EVENTS
Goodwood marked ten years of its revived Members’ Meeting this year. John Lakey reveals why it’s got bigger and better every year – but without losing its core appeal
It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since the first Goodwood Members’ Meeting of the new era in spring 2014 but the event has developed over that time without losing the intimacy that has been its hallmark since the start.
It offers the chance to see more classic racing cars battling on the high-speed flowing Goodwood circuit as well as demonstrations by notable cars, bikes and drivers. This year there was a distinctive V8 rumble to the whole weekend with a race to celebrate the anniversary of the Mustang and a breathtaking gathering of Can-Am cars.
The allure of competing at Goodwood is so strong that amateur racer Richard Taffinder bought, prepared and shared his Ford Mustang with well-known historic racer Alex Buncombe, purely so that he had the chance to race at Goodwood.
He said: ‘To race at Goodwood is a bucket list opportunity and because the car had been here before we knew it was acceptable so we bought the car purely to achieve that ambition. Just to share the grid with some of these guys is fabulous.’
Entrepreneur and TV personality, Theo Paphitis, who is also the governor of the Hailwood Trophy, took part in the Gordon Spice Trophy in a Ford Escort RS2000 MkII. He’s raced at Goodwood before and told
CCW: ‘I’m a bit nervous because I’ve only done three slow laps in the car before coming here but I wouldn’t be anywhere else today. Goodwood is the best place in the world, the people are fantastic, the track is fantastic and I love coming here to race.’
