Yahoo Autos You Think Goodwood Revival Is a Car Costume Party? It's Much More
If the Goodwood Revival were just a costume party at an old estate in the English countryside, it would be one of the best costume parties in the world. Met Gala, go home—the Revival not only has thousands of participants in period clothing, but every detail from the hospitality (an American WWII mess hall, complete with actors in uniform planning D-Day on a map of Europe) to the lap scoreboard (painted wood and adjusted by hand to show the race leaders) stays in character. It's so rare to see someone not in costume during the weekend that the sight of a puffer jacket or a pair of Puma sneakers causes a frisson of disbelief, like a boom mic visible in a movie or a nude spouse crossing in the background of a Zoom meeting. Actually, Zoom? What am I talking about? We can all take business calls in our underpants on our corded phones because it is 1966 at the latest, and Zoom won't be invented for 50 years.
Sorry, I'm getting off-topic. There's a lot of champagne making the rounds here, and my '40s up-do is cutting off circulation to my brain. Point is, the Revival is famous for the cool dress-up scene, and if it were just that, it would still be worth the cost of a ticket (approximately $100 for one day, with many ways to spend more for more glamorous experiences, like helicopter drop-off!)
But it's not just a costume party, it's the best classic car racing you'll ever see, with '50s Ferraris hanging the tail out, fat-windowed Plymouths up against sedate-looking Jaguars, Cobras spitting venom at TVR Griffiths, and all of it happening (at least this year) in an absolute deluge. Did that prevent car owners and celebrity drivers from sliding around corners, banging through the straights, and generally treating Lolas and Astons like they were Nissan Silvias at amateur drift night? It most certainly did not.
Which is not to say there are no rules to racing at Goodwood. For the Revival, cars (like outfits) must fall in the pre-1970s time frame. This isn't random, it celebrates the years in which the Goodwood circuit was an active motorsports venue (1948–1966) before it shut down. Charles Gordon Lennox, now Duke of Richmond, brought back the action in 1998. Thus the "reviving" in Revival.
There's as much competition to get invited to enter a car or drive as a guest pilot as there is on the course. And oh man, that course. I had a quick go as a passenger in a one-of-seven Ford GT40 MkIII from the UK Ford Heritage program, and even at parade-lap speeds, we were sliding the back end and facing the wall more often than I was ready for. To find out what it's like at race pace, I spoke with three different racers: NASCAR hall-of famer Jimmie Johnson, Alpine UK head Nicola Burnside, and four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti.
Jimmie Johnson
Raced: St Mary’s Trophy, Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, and Royal Automobile Club TT
Along with his NASCAR cred (seven Cup Series championships), Jimmie Johnson is a Motorsports Hall-of-Famer, raced two years in IndyCar, ran prototypes in IMSA, and helmed the window-rattling Garage 56 car around the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He's just a guy who loves racing, so while the cars he drove at Goodwood seemed at first glance to be a far cry from an American stock car, he says the slip-slidey track scene is some of his favorite racing of the year. Johnson ran three different classes, including in an Aston Martin he shared with his IndyCar pal, Dario Franchitti (which they won).
CD: How did you get involved with Revival?
JJ: I'd watched various events from Goodwood, and I've always been impressed. If it's the Festival of Speed up the Duke's driveway, or the Revival around the motor circuit, I've just been captivated with the attendees, the crowds, and for the Revival, the in-period style of the fans, the participants, the cars. So it's been on my radar. When I went IndyCar racing and was at CGR [Chip Ganassi Racing], Dario Franchitti was my driving coach. I shared my interest in Goodwood with him. He has great relationships within the historic car racing scene and was able to put together an opportunity for me to come to Goodwood. And all three times I've been here, I've been in an AC Cobra.
This year you drove a Cobra again, but also an Aston. How many cars did you drive?
I drove in three different classes. Dario and I shared a car, the Aston DB4, and I drove an AC Cobra owned by Shaun Lynn, the father of Alex Lynn, who is the Cadillac driver at CGR. I also drove a '63 Ford Galaxie. The owner Gregor Fisken and I ended up with a third overall (aggregate result).
