The 2009 Goodwood Revival Meeting is fast approaching, taking place in less than a month on September 18-20th. Lord March and his team have planned a fabulous experience at this year’s Revival with a number of exciting celebrations taking place throughout the weekend.
As always during the Revival weekend the entire motor circuit will be set-dressed in the golden era of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The sights, sounds and even the smells will enthral you and take you on a magical step back in time where you really will feel like you have walked onto a movie set.
Iconic Sixties Minis
Two of Britain’s ‘mini’ contributions to popular culture and fashion will be celebrated at the Goodwood Revival in maximum style, as the most iconic and best-loved of British cars – the Mini – celebrates its 50th anniversary.
As well as gathering a large number of rare and famous Mini cars of all shapes and sizes at the Revival, Goodwood will also celebrate that essential ladies fashion item of the Swinging Sixties; Mary Quant’s influential Mini Skirt.
Following a large turnout of renowned Minis at last month’s Festival of Speed, even more are due to attend the Revival in September, as part of Goodwood’s ongoing Mini 50th birthday celebrations. The hugely popular St Mary’s Trophy saloon car race will be dedicated to two Mini Cooper S models, only of a type that raced prior to 1966, when Goodwood hosted a number of Mini-only races at its legendary motor circuit.
This very special saloon car race devoted entirely to Alec Issigonis’ masterpiece will be a one-off for 2009. A full 30-car grid of 1275cc Mini Coopers will contest what is sure to be the most closely-fought race in the Revival’s history, promising to swarm around the famous circuit as one as they dice for position. While most of the cars will be identical Mini saloon, the field will also be dispersed with one or two of the Riley Elf/Wolseley Hornet variants featuring reshaped boot and front grille. The St. Mary’s Trophy continues as a two-part race staged on both Saturday and Sunday, with an aggregate result.
Pairing up with the owners once again will be a host of celebrity drivers, many of whom will have raced Minis during their professional careers. Expect to see Mini experts including Rauno Aaltonen, Alec Poole, Warwick Banks, John Fitzpatrick and Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams battlingwith such luminaries as Derek Bell, Jackie Oliver, Bobby Rahal, Anthony Reid and Brian Redman.
In addition to the above, a tribute parade of 50 Minis or Mini-based derivatives will lap the circuit each day during the Goodwood Revival in a birthday celebration. Expect to see unusual Minis on the track such as ice cream vans, Wildgoose motor homes and bizarre publicity machines, as well as more familiar versions of the popular car, ranging from the original 1959 Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor, through to Coopers, Hornets and Elfs, vans and pick-up trucks. It promises to be a real spectacle not to be missed.
Happy Birthday Stirling Moss
Goodwood will be swaying to the strains of Happy Birthday when the 120,000+ visitors to the Goodwood Revival sing in harmony to wish Sir Stirling Moss – a.k.a. Mr Goodwood – their heart-felt best wishes for his 80th birthday.
Sir Stirling Moss will reach this landmark on Thursday, September 17th, the relaxed ‘acclimatisation’ day at Goodwood before the action-packed 2009 Revival weekend gets fully underway the following day. Stirling Moss will celebrate his 80th in style at the Revival along with his many racing friends and adversaries, plus thousands of his most ardent fans.
Taking to the track each day will be a fabulous collection of cars raced by the great man during his illustrious career, representing all his most important results and significant performances. Goodwood is confident that this will be the finest collection of ex-Moss and Moss-associated cars ever assembled, with 80 cars gathered (one for each year of his life) of the 96 vehicles that he is known to have driven during his racing career. Expect to see a few surprises in what promises to be a great tribute to the man.
Stirling Moss is arguably Britain’s greatest ever driver, with a proud racing career inextricably linked with Goodwood. His very first official race was at Britain’s inaugural post-War motor race meeting, held at Goodwood on September 18, 1948, the day after he turned 19. Stirling won this, his first race, in a 500cc Cooper JAP II. Having begun his racing career at Goodwood, he also sadly ended his career at the West Sussex circuit in 1962 when he crashed his Lotus in the Glover Trophy race. Stirling has subsequently returned to Goodwood to race in all of the Revival meetings, since the event’s inception in 1998.
During his remarkable racing career, Stirling Moss has had many famous drives, including his first of 16 Grand Prix wins at the British GP at Aintree in 1955 at the wheel of superb Mercedes-Benz W196, as well as the his legendary victory in the Mille Miglia road endurance race of the same year. Partnered by motoring journalist Denis Jenkinson (affectionately known as Jenks) as his navigator over the gruelling Italian 1,600km route, Moss drove his Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (famously numbered 722, to mark its 7:22am start time) like a man possessed to take a decisive victory in record time.
