Photographing the 81st Members Meeting at Goodwood

13 - 14 April 2024

The Goodwood 81st Members Meeting is an event for the Road Racing Club members only, unless you know a GRRC member and then you can go as a guest. This exclusive motorsports meeting is a peculiar one in that it encompasses the other two main meetings at Goodwood into one event for the GRRC members.

It is part Festival of Speed, with some modern machinery but mostly Revival based, with older race cars taking to the historic track. It is also biased to the Revival side of things with the standard of dress - country clothes with appropriate head wear is the order of the day. This is not enforced and you are encouraged to dress to the weather conditions of the day.

My shooting buddy does like to get to events early as queuing is not his thing. So, we breezed in with no delays to speak of and were soon inside the Goodwood race track, which has to be one of the most photogenic tracks in the UK.

When the Pistonclick team visited it had recently rained a great deal, and quite a few events restricted spectator attendance due to waterlogged car parks.

However, where we parked at Goodwood it was all good, helped by a previous dry day. And the good weather conditions continued on the Sunday that we attended, with an overcast but thankfully dry day. The first location we visited was the paddock.

Stuck firmly in the first half of last century, the wooden and Art Deco looking buildings set the scene for the day’s entertainment. The Duke of Richmond has taken the racing at Goodwood to a different level, including ensuring that the merchandise stalls and food outlets fit in with the Goodwood theme of nostalgia and quality.

This attention to detail does enhance the experience, and extends to the tickets which are quality metal on rope wearable medals, reminiscent of the horse racing members’ badges. As the rules and terms for motorsports were taken from horse racing, paddock, clerk of the course, it seems appropriate to have this type of ticket.

Included with our tickets were house badges of which there were four competing in the weekend’s events. 

Drivers, cars and bikes were adorned with the house badges, with the houses earning points depending on where each designated driver or car finished in the racing.

To add to these points the spectators could take part in off track experiences to add to the team’s total. Laser shotgun shooting, tug of war and other events went on all weekend and this got the crowds cheering for their house representatives on and also leading events track side.

The level of detail goes on. Around the track, very large tepee tents had been erected to give cover if the weather turned inclement. Also, fire pits were available for those who needed to warm up and rest between races. I wish a few other tracks in the UK would take note. One track I visited recently didn’t even bother opening the toilets after the winter closure.

So that sets the scene, but what about the racing? We missed the first few as we were having a great time around the paddock which has limited access to the public at the main meeting of the year - the Revival. However, we did manage to get a few pictures track side later!

This access extends to areas of the track side that you just can’t get to at the Revival, mostly inside the track. This is great for the spectator photographer and motorsports fan as you can get closer to the action. 

Talking of the action, it’s most definitely not in short supply, with the races coming thick and fast. The Hailwood Trophy (featuring the Sheene Trophy) was the only two-wheeled event of the weekend.

As the MM is run over two days, this as with a few other trophies, is decided on an aggregate score.

1st Phil Atkinson #1 on the Yamaha TZ350G 2nd Dan Jackson #55 and 3rd Glen English #25 were all in the 350cc class. In the 750cc it was Michael Russell #68 on the Norton Manx Commando, 2nd #51 Graham Higlett and 3rd Isle of Man TT favourite Michael Rutter #65.

Emanuele Pirro #66 the F1, Endurance and Touring Car race car driver took to two wheels in the Hailwood and came in a credible 16th.

During the race Jamie O'brien had quite a moment at Lavant, apparently a water pipe detached causing the crash. Jamie is battered and bruised and in Chichester Hospital getting checked out but he is in good spirits and gave us permission to use these images.

It’s our policy here at PistonClick to ask the racers about using crash pictures if they have been hurt. We send our best wishes to Jamie for a full and speedy recovery.

Adding another wheel, the Sidecar Shootout was next. Not a race as such, this event saw the best sidecar racers in the world getting three laps - a warm up, going for it, and cool down lap. The lap time set on Saturday determined when and who the teams would race against on a knock out format, fastest wins!

