The Goodwood Revival 2022

23 September 2022

If you enjoy taking pictures with an automotive theme there will be certain events that will be at the top of your must-do list when you are planning your annual photographic expeditions. The Goodwood Revival has to be in every photographer's top five events to photograph in the UK, mainly as there is nothing else like it on these islands and indeed the world.

The Revival is a three day weekend event held in September celebrating racing from 1940s to the end of the 1960s at Goodwood. This is quite a specific period, which covers the time from when this former RAF World War Two air base was converted to a race track in 1948 to its eventual closure in 1966.

The reopening of the track for the first Revival was back in 1998 and has grown year on year into a one of a kind event that no other vintage, historic or classic event can replicate. That missing ingredient from all the other classic vehicle festivals is the requirement to be in period correct clothing. 

This rule is in place for the teams, racers, safety and support staff and is encouraged for the visiting spectators. There is no bouncer on the main gate telling you “you can come in dressed like that mate”, but there are areas that a jacket and tie and appropriate dress for the ladies are required so you are encouraged to join in. 

Most do, and really get into the sprit of the meeting, turning out in genuine vintage clothes. If you can’t find anything in your local charity shop there are loads of stalls selling the obligatory flat hats and head scarves near the main entrance. The main themes are country tweeds, war time uniforms, Mods and Rockers, Carnaby Street and Teddy Boy - the styles from the 1940s to the 1960s. 

So what can you experience and photograph at the Revival? Harking back to its original function, Goodwood hosts a good selection of historic aircraft on the grassed area of the infield which can be accessed before the racing starts by crossing the track, or by a tunnel when racing commences. 

The first event of the day, except Sunday when there is a track blessing, is a short air show to announce that the Revival has started for another day of historic racing. Who doesn’t love the sound of a trio of Merlin engines first thing in the morning?

A short walk from the static aircraft display is the paddock. You will need to meet the dress standards to get in, but for those that dress for the weather not the occasion, you can walk around the outside.

The early morning light on Saturday was lovely and I took advantage of my long focal length lens to get some detail shots from the perimeter, as I seemed to have forgotten my jacket and tie!

The on-track action covers 14 different classes from the period the circuit was originally open - GT cars, saloons, front and rear engined Formula 1 and sports cars. There is qualifying followed by racing, but if you can only make one day of the three you won’t miss much as the winners of the trophies on offer are decided on the aggregate of the races completed over the weekend.

To make it a little more intriguing, most of the races require a change of driver so you can expect a current or retired professional race driver matched up with an amateur driver/owner, or even a celebrity petrol head (of which there are many) who make the annual automotive pilgrimage to the Sussex track.

You don’t have to fit the above criteria to race at Goodwood and if you are between the ages of 4 to 10 you can take part in the Settrington Cup. This is a short race for pedal cars exclusively featuring the Austin J40. 

It’s not just four wheels out on track. The Barry Sheene Memorial trophy sees some of the best past and present riders in the UK taking some classic machines out into the September sunshine.

The riders wearing their 2022 race helmets were easy to spot. Others like Josh Brookes weren’t. A quick look at the giant TV screens confirmed his race number.

The same rules applied to the motorcyclists as the drivers - a change of rider was required during the race. This caused a few problems as unlike racing in 1948 there are now speed limits in the pit lane and quite a few riders were penalised for speeding.

Brookes and Kingham were penalised in both races, but did put in the fastest laps of the weekend on the magnificent #55 1954 Vincent Black Shadow. They would eventually be placed third behind Michael Rutter and Michael Russell on the #68 1954 Velocette MSS with #17 James Hillier and George Thomas winning on the Saturday.

It's not just racing. There were a few track parades the most memorable being the tribute to Graham Hill on what would have been the 60th anniversary of his first F1 title in 1962.

His son Damon Hill led the parade, driving the BRM P579 in which Graham won his first outright victory at Goodwood and was followed by many of the cars his father drove during his amazing career.

The variety of cars was amazing, from F1 to the Indy, showcasing his achievement of being the only person to have won the "triple crown"  -  the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the F1 drivers' championship. 

The four wheel racing was many and varied, from single seaters to saloon cars, with a good smattering of exotic metal. 13 races a day is good for an event like this.  Throw in the parade laps, and that is plenty of track action for this spectator photograph to watch and snap.

The only issue I have with taking photos at the Goodwood revival 2.4 mile circuit is that it’s not the most exciting track. It’s basically a dented square with long sweeping high speed corners, providing only a few locations that give you anything but a head-on or fast panning shot of a car turning right. 

What this does is make you work harder as a photographer to look for those scenic shots to break up the turning right panning shots that I seemed to be capturing most of the day.

These type of shots I take at the beginning of a race when the cars are all together. This is because the Revival has pro and amateur racers, so the field gets stretched out within a few laps thereby losing the impact of this type of image.

One aspect of the track that is good is that most of the corners have raised grass banks, so you do get a good view. 

There are some good locations available at the members' meeting, but at the Revival you are restricted mainly to the outside of the track.

You can read about all of the locations to take a good photograph in our Photographic Guide to Goodwood here.

One spot I do like is  St Mary’s. It’s about as close to the action as you can get but the view is quite restricted, not the view of the track as you are right on top of it, but of the approach.

Why is this a problem?  Well I tend to track cars to the point I want to take the picture, shoot, and just take one picture. With a large crowd a few deep it can be tricky, but looking through any small gaps and listening out for an a approaching car, after a few attempts you can predict when the car is going to appear and where you want to take the shot.

Just keep your finger off the focus button when panning past the spectators' heads.

All of this track action is fine, but it’s only a small part of the Revival. The people, the spectators and the actors playing parts are a big deal, not only to set the scene as a backdrop, but as stand alone subjects.

Don’t feel put off by papping the actors. They are paid to be there, and the dress-up crowd are generally happy to be snapped and will act the part. As you can tell, papping is not my thing. I like cars and bikes!

So that concludes our look at the Revival. iI’s a superbly run event that has all of the large and small details ticked off, and ticked off well. 

Some of the spectators are not race spectators  - they are there to be seen at the Revival. Some of the spectators are racing enthusiasts who get into the sprit of the event by dressing for the occasion. Some of the spectators are just spectators, but all of the above seemed to have enjoyed the event, including yours truly.

The Revival remains one of my top five motorsports events in the UK.

Kit used for this event was a Nikon D3X DSLR with a 70-200mm f2.8 for the paddock, papping and race starts and a 200-400mm f4 for the rest of the track action.