I didn't see The Bucket List, the movie about what you want to get done before you kick the bucket.
But if there's a Do Before you Die Motorsport List, then one or both of the Goodwood events in Chichester England should be on it.
The Festival of Speed is on as I type (I am there/here as I type).
Some years ago, Charles Lord March , owner of the Goodwood Estate, wanted to bring racing back to his property, which incorporates the Goodwood Racing Circuit, famous or infamous for, among other things, being the track where Bruce McLaren lost his life, and Sir Stirling Moss almost lost his.
But the local town council planners said residents would be bothered by the noise and crowds, so they refused permission. Not like the old days, eh Lord March, when a little boiling oil would take care of everything?
Actually, the current Lord March would never even think something like that - he is a wonderfully nice man.
But he did find a way around the proscription - he decided to run a hillclimb event up the driveway of his
"house" - and never has so modest a term been applied to so magnificent a building.
He called it the Festival of Speed, and it rapidly became the must-do motorsport event of the summer. We'll have a full report on it in next week's Wheels.
Lord March did eventually get permission to run vintage races on his own property. Thus began the Goodwood Revival, which takes place in mid- to late-September each year. I personally won't have a report on that event because as usual, it conflicts this year with Targa Newfoundland - speaking of events that should be on your Do Before you Die Motorsport List.
Both Goodwood events involve racing cars, mostly old and sometimes new, doing what they were designed to do - go fast.
Politically incorrect?
Maybe.
Entertaining?
What part of "Do Before you Die" aren't you understanding?
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