You had a little drama with the Aston, no?
A little. I had an issue with it in qualifying. There were some wild rainstorms that were moving through, and on one of the high-speed areas of the track, I came to a rain shower, and it just caught me out. I went through some puddles and got in the grass and slid and tapped the rear of the car against the tire barrier. Certainly not what I wanted to do, bend up the body on the car, but it was very easy to fix. In fact, we stayed in the qualifying session. I came into the pits, and Dario jumped in the car. I think we qualified ninth, and then we pounded out that aluminum and dressed it up. The team did beautiful job and then we went out in the race on Saturday and were able to win.
What's the track like?
It's tricky. The first time I tested there, I came back in and was like, this place is really dangerous. You have a lot of high-speed turns, a lot of blind corners, and very little runoff room into some big consequences. It's a very fun lap, but you are moving around there pretty quick. And rain racing? I've done a little bit. I mean, growing up, I raced in the off-road ranks, and there was plenty of it. But on asphalt, [my experience has] been pretty limited.
What stands out to you about the cars you drove?
The Galaxie probably looks most like a stock car, but the DB4 had such a fun, sweet spot of being able to drift the car around. The Cobra has way more power than it does weight or sense, which is really a lot of fun. And to me, the appeal of Revival is aesthetics, but also that the owners of these vehicles that really want their cars raced. It is not a high-speed parade. It is a legitimate race, and it is something that I hope to never miss again. I'm already making my plans for 2025.
Nicola Burnside
Raced: Fordwater Trophy
While Johnson made his career on racetracks, Nicola Burnside generally works more in offices and boardrooms as a former digital marketing head for Skoda and then Mercedes-Benz vans. She's currently the brand director for Alpine cars UK, but at Goodwood, she was suited up and splashing through puddles in a 1959 MGA Twin Cam.
C/D: Did you always intend to work in automotive?
NB: I've always been a petrol head since I was really small. My dad introduced me to Grand Prix. We used to watch the Grand Prix together. We watched the famous Senna incident, which stuck with me for a while, for my life, really. I'd always wanted to get into racing, and I remember asking my parents if I could when I was younger, and I was told, "No, girls don't. That's not really what girls do." So then I thought, well, maybe I could be one of the pit lane girls, you know, with the numbers? But you had to be five-foot-four, and I'm five-foot. So, I was like, I can't even do that. Eventually I got my foot in the door in automotive, working for Volkswagen Group, which I really enjoyed, and then Mercedes, which was really exciting, but ultimately I wanted to work for sports car brand. So, when Alpine knocked on the door, that was a bit of a dream opportunity for me. Combines everything that I'm interested in into one role.
How did you end up getting into racing after being told you couldn't?
I had got into classic cars because my husband was into classic cars. He got an old MGA about 20 years ago and restored it. And then I felt I was missing out, and I bought a red car with a horse on it as a road car. It's a lovely old thing.
Wait, he had an MG and you were like, oh, I should also get a classic car. And then you got a Ferrari?
Yeah. You can see how this sort of… happens. He upgraded from a normal MGA to a twin cam, and then from a twin cam up to a race car. And then he started racing. We started going to these races, and I loved it but felt a bit left out. We were driving back from a race one day and I was googling in the van, and I came across a race car and bought it. Then we went to collect it, a little MG. My husband said, "Now you need to go and do a race." My second-ever race was at Goodwood in the Members Meeting, because the car was eligible. It was unbelievable. From there I upgraded into the twin cam, which is what I was racing this weekend.
What makes a car eligible for Goodwood?
Each of the different grids has different criteria. The Fordwater Trophy I raced was GT production cars, '55 to '60. Your car has to be within those years and basically a production GT. It helps is if the car was a period racer. All the twin cams on the Fordwater grid—there were six twin cams and one normal MGA—had history. They're the seven most famous MGAs in the world. You had the first ever MGA off the production line. It's a Fitzwilliam car and it raced in period. [Fitzwilliam was a famous racing team known for MGAs and Lolas.] Then our two cars are Fitzwilliam team cars that raced in period. There was the Le Mans-winning MGA. They all have to have a little bit of a story that's interesting.
