With the 81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting taking place this weekend, Motorsport Week looks ahead to the event and how fans can enjoy it.
Amongst the grounds of the Goodwood House and Estate resides one of the most historic motorsport venues in British motorsport: Goodwood Motor Circuit. A highlight on the calendar for the former Formula 1 venue is the annual Members’ Meeting.
The Members’ Meeting is a historic race event exclusively for members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club. It hosts a plethora of motor racing and high-speed track demonstrations, as well as other festivities for the historic automotive enthusiast.
It is the first of three major automotive and motorsport events, the other two being the renowned Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival. In 2024, the Members’ Meeting will celebrate its 81st edition and the 10th running since it was restarted in 2014.
A total of 14 races will take place on 13-14 April 2024, all of which will be live-streamed on the Goodwood Road and Racing YouTube channel, in addition to the various demonstrations on the schedule that allow non-members to get a slice of the action.
Can-Am Demos set to roar Goodwood into life
Among the various demonstrations, the Can-Am outings are one of the highlights of this year’s running. There will be two 15-minute-long demonstrations, one on each day, featuring 24 cars celebrating 50 years since the first iteration of the series came to an end in 1974.
Can-Am, short for Canadian-American Challenger Cup, saw monstrous Group 7 sportscars from the likes of Lola, McLaren and Chaparral battle it out, with the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, Alfa Romeo and Shadow also getting in on the action.
Running between 1966 and ‘74, these wide-bodied aerodynamic phenoms were powered by roaring V8 engines, making them quite the spectacle. Attendees and live-stream viewers will be able to watch the likes of the McLaren M8F and the Lola T70 tour the iconic Goodwood circuit during this year’s Members’ Meeting.
Amidst these machines are the legendary Shadow Can-Am cars, with Jackie Oliver set to drive his own championship-winning DN4 in which he secured four out of five race wins.
Era Motorsport has been entrusted with running all eight Shadow Can-Am cars for the demonstration at Goodwood.
What else is on in the 81st Members’ Meeting?
Firstly, the Hailwood Trophy will consist of two parts across both days with an assortment of 30 motorcycles, split into two categories of Formula 750, and 250cc and 350cc two-stroke Grand Prix bikes. Iconic machines such as the Yamaha TZ350G, Honda CB750 and Ducati 750S are expected to line up on the grid.
The overall race winner takes the Hailwood Trophy, named after nine-time World Motorcycle Champion Mike Hailwood, while the first F750 competitor will take on the Sheene Trophy, named after two-time champion and two-wheel icon Barry Sheene.
Needless to say, this will be an exciting way to relive the thrills and spills of 1970s and ‘80s bike racing at the Goodwood Motor Circuit after last year’s race went down to three-tenths of a second at the finishing line.
The S.F Edge Trophy stretches further back into the 20th Century, featuring Edwardian racing cars and pre-war aero-engined machines. Two races consisting of five laps each will take place with results combined in order to crown an overall winner. Twenty-five cars from the 1900s, ‘10s and ‘20s will compete, including favourites such as the Sunbeam Indianapolis, the Darracq 200hp and the Fiat S76.
Returning to the ‘70s and ‘80s era, the Gordon Spice Trophy will host Group 1 touring cars which were raced between 1970 and 1982 and featured in such series as the British Saloon Car Championship, which eventually became known as the British Touring Car Championship.
Gordon Spice himself was famed for his seven BTCC class championship titles as well as four victories at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For 2024, they will host a 45-minute race on Saturday which will feature a driver-change followed by a 15-minute sprint on Sunday. Expect to see a selection of great, retro shapes such as the Ford Capri, Mustang and Escort, the Chevrolet Camaro Z28, and the Rover SD1, pitting V8 heavyweights against more agile competitors.
