The Duke of Richmond's address about Goodwood's weekends

[thieuster]

What has happened that he now broadcasts this message?

[Jeremy67]

A little bit of stretching of the rules has been common knowledge for years. There are cars that always seem to have a notable advantage over others that should be broadly equivalent. Not all of it could be down to driving.

It's clearly come to a head and maybe someone was particularly taking the mickey. There have been some test days over the last few weeks and maybe a car had improved by a suspicious amount.

It's a good thing. One of the things I cherish about the Revival is the traditional look of the circuit and the unimpeded view. However some of the cars are now fearsomely fast and particularly since they let the contemporary touring car crowd in, the racing can be uncompromising. The last thing we need is a big accident that injures spectators. They've already beefed up some of the fencing around the circuit.

[thieuster]

A little bit of stretching of the rules has been common knowledge for years. There are cars that always seem to have a notable advantage over others that should be broadly equivalent. Not all of it could be down to driving.

It's clearly come to a head and maybe someone was particularly taking the mickey. There have been some test days over the last few weeks and maybe a car had improved by a suspicious amount.

It's a good thing. One of the things I cherish about the Revival is the traditional look of the circuit and the unimpeded view. However some of the cars are now fearsomely fast and particularly since they let the contemporary touring car crowd in, the racing can be uncompromising. The last thing we need is a big accident that injures spectators. They've already beefed up some of the fencing around the circuit.

Thanks for this insight!

[Bravo73]

However some of the cars are now fearsomely fast and particularly since they let the contemporary touring car crowd in, the racing can be uncompromising.

Wouldn’t ’contemporary touring cars’ be a Members’ Meeting race, rather than a Revival one? The entry list for the Revival is pretty strict for the ‘Goodwood era’ (ie 1948 to 1966).

The exceptions would be the demonstration laps dedicated to a particular driver or manufacturer. However, these aren’t run at race pace (obviously).

[Jeremy67]

Wouldn’t ’contemporary touring cars’ be a Members’ Meeting race, rather than a Revival one? The entry list for the Revival is pretty strict for the ‘Goodwood era’ (ie 1948 to 1966).

The exceptions would be the demonstration laps dedicated to a particular driver or manufacturer. However, these aren’t run at race pace (obviously).

The drivers not the cars.

[Bravo73]

Ah, I see. Apologies for the confusion.

The pro touring car drivers have been involved for as long as I can remember, if I’m honest.

[snowman]

Interesting, would be great to know the exact events leading to this.

Clearly, someone has been more than 'bending' the rules.

The Revival is a great event, but the fact that it's the same cars year after year, discourages me from attending again.

I know it's a limitation of the format and accept that, but for that reason the MM and FOS are more interesting for return visits, I think.

M

[thieuster]

I asked a friend who’s a Goodwood member what his opinion is. The answer:

The best guess I have is that the creeping modernization of ostensibly historic race cars (which has been going on at Goodwood as long as I’ve been going) reached a breaking point, finally.

The Duke’s comments about a competitor being told not to speak up by other competitors seems to be a key point in his video. That sneaky business would likely offend his sense of fairness about his events.

In some ways, it’s “closing the barn door after the horse has bolted”.

[Foxy100]

I believe it's not just about doing period modifications but using modern technology and ideas when rebuilding a car. You cant use lighter steel to make a chassis, with the understanding you'd need to replace the chassis after, say, five years. You can hide extra bracing in some cars, make bodywork lighter and so on. That kind of thing has been going on for years. I do wonder if Adrian Newey will be able to race and if he'll have to make sure his boot lid is properly closed.

[drmarkf]

Well, you can’t say clearer than that.
Nice Daytona, too.

A friend of mine used to do some some historic racing in a 1929 blower Bentley: I don’t think he ever raced at Goodwood, but I remember him saying that he’d been very open in advance with the event organisers over some aspects of his car. He’d inherited it from his father who’d owned it from the late 1960s: back then it was more difficult to get original parts (or original spec parts) and he used to make a lot of bits in his own workshop.

Almost all Blowers that have been running from that time apparently have some issues, unless they’ve been the subject of a recent ground-up restoration aimed as far as possible at originality.

Presumably the Goodwood team are happy to adjudicate if approached in advance about a particular vehicle.