For safety reasons F1 cars can no longer do official timed runs so instead perform stunning demonstrations!
Spectate from the chicane at the Revival to see plenty of classic cars going sideways as they exit this infamous point of our Motor Circuit.
The red & yellow of the Racecourse can be traced back hundreds of years, even captured in our stunning Stubbs paintings in the Goodwood Collection
Whoa Simon! A horse so determined and headstrong, he not only won the 1883 Goodwood Cup by 20 lengths, but couldn't be stopped and carried on running over the top of Trundle hill
The oldest existing rules for the game were drawn up for a match between the 2nd Duke and a neighbour
"En la rose je fleurie" or "Like the rose, I flourish" is part of the Richmond coat of Arms and motto
G. Stubbs (1724–1806) created some of the animal portraiture masterpieces at Goodwood House, combining anatomical exactitude with expressive details
As the private clubhouse for all of the Estate’s sporting and social members, it offers personal service and a relaxed atmosphere
Ray Hanna famously flew straight down Goodwood’s pit straight below the height of the grandstands at the first Revival in 1998
The dining room is host to an original painting from the Goodwood collection of the 6th Duke as a child.
For the last two years, 5,800 bales have been recylced into the biomass energy centre to be used for energy generation
Spectate from the chicane at the Revival to see plenty of classic cars going sideways as they exit this infamous point of our Motor Circuit.
For safety reasons F1 cars can no longer do official timed runs so instead perform stunning demonstrations!
The bricks lining the Festival of Speed startline are 100 years old and a gift from the Indianapolis Speedway "Brickyard" in 2011 to mark their centenary event!
Festival of Speed is our longest-standing Motorsport event, starting in 1993 when it opened to 25,00 people. We were expecting 2000!
The first ever horsebox was used from Goodwood to Doncaster for the 1836 St. Leger. Elis arrived fresh and easily won his owner a £12k bet.
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
The first public race meeting took place in 1802 and, through the nineteenth century, ‘Glorious Goodwood,’ as the press named it, became a highlight of the summer season
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
The first ever horsebox was used from Goodwood to Doncaster for the 1836 St. Leger. Elis arrived fresh and easily won his owner a £12k bet.
The red & yellow of the Racecourse can be traced back hundreds of years, even captured in our stunning Stubbs paintings in the Goodwood Collection
Festival of Speed is our longest-standing Motorsport event, starting in 1993 when it opened to 25,00 people. We were expecting 2000!
Ray Hanna famously flew straight down Goodwood’s pit straight below the height of the grandstands at the first Revival in 1998
One of the greatest golfers of all time, James Braid designed Goodwood’s iconic Downland course, opened in 1914.
"En la rose je fleurie" or "Like the rose, I flourish" is part of the Richmond coat of Arms and motto
A temple-folly guarded by two sphinxes, the beautiful shell house was built in 1748 with collected shells and the floor made from horse teeth.
The iconic spitfire covered almost 43,000 kilometres and visited over 20 countries on its epic journey and currently resides at our Aerodrome.
One of the greatest golfers of all time, James Braid designed Goodwood’s iconic Downland course, opened in 1914.
The first ever round of golf played at Goodwood was in 1914 when the 6th Duke of Richmond opened the course on the Downs above Goodwood House.
The first ever round of golf played at Goodwood was in 1914 when the 6th Duke of Richmond opened the course on the Downs above Goodwood House.
The famous fighter ace, who flew his last sortie from Goodwood Aerodrome, formerly RAF Westhampnett has a statue in his honor within the airfield.
The famous fighter ace, who flew his last sortie from Goodwood Aerodrome, formerly RAF Westhampnett has a statue in his honor within the airfield.
The Motor Circuit was known as RAF Westhampnett, active from 1940 to 1946 as a Battle of Britain station.
Head Butler David Edney has worked at Buckingham Palace taking part in Dinner Parties for the then Duke of Richmond and the Queen.
As the private clubhouse for all of the Estate’s sporting and social members, it offers personal service and a relaxed atmosphere
Ensure you take a little time out together to pause and take in the celebration of all the hard work you put in will be a treasured memory.