The Derek Bell Cup will consist of 1,000cc Formula 3 cars built between 1964 and 1970, and is named after five-time Le Mans winner, three-time Daytona 24 Hours winner, and two-time World Sportscar Champion Derek Bell. These F3 racers are known for their blaring engines and were crucial to building the foundation of many an F1 driver’s career in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
A single 20-minute sprint race on Sunday will bring 30 small and nimble machines to fight for victory at Goodwood, including the successful Brabhams like the BT18, BT21 and the BT28. Other machines taking part include the Chevron B15, March 703 and the Lotus 31s and 41s.
More single-seater, open-wheeled racers from 1935 to 1953 will form the third running of the Parnell Cup. These front-engined Grand Prix, F2 and voiturette machines will compete in a 20-minute sprint around the Motor Circuit. It is named after Reg Parnell, who established a nickname as the ‘Emperor of Goodwood’ after he won the Goodwood Trophy three times commencing from the first-ever Members Meeting. He also won the 1953 Goodwood 9 Hours at the wheel of the stunning Aston Martin DB3S.
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Ford Mustang, the Ken Miles Cup is a one-make race bringing up to 30 entries of the celebrated American muscle car. It will be run as a 45-minute affair on Sunday including a driver change for each competitor, ensuring the V8 soundtrack will bellow throughout the Motor Circuit for spectators to enjoy.
There will be many recognisable drivers taking on the challenge, such as the pairing of triple W Series champion and current IndyNXT driver Jamie Chadwick with 2022 BTCC champion Tom Ingram.
Ford CEO Jim Farley will also take part, plus touring car icon Steve Soper, 1984 WRC champion Stig Blomqvist, Mike Rockenfeller – who is one of Ford’s current factory drivers – and former Le Mans winner Neel Jani.
Closed-cockpit GT cars which raced up to 1966 will make up the Graham Hill Trophy. A diverse mixture of sportscars will participate including such great names as the Jaguar E-Type, AC Cobra, Aston Martin DB4 GT, Ferrari 250, and more. Relive GT battles of old with a 25-minute sprint around Goodwood.
Continuing with sportscars, the Surtees Trophy will pit famous machines from 1960 to 1966 against one another in a 25-minute sprint race.
Many powerful endurance prototypes will compete including stars such as the Ford GT40 and early Can-Am machinery from McLaren and Lola.
This year marks 60 years since John Surtees won his F1 title in 1964, which was preceded by a respectable motorcycling career consisting of seven championship titles between 1956 and 1960. His dexterity across two and four wheels was a demonstration of his supreme talent and this race in his name emphasises driver skill.
The Grover-Williams Trophy turns back the clock with a collection of 1920s Grand Prix racers. This 20-minute race is named after the first-ever winner of the Monaco Grand Prix in a Bugatti Type-35B, William Grover-Williams, having taken the win on 14 April 1929.
One hundred years on, the extraordinary Bugatti Type 35 will join rivals such as the Type 51s and Delage Type 15 S8s in a thrilling battle of historic racers.
Finally, the Peter Collins Trophy will bring sportscars that competed between 1948 and 1955 to Goodwood in a 25-minute sprint race.
Several renowned cars from one of the earliest eras in sportscar history will clash wheel-to-wheel around Goodwood, including the Aston Martin DB3S, Jaguar C-Type, and Maserati 300, in addition to Austin Healey, HWM, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Allard and Lister machinery.
The cars may be the stars of the Goodwood Members’ Meeting, but there will be plenty of driving stars involved. Joining the likes of Chadwick, Ingram, Soper, Blomqvist, Rockenfeller and Jani are the likes of World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx, nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, three-time British Touring Car Champion Gordon Shedden and IndyCar Champion Dario Franchitti.
Modern sidecars and a tribute to the late great Niki Lauda ensure a full complement of celebratory racing action this weekend. That is what the Goodwood Members’ Meeting is all about, celebrating racing past and present in what is a highlight on the 2024 motorsport calendar.
See here for the full schedule of the 81st Members’ Meeting on 13-14 April 2024.
