Goodwood!

[Cadwell]

OK... it's less than a week to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The greatest historic motorsport event in the UK and the highlight of the motorsport season. 155,000 people will be wandering about the Earl of March's front lawn looking at hundreds of the most important racing and exotic cars from the late 1800s to the present day.

I'm all set I think. I've got a 4GB microdrive for the paddocks and a couple of fast 1GB CF cards for the action on the hill climb where the great drivers like Stirling Moss, Sir Jack Brabham, Emerson Fittipaldi, Juha Kankkunen, Jacques Villeneuve, Alan Jones, Carl Fogarty, Gil de Ferran etc. etc. are reunited with their original cars for a blat up the hill. I've also got a 1GB microdrive as an emergency spare ;)

So who else is going to "the garden party of the gods"? I reckon I could wear out the shutter in my 10D on the first day ;)

[CoolToolGuy]

Don't forget a Sharpie or two (are they called Sharpies in Britain?) in case you find yourself with an autograph opportunity!

Have Fun,

[Andy_T]

Cadwell,

WOW, :shock: I certainly envy you!!!!

Have lots of fun and don't forget to post lots of pictures...

Best regards,
Andy

[KartGirlsMom]

I've always wanted to go to Goodwood--but it's a bit of a trip from the US Midwest. Take lots of pictures--I'd love to see them.

[Cadwell]

:D

Sorry people, I get kinda hyper about Goodwood. This will be my sixth time there and I'm the same every year. The excitement never lessens. If I had to pick only one motorsport event a year to go to it would be this. You can keep your Formula Numb (although to be fair I don't have to pick so I'll be at the GP anyway ;) )

I am going for two days this year - Friday and Sunday. I've had my Sunday grandstand tickets booked since December. Friday I'm going to roam about and take many, many pictures. So, yes I'll be posting lots of them... probably on Saturday and then more on Monday.

KartGirlsMom... if you ever get the chance to come over for the Festival of Speed it really is worth it. Whatever you have heard about it... it's way better than that in reality.

Here's a picture I took at the 2001 Festival of some of the Ferrari F1 cars there (apologies for the quality... it wasn't a great camera)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/valaraukar/P1010043.jpg

You'll notice that access to the cars is not a problem :D

[Cadwell]

Ummm OK.... err I did Friday :D

I managed to hold it down to 700 or so pictures and I've posted a few (200 or thereabouts :oops: ) here http://valaraukar.fotopic.net/c215223.html

No track pictures. I'll be doing them tomorrow :D

[SDK^]

I've just got back - An excellent but very long day.

Your Bowler 'jump pics' are identical to what I took :)

[SDK^]

Do you shoot in RAW ?? - If so what is your processing method ??

[CoolToolGuy]

Your shots are outstanding, but so are your subjects!

Geez, AC 428, Jensen Interceptor, Aston Martin, Lancia, 959, GT40 - all those and more in one place. What an event. :D

Thanks for posting them. Maybe some day I'll take a hop across the pond to take this all in.

Have Fun,

[despot]

I wasn't going to make the trip down to Goodwood, but at the last minute changed my mind and got tickets for Saturday.
Looks like I picked the worst day for the weather :x Still managed to take a few (hundred) pictures though. Despite the rain the time flew by and I didn't get to spend enough time by the track.
"Snap" again for the Bowler pics!

[Cadwell]

Do you shoot in RAW ?? - If so what is your processing method ??

Sometimes I shoot in RAW, others not. For the paddock stuff at Goodwood I shot everything RAW because I knew from past experience that the shots would need a lot of post processing. The problem is the contrast in light levels between the bright sunshine in the paddock and the shade under the awnings. You tend to get bright noses (on the cars ;) ) and the rest in darkness.

I don't have any set pattern in how I process the images. For the really bad ones I open them in Canon FVU and sort out the white balance and push the exposure as high as I can go without blowing out too many highlights. Then I save them to JPEG, open them in Irfanview and use it to adjust Contrast, Gamma and Saturation. I then resize it for the web and sharpen.

Occasionally in really desperate circumstances I will resort to photoshop.

