6 1972 Tyrrell-Cosworth 006, class 10: John Delane
VINTAGE > Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2005-06-24 (Goodwood): Friday
Month: July 2005
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804 1962 Porsche 804, class 6: Klaus Bischof
VINTAGE > Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2005-06-26 (Goodwood): Sunday
John Surtees and Jenson Button
VINTAGE > Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2005-06-25
Special Features
Glorious Goodwood
2005-07-04
Patrick Reilly
For three days every summer, motorsport fans are granted a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the legends of the track piloting the vehicles that made them famous in a hillclimb format. Yes, it can only be the Goodwood Festival of Speed, held in West Sussex, England.
As a Goodwood virgin I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had heard so much about the event: the wonderful access, the abundance of exotic machinery as well as the list of legendary names set to put in an appearance. Oh, and the equally exotic seafood and champagne. As I made my way to Lord March’s country manor I heard the trademark shrill of a V10 engine and then, to make matters complete, the sun came out. It was set to be a day to remember.
Since the event was inaugurated 12 years ago, it has prided itself as being the premier motorsport event of its kind. And it isn’t difficult to see why. Quite simply, you won’t see a lovelier array of original cars and bikes being put through their paces. One minute you’ll see a 1924 Alfa Romeo P2, closely followed by Mick Doohan burning up his Honda NSR. It’s that diverse.
What really sets Goodwood apart is that it’s a complete throwback to the days when fans were able to get close to the drivers and see the mechanics prepare the machines. Barriers and no-access zones are kept to a minimum with only a humble piece of rope separating you from the precious machinery. And with that I was off to the Formula One paddock, which this year boasted no fewer than seven of the current teams.
Normally to get into an F1 paddock you need to either have a job in Grand Prix racing or stackloads of cash. Seeing as I have neither, this was my first chance to see the 900 bhp beasts being prepared. I wandered down to the Williams garage where Patrick Head was chatting away with one of his mechanics. The former technical director was there with his family and his young son was trying out the cockpit of the FW27 for size. “He hasn’t shown any interest in F1 just yet,” said Head. Even though he was with his family, Patrick took the time out to chat with fans and sign a few autographs. A knowledgeable bunch, this Goodwood crowd.
Down at Toyota the mechanics were relaxing with their lunch. One incident in particular showed the informal nature of the day. A male fan wearing a Jaguar F1 shirt asked if it would be okay if he posed beside the TF104 for a photograph. The mechanic said it was fine — as long as he made sure to cover up the leaping cat logo on his shirt!
Elsewhere it was a joy to walk around and catch a glimpse of fabulous cars from a bygone age. Perhaps the most beautiful F1 car ever, the Maserati 250F, was being prepped for its timed run later on. Not too far away was the Sugaripe Eagle Offenhauser, which came second at Indy in 1973, one of many Indy cars on display including the Penske Ilmor PC20 from 1991 that would later be driven by Little Al. Everywhere you looked, mechanics were getting reacquainted with old friends and spectators gazed lovingly at the vehicles that sparked their interest in our sport.
The theme for this year’s event was “Racing Colours — National Pride and Culture” with no fewer than 350 cars on display from 25 different countries. The anniversary focus this year was Honda’s “40 years of Grand Prix success”. The Japanese marque hosted a truly spectacular display outside Goodwood House spanning its four decades of success at the highest level.
To celebrate German racing silver, Mercedes-Benz pulled out all the stops and brought the original 300 SLR, which triumphed in the Mille Miglia road race in 1955. And just to complete the picture, Sir Stirling Moss (who won that race) was driving the unforgettable #722 machine once again.
It was announced that Stirling would be joining commentating legend Murray Walker for a chat in the afternoon so I made my way down to the Mercedes area. “He was thirty minutes early on Friday and forty minutes late on Saturday. He’s a law unto himself but he is Stirling Moss,” said the security guard as we waited around for the man regarded as the best driver never to win the world championship.
When he did arrive it was in typically spectacular fashion, giving the 300 SLR a burst of revs to get up onto the podium stand. It says a lot for the appeal of Walker and Moss that in spite of the roar of V10 engines outside, the place was packed to capacity as Moss recalled his famous win. Of particular amusement was the tale of how he and co-driver Denis Jenkinson pioneered the “toilet roll” notes system, which rolled out to be read and apparently stretched to 17 feet long.
“The Mille Miglia was the greatest test of a driver’s ability, flat out for a thousand miles on public roads. Winning there was probably the highlight of my career,” said Sir Stirling.
Out on the track it went from the sublime to the ridiculous, as the Wacky Racers piloted by Dick Dastardly in his Mean Machine closely followed by Penelope Pit-Stop and all the cartoon gang careened off up the hill. All in full costume as well. A few minutes later Honda MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden, fresh from his fourth-place finish the previous day in Assen, demonstrated the 2002 RC211V. “We don’t have an event like this back in the States. I can’t believe how fancy everything is here,” said Nicky in his distinctive Kentucky accent.
There was no shortage of star names at Goodwood. Movie actor Ewan McGregor got to grips with the BMW R1150 motorcycle made famous in the reality mini-series The Long Way Round. But the undisputed star was Renault driver Fernando Alonso, who switched the traction control off on the R24 and smoked the rear tyres out on the strip. He later wowed Lord March with his now-infamous card tricks.
I popped down to the Renault garage on a couple of occasions and for some reason whenever I did Mr Alonso happened to appear. Clearly, the world championship leader was following me around. There was an almighty scrum when the Spaniard showed up but in spite of being poked in the ribs several times, I managed to get the precious picture for motorsport.com in the end.
Seriously though, the 23-year-old clearly enjoyed his first visit to the venue. “It’s been wonderful to see so many people here. There is such direct contact with the fans. Goodwood is such a beautiful place with a very special atmosphere.”
It’s hard to do justice to Goodwood. It is a truly unique event. There was no mention here of dodgy rear tyres, driver disputes and petty politics. The fans are the priority and for three days every summer, the emphasis is put firmly on those who have made the sport what it is. You.
“You are at the greatest motorsport event in the world,” beamed Murray Walker. Quite right, Murray. Roll on the Goodwood Revival in September
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