2022 Goodwood Members’ Meeting preview

Finally back in its rightful springtime slot, the Goodwood Members’ Meeting is now just a couple of weeks away.

While not as accessible for the masses as summer’s Festival of Speed and autumn’s Goodwood Revival, the 79^th Members’ Meeting is nevertheless one of the most significant events on Goodwood’s motorsports calendar.

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That significance is reinforced by the number of star drivers that turn up each year to race in the numerous historic racing classes that make up the Members’ Meeting, but also in the high-profile demonstration events that run between the races – this year including the public debut of Gordon Murray Automotive’s T.33 supercar, V10 F1 car runs (pack your ear defenders; full list of cars below), and 40 years of the Porsche 956 (see our interview with Derek Bell, here).

When is the Members’ Meeting?

This year’s event, the 79^th running of the Members’ Meeting, takes place on the weekend of April 9-10.

Car parks open at 7am on Saturday 9^th and the site opens to the public 30 minutes later. Goodwood will ring out to the high-revving V12 of the T.33 supercar at 9am, with the first practice session for those competing in the Gerry Marshall Trophy beginning at 10am. The first racing, the Hailwood Trophy and Sheene Trophy for motorcycles, starts at 3:30pm.

On Sunday 10^th, the venue once again opens at 7:30am. A Holy Communion takes place in the Memorial Garden at 7:45, with racing from the Weslake Cup kicking off the competitive action at 9:25am. The weekend ends with the Gerry Marshall Sprint at 6:30pm, and prizegiving takes place in the Great Hall from 7pm.

What will I see on track?

It’s almost easier to list what you won’t see on track, but those familiar with the Members’ Meeting will recall a mix of cars that overlaps lightly with those you see at the Revival, plus several you won’t.

The Gerry Marshall Trophy is a fan favourite, comprising Group 1 touring cars from the 1970s and early 1980s. This is the one where Mini Clubmans mix it with Rover SD1s and Chevrolet Camaros for a riot of sounds and shapes – and some of the closest wheel-to-wheel racing anywhere, let alone in historic motorsport.

You’ll also catch racing from the Graham Hill Trophy (for classic GTs), the Surtees Trophy (for Can-Am racers) and the Robert Brooks Trophy (for classic sports cars). The Sopwith Cup meanwhile includes 1950s touring cars of the sort you might see at the Revival, and the Weslake Cup is for ‘Spridgets’.

The Varzi Trophy and Derek Bell Cup are for single-seaters (pre-war and post-war respectively), while the new-for-2022 A.F.P. Fane Trophy will pit pre-war Frazer-Nash racers against each other – and gives the S.F. Edge vintage racers a year to relax.

Those of a two-wheeled disposition will want to catch the Hailwood and Sheene Trophy races, while interim activities include everything from a display of Ferrari Formula One cars, to the wild world of drifting.

F1 V10 demonstration and 40 years of the Porsche 956

Got some ear defenders or plugs at the ready? Good, because with V10-powered f1 cars running at anything approaching full throttle, you’ll need them. The 79th Members’ Meeting will be running and displaying 26 V10 F1 machines, including the McLaren MP4/5B raced by Ayrton Senna in 1990, where he and Prost crashed into one another at Suzuka. This will take place at 1.30pm on Saturday and 2.30pm on Sunday.

There will also be a selection of drool-worthy Group C cars, marking 40 years of the sports car category and the Porsche 956 and later 962 which dominated the era so successfully. Five-times Le Mans winner Derek Bell will be one of the stars taking to the track to stretch the legs of these now evocative endurance race cars. Cars include the 956 chassis 1, the 1982 Le Mans winner, the 1984 and ’85 Le Mans winner, the 1987 Le Mans winning machine, plus the 1987 Supercup winner. That’s some history, right there. They’ll be on track on Saturday at 7.45pm, and 12.15pm on Sunday.

Here’s the full list of F1 cars taking part…

2022 Goodwood Members’ Meeting V10 F1 cars

Where can I watch?

Keeping up with the Members’ Meeting is a little trickier than the Festival of Speed or Revival, because you’ll essentially need to be either a Fellow or a Member of the Goodwood Road and Racing Club to see it live, whether or not you’re at the circuit.

The good news is that becoming a Fellow is relatively affordable, at £43 annually. It’s also currently the only route into becoming a Member, but either way it’ll let you catch the race on the GRRC YouTube channel.

Once you’re a Fellow (or a Member), general admission for a single day is £89 for adults, £22.25 for 13-21 year olds, and free for children aged 0-12. Grandstand tickets are £53, while full weekend admission costs £143 for adults and £35.75 for those aged 13-21.

With all that out the way, we’d recommend the best places to physically watch are from the top of the pit buildings for the startline action and a good view of the chicane, the outside of Madgwick to catch the cars piling into turn one, or from the grass bank on the outside of Woodcote, which is one of the best places to catch the most dramatic passing manoeuvres and broadside four-wheel drifts.

Why should I go?

If all the action above hasn’t convinced you, then think of it as a slightly less busy, and at this time of year slightly less sweltering take on the Revival. People often still dress up smartly too, so it certainly has a different atmosphere to your average weekend race meeting, if not quite the nostalgic fanfare of the Revival.

The action’s as hot as ever, too. It never gets old seeing hero cars from previous eras racing just as hard as young guns in modern hot hatch series or Formula Fords, and it’s a style of historic racing you really don’t get anywhere else in the world.

Read more

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