#23; The Goodwood Experience

Everybody has various experiences within their lifetime that remain in their memory throughout their life, whether this be their first times, their passes and failures, their achievements, just the things that make up the way their life has evolved. This weekend I had the privilege of spending my first experience of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as I mentioned in a blog entry just before leaving last week, and a weekend that will absolutely remain in my min for a very long time to come. Simply put, the many things I managed to encounter, absorb, gawp at and loved at the festival was like a motorsport utopia; hearing the roar of those vicious engines, staring down at the blindingly gorgeous liveries of cars that have made up their own history in various sports, and just so much more. Of course I realise that for an onlooker reading this, the language I’m using to describe everything is extremely extravagant, but it’s hard to dumb down the descriptions of how much I enjoyed the Festival of Speed. Hopefully, by the end of this entry, you will understand a bit better why the Festival of Speed is just a treat for motor racing fans everywhere.

Approaching the format of this blog entry has taken various forms and lots of consideration – do I talk to you guys reading in the form of a recap of every single day? Simply mention the most special moments of the weekend? Or just discuss and look at the highlights from the various areas of the Festival of Speed? Based on everything, and considering the amount of content that could end up being posted, it seems best to be to simply take a pinch of each option to keep the word count down from a gargantuan essay as well as hopefully keeping you readers interested! There is so much for me to mention concerning Goodwood – boredom is simply not an option I feel when you are at the festival due to the fact there is always something going on, something to see, and somewhere to go. As motorsport fans, we are all treated to viewing some of the world’s most beautiful cars whether that be from the luxurious world of modern Formula 1, the historical evolution of the Silver Arrow Mercedes, superbikes, NASCAR, Le mans, I really could go on and on! Seeing these motorcars and bikes and hearing the electrifying scream of their engines rushing through the Goodwood circuit at an electrifying speed though is simply indescribable. The added bonus of being able to chat to the heroes that risk their lives for our entertainment and their desire to race makes the opportunities even more special to me. Even after the first day, walking out of the event back to the bus, I was quite simply emotionally drained from the sheer brilliance of it all. My first day of the festival was jaw dropping, awe inspiring, just stunning. It absolutely blew me away.

The wonderful thing about going to such events for the first time, without any previous experience of such a race meeting (so to speak), is that it really does add a massive new level of appreciation for everything that makes up motorsport. Whilst I prepared myself as much as I thought I could for Goodwood, so many things opened my eyes and shocked  me in different ways. You grow up watching these cars, these men and women forming the cars into the brilliance you see on track, and managing to stand there with such cars as that gorgeous Rothmans Williams car that won Damon Hill’s world championship in 1996 did feel a little surreal at first. Seeing the aerodynamic perfection on these cars curved and angled to achieve their upmost potential and seeing those striking liveries that made up the times where I grew to love Formula 1, then watching then fly past with the menace of their engines screaming past at a ridiculously fast speed for the first time within my life just made me fall in love with everything motor racing related even more. They have a huge part of history that they hold proud of, but with these classic cars, still seeing the modern and even future concept cars manages to amaze just as much. Perhaps it’s the concept of being surrounded by all these incredible motors continually, despite seeing the same cars over the few days perhaps, never ceased to amaze me. The drivers standing proud and discussing with their crew whilst setting them up to go out on track, for example, just adds to the magic that is Goodwood.

It still stuns me now thinking back over the weekend how normal it seems to simply walk up to these personalities, whether they be the drivers themselves, the crew, managers or PA’s, and simply talk Formula 1 to them. They are there for the exact same reason as everyone else though – because of their love for motor racing,enjoying everything it should stand for. Over the course of the weekend I had the pleasure of speaking to some fantastic people from within the paddock, which seems incredibly bizarre to myself going to such an event for the first time and witnessing these people in front of me that I had seen shape the sport and create their legacy within whatever sport they has come from. It simply was beyond surreal. Some examples to share with you, on the first day I managed to have the pleasure to see Adrian Newey in the Rothman Williams overalls standing outside the Williams garage. After quickly saying hello, and getting a photo of him, he seemed more than happy to talk and I mentioned to him how it must be fantastic to see Red Bull’s achievements this year finally coming to fruition, especially at Silverstone. He seemed delighted enough, smiled back and said ‘It really does never gets old’. With that I shook his hand and wished him luck for the future, and got a quick photo as he went off back to his busy schedule. Things like this really make me appreciate what makes the humble people within the paddock give you, the fans, the time you deserve for being dedicated to Formula 1 especially in the rough times of politics we have had to endure as of late. Other names that popped up in my autograph book and camera were the wonderfully welcoming Jackie Stewart, speaking to fans about little stories and answering their questions politely, David Brabham who had recently just won Le Mans with Peugeot spending a lot of time with the fans over the weekend (including coming out of the drivers paddock to attend to a disabled woman for a lengthy amount of time), Timo Glock, Eddie Irvine, Allan McNish, even Steve Ryder and Tony Jardine spent time with the fans that I witnessed at points despite not exactly being big A-list names amongst the autograph hunters. It is just an extremely humbling experience and a pleasure to meet such people when they give the time back.

