Goodwood Revival

17th - 19th September 2021

Part Two - The Racing

So having looked at Goodwood Revival in Part One as an event we are on to the track action and what and who was racing at the Revival.

Setting ourselves up just after the start line, first up was a hot-rod parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the National Hot Rod Association.

No racing, but a great way to start the day with some proper engine noise, and a good way to warm up my camera for the racing to come.

Next was a practice session for the Freddie March Memorial Trophy, which would be the closing race on Sunday evening. The Ferraris, Jaguars, Aston Martins and Maseratis would be racing in a short endurance race.

The original race held in the early 1950s lasted nine hours. David Hart in the #10 Maserati 300S qualified in third but on race day would go on to win, ahead of #12 Steve Brooks and #74 Martin Hunt in a pair of Jaguars. 

The first race was celebrating 70 years since the Festival of Britain.

This trophy was previously the Goodwood Trophy and featured inter-war racing cars of the 1930s and ‘40s. Mark Gillies in #15 the green 1934 ERA A-type R3A took the win by half a second from Michael Gans.

The Settrington Cup is for children aged 4 - 10 racing Austin J40 pedal cars over a 0.14mile course. On Saturday it was a race between George Moore and Rafe Burnett.

Rafe was weaving left and right trying to block the faster pedal cars, but George Moore took the flag by 0.928 of a second to the loud cheers of the crowd. 

Now the race I was waiting for, the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, a 25 minute two-rider race. I was close to the start line as this was going to be a Le Mans-style start, which I wanted to watch.

The riders going out second were holding the bikes for the races who had to sprint across the track.

The riders taking part were instantly recognisable to me as they were not wearing the period correct 1960 leathers and helmets, but their modern road and short circuit race leathers.

Quite right too as a set of leathers from the 1960s are going to give you as much as protection as a wet paper bag!

Winning the race on Saturday and Sunday were the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy legend Michael Dunlop and Steve Plater on the 1967 MV Agusta 500/3.

Traditionally, a cigar is presented to the winners. Capturing the moment in the gold waistcoat is Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa - ask your wife! 

In second was classic racer Peter Bardell who I last watched racing at Cadwell Park, where he won the Classic 500cc pre 1975 500cc motorbike race.

#16 James Haydon, the British Eurosport commentator and former MotoGP, British Superbike and World Superbike racer was looking good on the Matchless G50 he was sharing with Bardell. Looks like James has still got it even though he retired from racing 12 years ago! 

Third were more road racers, Michael Rutter and Michael Russell on the 1962 Norton Manx 30M.

For the next race I moved to the first corner, Madgwick, to watch the car of the 1960s - the Minis. They were racing for the John Whitmore Trophy.

Standard Mini racing followed with bumper to bumper and slip streaming action, and sometimes the racers got a little too close to each other. Like I said, standard Mini racing, great stuff!

This race was 45 minutes long and  involved a driver swap, so you had to keep an eye on the large TV screens to follow who was winning, which was Nick Swift and Andrew Jordan. It was not hard spotting the car they were driving  - it had a very distinctive livery!

As the light was great at Madgwick I stayed there for the tribute to Sir Stirling Moss parade lap, featuring the cars he drove over his long and illustrious career. 

After a spot of lunch the light hadn't changed so Madgwick held my attention for the Glover Trophy, a race for 1.5-litre Grand Prix race cars from 1961 to 1965.

Andy Middlehurst in the 1962 Lotus-Climax 25 claimed pole on the Friday qualifying session in a time of 1:22.896.

Middlehurst made a good start and was being chased down by Nick Fennell in car 29 until Fennell span off right in front of me. I would have handed my Spectator Photographers card into the PistonClick HQ if I hadn't captured this one!

Andy Middlehurst went on to win, with #133 Timothy De Silva second and #8 Mark Shaw third.

For the practice of the RAC TT Celebration which would race on Sunday, I headed off to no name and St Mary's corners. This is a two-driver race for closed-cockpit GT cars, so we are talking AC Cobras, Corvette Sting Rays, E-Types and Ferrari's.

Oliver Bryant and Darren Turner in the #1 car a 1964 AC Cobra would go on to win, with #17 Emanuele Pirro/Frederic Wakeman in second and #13 Shaun Lynn/Andy Priaulx in third. 

The British Racing Motors heritage was celebrated next with a track parade. I think pictured below is a BRM P201 from the early 1970s, but what ever it was it sounded great.

As the sun was moving round I walked to the furthest corner from the start line, Lavant. However, you don’t have to walk at Goodwood as there is a fleet of tractors towing covered trailers with seats, but they are very slow and in demand, so walking it was. 

Lavant is a popular spot with spectators and has a large grandstand, not that I used it to sit in - you need to pay extra for that privilege. I sheltered from the unseasonably hot sun in the shade just in front of the grandstand to capture the next set of images.

The St Mary's Trophy is for saloon cars from the 1950s and had attracted a diverse set of race cars and drivers.

From the massive Ford Thunderbird driven by Romain Dumas who was the eventual winner, to the slightly smaller Jaguar MkVII driven by Rowan Atkinson.

The demure Austin A40s put up a good fight coming in second and third, being driven on the limit by #77 Andrew Jordan and #138 Marcel Fassler. It was an eclectic field to photograph. 

One A40 that looked a bit second hand after the race was driven by Benoit Treluyer. He and triple BTCC Champion Matt Neal had a bit of a coming together.

I did capture Matt Neal as well, but there was so much smoke coming off his wheels as he skidded backwards past me down the track and on to the grass that you can only just see a hint of a Jaguar Mk1 because of the tyre smoke.

Moving to Woodcote, the final corner before the finish line, I arrived just in time to watch the Whitsun Trophy, a race for pre-1966 unlimited sports-prototypes.

Woodcote is another popular spectator spot with grandstands, and being close to one of the main entrances and the campsite, it was packed. 

Poking my superzoom lens between the throng of spectators heads I still managed to capture Phil Keen in #69 the 1964 Lotus-Ford 30.

He took the chequered flag, closely followed by #9 Oliver Bryant in a Lola-Chevrolet T70 Spyder and #5 Tony Sinclair 45, seconds adrift of the leading pair in another Lola-Chevrolet T70.

For the final race I returned to Madgwick via the start line and grabbing a few snaps of the grid. The sun was going down and I was hoping for a few sunset shots, but it was not to be.

The sunset on Saturday was spectacular but happened about an hour after the racing was finished, maybe next year I will get that shot.

The Sussex Trophy is for 1950-60s sports racing cars, with a grid dominated by the most British of British cars the Jaguar, mainly the D-Type, the Le Mans legend which looked resplendent in the evening sunshine.

James Cottingham in the #18 car a 1959 Tojeiro-Jaguar took the top podium, but it was a hard battle with #4 Sam Hancock in the 246S Farrari Deno and #24 Roger Wills in third driving a Lotus Climax 15.

Wills, in the more nimble car, had taken the lead from the start but had to take to the grass at St Mary's, avoiding a back marker and allowing Cottingham to take the lead which he didn’t relinquish.

So as the last car went past, with the engine noise fading into the distance, and the sun starting to set on the 2021 Revival the Spitfires took to the air again, I called it a day and headed off towards the car park. 

On my way back to the car I mused on what I had just experienced. Revival is so much more than a classic car race meeting. For some it's an event to see people, and for others to be seen at, with the racing being a side show.

I get that, and I thoroughly enjoyed the friendly festival atmosphere, but most of all I enjoyed photographing the racing.

Thanks to Matt form SFJ Media and RPW Photography for the images. You can see more of Matt's work by following the links below.