Goodwood Festival of Speed RallySprint

Having just watched the Goodwood Festival of Speed on television reminds me that I should write a few lines about our weekend at Goodwood back in June.

How to get yourself on TV: have a coming-together with the straw bales lining the rally sprint circuit. Colin Early might have the repair bills to pay on his Darrian after his excursion but he did get himself on the TV screen on a Saturday afternoon.

We did the loading up of equipment on the Wednesday evening with most of this going into Brian Price's van, just a couple of items to go in my Land Rover. Listening to the weather forecasts during the week before this event you realised that you would have to pack the waterproofs - what you should have take were wet suit, flippers and snorkel tube; the weather threw everything at us.

The rallysprint circuit was laid out with straw bales a couple of months before the event by the Goodwood estate workers but some of these bales had to be moved on Friday to make the circuit safer. These bales had to be moved with a tractor as they were 8 feet long and very heavy. This setting-up operation took all afternoon and just as we were thinking of packing up and going to the guest house in Bognor Regis the estate lads turned up with a very large trailer full of road making material.

They laid a load of this in the gateway from the road to the service area and still had a lot left over, so we had the remainder laid in the gateway from the service area to the rallysprint circuit field. So we finished off a busy afternoon with some heavy shovel work, finishing about 8pm.

We arrived back at the Goodwood estate at 7am on Saturday morning, marshals signing-on starting at 7.30am, and I am very pleased to say all marshals were there by just after 8am.

The timing system for the event refused to run so we reverted to hand-held stop-watches. I think water gremlins had got into the new electronic system.

After a wet start on Saturday it gradually dried out through the afternoon and the last runs of the day were very fast, just a few seconds between the top drivers.

Back to the venue on Sunday by 7am and it was already very wet, but the event started in good time with the new electronic Omega timing working. As I was finish marshal I had to operate this new system. It certainly kept my concentration active and it was just as well I had a trusted marshal on the start line - Ian Harden, who was also seen on TV. The Omega gent stayed with the start controls all day I am very glad to say - it did only play up once and throughout the heavy thunderstorm it behaved perfectly.

On the Saturday the crowds were entertained by a Harrier Jump Jet and a stunt plane; all very clever and impressive flying. On Sunday the organisers had the Red Arrows and they carried out their display just after the storm. The sky was still very black so it gave a terrific contrast - red, white and blue trails against a black sky - you could say jet-black.

The event was abandoned after stage 8 due to the track conditions - deep mud, no grip, water splashes etc. At least the rallysprint entertained the crowds while the main hill-climb event could not run.

The whole lot was then packed up, loaded back into the van and returned to the club stores at Banstead where everything was hung up to dry.

Could I say again if you are still with me after these few words - a very big thank you to all of you for sticking to your jobs and putting up with that weather.