[Cadwell]

Geez, AC 428, Jensen Interceptor, Aston Martin, Lancia, 959, GT40 - all those and more in one place. What an event. :D

Thanks for posting them. Maybe some day I'll take a hop across the pond to take this all in.

Have Fun,

There's nowhere quite like Goodwood for it's quality and mix of vehicles. Formula 1 cars share the hill climb track with dragsters, rally cars (and trucks), motorbikes, sidecars, sportscars, road cars from the 1890's through to the present day not to mention gravity powered soapboxes ;)

Despot, sorry to hear that the weather was rough on Saturday. Still I am glad that you had a good time despite the elements.

Anyway... I have now posted my shots from Sunday here http://valaraukar.fotopic.net/c217123.html. Mostly track action from the hill climb this time.

What happens when you forget to switch on traction control in an F1 car ;)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/valaraukar/IMG_8250.jpg

[CoolToolGuy]

Again, outstanding shots of the hill climb.

Hill Climbs...

They are not very popular around here (Mid-Atlantic USA), but I have heard there are some in other parts of the country. I have a friend who is from Guernsey (Channel Islands), and he tells me there are many local hill climbs on that side of the pond. Interesting - sort of like a European drag race (no laps) :wink:

I was noticing in the news that the most famous hill climb in the USA - Pikes Peak - was shortened due to rain, hail, ice and snow :shock: - and they could not declare a winner. :(
http://www.ppihc.com/
Another event I think would be interesting - but there is just not enough time... :(

Have Fun,

[Cadwell]

I was noticing in the news that the most famous hill climb in the USA - Pikes Peak - was shortened due to rain, hail, ice and snow :shock: - and they could not declare a winner.
Another event I think would be interesting - but there is just not enough time... :(

Have Fun,

The Pikes Peak hill climb is something I have always wanted to see. It's an event with an international reputation.

The Goodwood hill climb is not taken that seriously, otherwise the F1 cars would walk it (they prefer to do doughnuts and burn the rear tyres up a bit in order to entertain the crowd) but it is a good excuse to see some lovely tin running at speed. There are some timed runs though, with the winners in years past being as diverse as a 6 wheel Tyrell P34 Formula 1 car, a Ferrari 712 CanAm, and a Pikes Peak spec. Toyota Celica. This years best time was set by Justin Law in the 1990 Le Mans 24hr winning Jaguar XJR 12.

[Lamplight]

Grerat shots! I love seeing them all, but I especially like the old Fuel Altereds. :D I wish I could have seen those run back in the day. :)

[KartGirlsMom]

Thank you so much for sharing. Do you know if the Gulf Porsche is a 906? I also love your Ford GT-40. Wonderful shots...

My siblings and I debated long and hard whether to send our parents to the German Grand Prix or Goodwood for their 45th anniversary. We decided my mom would prefer the GP. Next year is their 50th. If their health allows, I would love to send them to Goodwood. My dad had a 904 and a 910 in the late 70s, so I know he would love to see similar cars again.

Thanks so much for the memories

[Cadwell]

Thank you so much for sharing. Do you know if the Gulf Porsche is a 906? I also love your Ford GT-40. Wonderful shots...

My siblings and I debated long and hard whether to send our parents to the German Grand Prix or Goodwood for their 45th anniversary. We decided my mom would prefer the GP. Next year is their 50th. If their health allows, I would love to send them to Goodwood. My dad had a 904 and a 910 in the late 70s, so I know he would love to see similar cars again.

Thanks so much for the memories

:D

There were two Gulf Porsches at the Festival. I will confess to be being no expert on them but according to the catalogue the enclosed variant is a 917K and the open top one is a 908/3.

The 917K example was used (and badly damaged) in the making of the Steve McQueen movie "Le Mans". The 908/3 won the 1970 Targa Florio and the Nurburgring 1000km in '70 and '71.

[Cadwell]

.
Next year is their 50th. If their health allows, I would love to send them to Goodwood.


If you are going to do this book early. Grandstand seats at the Festival are limited in number and sell very quickly. I normally watch the website and book my tickets as soon as they become available in order to be sure and get the grandstand I want ("Park"). The tickets normally go on sale in December / January.