75 replies to this topic

[Macca]

I am surprised that there has been no thread yet.

This year the action on the hill has started earlier, rather than just manufacturers’ demo runs

Unfortunately today Jaguar BUY1 lost a wheel which bounced into the spectator area in front of the house; it was said there were no serious injuries, which I hope is true.

Also a Hyundai road car appeared to forget there is a corner at Molecombe and went a long way into the bales.

Tomorrow’s and Saturday’s weather hereabouts is looking poor, if anyone is going.

Paul M

Edited by Macca, 13 July 2023 - 21:09.

[Doug Nye]

I am due to be there from tomorrow.  If anyone has the time do come by the 1950 Cadillac 'Le Monstre' in the paddock, meant to be my conveyance for the weekend, and say hello.  The late great Robby Coltrane was a fan of the car but he did tell me one year "You look as if you're driving a rubbish skip!".

 

I could only protest: "Have a care sir.  You're talking of a woman I love...".  

 

DCN

[AllanL]

Must be brain fade on my part, but I had thought there was a post - mainly about the Hyundai that had a serious loss of skill approaching Molecombe about lunchtime and managed to get into the third set of straw bales before stopping. Suggestions were that there were two individuals aboard, basically unhurt beyond dented pride, which implies that it was part of the Supercar runs.

 

The programme went funbags vertical as the day progressed and a senior martial that I happened to get into conversation with was suggesting that chunks of some batches would need to be ditched to get back on programme. 

 

I was in one of the paddocks when the Jag incident occurred but was crossing in front of the house as someone from the public area was being helped into an ambulance. The commentators eventually confirmed that no serious injuries were reported from the incident.

 

I hope the weather holds off long enough that I can get some pics of the McLaren can-am cars, which are here in some force, out on the hill. 

[ensign14]

I am surprised that there has been no thread yet.

Possibly queuing to get in. Traffic arrangements this year are asinine. Having swung myself down to attack from the south, I found I was diverted by ROAD CLOSED signs back to the north, and then, after a 2 hour (sic) delay caused seemingly by a broken traffic light operated by someone who couldn't even get past the first round of auditions to replace Adge Cutler, I finally turned off the Kennels to get parked - with literally NO traffic coming the other way.

 

So, some genius decided to get all the traffic coming in to come in on one road, and then ****ed up the access to that road.

 

Coming out was scarcely better for the same reason - an hour from Car Park A to the racecourse because it seemed every car park was decanting into the Kennels, and the 2 lanes were constantly being reduced to 1.  And I couldn't divert out via Lavant because someone who evidently mourns every day that the Allies won World War 2 had closed the road with a big lorry.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Possibly queuing to get in. Traffic arrangements this year are asinine. Having swung myself down to attack from the south, I found I was diverted by ROAD CLOSED signs back to the north, and then, after a 2 hour (sic) delay caused seemingly by a broken traffic light operated by someone who couldn't even get past the first round of auditions to replace Adge Cutler, I finally turned off the Kennels to get parked - with literally NO traffic coming the other way.

 

So, some genius decided to get all the traffic coming in to come in on one road, and then ****ed up the access to that road.

 

Coming out was scarcely better for the same reason - an hour from Car Park A to the racecourse because it seemed every car park was decanting into the Kennels, and the 2 lanes were constantly being reduced to 1.  And I couldn't divert out via Lavant because someone who evidently mourns every day that the Allies won World War 2 had closed the road with a big lorry.

That’s reminiscent of the traffic situation on the Thursday (or was it Friday) afternoon before MM weekend this year.  Of course, that would have been on a much smaller scale than what you experienced. 

[sabrejet]

Abysmal driving standards on Thursday this week (with no apparent sanction); crowd egging-on drivers to clip bales; crowding everywhere and ditto today. And the prevalence of the arrogant entitled mob from Revival. FoS has become a Barry Boys picnic and I think I'm done with it.

 

And did I really see someone driving a Lotus 78 up the hill - in the wet - while holding a mobile phone to film it? (again without sanction I imagine)

[Andrew Stevens]

The traffic delay to get in on Thursday was truly epic. Took us 3 3/4 hours from West London leaving at 7am. Poor/confusing signage and apparently little control. Heard that by late morning it was banked up back to Petworth. Hopefully better for today/the weekend...

 

It's such a shame when the event that is so well organised in so many ways falls down badly in some areas. It makes the organisational failures look so bad when most of the event is done so well. 

