The Goodwood Revival Part Two
The Goodwood Revival – a Photographic Journey
Part Two - The Nikon Years
Report by David Harbey
April 2020
In part one of the retrospective of the Goodwood Revival, David covered 1998 to 2015. Now he looks back at 2016 to 2019 and his progression from his trusty ten year old Olympus E500 to the Nikon brand.
Replacing the Olympus in 2016 with a D610 and a Nikkor 70-300mm zoom he then moved on to the excellent Nikon D850, matched to a AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G ED VR and Davids favourite the Nikkor f2.8 70-200mm.
David now reviews not only the Goodwood Revival in this report but his progression as a photographer and the relentless march of photographic technology.
In part one of my retrospective of the Goodwood Revival, I covered 1998 to 2015. Having taken voluntary redundancy in 2014, my final working years were spent on a number of short contracts which allowed me to spend more time photographing motorsport.
In 2016, it was time to upgrade and move on from my trusty ten year old Olympus E500 to a Nikon D610 and Nikkor 70-300mm zoom.
I’d not really used the D610 in low light, so the Friday evening Kinrara Trophy really opened my eyes to the improvements in digital camera technology. This was the inaugural race for closed cockpit GTs that raced up to the end of 1962; starting at 18.45, the race would end after sunset.
There were Ferraris ! Here’s the Richard Attwood / Adrian Beecroft 250 GT SWB/C and the one of a kind 250 Breadvan of Lukas and Martin Halusa; both were taken at 1/200th with the ISO already at 1600.
Walking round to the exit of Madgwick provides a good shot back showing a decent crowd on the bank or a close up – this time of the Frank Stippler / Conrad Ullrich in the Scuderia del Viodotto 250 GT/SWB
As the race entered its final minutes, I headed back to the entrance to the corner. In the gloom, the glowing brake discs could clearly be seen and the Tom Alexander / Adrian Wilmott DB4GT and the Tony Wood / Will Nuthall E-Types were good performers. By now the ISO was up to 12800.
As an experiment I continued to take shots in the darkness. This one of the James Cottingham / Andrew Smith E-Type was taken at 1/20th and ISO at 25600. This was certainly a brave new world after the E500 !
Saturday morning dawned rather grey with a promise, fulfilled during the first race, of rain. The Goodwood Trophy is for grand prix cars raced up to 1951 – most are pre-war with powerful engines and narrow tyres.
Thus, oversteer is the natural outcome as demonstrated by Calum Lockie in the Maserati 6CM (19), Michael Gans in ERA R3A (23) and Simon Diffey in the Bugatti Type 51 (32). This ain’t no demo !
The rear three quarter angle at Woodcote also provides a view into the cockpit – which also highlights the precarious driving position.
Of course, for cars of this age, modern helmets don’t look quite right, but I will take that if I can get to see and shoot such glorious cars. Tom Dark in the Bugatti Type 73C overtakes the Alfa Romeo Tipo B of Erickson Shirley.
The rain set in but we stood firm at Woodcote swinging the lens the other way to capture the cars entering the corner. These smaller engine sports prototypes of the early 60s have little rain protection – indeed, one driver reported afterwards that every time he hit a puddle, he got soaked through the open wheel well.
With wet weather for the rest of the day, there was going to be lots of spray and soft images.
The bravery award goes to the bikers in the first leg of the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy. By now I was at St Mary’s for a close up shot of Maria Costello on the 1929 BMW Group Classic WR500 Kompressor.
The St Mary’s Trophy was exclusively for A30 / A35s – but they are not like anything your Mum / Dad or Grandpa / Grandma might have driven. Looking back to No Name corner for lap 1, we can see Andrew Jordan, Steve Soper and Gordon Shedden leading the field through the spray.
The owners got to drive the cars in Sunday. The panning shot at 1/160th shows the condensation on the side window.
Continuing my circumnavigation of the circuit, I was at Madgwick for the Whitsun Trophy – for big banger sports cars – on a damp track ! Tiff Needell (24) proved that the unloved Lotus 30 had some life in it by challenging Tony Sinclair (5) in his Lola T70 on the first lap while the rest of field howled through led by the ubiquitous GT40.
After that it was back to our accommodation to dry out ready for Sunday which promised much better weather.
Sunday, indeed, dawned bright and clear. Glorious blue sky, vapour trails and a Merlin engine - hard to beat ! One of the regular features of the Revival is the Sunday morning service of Holy Communion.
As it turned out, this was my late father’s last time at a motorsport event (he is to blame for my interest in all the right ways !) and he had wanted to attend the service for a number of years. It was fitting therefore that, as a retired man of the cloth, we were able to make it. I am grateful to Steve Tarrant for his photo of the service.
