Introduction
Historic racing is a popular pastime for owners, drivers and enthusiasts alike. It gives the drivers a chance to feel like Stirling Moss or Phil Hill for a few laps and us enthusiasts a chance to see the great racing cars of old in action. The venues for these events have changed over the years to comply with modern safety and accommodation standards. This leaves the cars surrounded by unfamiliar gravel pits and Armco barriers. For tracks still in use today, these changes are necessary and inevitable. On the grounds of the British Earl of March there was a track that had not been used since 1966. He had already put his Goodwood estate on the historic motoring map with the annual Festival of Speed, but in 1998 he outdid himself when he organized the first 'Revival'. His goal was to offer a completely period event, offering visitors and competitors a time-warp experience. The track was restored to its original state, but included cleverly hidden modern amenities. To complete the period appearance the visitors were requested to dress up in a 1950s or 1960s theme. The layout of the track remained the same, basically using the circuit surrounding the Goodwood airfield, just like the Earl's grandfather, Freddie March, did when he opened the track in 1948. At that time there were very few proper racing tracks in England, so it immediately was a popular track. Due to its nature as a circular road there were no real corners, just very fast sweepers in the track and it soon gained the reputation of being very difficult and dangerous. After 18 years of glorious racing, the Earl of March called it a day and all racing stopped in 1966. That was until his grandson restored the track, literally to its former glory to stage the Goodood (Motor Circuit) Revival. Now in its ninth year the unique period theme has still held strongly and it no doubt helped make the Revival one of the finest events on the calendar.

Bonham's Auction of Important Sports, Competition and Collector Motor Cars and Automobilia
For many years the Rosso Bianco Museum in Germany housed one of the finest collections in the world. It's even more remarkable that most of it was the work of one man, Peter Kaus. A few months ago the sale of the entire collection was announced as Kaus was not able to come to an agreement with the city of Frankfurt about the construction of a brand new museum. All cars were sold to a Dutch collector, who due to the lack of space in his own museum has sold several pieces at recent Bonham's auctions. At Goodwood Bonham's again offered several former Rosso Bianco vehicles. The theme of the cars for sale here was clearly 1960s and early 1970s sports prototype racers and the lots included the Lola Mk6 GT, Cooper Monaco Maserati and Gulf Mirage. It proved the correct venue for this type of cars and the Lola and Mirage sold for £364,500 and £370,000 respectively. Another highlight of the 84%, £3.6 million sale was a beautiful Frazer Nash BMW, which found a new owner for a quarter million pounds.

The stars of 2006
If anything the Earl has achieved to bring together some of the finest cars and motorcycles and have them driven by a large number of modern and contemporary greats. Among the many World Champions and/or Le Mans winners in attendance were greats like Jochen Mass, Sir Stirling Moss, Derek Bell, Sir John Whitmore and Wayne Gardner stood out. Of the still active drivers Red Bull F1 drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien were present in addition to Jean Christophe Gounon who qualified on pole a week earlier in the Donnington 1000 km race and fellow prototype racer Nic Minassian who finished second at Donnington. They all were topped by American racing legend Phil Hill, whose career was celebrated throughout the weekend. He is no doubt the only man who completed the holy three in winning the Formula 1 World Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans (three times) and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (twice). It underlines his exceptional talent, but also his deep love for anything automotive, which was also aired for years in his articles for Road & Track. Coincidentally his first European motor racing experience was right here at Goodwood in 1949. In his honour a collection of cars he raced throughout his career was assembled made up of many examples rarely seen in Europe or even rarely seen in public at all. It literally spanned his entire career from the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 he used in the 1951 Pebble Beach road race and the Chaparral 2F he drove to victory in the 1967 Brands Hatch BOAC six hour race. From his lengthy stay at Ferrari, we were privileged to see the 1958 Le Mans winning 250 TR58 and the 1961 winning 250 TR61 as well as the 246 Dino in which he scored the last front-engined F1 victory. All of 'his' cars were demonstrated on each of the three days; on the first Hill was driven around in the Alfa by his son Derek, on Saturday he took to the wheel himself and fought off his health issues on Sunday when he took to the wheel of the 250 TR58. There were further emotional moments for the old master when his son Derek took victory in Lawrence Auriana's Alfa Romeo 3000 CM Coupe in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy. Phil himself drove this car several times with great success in recent years, but his deteriorating health no longer allows him to.
Quite in contrast to the often very powerful racing cars that were out on track throughout the weekend were the little 'micro' cars that were also celebrated. Built in an age when few people could afford a proper car, these tiny machines were a great compromise between the price of a motorcycle and the protection of a car. These tiny cars really gave the word minimalistic a new meaning. Looking at the Berkeleys, Bonds and Goggomobiles demonstrated out on track, it is really hard to imagine them out on the roads these days where they would make a Smart look like an SUV.
In keeping with Goodwood's airport history, this year we saw the celebration of 70 years of the Spitfire. Many believe this plane was key in stopping Adolf Hitler from invading England during the Battle of Britain. In between the races, there were a variety of demonstrations with up to eight Spitfires in the air at once, which could very well be the largest number seen in the skies this year. It was a true tribute as the British plane proved most efficient when used in large numbers to destroy the German bombers. A regular flyer at previous events was Ray Hanna and his recent passing was commemorated by taxiing his old plane down the main straight. During the War, the Spitfire was surpassed only by the American P51 Mustang, which was even more versatile and had a longer range, which was essential in the fighters' new role of escorting bombers far into Germany. Two of these equally legendary planes were also present to give the tens of thousands of spectators further sore necks.

