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Well Goodwood Festival of Speed this year was both good, and not so good.  For starters, it didn’t really rain, which was lovely.  It was seriously windy at times though.  I also managed to spend absolutely nothing, beyond the tickets in the first place.  Of this, I am rather pleased with myself.

The catering has greatly improved as well.  Gone are the over priced, poor quality food stands that you find at cheap motorsports events.  These were replaced with more up-market, quality, over-priced food stands.  Some of which appear to have a home at Donnington, so it was easy to see why F1 is going there.

I was incredibly miffed to find the Grand Stand that we normally go an sit in was not there this year.  Replaced with a bloody sponsors enclosure.  How pissed were we?  There was no Grandstands for those who have payed, on the first corner.  The best corner by far.  It’s wide and people spin out and do donuts.  I payed over £100 for the tickets and there are fewer Grandstands.  Why?

Another thing that let it down, unuasually they picked the same weekend to hold the event as the MotoGP, WTCC and BTCC amongst other things.  On top of that, the F1 teams sent the stand-ins for their test drivers for most of the days.  Seriously, if you pay over £100 for a ticket, you want to see some decent people go up the Hill Climb, not Vicky Broad-Bean Harvester.  I think they had Damon Hill, Tiff Needell and Vicky Broad-Bean Harvester, so basically 5th Gear turned up.  To add insult to injury, hardly any of the cars in each class went up the Hill.

The only people to turn up, with a serious contingent, were the WRC boys.  They put on the best show of everyone.  We even saw Malcolm Wilson in the Paddock giving an interview.  As we’d ensconsed ourselves on the last Grandstand of the climb, just before the flint wall, we got to see Marko Martin step out on the grass and go sideways round the bend.  That was pretty good.  They put on a really good show for the crowds, something the other participants should take note of.

Anyway, we aren’t sure if we’ll go next year.  There’s too much to see and do, but it’s pretty much the same as we’ve seen in years previous.  However, if you want to go to the Festival of Speed, and have never been before, here is a surviors guide:

1. Wear good shoes, you’ll be walking around all day, in less you have Grandstand seats or are a VIP
2. Wear decent clothes & take sun block.  Goodwood is prone to wind and rain.  You’ll either get wet, blown to bits or sunburnt… go prepared.
3. Don’t bother with a picnic, in less you fancy a long walk back to your car or you don’t mind carrying it around all day.
4. The groups of cars that go up the hill will do so twice a day.  So either camp out by the circuit to watch them first thing, then go and wander around the paddocks, or vice versa.
5. The F1 paddock will be heaving.  There isn’t a good time to go, in less you get there as soon as the event opens.
6. If you go on a Friday, not only is it cheaper to get in, there are fewer crowds and if you buy a Grandstand ticket, it will get you into any of the Grandstands along the climb.
7. Get there early.  I cannot stress this enough, leave as early as you can manage.  We’ve left at 8 before and sat in traffic for over an hour.
8. If you want autographs, have a pen and (if you dare buy it) a programme to hand all the time.  You might be lucky and bump into a driver as they’re walking around.  You will get close to the drivers (in less that driver is a certain Lewis Hamilton).
9. Grab one of the Goodwood umbrella’s if you can afford one (they’re not cheap any more), they’ve got a black and white print of historic Goodwood racing circuit on it.
10. Remember to drink lots of water.  You can easily dehydrate yourself wandering around.

UPDATE: R’s Photos are now online of Friday’s Festival of Speed… go check ‘em out: Delicious Caek’s Photostream