Another major highlight of his racing career took place half a century ago at Goodwood with arguably the Circuit’s single most famous race. The 1959 Tourist Trophy at Goodwood was the final race of that season, and the World Sportscar Championship points winning decider between arch rivals Aston Martin and Ferrari. Against the odds in a truly astonishing race, which included Moss’s Aston being destroyed in a refuelling fire in the pit lane, Stirling came through to take the chequered flag and win the 1959 World Sportscar Championship for Aston Martin. The 50th anniversary of this momentous event will also be celebrated at this year’s Goodwood Revival, with Stirling being reunited with his Championship-winning Aston Martin DBR1.
Earls Court Motor Show
Following the huge popularity of the inaugural BGC Earls Court Motor Show at last year’s Goodwood Revival, this key new attraction will once again add an exciting element to the annual Revival meeting.
The BGC Earls Court Motor Show takes its inspiration from the celebrated London Motor Shows of the 1950s and 60s, with an original Art Deco frontage reminiscent of the glory days of exhibitions of the past. This spacious area will give the expected 120,000+ Goodwood Revival visitors an insight into how motoring of the future might look from a pre-1966 perspective, with a display of ‘futuristic’ 21st century cars.
Externally the BGC Earls Court looks like the entrance to a 1950s Motor Show, promising to display ‘cars of the future’ inside. As no post-1966 vehicles are ordinarily allowed on site during the Goodwood Revival, the BGC Earls Court Motor Show enables the event to break out of its ‘period’ timeframe and display post-1966 vehicles. The effect is like walking into a Tardis, offering other-worldly futuristic new cars to see, right up to and including manufacturers’ latest products.
Each vehicle manufacturers’ stand is presented in the style of a traditional Motor Show of the 1950s or 1960s. As with the rest of the Revival, the overall display is not set in a specific timeframe, but rather at some unidentified point prior to 1966. Manufacturer displays are therefore expected to include contemporary cars of the 1950s or 1960s, as well as some ‘concept’ cars showing each company’s visions of what production cars might look like in the early 21st Century. Car manufacturers confirmed to be exhibiting at this ‘motor show of the future’ include Maserati, Jaguar, BMW, Ford, Nissan and Rolls-Royce.
In addition to the manufacturers’ stands, there will be a central Concours d’Elegance exhibition staged in association with BGC, the London-based voice and electronic brokerage specialists. This display will commemorate ‘the BGC Race Cars for the Road’, featuring around 25 circuit-derived that were also sold as road cars, from pre-War, right through to the present day. Expect to see track favorites such as the Jaguar XKSS, AC Cobra and Ford GT40, which dominated the racing world and also became highly sought after roads cars.
Goodwood’s historic links with Earls Court are very strong. The famous London Earls Court exhibition site was built on land once owned by the Duke of Richmond; the Earl in the name referring to the Earl of March, from whom the present 10th Duke of Richmond, and his son Lord March, are directly descended.
Battle of the Bikes
Following last year’s successful debut of 1950s motorcycles, at this year’s Goodwood Revival it is once again the turn of the 1960s machines to do battle through the sweeping curves of the Goodwood Motor Circuit. In just four weeks time the Goodwood Revival will welcome back these hugely popular machines, along with a wealth of star riders to put them through their paces.
Bikes lining up on the grid will include Italian exotica such as the MV Agusta 500/3, Beart Aermacchi 350 and Benelli 350/4, home-grown favourites such as the Manx Norton 500, Matchless G50 and AJS 7R, and German might, in the shape of a brace of beautiful BMW R50s.
These sports bikes from yesteryear will be ridden by many top names from past, including eight-time World Champion Phil Read, seven-time TT winner Mick Grant, 500cc World Champion Wayne Gardner, eight-time TT winner Charlie Williams, Imola 200 winner Paul Smart and former team mate of the great Barry Sheene, Steve Parrish. They will be joined by fast men from the modern era including Leon Haslam, Jamie Whitham, Jeremy McWilliams, James Haydon, Michael Rutter and Steve Brogan to name but a few, all looking to get one over on the past masters, as will ex-Formula One driver Gerhard Berger.
The significant revisions introduced to last year’s race format will remain. As before, there will be one race on Saturday and another on Sunday, with the result decided by aggregate timing. Each owner-rider will be paired up with a mutually agreeable professional racer, and both will ride in each race, changing over in the pits around half distance. The Le Mans-style running start will also be a feature which is certain to cause some drama and excitement once again, for both spectators and competitors alike.
Admissions to the Goodwood Revival is by advance ticket only, so book now to ensure you don’t miss out on this year’s extravaganza. To book your tickets contact 01243 755055 or book online at www.goodwood.com/tickets.
[Source: Goodwood Revival]
Not mentioned is that Mike Hawthorn’s Tourist Trophy Garage is being commemorated with the building of a 1935 lookalike garage on the outside area of the circuit near the traders tents. As well as memorabilia associated with Mike in the period garage itself, plus people who worked at the TT Garage in the 1950s and knew Mike, there will be nine cars associated with our first World Champion from 1958, including five cars actually owned/raced by him. Also available will be the recently published book on his life Golden Boy, now reprinted after selling out. Look forward to seeing you there!