Goodwood Revival Meeting, 2004
If you are a serious historic petrolhead and enjoy
dressing up in 50’s and 60’s gear and want to O.D. on the subject then there is
no better aphrodisiac than the Goodwood Revival. It is simply the best historic race weekend on the calendar with
a true element of ‘sport’ firmly on the agenda.
The revival is a time-warp, the ambience indescribable and
with Goodwood House as the backdrop for the ‘First Over’ the performance
begins.
Thursday – The cricket match on The House Lawn – what is
the difference between ‘bowling’ and ‘throwing’. What are the rules – it really does not matter. Watching The Duke of Richmond and Gordons XI
play The Earl of March & Kinrara XI while you enjoy your champagne picnic cannot
be a bad way to spend the afternoon and as the match comes to a draw a WWII air
display comes over so low that you loose your hat and your partner her
‘hair-do’ that’s only been done the morning you got here. Cocktails are served in the Pavillion and
the drivers briefing takes place – “the races are about sportsmanship with no
over aggressive driving that could incite an incident” Any infringements will lead to
disqualification and a future ban. – More about what happened later.
Friday – It is time to dress up – easy for the chaps as an
old sports jacket or blazer does not date and we have still all got some form
of old school or club tie but it is not so easy for the ladies as fashions
change and a suspender belt is not the only way to hold up your stockings which
have now lost the seams – pity pity.
The daunting Goodwood circuit awaits you – its ‘flat’ all
the way apart from Levant and the Chicane complex they tell you, but do you
dare? – it is a show for the public but can you bury that competitive spirit
and the will to win? The day went
fairly smoothly and no severely slapped wrists. VC have sponsored a cocktail party back at the house for drivers
and their guest and if you have not been to the house before the grand entrance
hall and galleries await you – breathtaking.
P.S. the ‘spitfire’ boys have scrambled again and seem to be even lower
than last night – what an airshow!
Saturday – The racing begins and the circuit comes to life
– you really are back in the 50’s or 60’s – there is no show like this on earth
– by now you will have read the results and seen the coverage on Channel 4 so
we won’t go into a race report other than to say apart from a last-race
incident the day went off in fine fashion with spectacular racing throughout
the day – P.S.gentlemen could remove their jackets we were told as temperatures
sweltered in the 80’s.
The ball awaits the invited guests and this year it is to
be a Venetian Theme on the grand canal.
The guests arrive and enter a set as spectacular as ever and party away
till the early hours – do the drivers remember to take it easy as they are on
duty early next day – perhaps the majority but certainly not a few!
Sunday – Another gorgeous day, the highlight of the
weekends racing we are told, are the second leg of the saloon car race and the
two driver one hour Tourist Trophy. The
cars and racing on the whole were truly fantastic but sadly the standard of
driving, especially in the TT, reminded one of a modern BTCC round on
television. Those GTO’s, Lightweight ‘E’s and Cobras did however sound and look
sensational and were driven as they should be, drifting and sliding their way
around the circuit.
As
the sun starts to go down and later than programmed due to incidents in the
last two races of the programme, it is time for the final rounds of Champagne
and Cake. Can there be any VC left in
France because the amount that’s been consumed over this Summer weekend could
not be counted on tenfold the number of peoples fingers who may read this
article. Our Host opens the Prize
giving ceremony and works his way through the awards, introducing the winners
most of whom reply with words that all present would wish to extend
themselves. Again by now you will have
read who they were and had time to reflect if you were personally involved.
You cannot explain what The Revival is about, how stunning
the re-creation of life in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s and the racing of the same
era – even the ‘smells’ are the same.
Lets not forget the Officers Mess where we dined, probably over
indulgently, all weekend nor the Pilots who flew those WW II machines in such
spectacular style.
We all owe our gratitude to Lord March and his team for
putting on this event and for any of you who have never been book your tickets
for next year now as if you don’t you will miss the “best show on earth”. It was, not astonishingly, a ‘sell out’.
C.P.