The weather held for the day; the bikes entertained and Stirling Moss managed to get his annual run out, this time in an Aston Martin, to celebrate Goodwood Greats.
The RAC TT Celebration provided the usual drama at St Mary’s with E-Types locking wheels and Cobras putting the power down just too early at the exit.
The unusual Sunbeam Lister Tiger was driven with enthusiasm, as every year.
For the penultimate race of the day, it was to the banking above the Lavant Straight on the inside of the track to get those neat panning shots – with the cars heading from left to right (a pet subject !).
It is slightly frustrating in that you are above the cars and so have to zoom out to get anything other than car and grass in the shot, but it can be effective with a spot of Dutch Tilt. Here we see Joe Colasacco in the Ferrari 1512 at 1/125th and winner of the race, Nick Fennell in the Lotus 25 at 1/160th. Interesting, but a bit more practice required, methinks !
2017
There were bikes with familiar names.
There were planes I’d not seen before – the Red Bull P38 Lightning and the only Bristol Blenheim still flying.
There was a rainy Lotus 11 to bring out my creative side.
The pattern of rain in the afternoon was set on Friday and continued through the weekend. That meant wet practice for the TT; here is John Young in the E-Type he shared with Steve Soper taken at 1/25th and Paul Wooley and Jason Wright in Glover Trophy Scirocco-BRM and Derrington Francis-ATS respectively.
The opening race of the weekend was the Kinrara Trophy for GTs that raced up to 1962. We’d headed out to the outside of the Lavant “Straight” near the kink where the quicker drivers were just kissing the kerb.
Derek Bell looked perfectly at home in Marc Devis Ferrari 250 SWB/C. Walking towards Woodcote provides a neat rear shot into the double apex corner with rain lights aglow. The final shot is an artistic effort at 1/2 second shutter speed into the gloom as the cars brake for the Chicane.
Saturday morning dawned dry and bright. First race of the day was for Formula Juniors, with their 1100cc engines. The exit of Madgwick is an excellent location for a first lap shot with the growing crowd framing the shot behind.
Look closely and you can see some determined faces ! We had set up there for the day and so captured Mike Jordan in his distinctive dayglo orange helmet pushing the limits in TT qualifying.
Talking of distinctive, there’s two more below – the Ecurie Ecosse transporter certainly sparked some memories either of the real thing or the Corgi replica.
Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti at the wheel of the unique machine. There is also the Red Bull P38 Lightning in its polished finished and the only one in Europe.
While on the subject of demo’s there was also a 1957 Grand Prix tribute with Tony Brooks driving the Vanwall and Dario Franchitti behind the wheel of the Maserati 250F.
The Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy race always attracts a good grid of riders including Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams – seen here at speed on the Norton Manx 500 he shared with Duncan Fitchett on their way to third in Race 1 and, after Sunday’s race, the overall victory.
The action continued with the Goodwood Trophy for pre-war grand prix cars. We saw them above in 2016 at Woodcote in the damp. This year at Madgwick proved just as challenging as Mark Gillies demonstrates the very wide line !
Then the rain returned for the Whitsun Trophy providing a challenge for the drivers of these “unlimited sports prototypes” as the class is described.
Sunday started dry, if a little grey. As has been our custom, we headed out to the back of the circuit to St Mary’s and No Name in time to see the first lap of the St Mary’s Trophy Race 2. Mike Jordan , in the family A40 led the early laps with journalist (and very quick racer) Richard “Dickie” Meaden close behind in the Giulietta.
And so to the main attraction – the RAC TT Celebration for early 60s GT cars. At the exit of Fordwater there is often some front wheel waving to be seen. There is the added benefit of the crowd at Madgwick in the background.
The Gans / Wolfe Cobra just leads the Ward / Shedden E-Type, while the Newall / Stippler Ferrari 250 SWB is also pushing it. Meanwhile Rob Huff is attacking St Mary’s at a very unusual angle in the E-Type.
A dramatic incident happened in front of us, as Ward in the E-Type hit the back of the Bryant / Smith Cobra sending the latter into a BIG moment. Madeline caught the initial impact and I was fortunate to capture the ensuing spin. Ward received a penalty handing Gans / Wolfe the win.
Then it rained again with a full wet track for the final race of the day – the Sussex Trophy for late 50s sports cars. It was back to the inside of the Lavant Straight with reflections and spray.
2018
This might seem a strange comment regarding the superzoom, given my comments elsewhere about how snapper-friendly Goodwood is, but it really does allow you to see the whites of the driver’s eyes when coming towards you !
The 20th anniversary of the first Revival meeting and it’s changed ! It has also moved some way from its original format of historic racing with some hospitality and a market area primarily focused on motorsport. It’s become the place to be seen – a date on the social calendar – the market place is full of lifestyle vendors and the annual “Celebrations” have become more diverse.
