps by team mates Stirling Moss and Hans Herrmann in a Mercedes 300 SLR and W 196R respectively and two of the 26 cars assembled to honour the champion driver of the 1950s. Fangio, who died in 1995, raced twice at Goodwood, in 1952 and 53. Also in attendance was his nephew Juan Manuel Fangio II, renowned IMSA driver and twice winner of Sebring 12 Hours in the 1990s.

Other celebrities we spotted in the paddock were Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, Nick Mason, Ferrari-owning Chris Evans from the BBC and Fiat chief designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti judging the Spirit of Aviation concours for pre-66 aircraft. Winner was the 1935 Hawker Mk1 Fury, a forerunner of the Spitfire that won a number of Schneider Trophy races in the 1930's. Amongst the field of over 30 historic aircraft was a huge Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress that had been expertly brought in to land on this grass landing strip a few days earlier. Would it be ever able to take off again we wondered? "It'll be a bit tight if it rains" admitted the pilot...

Of the sixteen races this year, one of my personal favorites was the St Mary's Trophy for saloon cars 1960-66 featuring a field of Lotus Cortinas, Alfa Guilia Sprints and Jaguar Mk2s. Once under way, the race quickly became a 3-way dice between James Wood's Ford Galaxie 500, Nick Swift's Mini Cooper S and Richard Shaw's amazing BMW 1800 Ti SA, all three of which were nudging for positions – literally – as the scars in the paddock afterwards bore witness! Shaw's BMW pulled ahead to finish in a conclusive 1st position, a fitting result for the Neue Klasse BMW which also celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Finally, there's the infamous RAC TT race for the early-60s big GT racers where the value of the field is well over £100m. It's a fabulous chance to see priceless Ferrari 250 GTOs, Aston Martin DB4 Zagatos and AC Cobras driven in anger by ex-F1 drivers such as Jochen Mass, Gerhard Berger and Eddie Cheever. After a couple of laps, the heavens opened and the cars were really struggling to get their power down, sliding and drifting luridly into each corner, with some drivers even struggling to see out as cockpits steamed up. After an hour's nail-biting racing, Kenny Brack won a convincing victory together with team-mate Tom Kristensen in the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. During the victory celebrations in unceasing rain our thoughts turned to the B-17 and the prospects of it ever leaving the UK again – it looked doubtful... Inevitably, under these severe conditions quite a few cars get damaged but, amazingly, the cost of repairing them is relatively minor compared to their astronomical values – and don't forget that the value increases each time they're entered into classic races such as Goodwood – so it all makes sense. Well, kind of.

It certainly makes for an unforgettable day out anyway. This year a record 138,000 visitors came from all over Europe and tickets sold out fast, so book early if you want to visit next year. Provisional dates are 14-16th September 2012.

Related Links:
Show Review: Goodwood Revival 2010
Show Review: Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011
Design Essay: Photo Inspiration

By Nick Hull