Racing lines: How Goodwood Speedweek raced into our hearts

Racing lines: How Goodwood Speedweek raced into our hearts

Autocar

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Three-day Goodwood event took place behind closed doors

It was a shame it wasn't open to the public, but the motoring extravaganza brought much-needed smiles in these tough times

Surreal. That’s the word I’d choose to best describe Goodwood Speedweek, the motorsport extravaganza that lit up October. It was surreal on a number of counts, most obviously that it gathered one of the most glorious and diverse collections of racing machinery ever seen, for a show that played out to empty spectator banks. It was also astonishing that it happened at all, on a weekend when tense negotiations were playing out in other regions of the UK over the pressing need to tighten Covid restrictions.

You couldn’t help but feel conflicted if you were one of the lucky few to attend, as I was on one of the days. I felt guilty, first that I was experiencing what felt like the world’s greatest race meeting in the flesh when the vast majority couldn’t; and then there was a nagging doubt over whether pressing ahead with Speedweek at all had been the right thing to do.

We’re all having to make fine judgements in our everyday lives right now on what is safe and responsible and what steps over the line. The team at Goodwood worked long and hard to convince an understandably nervous local authority that Speedweek could be safe, almost right up to the moment the gates opened.

When they did, everything was run by the book and to the letter, as it had to. Stewards were super-diligent in ensuring masks were worn at all times, except when you were eating. As for social distancing, just like walking around a town centre or supermarket right now, the onus was on individual responsibility – but with eerily so few people in the paddock, it wasn’t hard to stay away from each other.

So was it the right thing to do? I’m still conflicted; you will have your own view. But as an event designed to be watched specifically on a screen, through live streaming or TV, it hit all the marks as a welcome shot in the arm during a time when there isn’t much to smile about.

*A one-off curio*

Combining the best bits of the springtime Members’ Meeting and autumn Revival, Speedweek would be a welcome addition to the Goodwood calendar when our world rights itself. But the number of ‘noisy days’ at the Sussex circuit are restricted to just five, and the two established race meetings already use them all. So Speedweek might well be a one-off curio. If so, the freedom of running without spectators allowed a spirit of experimentation, and we might well find the things that worked so well will feed into the established annual highlights anyway, including at the Festival of Speed.

Certainly, rival promoters from Formula 1 and far beyond should take note of the innovation and high quality displayed in the show’s production. It was world-class in this respect. In fact, among all the memorable drives of the weekend, whether in races, in demos, on the rally stage or in the shootout for fastest lap, perhaps the best was put in by whoever was flying the drone that captured such stunning aerial footage over the pits and finish straight.

Watching the Gerry Marshall Trophy race for 1970s saloons that ran into darkness on the Friday, I found myself mesmerised by the whining black object tracking the cars and actually matching them for speed, just a matter of metres above them. What skill – although it was also a little unnerving. You wouldn’t want it falling out of the sky and hitting your windscreen while you’re pounding along towards Madgwick corner.

*The outright lap record*

The rally stage that incorporated the narrow tunnel, then both the perimeter roads and race track, was a particular highlight. Marshals were quick to move bollards and tyre stacks to create and dismantle the stage in minutes, although it would surely be a logistical headache with thousands of spectators to herd and corral at the same time. Then again, something similar had been planned for the Members’ Meeting before it was cancelled last spring, so it’s not impossible that we will see something similar in the future.

What we probably won’t witness again is the shootout that was designed with the singular purpose of setting a new outright lap record around the sweeping 2.367- mile circuit. Volkswagen’s late no-show with its electric ID R was a disappointment and a bit odd, given that Porsche and Audi still had such a big presence, but the Formula 1 and sports cars that did have a crack created a spine-tingling spectacle. And let’s face it, they sounded better, too. But would Romain Dumas have been faster? It’s a shame that we might never find out.

Back in the 1980s, long after racing had been curtailed at the track in 1966, Goodwood had a second life as a test venue used by F1 teams. Legend has it that Brabham’s Nelson Piquet once lapped in less than a minute, although that was never verified. The official fastest lap set in a race at Goodwood in the modern era is 1min 18.217sec, set by historic racer Nick Padmore in a Lola T70 Spyder at the 2015 Members’ Meeting. That’s more than two seconds quicker than the period F1 lap record set in 1965 and shared by Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart.

At Speedweek, Padmore stepped up once more, this time in a 1989 Ross Brawn-designed, ex-Derek Warwick Arrows A11 powered by a 3.5-litre Ford V8. The Arrows wailed, juddered and jerked over the infamous Goodwood bumps, but Padmore bravely kept his foot in to smash his previous mark with a time of 1min 9.914sec. Okay, so Piquet’s supposed sub-minute lap remains unapproached, but still this was something to see (even on a screen) – and it just wouldn’t have been possible with spectators present. Even without them, Goodwood was taking a big risk. In more ways than one.

*READ MORE*

*What to expect from Goodwood Speedweek 2020 *

*Best supercars of Goodwood Speed Week 2020 *

*Best race and rally cars of Goodwood Speed Week 2020*

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