Chichester, West Sussex · GB
A beautifully preserved circuit on the grounds of Goodwood Estate. Host of the Revival and Festival of Speed, it celebrates motoring heritage in an atmosphere of timeless elegance and thrilling historic racing.
Goodwood Motor Circuit is a permanent racing circuit in Chichester, West Sussex. The lap measures 3.862 km (2.4 miles) across 9 corners, run clockwise.
It opened in 1948. Series racing here include GT and Road Course.
The circuit is the perimeter road of an airfield. RAF Westhampnett operated as a Battle of Britain station from 1940 to 1946, and when it closed Freddie March — the 9th Duke of Richmond, and a competent racing driver himself — had its perimeter track turned into a racing circuit. He opened it in September 1948 by driving a Bristol 400 around the lap. The first meeting, on 18 September, drew 85 drivers and more than 15,000 spectators, and was the first professionally organised motor race in postwar Britain.
Goodwood was central to British racing for the next eighteen years, then closed to contemporary competition in August 1966 rather than make the safety changes faster cars demanded. It never fell derelict — testing and track days continued throughout — and in 1998, fifty years after opening, it reopened for the first Goodwood Revival, which races only cars and motorcycles of the 1948-1966 period.
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