Goodwood Revival

8th - 10th September 2023

We reviewed the The Silverstone Festival at the end of August and compared it to the Goodwood Revival in that both are historic race events held at iconic British race tracks. So it was great to be able to attend and review the Revival last weekend while the Silverstone Festival was fresh in our minds. Both events are worthy of a visit if you are a motorsports fan who likes to take photographs. Spoiler alert! We think Goodwood is the better of the two if you like to take a snap or two, here is why.

The Goodwood Revival tips the scales and comes out on top for the spectator photographer in that the location is so much more photogenic than Silverstone. The miles of silver fences and huge grandstands give Silverstone an industrial feel which is not a bad thing, you are at a race track after all, but it gets a bit similar after a while. 

Goodwood on the other hand is held in the Duke of Richmond’s back garden in West Sussex. When I say garden, we are talking about 12000 acres of parks, forests, hillclimb track, villages, a horse racing course and the 2.367-mile Goodwood circuit. 

Unlike Silverstone the Goodwood track is relatively fence free, offering great views with well thought out raised banked areas to maximise the view for the spectators. White picket fences and straw bales are used frequently, adding a nice ambience in conjunction with the whitewashed buildings.

The number of people attending this event would make you think that getting into a good location to take your pictures would be a problem, but it’s not.

In my opinion a great deal of the spectators at the Revival are not that interested in the racing. There are the diehard fans who will head straight to their favourite location and camp out for the day to watch the racing, but a lot will promenade at the eastern end of the track from Woodcote to Madgwick, watch a few laps and move on.

So space will become available if you are willing to wait if you are after a specific location to take that picture.

Used as a verb the definition of promenade is to take a leisurely public walk, ride, or drive so as to meet or be seen by others. This is what a lot of the visitors to the Revival are doing, promenading in period dress which is encouraged but not enforced, except for a few locations like the paddock - a jacket and tie for the gentlemen is required. 

The dress code for the Revival is 1940-1960 as this was when the circuit was originally in use from 1948-1966. So you are looking at Military and Home Front World War Two through to the swinging sixties. The Goodwood track was originally a WW2 airfield so there are a lot of Air Force uniforms being worn, along with many of the men dressed in the timeless British country gent garb of panama or flat hat and tweed.

The ladies as usual make the most of the theme, embracing the event with gusto. There are loads of vintage clothing outlets on site if you need that last minute accessory. This makes the Revival truly unique in the world of motorsport - period correct vehicles with the spectators, marshals, mechanics and drivers in period correct clothing.

Of course you don’t have to dress up but it all adds to the fun and the festival atmosphere. However, I didn’t envy the guys wearing WW2 itchy wool battle dress on what was to be one of the hottest days in the UK hitting a high of 32c!

The heat wave over the weekend not only affected the spectators who by midday were utilising any shade available, but also the cars and bikes.

The racing at Goodwood is quite competitive which is not surprising considering some of the racing legends behind the wheel. So the bikes and cars were being pushed as hard as they could with the subsequent overheating problems. This meant that the recovery trucks were putting in a shift at the end of every race. 

So what was racing at the Goodwood Revival? To start the proceedings 200 motorcycles did a parade lap to celebrate 100 years of BMW Motorrad, 120 years of Harley-Davidson and 130 years of Royal Enfield. The other main anniversary at Goodwood was the quarter of a century since the Revival was launched and the 75th anniversary of the first race at Goodwood.

We then slipped straight into the first race, the Goodwood Trophy, which was originally for non championship formula 1 cars. This would be the first of seven races on Saturday.

A great first race saw the lead change with #3 Mark Gillies looking to be the winner only for it to be snatched from his grasp on the line by #61 Ian Baxter by 0.103 of a second after a sensational drive out of the chicane.

Out next were the motorbikes with a great lineup of former and current professional and amateur riders. Standing out from both sets of riders was #7 Freddie Sheene, the son of Barry. Freddie would ride one of his father’s Grand Prix bikes in the race, and although it was obvious that he was not going to be a front runner, that was not the point.

One rider pushing for the win in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy for 1960s grand prix motorcycles was #42 Michael Dunlop. Having to start from the very back of the grid after not posting a time on Friday due to mechanical failure he, as you can imagine being a Isle of Man TT racer, progressed through the field quite quickly.

As he passed #12 Steve Brogan, Steve let Michael know he is number one! Michael passed him easily but his bike, a 1966 MV Agusta 500/3 failed again later in the race. Steves didn’t so I guess he was right!

#125 the Matchless G50 ridden by Glen English and Steve Plater took the win in dramatic fashion. Passing the #68 Norton Manx 30M of Michael Russell and Michael Rutter into the final Chicane before powering to the chequered flag. George Thomas and Davey Todd completed the Race one podium.

After the bikes had gone in I decided to move with the sun and take a slow walk around the track, stopping at the corners of Madgwich, St Mary’s and Lavant. At Madgwich I paused to watch the Royal Automobile Club Tt Celebration practice.

St Mary’s is a great corner for watching the racing and very apt as the next race was the St Mary’s Trophy, so I was surprised that it was relatively spectator free. However, the blazing sun probably had something to do with it, with some people more interested in shade than watching the touring cars. 

The list of drivers racing in the St Mary’s Trophy was truly epic. #73 Romain Dumas was first in the massive Thunderbird, with #41 Rob Huff bouncing the Jag Mk1 off the kerbs in second and Tom Kristensen third in the tiny Austin A90.

Randomly picking out a few following drivers you had Button, Turkington, Shedden, Ingram, Chandhok with Rowan Atkinson staying ahead of Jocken Mass, Matt Neil and Tiff Needell.

Only at Goodwood can you experience such an eclectic grid in one race! 

With the race over, I headed for a pit stop at Lavant for a bite to eat and the cover of the large tent structures behind the grandstands for some relief from the sun. The next action on the track I wanted to see was not a race but a celebration of Sir Jackie Stewart, who would be doing demonstration laps in the Tyrrell-Cosworth 006 that he raced and won his final F1 world championship.

As the sound of the V8 Ford Cosworth DFV faded into the distance I got set up for the Rudge-Whitworth Cup, a race for 1920s Sportscars of the type that competed at the 1st Le Mans 24 Hours.

These 100 year old cars were running on synthetic fuel made from biomass. According to the announcer they can actually make more power from this type of fuel than the standard stuff. It makes you wonder if the EV route is the correct one?

As the Bentleys and Bugattis raced on burning sugar beet instead of dinosaur blood, I headed back to the entrance as my time was up at this year’s Revival. I detoured infield to check out the aircraft park and sink a very cold pint of cider, meet up with my shooting buddy and reflect on this year’s Goodwood Revival.

Only at this rather quaint race track in West Sussex can you experience the quality and diversity of race car drivers putting rare and historic motor vehicles through their paces.

Adding in the Revive & Thrive strap line that drives the Revival forward every year which challenges people to rethink, repair and re-wear that what has gone before. This gives you a truly one-of-a-kind race meeting that allows you to dust off those tweed pedal pushers, wax that moustache, pop on flat hat and watch top notch historic racing.

If you like to carry a camera and take the odd snap, as I do, it has got to be on your bucket list for next year.