So, it doesn't have to be a car that raced, but that helps to get the invite?
Yes. The Galaxie 500s, which are fairly rare, they managed to get five of them this year. And not all of them were period race cars, but Goodwood loves them because they put on a good show. You're likely to get in with one of those, irrespective of the pedigree. A Galaxie versus a Mini is brilliant to watch because it's, you know, David and Goliath.
Can you describe a little bit about what a lap around Goodwood is like?
It's unbelievable. The circuit is fast, and the atmosphere is the best. Everybody in the grandstands and people are coming over, taking pictures of you in the car. Especially as a female driver, I get quite a lot of support from people, because there's not many women racing. Here's a fun fact for you: In the women's changing room, there were 12 lockers. And they weren't all used. In the men's, I don't know how many lockers there were, but my husband had number 147.
When you line up and see the start, you just think to yourself, all I want to do is not finish last. Hopefully take a few people on the straight and then have a really good race. For me, it was all about enjoying it, looking after the car, driving sensibly, putting on a bit of a show, but not going completely crazy. When you get down Lavant, it's such a long straight, the speed you get up to is phenomenal. Between 110 and 115, something like that. Depends on the car. But, I mean, it feels like about 200 mph—I'm in an open top as well, so it just feels so fast, and you've got all the crowds at the end looking at you. You're sort of driving towards them at that speed. It's brilliantly terrifying.
Dario Franchitti
Raced: Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, Royal Automobile Club TT
Dario Franchitti might as well move into the Goodwood House and breakfast with the Duke—he and his family spend so much time there. The three-time Indy 500 winner took up vintage racing more seriously after his retirement from the Indy cockpit, and the Franchitti name is a common sight in the paddocks, as Dario and his brother Marino both race in several classes, and the Franchitti children are regulars in the kids' pedal-car event.
How many times have you raced at Goodwood Revival?
My first one was 2005. I did my first historic race; I won the TT. The next year, I had a wheel fall off a Jag E-Type, and I woke up in the hospital. I looked over, and Adrian Newey was in the next bed over, so that was a little weird. I then didn't do anything until I retired from IndyCar, and then I would go do demos and stuff because the Duke was just really kind and said, "Come and drive some of the old cars," because I wasn't allowed to race [after a nearly fatal accident in 2013]. In 2019, once I'd convinced the doctors and the insurance company, my first race back was Goodwood Revival. Since then I've done almost every one since. I just love it. Members Meet, Festival of Speed. I mean, this year, we were even at the horse races. Ellie [his wife] was racing a horse. Marino met his wife Holly at a Goodwood revival.
How do the professional drivers get involved? I know that the cars are all invite-only, and sometimes there's sort of a matchmaking between the owner of a very special car and a guest professional driver. But is this a paid gig? Is it something you apply for?
It's definitely not paid. I went to my first one because a great friend of mine in Arizona, Harley Cluxton, said, "Hey, would you fancy driving an old car?" This year, both cars were looked after and owned by people that I know. With the Aston Martin that Jimmie and I drove, the guys from R.S. Williams just said, "Hey, would you fancy driving this car?" I was picking up my car from service, and he said, "We've got this car running. Do you fancy doing it? And you think Jimmie would want to do it?" Yes and yes and yes.
There was a cool crew member story on that Aston, what was that?
Brett, who was kind of the crew chief of the car, it turns out that his dad had a picture of that car in the house, a picture of when Stirling Moss won the first race in that car at Goodwood in 1960. That was above the mantelpiece. And it turns out he [Brett] was born in the room with the picture. And here he was in 2024, putting his heart and soul into making this car good enough and quick enough to win the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy race on Saturday night. So that was really cool.
That's amazing. It was pretty serious racing. You guys aren't there for parade laps.