This year there is a British Transport Parade of a wide range of commercial vehicles taking a very slow lap of the track and there’s a full size steam train by the main entrance. You won’t find any photos of these activities in my galleries. Soapbox moment over … for now. Instead here’s some practice action from Friday afternoon.
Woodcote remains a fabulous spot to photograph from and the superzoom brings the action much closer ! I use a monopod with the 200-500mm lens which, whilst occasionally restrictive, is manageable.
Steve Soper allowed me to practise my panning with this spin in practice for the TT.
The weather was set fair for the whole weekend and so we headed to Madgwick for the Kinrara Trophy on Friday evening. It’s all about the light isn’t it ?
Having enjoyed / endured a number of Goodwood races into the gloom and drizzle, the chance to snap the cars and drivers heading into the setting sun. You can pretty much see the whites of their eyes, or perhaps the Stig style helmet !
Having started out at the exit of Madgwick, I gradually moved to the middle of the corner which gives a neat rear shot as the cars head into Fordwater. If I could guarantee this light for every race at Goodwood, I’d move house there !
Second race of the day was for early 50s sports and GT cars with BTCC regular Sam Tordoff on pole in his Porsche 356. Tordoff didn’t get the start and was plumb last at the end of the first lap.
Darren Turner in the Aston Martin DB2 took the win from a fast closing Tordoff.
Troy Corser proved to be very quick on the pre-war BMW R57 Kompressor (11) and set fastest lap in race 1 and finished 3rd despite getting left behind at the start. If I recall correctly from the commentary, this was the bike with the gearchange lever on the side of the tank …
The St Mary’s Trophy was for saloon cars of the early 60s this year. I’m not sure that Lotus Cortinas and Minis handled quite like their modern counterparts in period, but entertainment is guaranteed. At No Name, Max Werner leads Jackie Oliver and Tom Blomqvist in the early laps.
Meanwhile, Rob Huff saves on tyre wear in the Lotus Cortina, hiding the Studebaker Lark Daytona 500 (to give it it’s full name) of Matt Neal. Ash Sutton and Emanuele Pirro follow in blue and red respectively.
Early afternoon found us at St Mary’s for the Gordon Trophy – these pre-war grand prix cars remain a favourite to shoot. With the drivers clearly visible; narrow tyres to allow some drifting and lots of lovely mechanical detail, they are a delight.
Mark Gillies in R3A leads eventual winner Calum Lockie’s Maserati 6CM. There’s also a lovely rear shot (like at Woodcote) into the cockpit of Matt Grist in the rare and valuable Alfa Romeo Tipo B.
Lavant is a corner I have rarely used for photography; you are a little way back from the action (in Goodwood terms) but with the “big zoom” can get close to the action.
There’s always been close racing at the Revival and they do attempt to police the wilder moments – here the saloons in the Jack Sears Trophy go beyond the “rubbin’ is racing” motto whilst the Jaguar Mk 1 pairing of Justin Law and Grant Williams perform in unison.
The longer lens also opens a shot back from the Lavant Straight banking looking back as the cars head into Lavant. Darren Turner entertains with lift off flames in the Hamill Chevrolet SR3.
Alternatively, you can get a shot as the cars exit Lavant. Here is Karun Chandhok in the McLaren Chevrolet M1A.
The final race of the day was the Freddie March Memorial Trophy for early 50s sports cars. Good shots of the reverse angle into Woodcote are again facilitated by the long zoom. Richard Woolmer presses on in the HWM Cadillac.
On to Sunday and one of those flippin’ moments when you might be caught muttering naughty words under your breath – but it does make for an interesting image.
The advances in the capability of cameras has, arguably, been considerably outstripped by the advances in the capabilities of phones. I’d have preferred a clean shot of the Cobra, but heigh ho ! Normal service was resumed …
An interesting sequence follows. By way of background, I was watching the cars come through Madgwick, when I could see a pipe go on the Sunbeam Tiger below the radiator (but failed to hit the shutter).
That spewed what looked like water on the track but no red and yellow warning flag was shown and Greg Audi was next on the scene in his Cobra at unabated speed …
Back to early sixties F1 for late afternoon Glover Trophy action and it’s 1970 Le Mans winner Richard Attwood in the BRM in close company with the Lotus 24 of Timothy de Silva.
As a small boy in short trousers, my motor racing hero was Jim Clark – here is Andy Middlehurst in the Lotus 25 (driven by Clark and still tended by Bob Dance at Classic Team Lotus) leading Joe Colasacco in the Ferrari 1512. The Nikon 200-500mm zoom again working well.
