Goodwood Festival Of Speed - A - Z

J

Jaguar Land Rover

Up until now, I have resisted the temptation to just use up letters with the names and brands that appear at the Festival, I am going to suggest that this is only a partial break from those self-imposed rules. The reason I think this is justified is because, I am referring to the Jaguar Land Rover experiences which offer two separate opportunities to A) travel sideways in clouds of smoke on a dedicated drift track or B) Travel in almost any other direction both horizontally and (almost) vertically on a specially built track complete with tips, hydraulic lifts, offset ramps forcing you onto opposite corners before single side ramps tipping the car up one side before inching forwards and back onto all four wheels.

Both options have evolved over the years, with the Jaguar track now complete with red and white curbs and a huge central patch where doughnuts are used to build up tyre temperature as well as the cloud of smoke that blows across into the treeline where onlookers stand, heads moving in unison watching as the car drifts past, the passenger visible through an open window or with the roof down, either, with a huge smile and joy on their face or a slightly more pained gripping onto the seat for dear life before their turn ends and they exit stage right just as the next car launches onto the stage.

The Land Rover course which was just rocks and ramps went through the stages of sea-saw bridges and other basic obstacles to massive hydraulic lifts that not only push these huge vehicles skywards but are also setup to drop them back underneath ramps backwards and also out to the side so they can continue their perilous journey. As with the Jaguar experience, there are plenty of platforms and viewing positions to take advantage of however the smiles you see here are normally sat right next to someone who has the pained look of why did I agree to do this on their face.

Anyone can jump in the queue and participate in both of these experiences; you can pick the smoke and speed or the slow and steady however I defy anyone to come out of either experience with a resting heart rate.

Jumbotron

No matter how well organised you are, no matter how fast you are or how lucky you get you will never see everything that happens at the Festival of Speed, this is where the Jumbotrons come into their own, these are absolutely massive units that they don’t even take out of the truck, they just open the roof and push it out of the top where it stands, come into their own.

I am not sure exactly how many there are but I would hazard a guess at about 7 or 8 and they are in various locations around the site so if you are in the wrong place* you shouldn’t find it too difficult to scramble to one of the screens to watch the latest batch of cars go up or interviews of the drivers wherever they may be at that moment.

There are a couple of specific screens I will mention and these include the one at the top of the hill where you can watch the events unfolding on the rally stage if you don’t fancy going into the woods for an up-close view, then there’s also the one by the cricket green which is the ideal place for some food and drink while not having to cram and jostle for a view trackside. Finally, if you are going to get stuck at a crossing then try to do it on the north side of crossing 6 as there is always a screen to watch on the opposite side of the track.

*There is no such thing as the wrong place at the festival of speed but there’s no other way to word it.

Jamboree

Now I know that Jamboree usually relates to a large / international gathering of scouts but I am stealing the word and meaning for my list, not mainly because J words are tricky (see the rest of the list) but also because I can see a lot of similarities.

An international collection of girls / boys / women / men all in one place to celebrate something they all have in common each wearing the team colours that they most closely associate with, embracing everyone they meet with warmth and affection, making new friends and even a bit of flag-waving… Is that enough, man I hope so.

The definition of jamboree also describes a long, mixed program of entertainment, does that sway the argument a little bit more in my direction?

Ok so Jamboree’s are about fun and I think I have the perfect example of this, imagine you are on the hill, you didn’t make it to one of the jumbotrons but you can hear a huge engine roaring up the hill at speed, you turn your head just in time to see this flash of white come around Molecombe. It takes a good few seconds before you fully comprehend what’s happening as a very basic looking white ford transit van on slick tyres, some guttering on the roof and a Goodwood Estate repairs & maintenance sign plastered onto the side of it wizzes past you. I for one can tell you it caused some very confused looks from me followed by a lot of laughter and now even years later is something I always have a good chuckle to myself about.

Juxtapose

The act of placing two or more things side by side is often to compare or contrast or create an interesting effect. This is often employed when releasing a new product or when updating a classic and bringing everything that someone loves about a car and adding a new and modern twist to it. You might see it on posters or behind a pretty rope at a press launch, if you are lucky, you might even get to see a slick promo video as they drive side by side through a desert road or something similar.

What Goodwood does is put them side by side so you can walk around looking through the windows, through various vents and flaps to see the minute detail that the designers have paid attention to, is the steering wheel and gear stick true to the original or have they installed flappy paddles. Have they gone too far with the alloy wheels making them too big and beefy? What do the engines sound like when compared side by side? These thoughts and opinions can only be verified by using your own eyes. Sometimes they get it wrong, sometimes they get it right, you might disagree completely with the person you are with or the comments you overhear around you but it's true to say these opportunities, these moments, they start almost more conversations than anything else I have spent time around.

Juvenescence

Oh yes, that well-known word Juvenescence, meaning, the state of being youthful or of growing young. I would consider myself to still be young yet I regress pretty quickly after walking through the gates of Goodwood and I wasn’t even born when a lot of the cars I love were doing their stuff all around the world. I am lucky to exist in a world of supercars that push boundaries and stretch what we think is possible. Now just imagine you were alive when some of these types of cars started to appear, these mystical machines of the future coming to life right in front of your eyes.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have been in front of (what I deem to be) a classic car when I look across and see an older lady or gentleman pointing and you can almost hear them saying wow as they then tell the story of when they first saw the car, in some cases, it’s not even the super sports cars but within the Cartier Et Luxe the cars that they or their parents may have owned. You can literally watch as their eyes light up a smile creeps across their face and a feeling of joy radiates from them.

This is the same with the drivers who climb inside or aboard machines from their past, taking them back to past wins and glories, knocking years off their age instant as their very souls are warmed and they have that moment of “I could still do it you know”, going up the hill being cheered and applauded before getting to the top and removing the helmet. You can see it in their eyes, their smiles, yes there are no doubt faster cars and bikes now but this one is so very, very special and being able to have another chance to ride or drive it, is something that keeps them all young in heart and mind.