 

Person driving the Hyundai is hopefully not encouraged to drive there again. Perhaps there needs to be a less casual system and people driving the Hill need to be reminded of a few salient points before they set off. Perhaps change them for the haybales as well...

[ron54]

Did anyone notice the 512 BBLM Ferrari accidentally and unavoidably running into the back of the slower running old timer at the top of the hill?.
I hope no-one was injured or indeed the cars involved were not too badly damaged.
Somebody at the start line needs to give some more thought about release times between vehicles of differing ages..

[Derwent Motorsport]

Presumably anyone driving up the hill will have a suitable competition licence?

[AllanL]

We ran late today and probably arrived at about the same time. Leaving was as slow as last night, but I've seen far worse at Leuchers in the days of airshows there.

 

The disparity in speeds between some successive drivers has led to scary looking encounters a the top of the hill for some time, but when cars have obviously different climb rates it might be obvious to widen the gap. Given the weather conditions, and the impact on owners deciding to let their cars out to paddle, there may well have been pressure on the marshals to keep things flowing with whatever they had. I eventually gave up on testing my camera manufacturer's claims of weather-proofing about 5, but did manage to capture Doug Hall floating by in a suitably narrow tyred bolide with vicious power curve for the conditions.

 

 

Note how a rain addled photographer misheard which Doug was driving the BRM. (he shook off unwanted meetings with NFers by claiming he would drive some transatlantic puddle jumper!)  

 

 

FoS now issuing weather warnings to check before travelling tomorrow. Like that will stop the sodden fools from the trackside from today.   - and of course it did.

Edited by AllanL, 24 July 2023 - 14:11.

[AllanL]

Just announced that Saturday at FoS is cancelled due to forecast high winds and the potential risk to temporary structures on the site.

 

Sunday is anticipated to be going ahead.

[Thundersports]

Just announced that Saturday at FoS is cancelled due to forecast high winds and the potential risk to temporary structures on the site.

 

Sunday is anticipated to be going ahead.

Oh dear, how sad, never mind...

[sabrejet]

Oh dear, how sad, never mind...

 

Not a very charitable view.

 

Nevertheless, aside from the risk to human life from structures not designed for 50kt+ gusts (or trees in full leaf), imagine the result of incompetent driving in even worse weather than we've already seen?

 

But I am drawn to a comment made some years ago that British Hill Climb Championship drivers wouldn't be invited to FoS because somehow they'd over-do things. That statement now seems even more pompous and preposterous than it did back then.

[Lee Nicolle]

I am surprised that there has been no thread yet.

This year the action on the hill has started earlier, rather than just manufacturers’ demo runs

Unfortunately today Jaguar BUY1 lost a wheel which bounced into the spectator area in front of the house; it was said there were no serious injuries, which I hope is true.

Also a Hyundai road car appeared to forget there is a corner at Molecombe and went a long way into the bales.

Tomorrow’s and Saturday’s weather hereabouts is looking poor, if anyone is going.

Paul M

Buy1 has centrelock flywheels. Either the nut was not tight or the poor old stub axle broke. Those wire flywheels are very heavy.

I saw the Hyundia on Thursday, it simply forgot to turn and then it took forever to get the event going again. Component failure??  I switched off after half an hour of fluff stories. Turned on yesterday and the same was happening and the discussion was something about a Jag. Turned off again.

What I have seen is Duncan Pittaway  with passenger having half a go in pouring rain with no helmets or driving suits. Fall off of that thing and it is a long way. And it is not slow.

[Lee Nicolle]

Presumably anyone driving up the hill will have a suitable competition licence?

I doubt the people parading modern noddy cars have. One presumes though that people competing in the event do.

[Lee Nicolle]

We ran late today and probably arrived at about the same time. Leaving was as slow as last night, but I've seen far worse at Leuchers in the days of airshows there.

 

The disparity in speeds between some successive drivers has led to scary looking encounters a the top of the hill for some time, but when cars have obviously different climb rates it might be obvious to widen the gap. Given the weather conditions, and the impact on owners deciding to let their cars out to paddle, there may well have been pressure on the marshals to keep things flowing with whatever they had. I eventually gave up on testing my camera manufacturer's claims of weather-proofing about 5, but did manage to capture Doug floating by in a suitably narrow tyred bolide with vicious power curve for the conditions.