End of the day and time for the Sussex Trophy for late 50s sports cars and that light is getting better ! First though there was the need to clear the cement dust on the track to pick up fluid from the previous race.
David Hart gets the tail just out of line in the Lister Jaguar Costin at Madgwick.
Sam Hancock is a regular in the Ferrari 246S Dino and is seen here drifting though Madgwick. The light was getting better and better !
2019
There’s lots of photo opportunities – firstly in the parc ferme area at the end of practice sessions. In the Cooper tribute, Jackie Stewart de-briefs after his run in the grand prix car.
Over the years, I have gained quite a liking for the 500cc Formula 3 cars from the 50s – the sort of cars that Stirling Moss cut his teeth on.
They ain’t the fastest thing on track but can deliver really good close racing. They were lining up ahead of their practice session and then could be seen in the assembly area.
You might also come across 9 times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen rolling back through the paddock having been out in a D-Type Jaguar as part of the 1959 RAC TT Celebration.
RAC TT Celebration practice was viewed from Madgwick. Till Bechtolscheimer, in his Tojeiro Buick GT, made something of an impression on his first lap.
The light was glorious. At the exit of Madgwick for the practice session for the Whitsun Trophy, the sun illuminated the drivers faces perfectly. It was looking good for the Kinrara Trophy, the first race of the weekend.
Jeff Gordon (legendary NASCAR champion) chauffeured the boss (sorry, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon) in a 250GTO for the parade lap.
The opening lap was brilliant – a horde of Ferraris, E-Types, Aston Martins heading into the corner. Look carefully and you can see the green Cottingham 250 GT SWB getting it out of line while Gary Pearson leads the field in the grey 250 GTO.
The days of the race being declared as “the most expensive grid in the world” seem to be over as there are a number of tool-room replicas racing these days – but the experience is undiminished.
I’d been trying to think a little more about my photographs – especially zooming out a little to give more context than just a tight crop of a car with blurry wheels. On the inside of the Lavant Straight, there’s the chance to get a little blurry line of the fence and crowd at the top of the photo.
Alternatively, there is the long shot down to Woodcote with room for the crowd, the grandstand and the tress behind. It’s just a shame that the Alfa has a rather large and ungainly roll over bar.
The 500cc Formula 3 cars put on a good show at Woodcote. There’s a little spot at the end of the grandstand that gives an excellent angle to show off these cars and their brave drivers.
For the TT we were back at Lavant. The long shot on the opening lap can only be from Goodwood, while the later race action showed no quarter was to be given by either party.
By now we are heading into late afternoon. The D Day commemoration has taken place with a wide range of military vehicles and we are on to the second St Mary’s Trophy race for 50s saloons. Back in the day, Jaguars were very hard to beat, but such is the development of such cars as A40s, they can often (especially with a useful driver behind the wheel) beat the Jags.
Of late there’s also been a bit of – send the quick car to the back – and after race 1, six cars were disqualified but still allowed to take part in race 2 – where another six cars were disqualified. So, with no warranty asked or given regarding what you are looking at – here’s some action !
The final race of the day was the Freddie March Memorial Trophy with beautiful early evening light at Fordwater and Madgwick – the light really made the whole weekend !
Perhaps this is the shot to sign off with, from Friday night, as everyone packed up their chairs and collected their belongings silhouetted against the sunset.
Goodwood Revival Postscript
2019 marked 21 years since our first Goodwood Revival – and perhaps, having achieved majority, it is time to move on. I readily admit to having a very purist approach to the whole event – for me, it’s about the racing, the racing and the racing; the fancy dress, the vehicle parades, the lifestyle merchandising are but a distraction.
It can still provide superb racing, but there’s a creeping suspicion that it’s about entertaining the public and sticking Pirro or Kristensen on the back row of the grid in a quick car is one way of achieving that.
But, but, but, as I write this it should be the Goodwood Members’ Meeting weekend – postponed for reasons we are well aware of – and so, bless ‘em, Goodwood are playing out the best races from the last 5 Members’ Meetings. It’s a fabulous, challenging race track that generally provides good racing in a delightful location. Will we be at the Revival for 2020 – at this stage, for many reasons it’s up in the air.
Photographic Postscript
From a photographic perspective, I can see an improvement through both the Olympus and Nikon years. Some of this is undoubted down to the equipment – hopefully, I have also improved my technique as well. Whereas I used to go to a race meeting to watch the racing and take a few photos, now I go to take photos and watch the racing – sometimes needing to catch up with who finished where afterwards.
I now check out the light; I use an app called LightTrac which shows the position of the sun in any location at any time and date. Sometimes, however, the weather doesn’t play ball …. It’s worth keeping an eye on where the accredited snappers are shooting from and what they post.
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