There are events that promise much and deliver adequately, and then there are weekends like this, the 83rd Members' Meeting which solidifies a springtime weekend at the iconic Goodwood Motor Circuit. Serving as something of a combination between the rekindled glory days celebrated at Revival, and a chance for more modern racers to stretch their legs before the Festival of Speed in July. The thematic spine of the weekend was 1976, a year in which saw both James Hunt and Barry Sheene simultaneously win World Championships on four and two wheels. Fifty years on, Goodwood's tribute was as generous in spirit as it was lavish in machinery, with, poetically, both sons Freddie Hunt and Freddie Sheene were in attendance. Across the weekend, icons like the McLaren M23, the very machine in which Hunt clinched his title at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix could be seen in parade surrounded by the Ferraris, Brabhams and Tyrrells that had made up those fractious, glorious grids. Even off the circuit, Hunt's legacy was celebrated, with the legendary Marbella nightclub being recreated in the Brooklands Lawn Shed, keeping the paddock dancing long into the April night.
Button and the Brawn
If the Hunt and Sheene tributes belonged to history, Jenson Button's reunion with his BGP001 felt like something for future generations to get just as excited over. Button sprinted from the Jaguar E-type he had been practising for the Phil Hill Cup, dropped into the cockpit of his 2009 World Championship-winning Brawn GP car, and proceeded to remind everyone within earshot of what a naturally aspirated Formula 1 V8 sounds like when it means business. He hadn't been behind the wheel in seven years, and this was his first time driving it at Goodwood.
Non-stop racing drama
The Win Percy Trophy opened the competitive programme with twenty minutes of Group 1 touring car racing that had everything. Romain Dumas in a Ford Escort RS2000 and Tom Kristensen's Volkswagen Golf GTI traded paint and positions throughout, Kristensen looked to have it all sewn up, before his Golf spluttered in the closing seconds. A collision at the chicane removed Dumas and Keen from contention, and Guy Smith inherited a memorable victory. Rob Huff followed in second, with Alex Buncombe's Mini rounding out the podium.
If Saturday had pace, Super Sunday had savagery. The afternoon was anchored by a quartet of races of escalating intensity, beginning with the Bruce McLaren Trophy, the fastest race of the weekend. Pre-1967 Can-Am and Group 7 machinery reminded spectators why Goodwood has never needed to artificially manufacture drama. The Phil Hill Cup proved an immediate classic, it brought together a grid of pre-1967 sports and GT cars that was, in purely visual terms, almost too beautiful to race. Jensen Button in his own 'CUT 8' Jaguar E-type reached a commanding victory and a safety car period bunched up the pack and provided even more excitement.
The Super Touring Shootout
For sheer nostalgia delivered at competition pace, the Super Touring Shoot-Out was the weekend's emotional peak. Goodwood assembled what it billed as the largest collection of Super Tourers ever gathered, close to fifty cars from the BTCC's golden era filling the paddock with Vauxhall Vectras, BMW 320is, Honda Accords, Ford Mondeos and the iconic Volvo 850 Estate. Seven of those cars took part in a head-to-head Shoot-Out, driven by touring car legends including John Cleland, Matt Neal and Steve Soper. The format was simple; one shot, winner takes all.
The 83rd Members' Meeting set a standard that the 84th will find genuinely difficult to surpass. Securing the fact that Goodwood know that the past is not a fixed point, but a living thing, and at this year's Members' Meeting, it breathed harder than ever.
Photos by Joe Windsor-Williams
