10 key features of the 80th Goodwood Members' Meeting

This year is a very significant one for the Goodwood Motor Circuit. Not only is the Sussex track celebrating 75 years since it first opened, but it also marks 30 years of the Festival of Speed and the 25th birthday of the Revival.

INSIGHT: Inside Goodwood's plans for a shining diamond celebration

But, before those events follow later in the year, a stunning variety of cars are due to be raced and demonstrated at this weekend's 80th Members' Meeting.

Alongside Goodwood's own anniversaries, plenty of other automotive milestones are being commemorated and there is no shortage of star names on the entry lists.

Here are 10 key attractions to watch out for among this year's diverse offering.

1. Lotus Cortina at 60

Cortina contest has attracted a top-drawer entry to celebrate the car's 60th birthday

Photo by: Motorsport Images

A field of 30 Lotus Cortinas in the hands of a raft of stars will surely be a memorable highlight of the 80th Members’ Meeting. To mark the 60th anniversary of the competition debut of the Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1, Goodwood has pulled together another of its ultimate one-make races.

One of the iconic racing images from the mid-1960s is Jim Clark three-wheeling a Cortina on his way to winning the British Saloon Car Championship. He was also the only driver to take outright BSCC victories in the tin-top, so it is appropriate that Sunday’s 45-minute two-driver encounter will be run for the Jim Clark Trophy.

The capacity field is packed with quality drivers and this is going to be a ferocious contest. There will likely be panel-beating and door-handle action in pursuit of some serious bragging rights.

Each car is shared between an owner and a pro or semi-pro driver and the field includes Le Mans winners, former Formula 1 racers and touring car stars old and new. Stand-out pairings include Guy Smith/Ben Clucas, David Dickenson/Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal/Gordon Shedden, while other notable names include Tom Kristensen, Dario Franchitti, Karun Chandhok and David Brabham.

2. Riccardo Patrese in a Brabham BT52

Patrese and Pedro Piquet are due to pilot BT52s to commemorate 40 years since notorious Goodwood test

Forty years ago, Riccardo Patrese raced a Brabham BT52. This weekend, the celebration of a Goodwood folklore story will put the Italian back in this sublime Formula 1 design.

In 1983, Goodwood had been closed to racing for 17 years but continued to be regularly used as a testing venue. At one such test session, the Brabham F1 team was trialling its BT52 when Nelson Piquet lapped the Sussex circuit in under a minute. At least, that’s how the story goes. Though unconfirmed, it seems highly plausible.

The requirement for all F1 cars to have flat bottoms for the 1983 season prompted the rapid development of the BT52, a Gordon Murray design. It was a huge success and Piquet won the second of three world titles – the fourth and final crown for a Brabham driver.

To mark 40 years since what may well have been the greatest lap of Goodwood, two BT52s will be on hand for five-lap demonstration runs each day. To make it even more special, Patrese and Pedro Piquet (Nelson’s son) will do the driving!

3. ‘Moby Dick’ to headline Porsche 75th anniversary demonstrations

'Moby Dick' is set to be joined by a plethora of 911s in special demo

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Just as Goodwood celebrates its 75th anniversary this season, so too does Porsche, which delivered its first 356 sportscar in 1948.

To mark that shared birthday, one of the demonstrations at the 80th Members’ Meeting will celebrate the Porsche 911, which remains the most enduring, loved and raced model from the German manufacturer’s history. The demonstrations will feature one of the biggest and most varied gatherings of racing 911s, ranging from 1973 through to 1998.

Two stand-out cars will be the 1973 Targa Florio-winning Carrera RSR and the 1998 Le Mans-winning 911 GT1. Record Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen will drive the 1973 car, while also on track will be an example of the 935 ‘Moby Dick’, the extreme version of the successful 935, named after the whale due to its extended rear bodywork. This car was clocked at 230mph on the Mulsanne Straight and is one of five genuine 935s on track this weekend.

The two Porsche demonstration sessions, featuring around 20 cars, will run at 1240 on Saturday and 1435 on Sunday.

4. Star cars and drivers set for GT1 revisited demo

Bartels is due to drive Maserati MC12 in GT1 demo

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Take around 25 sensational GT1 cars from the early 2000s, add in some very talented drivers and let them loose as the sun sets over Sussex. It should make for another epic Goodwood memory.

The GT1 cars of around two decades ago were impressive beasts. That era will be revisited in two high-speed demonstration sessions, the first of which will run at 1930 on Saturday after a spectator grid walk offers the chance to get up close to these evocative cars. The 15-minute demo session will then be repeated at 1050 on Sunday.

Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lister, Marcos, Maserati and Saleen will all be represented in what will be a sensational mix of sight and sound.

Period-appropriate, world-class drivers pepper the entry list to relive former glories, including Darren Turner (Aston Martin DBR9), Bobby Verdon-Roe (Lister Storm), Cor Euser (Marcos Mantara LM600), Johnny Mowlem (Saleen S7-R), Benoit Treluyer (Chrysler Viper GTS-R) and Michael Bartels (Maserati MC12 GT1).

5. Sideways to victory in the Huff style

Huff's dramatic driving style is always a highlight

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Driving a 60-year-old Jaguar E-type like it was a Ford Escort rally car may not seem the fastest way around Goodwood, but that’s exactly what Rob Huff does in the Moss Trophy.

Former World Touring Car champion Huff is one of those remarkably versatile all-rounders who can make anything go quickly — and he simply loves his historic racing. Armed with the 1962 E-type fixed head coupe of his long-time historic racing partner Richard Meins, Huff will make for outstanding viewing in the 20-minute sprint on Sunday afternoon for closed cockpit GT cars in the spirit of the RAC TT races held at Goodwood from 1958 to 1964.

