This 2023 will be a year of celebrations and anniversaries in all events associated with Goodwood.
Called Goodwood 75, the great British car event will celebrate 75 years since the Goodwood Motor Circuit opened in 1948, 30 years since the first Festival of Speed was held in 1993, 25 years since the first Goodwood Revival was held in 1998 and 25 years since the foundation of the Goodwood Road Racing Club that same year.
As well as paying tribute to Goodwood’s motorsport history and heritage, the Goodwood 75 festivities will embrace the future of motorsport, something Goodwood has continually championed over the years.
The main celebration will be that of the Motor Circuit, which reaches its 75th anniversary. It was squadron leader Tony Gaze, an Australian fighter pilot based in England during World War II, who suggested to the 9th Duke of Richmond that the airfield’s perimeter track would make an excellent racing circuit. Officially opened on 18 September 1948, the first date was attended by 15,000 spectators, who gathered to watch all 85 drivers, including Stirling Moss, who won his first race that day.
Moss triumphs at Goodwood debut.
Between 1948 and 1966 (the years celebrated by the Goodwood Revival), the Circuit hosted world champions Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina, Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Denny Hulme, Jochen Rindt, Jackie Stewart and John Surtees along with a host of other stars, Goodwood established itself as the spiritual home of British motoring. After racing ceased in 1966, some of the biggest and best known teams, including Brabham, Eagle, Honda, McLaren, Toleman and Tyrrell, continued to test their cars there.
In the early 1990s, the Earl of March (now the 11th Duke of Richmond) began to consider reopening the circuit. Organizing an event on private roads at Goodwood Park proved a bit easier and in 1993 the first Festival of Speed was held. The two-day event welcomed some 25,000 spectators, who watched nearly 100 cars and motorcycles in action on the Hill.
In 1998, the dream of reopening the Motor Circuit came true, and 50 years after his grandparents opened the track on September 18, 1948 in their Bristol 400, the Earl of March launched the Revival in an identical car. That year of 1998 also saw the launch of the Goodwood Road Racing Club, a club that today has over 25,000 members.
