Goodwood Festival Of Speed - A - Z

Y

Yesteryear

If you want the fully immersive experience of course you are going to lean towards the Revival more than the festival of speed, the theming is all on point and the number of people who dress accordingly is much larger than the people who may be dressed up at the festival of speed.

However, there is a core element that runs through the festival of speed which is a direct and intended link to the past, whilst the event has grown and been added to over the years the expansion has been completed with subtlety and continuity in mind. If you look back at the early videos and photos you see a lot of things that remain familiar to this very day.

The stacks of hay bales that line the hill climb are still used today, as the event grew these hay bales are now used to line the drift experience, the rally stage, the offroad arena and so much more, it would have been easy to try and come up with a different design and theme for these parts, a bit like the crystal maze which zone you are in just by looking at what’s around you, but no, there is a seamless transition through each area.

There is also the feel and pace around the rest of the event too, it is very much like the largest garden party in the world with its green grass, the benches and tables set up beside the grand house or around the cricket green, there are white picket fences and small rope fences cordoning off certain areas.

It would have been easy to keep modernising and changing each year but retaining these elements is what brings the charm and familiarity, it keeps the link to the past above and beyond just being a festival of speed, which happens to have a lot of old cars. Even as progress has been made and more modern elements have been required it is always done in a carefully considered way, the tents and plots are always white to match the paddocks, this white extends to the grandstands that are dotted along the hill climb and is directly reflected by the much more recent additions such as the temporary Pavilion structures with their white facades and huge windows for watching the action.

Even when you are walking amongst the latest in road and track vehicles or the huge LED screens flashing above electric avenue you are just yards away from that feeling of a traditional festival and garden party atmosphere.

Youngsters

Having already had a section on Kids you may be wondering what there is left to say about youngsters, well that section was mostly about attendees, what I am talking about now is the young drivers, a lot has been made about the existing heroes and legends that take to the various parts of the festival but sometimes you get very lucky and see someone on the outset of their journey.

Some of them are there to just enjoy the festival and drive a family member's car, whilst some have a truly legendary sporting legacy behind them such as in 2009 when a 20-year-old Taylor Earnhardt drove the Richard Childress Racing #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the very car that her father Dale Earnhardt won his 76th and final victory in.

There was also the father-son battle in 2019 when Oliver Solberg set the fastest time on the hill climb so far, quickly followed by his father Petter Solberg who beat his time by over a second as his son watched on at the top of the hill.

There are so many more examples that I could go through, Josh Hill, son of Damon hill who of course is also the son of Graham Hill whose cars are still driven at the festival each year.

Drivers like Nico Rosberg who attended the festival as far back as 2005 before becoming the world champion 11 years later, Jenson Button was there in 2001 which was 8 years before becoming world Champion. If you were lucky, you might have seen George Russell back in 2018 when he was still driving for ART in Formula 2 and who can say what the future might hold for him.

What I am saying is, always keep your ears and your eyes open for who is driving or riding up the hill because it might be that you are seeing something special, even better try and grab an autograph because you could be one of the first people to get one from these future champions.

YouTube

Not only has YouTube been a huge help when writing this but also just because it’s something I also like to watch videos when I have some downtime. It used to be a lot of shorter clips put up by fans, a 30-second blast of a car, recorded in portrait mode (surprising how many people still do this). Much more recently the content on the official Goodwood channel has exploded.

There are still shorter clips of around a minute or two but there are also videos maxing out at 10hours when they streamed full days of events such as the Member’s meeting or other things such as Bonhams Auctions. They have even joined up with other events around the world to bring you streams such as Historic racing at Laguna Seca.

Alongside the action clips and the deeper dives into teams, drivers, owners and beyond there are also car reviews, both new cars but also iconic road cars or those that hold a significant meaning to a manufacturer or era. You can very easily lose many hours clicking from video to video on this channel however I would still advise you to do a general search as you will find some hidden gems recorded by fans just like you and I.

Yard of Bricks

One of the most famous motor circuits in the world is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, affectionally known as the brickyard, this name came into being after the relaying of the track with 3.2million bricks, replacing the old stone and tar surface which had been the cause of so many accidents.

Over time the track has been relayed and resurfaced numerous times and today there is a single one-yard strip of bricks at the start / finish line which remains exposed. It’s a great story and the track is certainly on my bucket list, however, in the short term, I can satisfy that curiosity at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In 2011 a set of original 100-year-old Indianapolis Bricks were sent across to Goodwood and laid as the start line for the hill climb. This was part of the Indy 500’s centenary celebrations and now form a permanent part of the festival of speed. Even better than having the bricks form part of the festival this also started to see a rise in the number of Nascar’s we see each year. It has been steadily growing, I love seeing them, the bright sponsors and huge numbering on the carbon fibre / stamped steel body panels over a steel tube frame are just something else entirely.

Once the hood is popped and you can see the beautiful engine and tubes and colour coded connectors you also get to see just how thin the skin of these cars is as the hollowed-out areas give you direct access to the top of the wheels which I love. I also love the massive rear wheels and tyres; the un-grooved slick design complete with huge writing on the side and brightly coloured wheel nuts so they can be seen easier at pitstops all add layers and detail which you may not think possible from a car that does not have real lights or doors.

Yump

Now you may be asking what the difference between yump and jump, I cannot find a definitive answer, however, I think it might just be that Yump means you are in a car or on a bike as the explanations I have read both specifically mention driving at high speed over a ridge.

I will give you my specific thoughts about the word Yump and what I thought of when I first heard it, to me it's about the different sounds at the different stages of a car launching off of a ridge or hump (oh no Yump, Jump and now Hump, what is happening here). Most significantly, to me, it is the sound of the suspension cushioning the vehicle as it comes into land. I have been lucky enough to watch many types of cars doing many jumps at the festival.

I have also been very lucky to be in several offroad vehicles over the years and to me, it's that moment you hit the ground and before the power goes back on. The rest of the route, the approach to the leap is all noise and energy and aggression, as you become airborne there is a moment or two of quiet, no tyres digging into the ground, no roaring engine or rattling body work around you its just a smooth glide.

Then you come back to earth, that half a second where you feel the tyres hit but you are still sinking lower, I cannot even make the noise verbally let alone try to write out what it sounds like but I think you all know it, or if not go experience some offroad driving and you soon will. The noise the suspension makes as the downward momentum is just absorbed before all the noise comes crashing back in on top of you, the roar growing louder as you bounce back up to a normal ride height and are back underway again.

So yeah, this might not be the dictionary definition of the word yump but it's certainly my feeling and what I think of when I see it written down.