 

 

Note how he shook off unwanted meetings with NFers by claiming he would drive some transatlantic puddle jumper!

 

FoS now issuing weather warnings to check before travelling tomorrow. Like that will stop the sodden fools from the trackside from today. 

As anyone who has ever competed knows the cars should be graded on times so cars of similar speed are on the track at once. And are unlikely to catch each other whel let go at 30 sec intervals or similar.

[sabrejet]

As anyone who has ever competed knows the cars should be graded on times so cars of similar speed are on the track at once. And are unlikely to catch each other whel let go at 30 sec intervals or similar.

 

Or put another way, if it was run as a proper Speed event, this wouldn't have happened. Maybe time to eat some humble pie and engage with the hill climb community? Cue more pompous huffing and puffing.

[RCH]

.

 

It's such a shame when the event that is so well organised in so many ways falls down badly in some areas. It makes the organisational failures look so bad when most of the event is done so well. 

 

 

Nothing has changed then...

It is a number of years now since I last had a trade stand, I gave up eventually largely because of the hoops we needed to jump through and the changes to rules year on year. It was as though a new team came in every year and felt the need to reinvent the wheel.

[68targa]

What I have seen is Duncan Pittaway  with passenger having half a go in pouring rain with no helmets or driving suits. Fall off of that thing and it is a long way. And it is not slow.

And he drives it from his home near Bristol to Goodwood

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=eToHTf-QUBA

[d j fox]

OK here’s my two’pennorth….Great that there’s global web coverage but a shame the announcers don’t always seem to know their history - both cars and drivers - or they talk about something that’s not on screen.
Maybe it makes sense when actually attending but from the web coverage the organisation seems to be somewhat lacking; plenty of arm waving marshalls but often not much action.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the Goodwood oval number stickers - what do others think?
On the plus side great to see DCN "et Le Monstre" lead TK across the line!
I’ll get me coat……

[sabrejet]

Commentators also need to be told that you can't get a lap time on a hill climb course.

[john aston]

If only Goodwood provided a free stream for anyone, anywhere to access (for those who either can't afford to go or are unable to attend for other reasons), we wouldn't have to suffer the trauma of  enduring  the commentators' minor errors and idiosyncrasies .

 

It's a mainstream event and while I can think of a couple of men on the  mic who wouldn't spare the fine detail  , less enthusiastic viewers and attendees might risk falling asleep.. 

[AllanL]

By George he's got it, to paraphrase..

 

OK here’s my two’pennorth….Great that there’s global web coverage but a shame the announcers don’t always seem to know their history - both cars and drivers - or they talk about something that’s not on screen.
Maybe it makes sense when actually attending but from the web coverage the organisation seems to be somewhat lacking; plenty of arm waving marshalls but often not much action.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the Goodwood oval number stickers - what do others think?
On the plus side great to see DCN "et Le Monstre" lead TK across the line!
I’ll get me coat……

 

Announcers tend to talk about what is in front of them on the track/hill, regardless of what is on the screens or has already passed half the crowd. At Revivals/MMs they will sometimes not even mention a demo run until it is half over. I don't envy them the task of talking non-stop about a live event, but there is an occasional expert, to be found somewhere round Farnham, who could at least keep them pointing in vaguely the right direction. Other experts are available. The technical detail that "lap times" usually involve returning to the start line at undiminished speed did seem an elusive concept today.

 

Some marshals are fine while others seem to be descended from Fred Carnot.

 

This year the standard of driving, in particular round Molecomb, has led to more incidents than for the last few Festivals combined. This led to significant delays. About 2pm I heard someone say that the event was already running 50 minutes late, and then another hero ploughed through at least two layers of bales at Molecomb.

 

Turning the "Shoot-Out" into a farce by making the fastest car on site run a demo, after the 10 car Shoot-Out, led to the "fastest time" being awarded to a car that was at least 5-6 seconds slower up the hill than the McMurty. 

 

On the bright side, it was another Festival day, the weather behaved, no-one was hurt today (prides were hopefully dented alongside the cars being driven), cars and drivers not seen before or for a while entertained the crowds, and books were bought from Chaters that now need to be read.

 

Perhaps DCN can write a book about TK to salve any hurt feelings.

[Stephen W]

Commentators also need to be told that you can't get a lap time on a hill climb course.

