Gettin' It At Goodwood
GETTIN’ IT AT GOODWOOD
WHEN PERMISsion was finally granted to reinstate “open pipe” historic racing at Goodwood’s World War II airfield circuit, it was never Lord March’s intention to simply promote another retro-meet for kindred spirits. After all,
“Gooders” had been Britain’s favorite post-war racetrack 'til noise issues forced closure in the late Sixties.
What separates the “Circuit Revival” from other vintage events, then, is its dress code. Competitors, wrenches and circuit personnel are required to wear Fifties-style clothing. Drivers don Dunlop/Goodyear coveralls, and riders slip into black leathers. (Somberly painted full-face helmets are allowed.) Bowlers, city suits and umbrellas are de rigeur for spectators, and billboards and signage are strictly “period.” Even the temporary grandstands replicate yester-
year’s structures. “Gad, sir,” noted one attendee, “we might have lost the jolly old Empire, but this dress code’s spot on!” With two-time 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene and Formula One’s Damon Hill— a two-stroke racer in his youth-aboard Manx Nortons, motorcycles were assured celebrity status. Hill cut the third-quickest lap in dry practice, but Sheene smoked ’em all in the wet race. It was a popular victory at a gathering awash with ambiance. Most folk departed Goodwood’s time-warp cornucopia thinking life, sans Empire, wasn’t quite so bad after all... Michael Jackson
