Old-fashioned stiff upper lip prevails at Goodwood SpeedWeek

The Covid-19 pandemic may have torn up Goodwood’s familiar event timetable this year but in the traditional British resolve of the Revival, it kept calm and carried on.

The result was SpeedWeek, a merger of the best of the festivals, with a few added extras – broadcast live and free of charge, with spectators unable to attend.

There were some advantages to the lack of crowds. A special stage rally course was created by a tractor dropping hay bales at the entrance to the circuit, blocking everybody in for an hour.

And without crowds around the historic track, modern cars could be pushed to the limit in a high-speed shoot-out.

The sun shone, the paddocks were packed with gleaming machinery and petrol fumes wafted through the air.

But despite the roaring engines on track, the circuit was eerily quiet. There were no gasps or cheers as Jason Plato thrillingly snatched fourth place on the line in the Gerry Marshall Trophy; there was no sartorial chatter over vintage outfits; and no eager children straining to glimpse the latest supercars.

There was no need to strain to glimpse anything. At any point in the day, you could find sections of the paddock deserted and wander between the cars at will.

“Spectators should be able to see all this – there’s wonderment everywhere,” said Richard Attwood. “It’s almost like we’re feasting ourselves on something that should be shared with many. The traffic is much easier, though.”

With little indoor space, drivers mingled on lawns. “We’ve brought the drivers’ club outside,” said Marino Franchitti, sitting at a table behind the pits with brother Dario and Karun Chandhok. “We’re catching up more than normal. When the crowds are here, someone could be 2ft away and you wouldn’t see them. Goodwood is about being here with family and I’m missing that, but what they have done is amazing. This Goodwood fix will get me through winter.”

The view from home was a bit different too. SpeedWeek was billed as an immersive experience, designed to be watched on screen. Drone footage brought the racing closer then ever, and the broadcast switched from racing to driver interviews, studio segments and pre-recorded features.

This wasn’t simply a stopgap for the Covid era, but a preview of the future of Goodwood festivals to increase their reach to a global audience.

“At the Festival of Speed we can send down a gaggle of cars to the bottom of the hill but it’s not the same,” said the Duke, ahead of SpeedWeek. “Here, you can send out 30 F1 cars and have the cameras in among them. That looks pretty cool. I hope it’s going to be a feel for the future. It will help us create events so that they are still fabulous for spectators but well thought through in terms of broadcast content.”