PAST IMPERFECT:Goodwood Motor Circuit has its origins in the days of the second World War and heralds a bygone era, writes BOB MONTGOMERY.
GOODWOOD MOTOR Circuit owes its origins to similar circumstances to those that brought Silverstone into being. In the dark years of austerity following the second World War, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) was unable to finance the construction of a new motor racing circuit to allow motor racing to recommence in Britain.
Donington was still a military stores dump – and would remain so for many more years – Brooklands had been sold off, and Crystal Palace was unfit to use. There was no possibility of road racing such as existed in Ireland as the laws of the land did not allow it.
The solution the RAC came up with was to convert one of the many now disused airfields which had played their part in the recent conflict and many of which were derelict. Silverstone in Northamptonshire was one such place and, in the summer of 1948, the RAC approached the air ministry and, after some negotiation, a lease was arranged and racing began there soon after.
Just over a month after Silverstone opened, another wartime airfield was converted into a motor racing circuit. This was the Goodwood circuit at Westhampnet in Sussex, which had been an important satellite airfield for the fighter base at Tangmere during the second World War. Located at the foot of the south downs, Goodwood took its name from the nearby stately home and famous horseracing course in the chalky downland hills nearby.
The new racing circuit was based on the perimeter road of the old airfield and was 2.4 miles long. A new trophy, the Goodwood Trophy, was presented for the first meeting in 1948 and this was won by Reg Parnell in a Maserati. Indeed, Parnell was to have a remarkable record in this event, winning the first three Goodwood Trophies and being twice runner-up to Farina and Gonzalez in 1951 and 1952, earning the nickname “the Emperor of Goodwood”.
Many famous trophies were associated with Goodwood – the Glover Trophy; the Lavent Cup; the Woodcote Cup; the Richmond Trophy and St Mary’s Trophy to name but a few. Additionally, the famous Tourist Trophy Race – Britain’s oldest motor race – was held there as well and, in the mid-1950s, Goodwood was also the home of a nine-hour sportscar race.
Above all else, Goodwood was a circuit with a succession of fast sweeping corners, which led to some fine races but also some tragedy. Most famously, it was here that Stirling Moss’s career came to an end when he had a huge crash at St Mary’s corner in 1962. Although racing moved from the circuit in 1966, it continued to be used for testing purposes and it was here in 1970 that Bruce McLaren perished while testing one of his own Can-Am cars. Likewise, the talented Canadian driver, Bertrand Fabi, was killed there testing a F3 car.
Some 30 years after the racing circuit closed, Lord March created the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the grounds of Goodwood House and this event included a hill climb.
Following its tremendous success a new event was established at Goodwood circuit, the Goodwood Revival Meeting, which recreated the 1950s circuit and included a limited amount of historic racing.
Today both events, most particularly the Goodwood Revival Meeting, have gone from strength to strength and Goodwood can rightly be called the home of historic motor racing, attracting huge crowds annually and something that no one could possibly have foreseen in the dark war days.