Goodwood Revival 2004- who's going?

[Andrew Kitson]

Al you are going to love it. Prepare to be absolutely gobsmacked. It is rightly the greatest historic race meeting in the world. All the drivers say this and the press. This is why the meeting has so many applications from people with suitable cars to compete and so many requests from journos and photographers from all over the world. The Goodwood Road Racing Company then invite the cars they want to suit.
The first revival in 1998 is still the greatest meeting I have ever been to in over 40 years of attending. All other revivals have been just as good but the first was very special due to the novelty value and the weather!
Let us know your thoughts after the event.

[Al Weyman]

I sure will and I will be taking my big reflex digital camera so hopefully will get a few good postable pickies.

[Suzy]

I am going tomorrow and Sunday. Got my outfits ready now - mad panic to ensure they were perfect down to the bag. It's the only race meeting of the year where I get to wear a dress and look smart so that's one reason why I enjoy the dress code. Mind you, tottering around the embankments in kitten heels ain't the easiest thing on earth...

This will be my second revival meeting. Last year I was too overwhelmed to really take it all in; I hope I will be a bit more useful this year. The weather is scheduled to be gorgeous, the atmosphere enjoyable and I hope the racing is as good as last year.

[simon drabble]

I am at a wedding tomorrow and showing a man from Europe my Lotus on Sunday so it seems I will miss it again - shame hope you all enjoy it

[zefarelly]

tweed or corduroy . . . .decisions decisions

or maybe I'll go as a beatnik

[Andrew Kitson]

For those who are not going but want to keep up with the action, the Goodwood website has live updates.
click on the link and go to Action in the left hand toolbar
http://www.goodwood.co.uk/revival/

[Al Weyman]

I am gutted, I have two tickets for the Saturday and was all set to go but I am suffering severe back pain for the last fortnight that suddenly has spread to my right leg meaing I can only stand for two or three minutes then have to lay down and have had to cancel the trip, what a waste I was really looking forward to it.

[SL]

I can only make it worse Al. You missed a really good meeting. Saw Sundays racing and it was fantastic, the TT was great as usual although there was no race to the line, the ISO had it won.

Great display by Grant Williams in the Jag, how sideways can you get a Mk1 ??? But he got beaten by an Austin A35 !!!! Both started from the back, Rae Davis from the grid and Grant from a first lap pit stop to secure the bonnet.

Shame about the F1 crash, hope the driver is OK. Took 1 1/2 hours to get him free. Heard he was taken to hospital but no more. Had his legs trapped in the car I understand.

S

[simon drabble]

who was it that crashed?

[SL]

It was car 37 in the Glover Trophy, an addition to the programme. Not sure of the car or driver.

[David McKinney]

Chris Smith (Lotus 18)
I'm told his injuries are limited to the lower leg(s)
I'm sure we all wish him a speedy recovery

[zefarelly]

Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery

THe Gt's where superb, the saloons, as always the high;light of the weekend for me, why is it it makes for such good viewing ? there where 4 different leaders, nose to tail, side by side action from start to finish, good clean family fun ! fantastic driving from Rae Davies, Justin Law and Chris Sanders in the Std 10 early on.

[Stephen Green]

Indeed we do. Get well soon Chris.

I have to add that the BARC rescue lads and lassies did a fabulous job this weekend!

[Nordic]

Chris Smith, is he owner of Westfield Sports Cars? Hope it all turns out ok for him, it puts into sharp focus the every present danger of racing these old cars, from where we where standing it seemed to fold up a bit on him.

I hope willie green is also ok as I understand he had a fairly major off in his GT40, that brought the red flag for a 2nd time in the whitsun race

[Stephen Green]

I believe the stop in the GT40 was due to the cars position in the gravel trap. With such high value and arguably irreplaceable cars in dangerous positions, it is often better to call for a race stop than worry over the possible risk to machinery.

[zefarelly]

likewise they stopped the St MArys trophy race when the Zephyr was guided into a roll in the gravel, I think it presents a major threat to the marshals, drivers etc, and this at the end of the day is more important than a few dents on ANY car

[Suzy]

I hope the driver gets well soon - it looked like a very nasty accident.