Huff will be firmly in the mix in a quality grid of E-types, Ferraris and Aston Martins. His default setting in this type of car is oversteer, so make sure you find a good vantage point to see him doing what he does best. Glorious power slides, notably through Woodcote, are the name of the game from a driver who knows how to put on a show for the crowd.

6. The Edwardians are back

Pittaway's 'Beast of Turin' is quite a sight

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Now an established highlight of the Members’ Meeting, the SF Edge Trophy is a glorious evocation of the early days of the sport.

Run over two five-lap sprints, the SF Edge Trophy is open to Edwardian racing cars and aero-engined specials from the early 20th century. All of the cars are at least 100 years old.

Selwyn Francis Edge was a pioneer manufacturer and racer in the years before and after the First World War. Though Australian-born, he made his home in Sussex.

The grid is gloriously eclectic, ranging from small and skeletal to huge fire-breathing machines. The oldest is the 1903 Mercedes of Archie Collings but it is Ben Collings who will be among the pacesetters in the 1909 Blitzen Benz from the Sinsheim Museum.

Duncan Pittaway is back with his sensational Fiat S76 ‘Beast of Turin’ but perhaps the most spectacular of all will be the Darracq 200hp of Mark Walker. Perched on top of the land speed record car, Walker is a joy to behold as he pushes the Darracq to the limit.

7. Another D-type treat

Jaguar D-types are becoming an increasingly rare race car

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Chances to see original Jaguar D-types in race action are steadily becoming restricted to the really big historic racing occasions. However, with cars that will soon be 70 years old and with values running into many millions, it is not hard to see why owners are careful about how often they allow them on track.

Thankfully, the Members’ Meeting is one such occasion and the 1955 long-nose cars of Gary Pearson and Andy Wallace will be a joy to behold as they are driven the way they were intended. Pearson is a Jaguar man through and through, while Wallace was a Le Mans winner for the marque in 1988 and is an accomplished historics racer.

Yet, even their talents will be up against it in the Salvadori Cup. The entry list includes later and more powerful cars, including Lister Knobblies in the hands of drivers such as Martin Stretton, as well as a remarkable turnout of six Lotus 15s.

Wherever they are in the pack, take time to look out for Pearson and Wallace. You’ll see a motor racing icon being driven on the limit.

8. Tin-top ace Gordon Spice remembered

Spice's classic red Capri is among Group 1 touring cars on the entry list

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Ever since the Members’ Meeting was first revived back in 2014, the Gerry Marshall Trophy for Group 1 Touring Cars has been an absolute highlight. At that time, this era of tin-top history was largely overlooked but now it has blossomed and grown. The Marshall tag has now gone elsewhere and so the 2023 edition will instead honour another leading exponent of the era, Gordon Spice.

Spice is best remembered for his red three-litre Ford Capris. That icon of the 1970s British Saloon Car Championship is well represented this weekend. A mammoth 60-car entry is split, at 2500cc, into two heats on Saturday afternoon. A 20-minute final will close Sunday’s racing.

For sheer grunt, the Ford Mustangs and Chevrolet Camaros will be tough to beat, particularly those in the hands of drivers like Rob Huff, Olivier Hart, David Clark and Craig Davies. Stand-out of a dozen Capris is the Ric Wood car driven by current British Touring Car ace Jake Hill.

For some giant-killing, step forward Nick Swift (Mini 1275 GT), Jim Morris (Volkswagen Golf) and Tom Shephard (VW Scirocco).

9. Junior choice

Drake's Terrier is due to be part of varied Formula Junior field

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Few, if any, period racing categories feature as many different marques as Formula Junior. Sunday’s racing programme kicks off with the Threlfall Cup for the front-engined Formula Juniors from the first three years of the category’s story, 1958 to 1960. It was a time of enormous change in motorsport and Formula Junior mirrored F1 in rapidly evolving to rear-engined cars.

However, before that happened, Junior spawned a huge array of manufacturers and 18 of them are represented on this weekend’s 30-car grid. Some, like Lola, Merlyn and U2 were among the first such organisations to offer customer cars at the start of a long history, while the story of other fledgling brands was much shorter.

Look out for the Italian-built Stanguellinis and Volpinis, which clearly took their styling inspiration from period F1 cars, while in the UK Arthur Mallock and Len Terry went their own ways with their U2 and Terrier designs.

Armed with the machine his father built 63 years ago, the evergreen Ray Mallock will renew his rivalry with Chris Drake in the Terrier Mk4 at the head of the pack on Sunday.

10. Bolton takes on the world

Chevrons will attempt to take the Gurney Cup fight to Ford GT40s

Photo by: Motorsport Images

The admission of the Chevron B6/B8 dynasty into Goodwood events is a relatively recent development but the timeless design by Derek Bennett, built in a disused mill in Bolton, is a perfect two-litre foil for the big-engined cars in the Gurney Cup.

The very earliest Chevron GTs meet the 1966 cut-off date and Chevrons were around before Goodwood closed for racing that summer. They certainly look the part in a field that takes in at least 10 Ford GT40s as well as a gaggle of open cockpit under two-litre Lotus 23Bs, Elva Mk7s and the sublime Brabham BT5 that owner Geoff Underwood will share with talented youngster Samuel Harrison.

INSIGHT: The teenage talent who was 2022's club racing king

In truth, the B8s will struggle against the more powerful GT40s around the fast sweeps of Goodwood. But compared to the similar Surtees Trophy of a year ago, the absence of the Lola T70 Spyders and early Can-Am McLarens does open up a chance for Bolton’s finest.

With drivers of the calibre of Andrew Kirkaldy, Andrew Newall and Ben Mitchell in the BMW-powered Chevron squadron, there might just be an upset or two as Bolton goes head-to-head with Detroit.