2022 Goodwood Revival preview: It were different in our day

It’s time to rummage in the dressing-up box, raid the vintage clothing shops, pack a picnic and head for a truly classic circuit in the Sussex Downs. Yes, it’s Revival time again as the Goodwood season reaches its climax in September when the Duke of Richmond closes the gates on the modern world outside and takes us back to motor racing’s more glamorous  and romantic days.

This year, as ever, we can expect some great racing on both four wheels and two around the fast and flowing corners that have challenged, and still challenge, even the most skilful drivers, past and present.

There will be new races, one exclusively for MGBs, as well as old favourites like the  St Mary’s Trophy for 1960s saloon cars, always a thriller in which a race seat is a hot ticket for many a BTCC star. Typically eclectic grids will feature everything from priceless Ferraris to Austin A40s, 1950s grand prix motorcycles, pedal cars and, of course, those mighty AC Cobras.

The Revival is proving a pull to celebrity drivers from other national and international championships while drawing other big names out of retirement. This year IndyCar stars Scott Dixon, Hélio Castroneves, Jimmie Johnson and Dario Franchitti will be racing.

“I’m thrilled and delighted to welcome some of the most successful IndyCar drivers, and NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, to Goodwood,” says the Duke of Richmond, whose dream to revive the historic circuit was fulfilled in 1998. “We are really looking forward to the excitement and spectacle that these guys will bring to the Revival. Dario has been a huge supporter of our events and he’s inspired his friends from IndyCar to come to Goodwood to do battle in historic cars. Jenson Button is coming back, too, for another crack at the RAC TT Celebration and we’re all ready for what we hope will be another terrific three days of racing.”

For many, the marking of the first of Graham Hill’s two world championships in 1962 will be another highlight. His son Damon will be centre stage in his dad’s BRM surrounded by a gathering of 40 cars that Graham raced from the ’50s through to the ’70s. The P57 BRM finally came good in ’62, Graham winning four of the nine races that year and beating his arch rival Jimmy Clark to the title. Goodwood was a great hunting ground for him through the 1960s: Graham won the Glover Trophy, the Tourist Trophy and the St Mary’s Trophy before the circuit closed in 1966.

For others it will surely be the RAC TT Celebration, always a huge spectacle. Last year we saw Jenson Button make his debut in an AC Cobra so there are sure to be some more big names coming out to play in the big race on Sunday. Past winners of this blue riband contest in the historic calendar include André Lotterer, Emanuele Pirro, Darren Turner, Henri Pescarolo, Bobby Rahal and Martin Brundle.

“I just love the atmosphere of the Revival,” says Button, who will be racing his own C-type Jaguar and sharing an E-type Jaguar with Adrian Newey’s son Harrison in the RAC TT. “The racing is old-school, lots of mechanical grip, and that makes it so much fun,” he says. “You dance the car through the corners, it’s fast and flowing and you need to be sensible. It’s an old-school circuit and the cars are very valuable. One thing I have to get used to is the brakes. Historic cars don’t stop like the cars of today. We’re there to win but also to have fun and entertain the crowd.”

The event will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of Ferrari, culminating in a spectacular track parade of all the finest and most famous Revival-era racing Ferraris. Expect plenty of exuberant pomp and ceremony befitting the Scuderia itself. More prosaically the 100th anniversary of the venerable Austin 7 will also be illustrated each morning with a parade of over 100 of these evergreen and versatile little cars.

The ever-popular Settrington Cup, a race for children in Austin J40s, marks its tenth anniversary with a record grid of these pedal cars for small people. A breathless and fiercely competitive field of wannabe racing drivers, spurred on by equally competitive mums and dads, will end in joy for one and tears for others.

For motorcycle fans there’s the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, in honour of the legendary and much-loved Mr Sheene who won this race, then known as the Lennox Cup, in 1999, 2001 and ’02. The winner comes from an aggregate of two races with riders coming from Moto GP, British Superbikes and the Isle of Man TT aboard 1950s Nortons, Triumphs and BSAs. The bike racers will, as ever, put on a great show.

At the time of writing the Revival will entertain us with a packed programme of 15 races starting with the Freddie March Memorial Trophy as the sun sets over the circuit on Friday evening. Named after the man who created the circuit back in 1948, the opener features those stunning sports cars from the days of the Goodwood 9 Hours when the cars raced into the night.

The fastest and loudest encounter of the weekend, the Whitsun Trophy for those awesome Can-Am cars, Ford GT40s and Lola T70s, is always a thunderous, ground-shaking nail-biter from flag to flag. A feast for the eyes and ears.

The Goodwood Revival is essentially an extraordinary piece of theatre. On Friday morning the curtain goes up on an era defined by the circuit’s heyday in the years from 1948 to 1966, and it comes down on again on Sunday night. Outside the gates the modern world continues to take its frenetic course while within, on the sweeping curves of a wartime aerodrome, motor racing as it used to be thrills a crowd dressed in tweeds, trilbies, frocks and furs.

At the heart of this unique event is some serious racing. Everyone wants to win a race at the Revival. A victory has become a badge of honour even for world champions like Jenson Button and TT winners such as John McGuinness, both of whom have discovered the delights of historic racing.

Back in 1998 Lord March’s dream was billed as a “magical step back in time” and the hype has more than delivered on its initial promise. A step back in time? Certainly. Magical? Well, you decide. The Revival embraces both senior folk who savour memories of a bygone era, and the young who come to see what their elders mean by ‘the good old days’.

Think power slides, drivers visibly working the wheel, fading brakes, Castrol R and cars that make a lot of noise. When men were men, etc, etc. Perhaps we should also remember, however, that it was very dangerous and thankfully the sport is now so much safer.

Finally, a spoiler alert. Look away now if you like a surprise when you arrive… This year’s traditional Revival set-piece drama will recreate the Roswell Incident in New Mexico in 1947. The Goodwood Motor Circuit is set to be visited by strange and mysterious beings from outer space. Or are they? Let the conspiracies begin.

September 16-18; tickets from goodwood.com