Tell me about it. The cars are pushed to limit. In that DB4 GT, from the very first lap, I was so comfortable just sliding it around. And I know both Jimmie and I fell in love with it, with the DB4 GT. The Cobra was a much different proposition. But, my God, it was enjoyable to drive.
Tell me a little bit about the difference between them.
The DB4 GT's almost a grand tourer. It's got a slightly shorter wheelbase than a standard DB4 but it's very compliant. When it starts to slide, it sort of telegraphs. It sends you a message saying, "Right, here comes the slide." It's so friendly, that car. It's got a big torquey engine, and then you get in something like the Cobra, and it's a lot shorter wheelbase, it's a lot more highly strung. The engine is a big sort of sledgehammer of torque delivery. The Cobra is definitely more of a handful. And because the race started slightly damp, we had a half-and-half, wet-and-dry setup on the thing. So it was moving around a lot more than it had. But you just have so much fun with it. You have these power slides, and you're trying to not to fry the rear tires, but at the same point, you're using the rear of the car to turn it. A completely different way of driving than anything I had done previously, which was all about keeping absolutely as straight as it could be.
I think the biggest example I saw of wild, old fashioned driving technique was in the race where the Galaxies go up against the Minis, and you're just like, well, that is two very different ways of getting somewhere.
Right. Exactly. They make their lap time in completely different ways. That's one of the things that's exciting about these different types of cars. For instance, the DB4 GT makes most of its time up on the straight because it's a big, heavy car. And then, you know, the Ferraris are probably not quite as good on the brakes, but they're quick in the straight, and they make up their time mid corner because they're a bit lighter. And then you've got the E-Types, which are carrying a lot of corner speed, but maybe not quite as quick in the straight.
Some of them looked very quick in the straight, which leads me to a question about modifications. I overheard a conversation in the paddock where somebody said that Adrian Newey's team would pull out a laptop every evening on the Jaguar, and I was like, well, maybe they're just ordering Jag parts from a website…
[Dario laughs] Pre event, the Duke sent out a video to competitors basically saying, "Going forward, the cars will have to absolutely conform to the FIA specs, and this is the warning that any sort of hot rodding will be frowned upon." To a degree it's gotten out of control, but it's now being wound back in, which is good. When the car showed up a couple of years ago, it was really leery, but I think he made a lot of modifications to the car to bring it back to its sort of FIA historic form.
Took the traction control and the fuel injection off and replaced all of the carbon fiber panels?
I had a lot of jokes about it, but they really made a big effort, I think, to put it back. Everybody pushes the limit, but I think there's a line being drawn in the sand by the Duke, so that's important. And ultimately, we're all invited there to race by him. So if anybody pushes it too far, then they just won't be invited back. But everyone wants to win.
Speaking of intense competition, tell me about your girls' race, the kids' pedal-car race.
That's the most stressful race of the weekend, no doubt. The kids' races on Saturday and Sunday. Some take it very seriously, I think. I don't care where they finish, as long as they have fun. And Valentina wanted her uncle Jimmie to be there with her. She actually turned the wrong way off the start line, which was interesting. Then the first race, she stopped to wave at her mummy halfway down. And she was talking to the people next to her. She's pedaling along, talking. But then the next day she got a bit more focused about the whole thing. And then Sofia, I think she finished third. I can't remember the next race, but she was fourth overall and just brilliant. And my nephew, her cousin Luca, I think he was second overall. He won it last year. So much fun to see the kids having a real laugh.
Out of Valentina, Sofia, you, and Jimmie, who's the most likely to cry if they don't win their race?
Do we include Marino in this, too?
Yeah, we can include Marino.
That's a tough one.
You obviously like the track aspect, what's good for folks who aren't as into racing?
There are some people that don't watch the track at all. They just park, and they walk around the parking area full of these wonderful cars, and that's enough. What a place to share this love of cars that we all have, whatever that looks like, whether that's racing on the track or showing your car off, or just walking around. It's a special, special place.
You Might Also Like