ALL Information about The Goodwood Revival : https://www.goodwood.com/flagship-events/goodwood-revival/
The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each
September at Goodwood Circuit since 1998 for the types of road racing cars and
motorcycle that would have competed during the circuit's original
period—1948–1966. The first Revival took place 50 years since the 9th Duke of
Richmond and Gordon opened the motor racing track in 1948 driving around the
circuit in a Bristol 400, then Britain's state-of-the-art sporting saloon. Most
people dress in period clothes. It is one of the world's most popular motor race
meetings and the only United Kingdom event which recreates the golden era of
motorsport from the 1950s and 1960s.
There was some opposition to the re-introduction of racing
at the circuit, but a numerically strong lobby in the form of the Goodwood Supporters
Association helped to lead eventually to approval.
The festival acts as a showcase for exceptional
wheel-to-wheel racing around a classic circuit, untouched by the modern world
and relives the glory days of Goodwood Circuit, which ranked alongside
Silverstone as Britain’s leading racing venue throughout its active years.
Between 1948 and 1966 Goodwood hosted contemporary racing of all kinds,
including Formula One, the famous Goodwood Nine Hours race and the celebrated
Tourist Trophy sports car race.
The festival includes Grand Prix cars from the 1950s and
1960s, sports and GT cars, as well as historic saloon cars and little-seen
Formula Juniors. Many of these important historic racing cars are driven by
famous names from motor sport past and present. Famous drivers who have taken
part include Sir Stirling Moss, John Surtees, Kenny Bräck Sir Jack Brabham,
Phil Hill, Derek Bell, David Coulthard, Damon Hill, Gerhard Berger, Martin
Brundle, Bobby Rahal, Johnny Herbert, Wayne Gardner, Giacomo Agostini, Jean
Alesi, Barry Sheene and Peter Brock, as well as celebrities such as Chris Rea,
and Rowan Atkinson (as Mr. Bean) in 2009. There is a pedal car race for
youngsters called the Settrington Cup. Austin J40s race in it. The restored
circuit is unchanged from its heyday, apart from the inclusion of a Chicane on
the start finish straight, and many visitors wear appropriate period clothing
and no modern vehicles are allowed within the circuit perimeter throughout the
weekend (except modern race fire and rescue vehicles). There are also
theatrical sets that bring the past back to life including many historic
aircraft.
Frederick Charles Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond, 9th
Duke of Lennox, 9th Duke of Aubigny, 4th Duke of Gordon (5 February 1904 – 2
November 1989) was a British peer, engineer, racing driver, and motor racing
promoter.
Freddie Richmond, as he was known, was the son of Charles
Gordon-Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond. He was educated at Eton College and Christ
Church, Oxford. His interest in engineering started while he was at university
and afterwards he was apprenticed to Bentley Motors. He began a motor racing
career in 1929 when he took part in the JCC High Speed Trial. In the next year
he became a member of the Austin team and won the Brooklands 500 Miles. He
created his own team of MG Midgets in 1931 and won the Brooklands Double Twelve
race, but then became more involved in the organisational side of motor sport.
He inherited the Dukedoms in 1935, along with the Goodwood
Estate and the racecourse. Death duties meant he had to sell the family
interests in Scotland, including Gordon Castle, and settle on the Goodwood
Estate near Chichester. He designed and flew his own aircraft and served with
the Royal Air Force during World War II. For a time he was based in Washington,
working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production.
After the war he faced the task of rehabilitating Goodwood,
and saw the potential for creating a motor racing circuit from the fighter
station built at Goodwood during the Second World War. Horse racing was an
important part of the Goodwood scene, but he did not share his ancestors'
interest in the sport. The Goodwood Circuit became an important venue in motor
racing. However, by 1966 the Duke was concerned at the increasing risks
involved in motor racing and closed the circuit except for minor club activities
and private testing.
The Duke was the longest-serving Vice President of the Royal
Automobile Club, with which he was associated since 1948. As early as the
thirties, he was the motoring correspondent of the Sunday Referee, and became
the Founder President of the Guild of Motoring Writers.
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