Pictures from the 2023 Goodwood revival. We came, we saw, it rained and we conquered anyway

As always, the highlight of the Goodwood Revival is the people we meet. From a(nother) chance encounter with Noel Edmonds, rocking with the Rocker Division, ‘Life on Mars’ and Kingsley, Jenson Button signing a bashed Alfa, Jochen Mass, Tom Chilton, Damon Hill, Alex Goy, and friends new and old, even the freak rain didn’t dampen the mood as the pictures show.

Let’s start with Lotus who really stole the show. A paddock full of Championship-winning cars included the heat-damaged Pratt&Whitney powered ’71 car of Emerson Fittipaldi with covers off showing the creative madness of the gas turbine power – an up-close look at what made Lotus great in motorsport. In the Earl’s Court building was a smart line-up of Lotus road cars, from a pretty Elan, to an Emira, Jenson Button’s Evija in Brawn colours, and an Eletre. Lotus look like a proper, grown-up car manufacturer with a future as interesting as their past. I am having an Emira. Just saying. Thanks to Reggie of RS Productions (the guy who filmed me for Carfection on the Alpina stuff, a while back), the best of the following shots are his!

In the other half of the Earls Court building, Sky put on a stage show where you could join in as an extra and they film the action from a 1950s/60s movie scene. Nice idea, but it’s a bit noisy and confusing with folks shouting instructions against a pretty cool backdrop. Sky also had one of my favourite bits of the Revival – a line up of cool classics where you can sit at a drive in and watch a classic film. I enjoyed the best action of The Italian Job while sat in the front seat of a Ford Galaxie. Thank you, Sky.

The track action is best followed on Goodwood’s YouTube channel. As always, the St Mary’s Trophy was a favourite. The track action is incredible. There’s chatter on Twitter about Karun Chandhok’s “£75 million Ferrari 250 GTO” that I can’t keep up with but there’s what looks like an expensive Italian classic on fire to me, replica or not, it was quite a spectacle. Surely, someday the racing will be banned here as it’s wheel to wheel and fast paced in some priceless cars. I’m sure they have the HSE boxed ticked but the risks of such racing should not be underestimated. I bloody love it, regardless, and so do the crowd who cheered on Jenson Button who looked pretty chuffed with a 4^th place and cheerfully sign an Alfa he bashed on track. Great fun. So many pics they may not follow the words here, but have some more…

In the paddock sat Revs Limiter (find him on social media), sketching F1 cars and cheerfully chatting about life and the Lord, Mark Blundell, and a chap who claimed to have handled the insurance claim from when Mr Blobby accidentally damaged the paintwork of a classic car at Brooklands when the foot of his foam suit picked up some gravel. I am still laughing at the absurdity of that now. Check the panorama from the roof of the pits; South Downs on the left, the racecourse on the hill, the sea over to the right occasionally dumping rain clouds this way, what a perfect spot for action!

We also caught a beer with fellow 24 hours of Lemons competitors Mills and Fittes, who will join me and team sLotus [sic] in New Hampshire where we’re racing a Lotus-liveried MX-5 this October. Wish us luck. You can help us to bribe a judge here, Lemons is stupid and brilliant. More pics of friends and us and more cars;

We sat on our hands in the Bonhams auction, as temping as the gold Maserati was. A personal highlight (I was celebrating my birthday, co-incidentally), was a chat and a sit in the Spitfire in the hanger of the airfield. As always, the crowd were good natured (barring reports of some fisticuffs in the paddock on Sunday, no idea what happened there) and we met friends old and new. Perhaps due to the heat, fewer people seemed to bother with their outfits this year which was a bit disappointing. ‘scuse the lack of top button on my shirt, it was a hot day. My uniform stayed in the car, too hot for that. A quick mention of the food – we paid £25 for the small platter pictured somewhere above from the German BMW pavilion on the infield. It was nice, actually, and the oompah band were good, but that’s £2 of ingredients plus perhaps a tenner for the location, so a £12 meal at such an event, not £25. Will take a picnic next year. See you there?

PS – Lots of my photography (from other features, but quite a bit covering Goodwood) has been copied and used without my permission lately. It’s not that good, so please don’t, or else. Massive thanks to Reggie of RS productions for the better shots here. Things appearing in print soon…