Ten reasons to go to the Goodwood Revival

When Lord March reopened the Goodwood Motor Circuit on September 18, 1998, half a century to the day after his grandfather Freddie staged the inaugural race meeting on the family estate's decommissioned RAF Westhampnett airfield perimeter track, he created a new phenomenon.

Launched in the wheeltracks of the Festival of Speed, the world-renowned hillclimb-centred garden party of motorsport first run in 1993 at the stately home nearby, the Revival achieved petrolhead Charles March's long-held ambition to rekindle the racing tradition that coloured his youth.

Aristocratic Goodwood was always different from other tracks, many of which shared its basic 'no frills' wartime roots, but with Brooklands lost, resident race organiser BARC (subsequently rebadged the British Automobile Racing Club) was invited to a welcoming new home near Chichester in neighbouring West Sussex.

Feature internationals on Easter Monday and Whitsun Bank Holiday, plus the Nine Hours and Tourist Trophy enduros, attracted the world's greatest drivers. Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, Froilan Gonzalez, Stirling Moss - who, a day after his 20th birthday, won the 500cc race in September '48 - and Jack Brabham were among many household named who raced there, entertaining big crowds.

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Goodwood also played crucial roles in the rise to prominence of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, then a new generation of stars including Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart and Derek Bell.

The circuit closed on July 2, 1966, but as we look forward to the 17th Revival Meeting, Goodwood's new heyday remains faithful to its heritage. For sporting and social excellence the event is peerless. That's why 150,000 people now make the pilgrimage each year. For many, the 'magical step back in time' is the only unmissable weekend on the calendar.

Apart from the most iconic cars of the 1930s to '66, and a stellar driver line-up spanning eight Le Mans winners, Indianpolis 500 victor Danny Sullivan, Formula 1 drivers Giedo van der Garde and Max Chilton, touring car champions galore and talented historic experts, here are 10 reasons why it's so special.

1. UNBEATABLE ATMOSPHERE

"Give me Goodwood on a summer's day and you can keep the rest of the world," said 1959 Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori, who raced a Maserati 4CM to seventh place in the Daily Graphic Trophy Formula 1 race, climax of the opening meeting in September 1948. He returned often, winning the Glover Trophy (Maserati 250F) in '54 and competed through to '65.

Overlooked by majestic Trundle Hill, close to the coast and on the eastern fringes of Chichester with its spectacular cathedral, Goodwood was always fabled for its ambience. Far smarter now than in its period heyday - Lord March's photographer's attention to detail is fanatical - every nuance of extraordinary period set-dressing transports racegoers into a 1966 timewarp.

With the paddock hub a hive of activity from dawn until past dusk (later if problems arise), boiler-suited mechanics fettle their steeds beneath shelters. The all-star cast for each race is ushered onto the track in turn. The audience waits expectantly as grids form and, engine revs rising to a crescendo, all hell is let loose as the bowler-hatted race director drops the Union flag.

2. CLASSIC CIRCUIT

The 2.4-mile Goodwood circuit is unchanged since the chicane went in after Woodcote corner for the 1952 season. Always one of the fastest circuits in Britain, unlike many with airfield roots, its topography is not flat.

The rising double-apex right-handed Madgwick bend after the start, the dip out of Fordwater and the adverse camber drop out of St Mary's make it incredibly challenging to drive in the more powerful cars.

All the machines are on treaded tyres and the curse of downforce had not changed the ground rules when Goodwood closed in '66. Seeing the best drivers steer writhing V8-engined beasts on the throttle, balance smaller-engined single-seaters to maximise cornering speeds or engage in David-versus-Goliath battles is central to the fun of spectating.

If you do not have grandstand seats, a world of different vistas are there to be explored. With the freedom to watch cars four-wheel-drift through corners, jink through the kink towards St Mary's, hurtle down the Lavant Straight or squeeze into the chicane, why not take a tractor shuttle and sample them all? Good catering facilities are available 'round the back' too.

3. ENGLISH RACING AUTOMOBILES

Pre-war ERA 'voiturettes' - with their supercharged six-cylinder Riley-derived engines and pre-selector gearboxes - enabled well-heeled competitors to compete effectively after hostilities ceased and motorsport started to become viable again.

