Goodwood Festival Of Speed - A - Z

P

Paddocks

This is the 20th time I have mentioned the word paddock(s) so far, I am 100% sure that it will not be the last either, so what should I write about in the actual section titled paddocks…

I think it would just be a bit of advice really, the paddocks by their very nature are a very busy place to be, there are thousands of people in this area for most of the day, there are moving parts as cars and bikes roll through to the hill climb and back in again. If you want a photo so do 20 other people, if you want to peer in the window of a car and see the steering wheel and gear knob so do 20 other people, the walkways are narrow and the space between and behind the cars even more so. It can be a little overwhelming, especially with the F1 cars which as I have mentioned are very popular all day long.

It may be tempting to rush through the paddocks to escape the mild madness behind you but I would urge you to stay a little longer, make sure you see everything, even if you head to the middle of the walkway or the end of the row and take a few minutes respite before heading back in.

I did this a few years back and came across an awesome car I would have missed otherwise, the 1959 Old Yeller Mark 2 driven by Dan Gurney and Carol Shelby (Amongst others). This car just caught my attention and held me there for quite some time as I walked around it, knelt down to see the huge side-mounted exhaust, the big thick whitewall tyres and of course the Pegasus decal on the side. There was even a Dan Gurney crash helmet placed on top, there are bumps and dents and chips in the paintwork but the whole thing just adds to the character of this car.

I hate the idea that I may have missed out on this car which has so much history because I rushed away from the paddocks because it was so busy.

Honestly take the time to see everything you will thank me later.

Photogrpahers / Photography

Me, Me, that’s me, I’m one of them, one of the thousands of people who walk around with a camera around their neck or on their hip, I am the one sitting on the floor are holding the camera above my head trying to get a top-down view of an engine bay or a cockpit, I mean mainly I will be doing a lap of the car to see which wheel has the logo and brake pads in the best position before I crouch down to take my shot

It's not just about people like me though it's also about the people who are using the camera on their phones, the girls and guys walking around with GoPros on sticks and little gimbles, some of them just to look at later, some are there to add to their portfolio and some for publications on websites and YouTube channels. Finally, there are those mythical men and women who walk amongst us in the white Goodwood bib’s the official festival photographers with three to four cameras on straps, all manner of lenses and a backpack of batteries and other bits in and pieces all ready for a full weekend of work.

I often wonder if you sold all of the cameras and lenses and peripherals that get bought into the event over the 4 days which car you would be able to buy from the car auction as some of the kit, I see being carried around is not cheap by any means and you can see that those carrying them are just as serious about their photography as they are their cars.

On a personal level, I have got some of my best automotive photos from the festival and I thoroughly enjoy working through them in the week following to edit and tweak them for publication on my own social media channels, I have even managed to make sales of posters and images meaning I can buy even more equipment to try even better next year.

 Patience

Patience is the one thing you can never have enough of at the festival, I am talking mainly about the photographer side of things however I will loop back to that because there are plenty of other places where you need to bide your time, obviously I have already mentioned the track crossing points where you are just as likely to stand for 4 minutes as you are to be there for 40.

The Rally stage is pretty much a free for all, there is no running order or class lists, the owners and drivers just decide when they feel the urge to go out for a go on the stage. It's very rare that there will not be any cars on the rally stage but if you are waiting to see a specific or favourite car and driver then you may need to wait just a little longer with your fingers crossed that they decided to head out.

Even out on the exhibitor stands that have interactive elements such as VR 360 degree laps in an F1 car, being able to set a time going up the hill in a racing rig and computer game, a go on either of the Jaguar Land rover experiences, Queuing for an offroad experience and even whilst inside Future FOS awaiting your turn to take control of a robot, these all attract the crowds and of course, the queues so be prepared to build in some extra time for your day if you want to take part in all of these activities.

Back to photography, well I can’t tell you how many times I have stood patiently waiting for my turn to take a photo, both behind people who are aware I am there and those that are oblivious, I have also over the years learnt to look closer for people in the backgrounds (see floating heads) and also reflections of passers-by causing me to wait even longer to try and get the shot. When there are big crowds, I have even sat on the floor and waited for my opening.

This moving environment of both vehicles and attendees does test and improve your skills as a photographer, you need to move around and find the angles, sometimes is as swift as a couple of seconds to get your photo and after waiting for 5 minutes you need to be ready to go. Luckily, I have my headphones and can just zone out from the noise, hustle and bustle and just focus on what I am trying to get.

Finally, sometimes you do just need to accept defeat in your current battle and just walk away so you can come back later in the day or at the weekend when it might be a little quieter. I have a very clear memory of trying to get a photo of a BMW 8 series with the background in focus display a large number 8 visible and it was just so hard to find an opening that I had to come back right at the end of the day once the numbers had thinned out and I eventually got my photo. Was it the best photo of the day, no not really but I had in my mind what I wanted and I got the result I wanted on a second visit so I was happy.

 Performance Parking

Do you have a McLaren road car? Would you like to park it within the event itself? Well, why not park it in the McLaren car park…

Sorry, that’s a very sassy opening line and quite honestly, I have no problem with any McLaren cars it's just that over the last few years the number of McLarens appearing in the performance car parks has grown exponentially. It used to be that the Performance Parking sections would be a real treasure trove of cars, an eclectic mix of old and new, real one-off vehicles from the garages of private owners.

Not a massively unique car but I managed to get some of my favourite photos in one of these car parks, a very cool mustang which I turned black and white before adding the dark red stipes back in. I love those photos and only got them because an owner decided to apply for the performance parking and bought it on the same day I was at the festival.

It was wet that day so the rain added to the images but this area on a warm sunny day is even better as the owners are more likely to bring out their best offerings to mix into the lucky dip of what you might see on any given day. The performance parking areas are still a bit of a hidden gem, you still need to head out a little bit further, reach the fringes of the festival and that’s where you will be rewarded for your endeavours.

So yes, in some cases there are multiple McLarens and the biggest difference is the paint job and the alloys but the bigger rewards are still out there you just have to look a bit harder, walk a few more rows back and spend a little more time walking along each row carefully.

 Pioneers

I think it can sometimes be easy to forget we are where we are because of the pioneers of the past who pointed us to the location we find ourselves in, as we moved away from thinking that the car with the biggest engine would always win towards of aero packages and engine efficiencies.

As cars added gadgets and gizmos such as traction control, brake disks and even going as far as active suspension the evolution across all iterations of motor sport adapted and changed along with it. Once you have managed to walk yourself through that history and evolutions that have happened in the past then you can keep on walking into our future.

We have already discussed the amazing future FOS, the concept cars, the growing number of electric vehicles are further highlighted by the one-off cars such as the Spéirling which was built and presented by McMurtry Automotive, this car quite honestly looks like a mini batmobile with a black on black graffiti paint job and when its downforce generating fans (yes you read that correctly) spin up the crowds start to grow around it.

Its these stand out manufacturers and enthusiasts who have racing in their blood that drive us into the next 100+ years of motorsport.