| Introduction. Freddie March the present Earl of March's grandfather was a great motor
racing enthusiast who raced with success in the 1930s and was one of the Brooklands
personalities at that time.
After the war he converted the R.A.F. airfield, known as R.A.F.
West Hampnett, which had been built on part of his estate, to a motor racing track and for
16 years Goodwood race track was a major venue for all levels of motor racing. It fell
into disuse partly because Freddie March's son's interest was in horse racing but when
Charles March, the grandson appeared on the scene he was determined to make major changes
and bring the old track back to life again.
Goodwood never really closed completely and I can remember
testing a single seater there on a very wet day in the 1970's, sitting in the rather run
down café eating sandwiches and drinking tea waiting for the skies to clear, discussing
Chico Serra at some length with Derek Warwick, who was there testing an F2 car. The track
was fast and tricky, particularly around the back section where it was hard in the wet to
find and hold the line coming down the gradient through St. Mary's, which leads to the
start of the Lavant Straight.
After very extensive efforts Lord March's team and a band of
enthusiastic supporters suceeded in getting planning permission to open the track for a
few days each year and the Goodwood Motor Circuit Revival was born, this year being the
second time around. The restrictions are due to objections from the local residents to
noise.
The restoration involved a major investment: 27,000 car and lorry
tyres were used to form safety barriers, 270,000 tonnes of earth had to be moved to form
the spectator bankings, six miles of fencing was erected and 20,000 trees were planted.
All of this makes a fabulous neat, tidy and clean circuit which in true Goodwood style is
a pure pleasure to go to.
At most race meetings the
spectators start to drift away before the last race to avoid the traffic.
At Goodwood nobody wants to go home.
They almost have to turf them out.
To me that's the acid test. |
After three days out in all weather taking the
photographs on this site, yes I wanted to go home and dry out, but if my wife had turned
up with the Sunday roast I would have been quite happy to eat it at Goodwood race track
that evening - even wearing wet socks!
If you like the 300 photos and the editorial drop us an e-mail. Our thanks by the way to Chris Blum
at MotorSport magazine who has provided some of the Paddock section photographs and also
to John Dullighan in the USA who has e-mailed me a selection which he
took while on holiday over here this year.
It takes several man weeks work to put together a web site of
this kind so we would like to hear from you if you feel you can contribute any
constructive comment, add any good photographs, or even write something for next year's
event. If you want to go to Goodwood next year you will find details of the dates on the
main page of each section.
For more detailed information, as we are now on the Press list,
we will publish this as soon as we receive it. We will probably do a pre-Festival section
with photos in 2000 if we are invited to the press day, so bookmark this site and re-visit
periodically to keep up to date.
Finally, back on this site, where you find a story or a sequence
of photographs which interest you, simply follow the main buttons or click on a  sign to stay on the right track. And for my
money the right track is Goodwood.
Rob Titherley
Managing Director - Hartland Web Pages.
Brooklands Society Director.
P.S. - Update - the site now includes the
date for the
Goodwood Revival 2002.
Check out the main Brooklands Society page for periodical
updates. You may also be able to get more information from www.goodwood.co.uk |
