Autosport Plus

Losing Goodwood would be a travesty

Plans for a new housing development have raised fears for Goodwood's future. MARCUS PYE argues that the area can't afford to lose its talismanic motorsport hotbed

Marcus Pye Mar 24, 2015, 11:04 PM

It's the old story. A 'Catch 22' situation. Britain's rising population needs housing, and it needs it in places where there are jobs. Last time I looked, though, no more land was being made, so the pressure is ramping up. Where degrees of compromise may have been necessary to cope with expansion in the past, accommodating the population boom is making things worse in the 21st century.

But, even if the city of Chichester is bursting at the seams, Westhampnett is not the right place to put a large housing development, with approval for 300 units currently under debate, regardless of whether or not you care about the future of the wonderful Goodwood Motor Circuit.

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Author Marcus Pye

Raised initially within earshot of South London’s fabled Crystal Palace circuit, racing engines are the soundtrack to my life. Car enthusiast Dad and godfather took me to British Grands Prix of the 1960s, which sowed the seeds of my passion. Reading Autosport every Thursday morning, following my hero Ronnie Peterson’s exploits, fuelled it.

Volunteering as a BARC junior at Thruxton in the mid-'70s led to lap-charting for commentator Simon Taylor, Autosport's publisher, and grid/pit marshalling. Landed my dream Autosport job aged 19 in July 1977, working under legendary editor Quentin Spurring and Robin Bradford. A staffer for 20 years (1000 issues!), freelance since 1997, I’m its longest-serving writer.

Over 45 seasons I have reported 1200-plus events - covering F2, F3000, F3, club and Historic racing to hillclimbs and sprints at towards 100 venues - and commentated worldwide, most notably at Goodwood and the Spa Six Hours.

My driving CV lists almost 550 competition cars spanning 140 plus marques. Since 1981 I’ve contested over 200 events, from Brands Hatch to Daytona, scoring the occasional result. Co-owning and racing the Chevron B40 in which Keke Rosberg won Enna-Pergusa’s European F2 round the weekend after I joined Autosport and an F5000 Lola T332 were special!

A lottery windfall would see me buy a Chevron B8 (my favourite car from boyhood), Lola T294 and March 782 - and expand my racing sticker archive, popular on Facebook. Beyond the sport and family, my abiding interest is classical music.