Later in the afternoon the fastest sidecars went out for a final run. #6 Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement on the LCR-Yamaha YZF-R6 posted a 1:21.174 to take the win. #29 Steve Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood were second with #34 Sam and Tom Christie third who celebrated with handstand while going at speed, great stuff.

Ben Birchall and Kevin Rousseau were also at the 81st Members Meeting, coming in fourth. Kevin RousseauIt has taken over passenger duties from Bens brother Tom Birchall, its the first time I have seen the pair this year and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do around this years Isle of Man TT. 

After two and then three wheels it was the turn of the four wheels and the sound of race cars. And what a lot of race cars there were! Comprising of just about every discipline you can think of from the last hundred years.

This is what I like about Goodwood, the variety of race cars. The S.F. Edge Trophy had Edwardian and Aero-Engined Specials produced prior to 1923 belting round the track. With ridiculously skinny wheels and what looked like gentleman’s club armchairs perched on top of a ridiculously high chassis, these should have been the highlight of the day for the most obscure race cars.

However, the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, which ran from 1966 until 1974, topped it for me. A demonstration race, the cars were just so weirdly entertaining in the styling, aero configuration, but mostly the noise which was epic. I’ve seen a few of these cars before but never in these numbers so it was a motorsports treat to take in this spectacle.

This wasn’t the only treat. There were on-track moments scheduled for the 81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting. Niki Lauda’s 1985 Dutch Grand Prix-winning McLaren MP4/2B came out for a few laps. This was in celebration of his first F1 win 50 years ago at the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix. Ten years later in 1984 he won his third and final Formula 1 drivers’ championship.

Gerhard Berger was due to be reunited with his Ferrari 640 but sadly it was not to be and didn’t come out on to the track. I have no idea why, so I had to make do with getting up close to it in the paddock. It was interesting to note that the tyres that had been on in the morning had been changed in the afternoon, so I presume it was a mechanical issue.

Gordon Murray Automotive were also one of the MM moments, doing demonstration laps of their T50 and T.50s Niki Lauda track car. The T.50s is named after the F1 world champion and Gordon Murray’s former Brabham teammate, Niki Lauda.

It incorporates a down force fan in an homage to the 1978 Brabham BT46 “fan car” which Lauda and John Watson took to third place in the 1978 F1 constructors championship. This car sounds amazing being powered by a 772PS 3.9 litre V12 with a 12,100 rpm limit!

In total there were 11 races scheduled during the day, with the MM on-track moments interspersed between them. This is why the MM is part Festival of Speed part Revival as there is a great mix of state of the art modern motor vehicles with classic racing metal.

So, if you can only make one event at Goodwood I would recommend tracking down a GRRC member and getting along to next year’s 82nd members meeting.

Photographic Post Script

For this event I used the Nikon D500 with a AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR with a 1.4x teleconverter and a the 300mm f/4E PF ED VR lens. I didn’t really need the 1.4x teleconverter but it came in handy a few times. Around the paddock I used the AF-S DX NIkkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR.

Most of the Goodwood track is close enough for the 70-200mm f/2.8 with a crop sensor camera to work well. Just a few locations around Levant and Madgwick corner needed the extra reach.

The 1.4x teleconverter attache to the 300mm f/4E PF gives you a focal length of 650mm with no perceived loss of quality in a compact light set up, so is ideal for the photographer on the move who wants to capture subjects at distance.

Having used the 300mm f/4E PF for quite a few events I am now a fan of this tiny lens. There has been talk of the VR on this lens not being that great and performing badly with teleconverters. A short lens with a long focal length can give you problems if you are hand holding it, which most people do as it’s so small. 

I have not had these issues as I’m shooting at a high shutter speed when capturing the action head-on, so not an problem. When panning, the sport VR mode does come into play but seems to work well for me.

I’m presuming the problems photographers have identified with the VR are from shooting slow moving wildlife. I will continue to use this lens and report back if there are any issues, 1/125 of a second panning seems to be quite usable!

All of the pictures in this report have been taken from the spectator side of the fence.