 

 

Announcers tend to talk about what is in front of them on the track/hill, regardless of what is on the screens or has already passed half the crowd. At Revivals/MMs they will sometimes not even mention a demo run until it is half over. I don't envy them the task of talking non-stop about a live event, but there is an occasional expert, to be found somewhere round Farnham, who could at least keep them pointing in vaguely the right direction. Other experts are available. The technical detail that "lap times" usually involve returning to the start line at undiminished speed did seem an elusive concept today.

 

 

The trick to commentating on a "Live Stream" is not to look out of the commentary box window whilst chatting but commentate on what is being broadcast. 

 

Also: 1) batch does not mean class; 2) saying a driver wasn't quiet quick enough in a Top Ten shoot-out isn't good enough especially when on the screen it is displaying their position in the finishing order; 3) the commentary almost descended into the old chesnut "here comes a nice red one" as both commentators struggled to bring to mind which car & driver were on the hill (again they needed to look at the screen!); 4) just because an expert is a racing driver doesn't make them a good commentator - Alice Powell may be a very good driver but she is totally lacking any depth of knowledge when it comes to motor sport history.

[68targa]

I did not attend the FoS this year but have been many times previously and I have always felt that the event should not be taken too seriously.  It is after all just a 'Festival' not  a competition although race drivers being what they are it inevitably turns into one. Sure there are errors in commentary and maybe a little more research would not have gone amiss  Todays audience seems to demand everythjing to be a 'Wow' or 'Amazing' or 'Fantastic'  moment and I doubt if the majority really care about the history of an Alfa P3.  Witness the ridiculous  Subaru of Travis Pastrama and the Drift cars - not for me but entertainment for many.

 

Of more serious concern was watching the wheel come off the Grant Williams Jaguar and go into the crowd - so forutnate that only two people appear to have been hurt and not seriously. A more serious outcome could have been the end of the Festival as we know it.

[dmj]

In every aspect, this year's live broadcast was a disappointment. Yesterday we had endless repetitions of a few ads and highlights from previous editions, with just a fraction of time dedicated to real live action. Inevitably, when any really interesting older car was shown on the starting line, it was the only time we could see it, as director generally almost on all the occasions choose runs of newer machinery to show. Commentary was debatable but I was much more frustrated with director’s choices what to show and what to miss. Compared to last year’s coverage it was way, way worse. Also, mentioned speed differences looked really dangerous at some cases. As much as I like diversity, there must be much more strict rules about the order they are sending cars up the hill.

Unfortunately, I missed the shootout as I was doing a TV commentary on yesterday’s GT3 race in Misano, bringing first 4-wheeled victory to the CV of Valentino Rossi. Then I came back home and watched the last few hours of FoS. I liked the crowd’s cheering for Vettel but it didn’t really look so enthusiastic just a few hours after I watched the celebrations of Italian fans. But then they showed Dottore’s appearance at FoS in, IIRC, 2015 – and it was shocking to see how many people gathered back then and how more enthusiastic they were! Cheering for Vettel looked pale compared to one for Mansell last year (it is UK, I can understand it) but both are just a fraction to what Dottore had just a few years ago. Whatever happened to FoS since, I don’t like it – it really looked to me that most of people in front of Goodwood House were more interested in taking selfies and cheering to camera (encouraged by presenters) than to enjoying the sights of drivers and machinery.

Despite all this, FoS is still the best event of its type in the world but that comparison of crowd’s reaction to Rossi and Vettel really showed the difference in spirit, compared to just the few years ago.

[Derwent Motorsport]

I watched quite a bit of the free stream on Friday and Sunday.  I am sure the organisers had a lot of cope with due to the weather on Saturday  and getting a diverse number and type of cars up the hill.  it was difficult to work out the classes or the running order, even for the commentators.  I like Alice Powell,  has knowledge of competing and put in anecdotes as well. She seemed toh ave a good knowledge of most of the cars and/or a crib sheet.   

Us oldies have to remember that all the Goodwood events are about fun and attract an audience who are not diehard history buffs like the average TNFer 

[Lee Nicolle]

I did not attend the FoS this year but have been many times previously and I have always felt that the event should not be taken too seriously.  It is after all just a 'Festival' not  a competition although race drivers being what they are it inevitably turns into one. Sure there are errors in commentary and maybe a little more research would not have gone amiss  Todays audience seems to demand everythjing to be a 'Wow' or 'Amazing' or 'Fantastic'  moment and I doubt if the majority really care about the history of an Alfa P3.  Witness the ridiculous  Subaru of Travis Pastrama and the Drift cars - not for me but entertainment for many.