The first ever round of golf played at Goodwood was in 1914 when the 6th Duke of Richmond opened the course on the Downs above Goodwood House.
The first thing ever dropped at Goodwood was a cuddly elephant which landed in 1932 just as the 9th Duke of Richmonds passion for flying was taking off.
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
The first thing ever dropped at Goodwood was a cuddly elephant which landed in 1932 just as the 9th Duke of Richmonds passion for flying was taking off.
A 20m woodland rue, from Halnaker to Lavant, was planted by our forestry teams & volunteers, featuring native species like oak, beech, & hornbeam
Goodwood’s pigs are a mix of two rare breeds (Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks) plus the Large White Boar.
The first thing ever dropped at Goodwood was a cuddly elephant which landed in 1932 just as the 9th Duke of Richmonds passion for flying was taking off.
For the last two years, 5,800 bales have been recylced into the biomass energy centre to be used for energy generation
Just beyond Goodwood House along the Hillclimb, the 2nd Dukes banqueting house was also known as "one of the finest rooms in England" (George Vertue 1747).
Easy boy! The charismatic Farnham Flyer loved to celebrate every win with a pint of beer. His Boxer dog, Grogger, did too and had a tendancy to steal sips straight from the glass.
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
Described by Stirling Moss as “the worst car I ever drove”, the BRM V16 was supposed to show the world what British automotive design and engineering were capable of. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan...
Words by Andrew Frankel
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Motor Circuit
Motorsport
If a Martian fell to earth and asked the meaning of the phrase “better in theory than in practice”, you might never find a more appropriate illustration than the BRM V16. Conceived in the belief that Britain’s best minds could achieve anything, it was a car of not one or two but literally hundreds of parents, co-operating to produce what was intended to be the world’s fastest racing car. And it was doomed from the outset.
It was the idea of Raymond Mays, who had enjoyed considerable success building and racing ERAs (English Racing Automobiles) before the war. He imagined a project where suppliers would come together in the national interest to build a unique racing car for a charitable trust known as British Racing Motors. There were over 300 of them.
At its heart lay a 1.5-litre engine with no fewer than sixteen cylinders, boosted by a Rolls-Royce supercharger. Outlandishly powerful, ear-rentingly loud, to listen to one is to hear a sound you’ll never forget. In fact, you can even listen to its distinctive roar on vinyl, or via YouTube. But it came with two fundamental flaws. The first was that it was being asked to do things no racing engine had achieved before, like producing nearly 600bhp at no fewer than 12,000rpm. As a result, it was woefully unreliable.
Better in theory than in practice
Secondly, instead of power initially rising then ebbing away as the revs increased, the engine would produce more and more power until it exploded. So the moment the car got any wheelspin, the revs would soar, supplying even more power to the wheels, which would spin even more. For the driver, the only option was to lift off the accelerator – after which there was no power at all. Nor were these its only problems. The car’s driving position was terrible, its steering poor and its handling wayward. No wonder Stirling Moss described it as, “without doubt the worst car I ever drove”.
Conceived in 1945, its development took so long it wouldn’t make its public debut until the summer of 1950 at Silverstone, where it broke down before covering a yard. Scornful spectators threw pennies into the driver’s seat as it was pushed away. A month later, it appeared to redeem itself by winning twice at Goodwood, but that was against inadequate, largely prewar, machinery, not the state-of-the-art racers it was designed to beat.
Without doubt the worst car I ever drove
Sir Stirling Moss
The only time the car ran reliably in a World Championship was at the 1951 British Grand Prix when two cars came fifth and seventh, which sounds respectable until you learn that the quicker car was lapped five times by the winning Ferrari.
Then the rules of Formula 1 changed, consigning the BRMs to eke out the remainder of their existence competing in more minor races, which they did until 1955, when the obsolescence of a design that had been started fully 10 years earlier forced them into retirement.
Today, seeing a BRM V16 run is the rarest of treats and, being kind, perhaps we can see now that its biggest problem was being too far ahead of its time. But it also stands as stark proof that without the ability to turn such theory into practice, even the best ideas will never deliver on their promise.
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