On this day at Goodwood, 75 years ago

The 9^th Duke of Richmond and Gordon – better known as Freddie March, the name under which he had raced – had lent a portion of his estate to the war effort so that it could be transformed into an RAF base. It was Squadron Leader Tony Gaze, an Australian pilot and racing driver who had been based at RAF Westhampnett during the war, who suggested to Freddie that he already had a ready-made circuit on his own estate, having raced around the perimeter road with his fellow pilots in their downtime between sorties.

And so it was, on Saturday 18^th September, 1948, that Goodwood staged the first professionally organised motor racing meeting on the British mainland since the end of WW2.

Given the hastily thrown-together nature of that first meeting the venue looked a little more rudimentary than the one we know today. Rather than large perimeter earth mounds designed to insulate the noise of the cars from local residents, there were only chain-link fences to keep the public out. The circuit itself, which was in totality the unmodified perimeter road built originally in the winter of 1940, was lined with a mix of concrete blocks, straw bales, makeshift wooden barriers and, in some areas, nothing other than the onlooking spectators. There were no paddock shelters, only temporary marquees, and limited facilities for drivers and spectators alike.

At the time, fuel rationing was still in force in Britain – one of the many enduring privations of war – so expectations of attendance from both public and competitors were quietly reserved. Such pessimism proved unfounded once the day arrived, and the Goodwood grounds were soon filled with 85 entrants and up to 20,000 spectators, many of whom had travelled from all across the country, and had likely never seen live motor racing before.

The day began with the Duke and Duchess opening the meeting with a lap of the Motor Circuit in a Bristol 400, a tradition that lives on to this day. Indeed, we saw the 11^th Duke open the Goodwood Revival in a similar Bristol 400 75 years later.

A Formula 1 race topped the billing for the very first event at Goodwood, while there were also events for open and closed cockpit sportscars, 500cc single seaters and an uncapped race for larger-engined racers from Alfa Romeo, Delage, Bugatti and more. The events of the day were covered by radio broadcasts on the BBC, while a certain Murray Walker was reported to be in attendance, albeit in the capacity of wide-eyed enthusiast, rather than commentator.

Motor racing meetings prior to the war would often incorporate a handicap system to try and manage any performance imbalance. These weren’t enforced for the first meeting at Goodwood and races were run as ‘scratch’ events, limited to just three laps in the case of all but the Formula 1 race, which was five laps. Those shorter distances were also purposeful, another decision made according to a shortage of available fuel, while it was also considered prudent not to ask too much of these cars, many of which had been in storage for the best part of a decade.

In all, there were eight races scheduled to take place on what was reported to be a warm and pleasant September afternoon.

The first ever race on the Goodwood Motor Circuit began at 14:00. It was for closed cockpit sportscars with an engine capacity up to 3,000cc. The entry list was eight drivers strong, although three non-starters meant only five lined up on the grid.

Starting positions were decided by ballot, and it was Nick Haines in his Healey Elliott Saloon who started on pole position. After six and a half minutes of racing it was Paul Pycroft in his uniquely bodied Pycroft Jaguar SS100, who had started last on the grid, that took the chequered flag with a fastest lap of 2:06.5, at an average speed of 66.42mph. He saw off the challenge of Ken Downing in a Healey Elliott Saloon to win by a margin of 6.4 seconds.

Other winners on this opening day at Goodwood included Harry Lester’s MG L Type Magna in the race for 1,100cc open-cockpit sportscars, and George Phillips in an MG TC by a gap of just 0.4 seconds.

At 15:45, the grid was set for the 500cc race, and a field that included Stirling Moss and Peter Collins. Although Collins did not make the start, Moss, in his second season in motorsport, and the day after his 19^th birthday, took a storming victory by a huge margin in his JAP-engined Cooper Mark II. The story goes that he was so far ahead of the competition after two laps that his father signalled to him to slow down. Even after a relaxed final tour, he won the race by nearly 26 seconds at an average speed of 71.9mph. It would be the beginning of a long and illustrious relationship between Moss and Goodwood.

Dudley Folland won in his MG K3 Magnette in the event for 2,000cc or supercharged 1,100cc racing cars. Dennis Poore claimed victory at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 8C/35 in the race for supercharged racing cars with an engine size greater than 1,450cc.

At 17:05 it was time for the main event, as the Formula 1 cars were prepared for the final race of the day, for the prize of the Goodwood Trophy. Nine cars took the start, a list made up of Maseratis and ERAs, all powered by supercharged 1.5-litre engines. It was Reg Parnell in his Maserati 4CLT/48 that took the early lead, but the superior speed of Bob Gerard in the ERA B-Type offered some stout competition over the five-lap race. Gerard set the fastest lap of the day, a 1:43.6 at an average speed of 83.39mph – a new Goodwood record – but it was Parnell who prevailed to win the Motor Circuit’s first ever Formula 1 race by just 0.4 seconds.

By all accounts, the first meeting at the Goodwood Motor Circuit was a resounding success. A report from Motor Sport magazine summarised that this historic day was “the best thing that has happened to British motor racing since the war”. In total, it’s estimated that profits from that weekend were in the region of £1,000. Modest by today’s standards, but the foundation was set, and before long a further three race meetings were scheduled for 1949.

It’s impossible to overstate how glad we are that the 9^th Duke of Richmond and Gordon decided to run this experiment. The legacy he created is among the most valuable in post-war motorsport. Without his enthusiasm to put on a spectacle, we simply wouldn’t have the Goodwood that we know, and love, 75 years on.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.