GOODWOOD 75

‘Goodwood 75’ sees a year of celebrations across all our motorsport events and venues, paying tribute to the incredible history and heritage of motorsport at Goodwood.

The main celebration is that of the Motor Circuit, which reaches its 75th anniversary in 2023. It was Squadron Leader Tony Gaze – an Australian fighter pilot who was based at RAF Westhampnett during the Second World War – who first suggested to the 9th Duke of Richmond that the airfield’s perimeter track would make an excellent race circuit. Officially opened on 18 September 1948 by the Duke and Duchess in their Bristol 400, the very first meeting was attended by 15,000 spectators, who gathered to watch the 85 drivers including Stirling Moss, who won his first ever race that day, inspiring a life-long association with Goodwood.

It was during this time that the current Duke of Richmond first sparked an interest in motor racing. As a small boy he would come to Goodwood, where his grandparents were living, on Easter Monday for the very first motorsport meeting of the year. He says:

“The drivers were all here and I used to wander around the house getting their autographs. I remember them more from their autographs than from what they looked like. Some of them would sign my little book in a very bold way. I remember Mike Salmon and Jim Clark; Jackie Stewart was here from very early on. The track manager rang Ken Tyrell and told him to come to the circuit to check Jackie out. He signed the contract with him and never looked back.”

Between 1948 and 1966 (the years celebrated by the Goodwood Revival) the Circuit hosted all the world’s greatest drivers of that time including Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina, Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart and John Surtees along with a number of other stars. Goodwood established itself as the spiritual home of British motorsport during a time that went on to become the sports’ most glamorous and exciting era. The Duke continues:

“Motor racing and cars were a shared passion and my grandfather and I were kindred spirits. That generation were very modern, they didn’t look back much. I suppose the war had left such a terrible mark on everyone that their mindset was about moving on and starting something new. My grandfather was a very good designer and he designed some great cars, some of the nicest British pre-war sports cars, including a March-bodied AC, which I have. He loved the engineering side of it, loved designing and building things. He won the Double 12 at Brooklands in 1931 with his team of three MG C-type Montlhery Midgets, amongst various other races. Having allowed the RAF to requisition the aerodrome during the war, he later turned it into the track you see today. In 1993, the first Festival of Speed was done as a try-out to see if Goodwood still meant anything to anyone. Happily, people still felt really connected to it.”

What was back then a two-day event, the first Festival welcomed an estimated 25,000* spectators who watched nearly 100 cars and motorcycles in action on the Hill. Competitors and attendees included Tony Brooks and Roy Salvadori who went up together in an Aston Martin DBS3, George Harrison in his Rocket sports car, Nick Mason in his V16 BRM, Gordon Murray in a McLaren F1, and John Surtees, who was an event patron and organised the motorcycle entry.

In 1998, the dream of reopening the Motor Circuit finally became a reality, and 50 years to the day since his grandparents had opened the track on 18 September 1948, The Duke opened the inaugural Revival meeting in an identical car.

In its 75 year-motorsport history, Goodwood has seen some remarkable feats of engineering and derring do: from the trailblazing drivers who raced here in the early years and the cars that tested on the Circuit; to the scintillating recordbreaking run from the McMurtry Spéirling at the 2022 Festival of Speed and the pioneering use of synthetic fuels at the Revival.

We can’t wait to see what the next 75 years will bring.

#Goodwood75