Four of the nine examples at Goodwood's experimental first meeting 66 years ago - American Charles McCabe's ex-B Bira R5B 'Remus,' Swiss Heinz Bachmann's R9B; Irishman Paddins Dowling's ex-Peter and Graham Whitehead R10B and David Morris's ex-John Bolster R11B - are racing this weekend.

Joining them amid the marque's 80th anniversary celebrations are cousins R3A (ex-Raymond Mays), R4A (ex-Pat Fairfield), R1B (ex-Richard Seaman), the works development R4D and R12C, plus GP1, the first of two lower, sleeker grand prix cars built in '39.

Quickest of the ERAs that start favourites for Saturday's Goodwood Trophy race should be the potent R4D - a Revival winner with owner Mac Hulbert up in 2011 - in which James Baxter has enjoyed recent hillclimb success. But three-time winner Mark Gillies, back in the pale green R3A, has other ideas.

4. MASERATI'S CENTENARY WALTZ

Maserati's trident will be hoisted on high at the Revival, Goodwood receiving the 'torch' from California's Laguna Seca racetrack in the Modenese marque's centenary year tour.

The Maserati influence at the motor circuit spanned 1948 - when Reg Parnell's 4CLT/48 won the first Formula 1 event in a field containing pre-war 4CL, 4CM and 6CM models - to '66 when the ex-works/Fangio and Harry Schell 250F '2527' placed fourth in an 'historic' event, when nine years old!

Goodwood hosts the largest 250F gathering for many years. Twelve of the 16 coming are entered for the Richmond Trophy race. Swiss enthusiast Lukas Huni is bringing Fangio's '57 German GP winner to head a daily parade.

Maserati sportscars span the racecard, from 250Si and 300Ss in Friday evening's charismatic Sussex Trophy field to A6GCSs in the Freddie March Memorial curtain closer. Watch for two husky Gran Turismo Tipo 151 coupes in the RAC TT Celebration and the unique ex-Salvadori Maserati V8-engined Cooper T61 sports-racer in Saturday's Whitsun Trophy pack.

5. JAGUAR D-TYPE FINFEST

Ask any racing fan of a certain age to nominate his or her favourite sports-racing car of the 1950s and chances are the Jaguar D-type will get the nod. No surprise, perhaps, given that the monocoque-chassised streamliners - some with sharply finned head fairings - by Malcolm Sayer, won the Le Mans 24 Hours from '55 to '57.

Powered by evolutions of the lusty straight-six DOHC XK engine, first seen in '48, the Ds will forever be synonymous with the French exploits of Mike Hawthorn, Ivor Bueb, Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson, who achieved their victories in examples entered by the factory and Ecurie Ecosse.

Like their C-type predecessors, which won twice at La Sarthe, and broke new ground in proving disc brakes to be more efficient than drums, the cars were road-legal racers. That led to a run of XKSS touring versions. Sixteen D-types and two XKSSs form this year's Lavant Cup showcase.

6. RAC TOURIST TROPHY CELEBRATION

First awarded in 1905, when John Napier won on an Arrol-Johnston, the Royal Automobile Club's Tourist Trophy race is Great Britain's oldest. In the late 1950s and early '60s it was contested at Goodwood, where Stirling Moss was king.

The maestro won four years running there, in 1958 (with Tony Brooks) and '59 (with Carroll Shelby and Jack Fairman) driving David Brown's Aston Martin's DBR1s - clinching the World Sportscar Championship for Manufacturers in the latter - and in '60 and '61 a pair of howling Ferrari 250 GT Berlinettas entered by Rob Walker and Dick Wilkins.

The Revival's spectacular Sunday afternoon RAC TT Celebration recreates the closed cockpit GT battles of '60 to '64, with AC Cobras, Aston Martins, Ferraris, ISO Bizzarrinis and Jaguar E-types in the vanguard. Former World Touring Car champion Rob Huff shares a Jag, while BTCC champs Matt Neal, Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan are in Sunbeam Lister Tiger, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Cobra respectively.