 

Of more serious concern was watching the wheel come off the Grant Williams Jaguar and go into the crowd - so forutnate that only two people appear to have been hurt and not seriously. A more serious outcome could have been the end of the Festival as we know it.

I have just seen this clip. I had the impresion it was a front wheel but it was a rear. Either it pulled the whole axle out or broke off at the hub. Not what you need going into the crowd!!

THAT is why I have crack tested axles behind the bearings for 40 years. Though obviously full floating hubs are always preferable,, though expensive

Though I thought Jags were a semi floating axle the same as Austins and Healeys. So either big nut came off or the tube broke.

Does anyone know?

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 17 July 2023 - 08:31.

[Allan Lupton]

 Either it pulled the whole axle out or broke off at the hub. Not what you need going into the crowd!!

THAT is why I have crack tested axles behind the bearings for 40 years. Though obviously full floating hubs are always preferable,, though expensive

Though I thought Jags were a semi floating axle the same as Austins and Healeys. So either big nut came off or the tube broke.

Does anyone know?

What you can see in the videos online looks like the normal wheel-loss consequent on fitting the hubs the wrong way round (left for right), thus making the RW's self-tightning into self-loosening.

The wheel had no half-shaft attached.

Edited by Allan Lupton, 17 July 2023 - 09:50.

[sabrejet]

So what exactly did we see in the "shootout"? Many cars appeared to be missing, or were they just not followed by the cameras? The event seemed to be running on time, so why not let each car complete its run? Bearing in mind that we'd already witnessed the outcome of running too many cars at one time, I'd have thought it would be an imperative. Or is the FoS audience now so short on attention span that it can't be done?

 

There then followed the award of FTD before most of the runs had even been completed. The whole thing then re-commenced, with thankfully no-one going faster than the "winner". Then finally the fastest car by some measure had its timing removed 3/4 way into its run. So we can assume that the hill record was set in 2023 but no-one knows what it was. And if the awesome Speirling needed to be prevented from showing-up the decidedly slow-looking "hypercars", then why run it with the shootout batch? Whichever way you look at it, it was shambolic.

 

And I know we keep saying it's not a proper hill climb, but it's apparent than many of those who attend FoS nowadays would assume it was. What impression did they leave with? That it was a fix? At best confused maybe, and probably not having a clue what they had seen or were meant to be seeing.

 

Finally, stop making excuses for poor commentary. Most of us pay a lot of money to attend FoS, and it's not unfair to expect a decent service in return. 

[Jack-the-Lad]

I think the basic problem with “commentators” is their compulsion to talk endlessly.  They don't know when to shut up. I can’t recall seeing  a single run up the hill that wasn’t accompanied by constant chatter.  As soon as one stopped speaking the other would begin. How many times did they mention “the glorious noise “ that a car made….which couldn't be heard  because they were talking about it. 

[kayemod]

I think the basic problem with “commentators” is their compulsion to talk endlessly.  They don't know when to shut up. I can’t recall seeing  a single run up the hill that wasn’t accompanied by constant chatter.  As soon as one stopped speaking the other would begin. How many times did they mention “the glorious noise “ that a car made….which couldn't be heard  because they were talking about it. 

Clearly graduates of the Murray Walker school of motor racing commentary, keep on wittering non stop to fill any gaps.

[barrykm]

My niggle about the commentaries is that they did not always mention who was driving the cars on the runs? It seemed to me that this info was omitted more often that not?

[john aston]

Commentators are employed to talk. It sort of goes with the territory . The fact that they are criticised for talking too much . for providing the 'wrong'  information but not the 'right ' information  , for being too detailed or not enough just illustrates what a tough job it is .I moaned about them too sometimes , until spending a little time in the commentary box at Oulton , Brands, Mallory  and Thruxton (not in a speaking role !) with  Mark Werrell and Marcus Pye . I have no idea how they do what they do. I couldn't do a coherent  commentary on two wheelbarrows racing round a lawn , let alone a 40 car grid at Brands Indy...

[sabrejet]

Stop making excuses for poor commentary: why should we accept mediocre? We pay good money to be entertained, educated and amused. Lots of things we pay for are difficult - we are right to complain if we don't get what we expect. You'd do it at a restaurant so why is FoS so special?