So over the course of the few days within this wonderful environment, what stands out as the big highlights for myself? They were without a doubt a few days of blissful paradise, and I hope mentioning certain things will not annoy you with name dropping but simply enlighten you into just how much I enjoyed the times…

• As previous mentioned, getting the opportunity to get up close and talk (even briefly) with such names as Damon Hill, Jenson Button and a big highlight for me asides from the world of motor racing, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. Very surreal to see these guys. Easily the most memorable moment was watching John Button pass by Lou, Chris and myself until Chris stopped Mr Button, tapped him and asked “Do you mind having a photo with your friend?”. No complaints, John was more than happy to comply, wrapped his arm around Lou’s squeals of excitement and we got a wonderful photo of the two with John smiling throughout. Needless to say, it took Lou ages to recover after what had just happened… but what a moment!! Another memorable moment for me was seeing Adrian Newey drawing a quick F1 car for charity with the McLaren crew, and as he did it with the guys walking off thanking him, they turned and jokingly exclaimed “This’ll be our 2010 car!” to much laughter from Newey and the crowd of fans watching on. Brilliance!
• Hearing those engines in person for the first time. That menacingly beautiful scream of a modern Formula 1 engine racing by, or standing right next to it as it warms up before setting off to the track was beyond description. It absolutely blew me away, and left me speechless as there are no words to justify and compare the loudness of those wonderful pieces of machinery. I mean, I see them every fortnight or so on TV and we all know what an F1 car sounds like no doubt, but until you hear one yourself, it seems you can’t appreciate just how magnificent they do sound. Plus it really is true; blink and you miss them. 
• The festival of speed does create the most fantastic atmosphere, and I adored being part of it all. You’re there with thousands upon thousands of fanatics, enjoying the company of these historical cars, these wonderful people, all showing their appreciation, hard work and skill from the many years they will have taken part in their sport. Sunday for me in particular was a truly wonderful day – getting the chance to meet up and explore with some amazing people and having a hilarious times whilst watching on with the events going on around us, not to mention seeing the names that have made up motor racing and continue to do so in the most beautiful weather is all just a blissful combination. The whole weekend felt like a dream come true to be honest, and after this weekend, I really cannot wait to attend again in 2010!
• The photo opportunities were fabulous. Over the weekend I myself managed to get several hundred photos from allsorts of areas, whether it have been in the Cartier et Luxe or simply trying to keep up with cars on track, it has provided myself with lots of visual memories to gain much delight from remembering. The photos accompanying this entry are the photos I managed to take myself, and you can find the full set over at my Flickr account. It’s definitely worth having a look even if you think my photography is awful, just to see how many wonderful different things were were on offer to keep up with!  It is pretty special how many photographic opportunities are available should you be willing to give the time to study everything that makes the cars such a beauty to look at.  
• Just to name drop a little, the full list of people I managed to say hello, stand next to (don’t think wierd of me!) or talk to this weekend were… Timo Glock, Pedro De la Rosa, Jay Leno, Jackie Stewart, Mike Skinner, Randy Wallace, David Brabham, Allan McNish, Alex Wurz, Jenson Button/Team Jenson (Jules, John, etc), Tony Jardine, Adam Carroll, Nick Mason, Mark Webber, Damon Hill, Kazuki Nakajima, Sam Bird, Christian Horner, Mario Theissen, Adrian Newey, Eddie Irvine, Steve Ryder, Bruno Senna, Jochen Mass, Jesse James, Derek Bell, Patrick Head, Jodie Kidd, and one or two others I’ve probably shamefully forgotten. Not too bad though for a first time, I think!

So that for me was everything Goodwood. It really was a special few days and I appreciate everyone who encouraged me to go because beforehand, there was much apprehension for various areas concerning accomadation, travel, money and whatnot. From my point of view, I cannot stress enough how much it is worth visiting for if you have the opportunity. Everything about it everything motor racing should be and it’s just the pure brilliance about it that has made me fall for Goodwood completely. It was simply incredible though. Hopefully you guys will have gained a better insight into my first experiences of this wonderful event, and if you’ve never visited before, hopefully this will encourage you to do one thing… GO IN 2010! Think I’ll end this with a few photographic memories…