Goodwood goes all-ticket

Entry to Goodwood’s two premier historic motorsport events is to be restricted to pre-paid ticket holders this year to ease congestion problems.

It will be the first time that the Revival circuit meeting in September, as well as June’s Festival of Speed hillclimb, will be open solely to advance buyers. Both are among Britain’s top three best attended motor racing events, and the changes have been introduced to prevent overcrowding.

A format alteration to the Revival, balancing the racing action across both Saturday and Sunday, has also been introduced to spread out the crowds. Friday’s free practice has now been dropped to be replaced by qualifying, which previously ran on into Saturday morning. This change allows a full programme of races to run on the meeting’s second day, followed by another on Sunday.

Finite paddock space prevents extra events being incorporated into the programme. The revolving programme could, however, this year also include a new race for ‘out of period’ 1920s and ’30s racers, or the return of late-1960s 3-litre Formula One machinery which last raced at the 1999 Revival.

The Festival’s theme for 2004 will be ‘Young Chargers and Old Masters’, celebrating the great father-and-son driving dynasties and their cars.