[marksixman]

Presumably anyone driving up the hill will have a suitable competition licence?

The only competitive element of the FoS is the "Shoot Out" and those entered in this element will have a suitable competition licence. The rest of the event is now purely "demonstration" and therefore requires no licence - hence the number of "celebs". The majority of drivers however will probably have a competition licence of some sort, or have held one in the past. The Goodwood team, however, are fairly strong about driving standards generally, and anyone being daft is unlikely to be invited back.

 

Regarding the Jaguar wheel, and yes, thank heavens it wasn't worse than it was, I have watched Grant for many years, and never seen a mechanical issue that could be laid at the door of poor preparation. This was almost surely an unpredictable failure of some sort, and I am sure that he and his team are devastated that anyone was hurt at all..

 

As far as the commentary is concerned (and I have very little hair left to tear out !), the problem, both at the FoS and at the circuit events, is that once an organiser has sold their soul (sorry, event !) to a broadcaster it is the broadcaster who calls the tunes on commentary. Although there are several people we would all wish to be listening to, and most of them would love to be doing it, their style may "not fit the target demographic audience of the advertisers". 

Edited by marksixman, 18 July 2023 - 12:21.

[9203RW]

Regarding the Jaguar wheel, and yes, thank heavens it wasn't worse than it was, I have watched Grant for many years, and never seen a mechanical issue that could be laid at the door of poor preparation. This was almost surely an unpredictable failure of some sort, and I am sure that he and his team are devastated that anyone was hurt at all..

As far as the commentary is concerned (and I have very little hair left to tear out !), the problem, both at the FoS and at the circuit events, is that once an organiser has sold their soul (sorry, event !) to a broadcaster it is the broadcaster who calls the tunes on commentary. Although there are several people we would all wish to be listening to, and most of them would love to be doing it, their style may "not fit the target demographic audience of the advertisers".

I seem to remember the same Jaguar shedding its nearside rear wheel out of Woodcote at a Revival meeting a few years ago - again, purely from memory, complete with half shaft. Fortunately the tyre barriers arrested its progress, if it had bounced into a crowded enclosure it could have been painful.

On the subject of commentaries, I thought the FoS commentary standards reached a new low this year, Bruce Jones excepted. It was very clear that the focus of the whole event is now on the Top Gear watching audience with a few morsels chucked at the older / more knowledgeable enthusiasts. With Saturday's cancellation, I made my way to Brands Hatch for the HSCC meeting; what a pleasure it was to have Marcus Pye delivering an informed and informative commentary.

Given the canvas presented to the organisers this year, with 75 years each of the first event at Goodwood, the first Porsche and the first Lotus, plus the centenary of Le Mans, I thought the array of historic cars was underwhelming (apart, arguably, from Porsche). Maybe we are spoiled, but it all felt rather same old, same old.

[john aston]

Stop making excuses for poor commentary: why should we accept mediocre? We pay good money to be entertained, educated and amused. Lots of things we pay for are difficult - we are right to complain if we don't get what we expect. You'd do it at a restaurant so why is FoS so special?

 I'll say what I  think , thank you. . Some commentators can grate , but usually invariably because they are targetting a different  audience to the one  I belong to, which tends to be a minority one. When I'm at an event I rarely listen . or even hear them as I don't often need to be told what I'm watching , let alone how a car  sounds , for very obvious reasons  . When an event is streamed free of charge ,the commentary is a gift horse I'd feel churlish to look too closely in the mouth . 

 

I have heard Alice Powell (during the quieter parts of the Members' Meeting ) and she was excellent. Her main  sin was that she isn't  an old bloke like me (or much of her audience) and hence doesn't have quite the grasp of history as I might do -yet. Some commentators who do, however ,  are a cure for insomnia , and entirely unsuitable for an audience which  is less hungry for minutiae than I am . 

 

Others may have different  opinions - how dull it would be if we agreed on everything .

[sabrejet]

The commentary is part of the coverage at the event: my point being that as an event-goer, I effectively pay for that service.

 

If you listen for free is not relevant in this case. As I said, stop making excuses.

Edited by sabrejet, 18 July 2023 - 17:29.

[Doug Nye]

Ahem - I find it difficult to imagine John Aston making excuses here for anyone, or any thing...  