7. JACKIE STEWART TRIBUTE

Sir Jackie Stewart is this year's Goodwood 'poster boy'. A massive image of the tartan helmet-banded Scot racing a Formula 1 BRM P261 towering above the circuit's main entrance flags up daily cavalcades of cars tracing the three-time world champion's career. Starting with an AC Ace, they include F2 Matra and MS80, March 701, Tyrrell 002 and Tyrrell 006.

Two victories at Goodwood in Ecurie Ecosse sportscars in the autumn of '63 earned Jackie a Cooper F3 test there, overseen by Ken Tyrrell, the following spring. The single-seater rookie impressed mightily, eclipsing GP winner Bruce McLaren's 'control times' and was signed-up. Thus began a relationship with the Surrey timber merchant that would take both to the sport's pinnacle and world titles in '69, '71 and '73.

In the interim, Stewart had shone in the dayglo-nosed BRMs on his F1 graduation in '65. Although he retired from the Sunday Mirror Trophy race, Jackie and his compatriot Jimmy Clark (Lotus 25) jointly set Goodwood's ultimate period lap record at 1m20.4s (107.46mph).

8. PEDAL POWER TO BIG-BANGERS

From pedalling furiously to right foot nailed to the bulkhead, the racing is always brilliant at Goodwood. Since 2012, junior competitors have enjoyed their own race, a frantic dash down the start straight in immaculately restored Austin J40 pedal cars, of which more than 32,000 were made from 1949-71.

Around 30 lucky lads and lasses - you will recognise many surnames from the senior programme - are taking part, and not to make up numbers. Some parents take it very seriously, but there is only one Settrington Cup. Tears are guaranteed following the Saturday and Sunday two-parter. But from which generation?

On the full track expect fireworks in Saturday's Whitsun Trophy sports prototype race, bursting with Lola T70s, McLaren M1Bs and Ford GT40s. Will Andrew Smith's outright Revival lap record of 1m18.954s (109.43mph), set in 2010, be toppled? And there is a dedicated big-banger saloon car dust-up for small-block V8s this year. BTCC champion Andrew Jordan and Marussia F1 racer Max Chilton are in the 'pony car' field.

9. STUNNING AVIATION

Sensational 'warbird' displays and jaw-dropping aerobatics by the world's leading specialist pilots are as poignant as the racing at Goodwood, focusing the throng on its RAF Westhampnett era in less happy times.

This year - the 75th anniversary of the declaration of the Second World War - the extraordinary spectacle of not one, but two, Avro Lancasters overhead will be special indeed as eight Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engines harmonise.

Of the 7377 built, these are the only remaining airworthy and fully operational examples of Roy Chadwick's immortal design, so the recent arrival of the Canadian aircraft will enhance the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's flypasts, with Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane escorts.

Lord March's grandfather was a keen aviator, and the Freddie March Spirit of Aviation competition will see smaller craft - from Aeronca Champ to (hopefully) Travel Air 'Mystery Ship' racer, via Douglas Dakota and Hawker Hunter jet, judged adjacent to the paddock before a gallery of buffs.

10. DRESS THE PART

The Goodwood Revival experience cannot be authentic unless you espouse the period dress code, as everybody does these days. Being 'an extra' at the world's greatest fancy dress party feels better when you are indistinguishable from the A-list celebrities.

Military or civilian? That's the key decision, and it matters not which you choose from the 1940s, '50s or '60s, although Royal Air Force, Army or Navy uniforms earn as many style points as elegant summer dresses and hats for the ladies.

Smart, professional, outrageous or understated? All work, but if you've found nothing suitable in your parents' attic, or local vintage/charity shop, simply don mechanic's overalls or dress as a wholesome land girl. Mods and rockers kit is a motorcycle fraternity favourite.

Shock by pitching up in monogrammed pale blue '60s-style Dunlop racing overalls if you have the neck, or mini-skirt if you have the legs. Just don't arrive in T-shirt and jeans or you will stand out like a sore thumb. Get changing!

See this week's AUTOSPORT magazine for Darren Turner's Aston Martin Project 212 track test, plus a full Goodwood Revival preview

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