The races
There were fifteen races over the weekend with eight on Saturday and seven on Sunday. Logically they were open only to racing cars of up to 1966 that raced or could have raced at Goodwood and Brooklands; it was at Brooklands that Freddie March scored his biggest victory as a racing driver. In England racing really means racing and many cars were really driven on the limit and some over. It is great to see these very valuable cars used to their full potential by experts like Peter Hardman and Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams, but sadly there are still drivers with more money than talent. A mistake is of course human, but people like Carlos Monteverde and Adrian Newey once again underlined their reputation when they heavily crashed their Ferrari 750 Monza and Jaguar E-Type Lightweight respectively. Fortunately a large majority of the drivers kept their cool and treated the visitors to thrilling races with many close finishes. It would take up too much 'ink' to write about every race in detail, so we will take a look at some of the highlights in the report, but in our indepth and exclusive 250-shot slideshow all the action is pictured.
In the first race, the Goodwood Trophy for Grand Prix and Formula Libre cars between 1930 and 1950, there were several cars entered that raced here when the track first opened. In the race Julian Majzub drove a strong race up the field to eventually finish in a well-deserved third place. His ultra-rare Alfa Romeo 308C had been dogged by misfiring problems in the practice, so he was not able to post a representative time. The podium was all Italian with Mark Gillies driving Rodney Smith's Maserati 4CL to second and Stefan Schollwoeck scoring the win with his Maserati 6CM. Highly unusual was the Australian built 1950 Maybach Mk1 special, which scored a win against Europe's finest in the 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix.
One of historic racing's 'bad boys', Frank Sytner, celebrated his return to Goodwood with a victory in the Whitsun Trophy in his Lola T70. His aggressive driving in 2004 got him banned for 2005, but more seriously he has only recently recovered from a multiple heart bypass operation. Together with TV-presenter Tiff Needell, he again showcased his talents on Sunday and finishing sixth in the TT Celebration race. This one hour, two driver endurance for GT cars from 1961-1966 is probably the most prestigious race, in which many of the gentleman drivers were partnered by a professional. In this period, the heyday of GT racing, the World Manufacturer's Championship was disputed among these striking cars like the Ferrari 250 GTO, AC Cobra, Jaguar Lightweight E-Type and Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato. JCB's Sir Anthony Bamford brought out several cars, including the 1963 Goodwood Tourist Trophy winner, which on this occasion was piloted by Sam Hancock and Jean Marc Gounon. There was little any of them could do about pole-man Michael Vergers in Juan Barazi's E-Type. He had built up a huge lead before handing over to the car's owner, who did well to bring the car home while maintaining the comfortable gap. Needless to say both men were ecstatic and Barazi celebrated the win with a proper burn-out down the main straight.
While the overall standard of driving was unmistakably high there were a number of drives and fights that really stood out. Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams showcased the advantages of four wheel drive to the fullest when he piloted the Ferguson P99 up the leaderbord in the race for front-engined Formula 1 cars. He had taken over in the unique racer from Sir Stirling Moss, who did not feel capable of exploiting the car's potential to the fullest. He was the first out on the finish line to congratulate Williams with his hard fought third place, beaten only by winner Gary Pearson in a BRM P25 and Gregor Fisken in a Ferrari 246 Dino recreation. Pearson would win again later that day in the Sussex Trophy in Nigel Webb's Jaguar D-Type. Second, despite starting from the last row was Jean Marc Gounon, who put in a stellar performance in Bamford's Aston Martin DBR2; no doubt the drive of the weekend. After the finish the sympathetic Frenchman told us that with a lap or two more, he could have captured Pearson as well. Under difficult, wet conditions two Americans put up the best show of the weekend on Saturday afternoon in the Glover Trophy. Both driving a Brabham BT11, Bobby Rahal and Duncan Dayton slid around the track nose to tail throughout the race, exchanging the lead several times. Not quite as familiar with his ride as Dayton, the former Indy 500 winner eventually had to give up in the closing stages after he had run wide at Woodcote corner. Although used to winning historic races, beating a racing legend in a similar car must have felt extra special for Dayton.

Conclusion
Even though the three days of high quality action on and above the track is clearly visible in our slideshow, it takes visiting the Goodwood Revival to truly experience the unique atmosphere. Thanks to careful preparation of the grounds and the meticulous planning of the organization, Lord and Lady March's team have managed to make the event so much more than the sum of the ingredients. The general public also agrees with us as for the second year running the Revival was completely sold out and all 110,000 visitors booked their tickets in advance. There is little else to add other than to advise you to dress up and join the fun next year!