Thanks to everybody who raced over the weekend and participated in the event. It was very enjoyable, the cars were gorgeous, the competitors were friendly, the atmosphere was positive, the weather was a real bonus and I took lots of pictures (which I ought to get developed asap). As usual, my nose is burned and there's a burned hole in my purse too

Sorry I didn't get to show off my Sunday dress to you yesterday Stephen - we didn't make it as far as Lavant (little matter of kitten heels not suiting Goodwood and no tractors running).

[Stephen Green]

I sulked the whole day

I too have a somewhat red nose today and it's not Christmas yet!

Lovely to see you, Tim and Paul on Saturday. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend?

[Peter Horsman]

Yup, Chris is the owner of Westfield. A nice guy.

[Stephen Green]

I hope he is fully recovered soonest and send my best wishes.

[stuart05]

Three fabulous days in superb weather.
Personal highlights were the Booklands cars, the St Marys Trophy race on Sunday and the return of the Shelby Daytona Cobras in the TT.
Only another 362 days to go...

[macca]

It was Willie Green in the yellow GT40 who spun at Madgewick when Duncan Dayton in a Brabham-BRM BT7 V8 was on the inside - it looked for all the world as though he tried to outbrake DD (a GT40 outbrake a little Brabham!!!! ) and went into the fence on his own while DD took a much harder impact. I didn't see any signs of contact between the two, DD just had nowhere to go.

The race had been stopped previously when the Dolphin-Chevy went deep into the Madgewick gravel - it looked safe enough to me so far off the track, but..................

The Zodiac was squeezed out on the first lap of his race and went into the gravel sideways for a gentle roll - the only thing broken appeared to be the windscreen, through which the driver emerged before the marshalls righted it.

In the Richmond & Gorden Trophies race for late-'60s F1s, there was an odd accident to the maroon 250F Maserati - he went onto the grass on the outside of the first part of Madgewick but had his hand in the air as though something had broken, then almost managed to steer it away from the fence but just dinged the ends of the car and the left-front wheel as far as I could see. Yet when they were putting it on the truck I saw a marshall pick up a whole and detached (apparently intact) driveshaft.

Paul M

[Mal]

I just picked this from Goodwood's website:

"Christopher Smith - Glover Trophy

In the early stages of the Glover Trophy race for 1.5-litre Grand Prix cars on the Sunday (Sept 5) of the Goodwood Revival, Christopher Smith from Kinver, West Midlands, suffered a substantial impact in his 1961 Lotus-Climax 18 at Madgwick corner. He fractured one ankle and broke the tibia of his other leg.

Chris, head of Westfield Sports cars, is a highly experienced driver having raced extensively since the 1960s.

The complex chassis structure of the Lotus’s nose caused complications for the crew tasked with extracting Chris from the car, which took longer than expected (Racing was eventually restarted around 45 minutes later).

The hospital reports that Chris is comfortable and making good progress."

Good news I guess.

[Al Weyman]

You will probably shoot me down in flames for this but I have often questioned the sense in running these old F1 cars in competition I also am including the Boss series. How many professional paid drivers in the past have stepped out of these machines vowing to never race again after loosing one close friend too many. These old cars were dangerous and drivers did perish not like the wonderful kevlar surviavable drivers cells into todays cars. I don't know whether to admire the guys who race these for there outright bravery or question their sanity to compete unpaid in such a dangerous piece of equiment. It is like vintage aircraft you fly them with respect not balls out imatation dogfights, may be there should be a rethink and restrict these old cars to demonstration runs only.

[the18racer]

Chris's shunt was nasty. He has a broken ankle and a broken tibia. The chassis was so distorted by the impact that it took nearly 50 minutes to cut Chris out. It didn't do much for my peace of mind given that my car is similar to Chris's, and I could not bring myself to look at the wreckage. My own race was not particularly distinguished; I went into the gravel trap at the exit of Woodcote when desperately trying to avoid t-boning Laidlaw's spinning BRM. It took 20 or 30 seconds to get out, by which time Chris had had his shunt. As I went past the scene, I could see that it was a mess, but I could see Chris moving, and he appeared to be trying to get out. I took the restart stone last, and spent the entire race stuck behind a certain Lotus 24. With only 120 BHP ihad no chance of getting past and making it stick, but I did get by once or twice, the best move being round the outside at St. Mary's, whereupon he moved over on me and put me on the grass..... Oh, and the Maserati 250F broke in qualifying before I had put in a lap at full racing speed. The owner has confessed to an, ahem, over-revving "indiscretion" at Oulton last Monday.