 

DCN

[sabrejet]

Well if you turn the subject around somewhat, you have to ask what the point of the commentary is? I'd assume to provide context, in which case "here comes a red car" isn't very useful when we can see or hear that already. And to educate? I assume that's an essential, in which case more bland commentary isn't fulfilling the remit. Conversely, if people don't want to hear the commentary, continual wittering doesn't help either.

 

Maybe I'be been spoiled in the past by decent commentary, though not all of this year's was poor by the way.  

[Myhinpaa]

Did anyone notice the 512 BBLM Ferrari accidentally and unavoidably running into the back of the slower running old timer at the top of the hill?.
I hope no-one was injured or indeed the cars involved were not too badly damaged.
Somebody at the start line needs to give some more thought about release times between vehicles of differing ages..

 

[Lee Nicolle]

What you can see in the videos online looks like the normal wheel-loss consequent on fitting the hubs the wrong way round (left for right), thus making the RW's self-tightning into self-loosening.

The wheel had no half-shaft attached.

It defenitly took the hub and brakes with it. And the nut was done up on the hub so something broke.

Though again centre lock wheels are at best a very bad design. And very heavy.

I have had Jag owners and MGB owners here with there hub adapters to check bolt patterns to buy alloy bolt on wheels. Like everything, heavy and prehistoric.

And yes Jags are 5 x 4 3/4'PCD and MGs are 4 x 4.5"

[Allan Lupton]

The online videos.don't show us more than a detached wheel.

I don't need to justify RW wheels here, but will say that just because a wheel is cast from light alloy doesn't mean it is light.

In 2016 I weighed a 17" light alloy wheel and tyre from the BMW I'd just bought and the 17" wire wheel and tyre from the 1938 Lea-Francis I have and although I've lost the note of the weights so can't give the numbers, I found the modern wheel heavier by far.

[Doug Nye]

On a human level, I found this tribute from Desi Wilson taped onto the de Cadenet that she was driving, extremely touching...

 

There's more to committed motor sport than nuts, bolts and driven ambition.

 

 

DCN

[Henri Greuter]

On a human level, I found this tribute from Desi Wilson taped onto the de Cadenet that she was driving, extremely touching...

 

There's more to committed motor sport than nuts, bolts and driven ambition.

 

 

DCN

 

 

Reminds me about the year when Strirling Moss drove 300SLR  7.22 on the hill while showing the crowd the famour route-box of his co-driver Denis Jenkinson who had passed away in the past year.

 

 

NB. Wouldn't mind to see more pics in this thread, outnumbering the comments about the commentators/speakers if possible 

[ensign14]

I didn't get that many, I had far less time than anticipated thanks to traffic control being executed by three monkeys throwing **** at a wall.

 

But I did love the cyclecars on the Style et Luxe, which is often the surprising highlight, given it is meant to be bling rather than substance:

 

 

^ Bédélia DB2

 

 

^ Auto Red Bug buckboard

 

 

^ SEAL Sociable - basically a motorcycle combination given a lid

 

 

^ an anomaly; the Lotus T125, a quasi-F1 car made for trackdays, the Rodin company now owns most of these, but this one had escaped into the wild

 

 

^ Schumacher Mercedes

 

 

^ and a backswimmer (Notonecta sp) in a pond - they scoot UNDER the surface tension rather than on top

[Henri Greuter]

       Ensign!

[Nigel Beresford]

It has been a rotten year so far for a variety of reasons, Unhappily I lost my youngest brother Paul a short while ago. He was the longest serving employee of McLaren Electronics in its various guises. Regrettably i could not get to Goodwood because i was busy overseas at a race, but it lifted our whole family when McLaren rather classily added his name to Hakkinen's 1999 Championship winner in commemoration of his service to the team. Even more appropriately, my other brother Gavin was on the McLaren race team that year too, so it was a more than fitting choice of car.

 

Edited by Nigel Beresford, 20 July 2023 - 12:06.

[Henri Greuter]

It has been a rotten year so far for a variety of reasons, Unhappily I lost my youngest brother Paul a short while ago. He was the longest serving employee of McLaren Electronics in its various guises. Regrettably i could not get to Goodwood because i was busy overseas at a race, but it lifted our whole family when McLaren rather classily added his name to Hakkinen's 1999 Championship winner in commemoration of his service to the team. Even more appropriately, my other brother Gavin was on the McLaren race team that year too, so it was a more than fitting choice of car.

 

 

Thrilled to see such a gesture to your brother! Class act.