Among a myriad of upsets this year, not being able to spectate on live sport - most notably motorsport - had to be one of the more disappointing. It's with some festive cheer, then, that we can report that all of Goodwood's major motorsport events - Members' Meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival - will take place in 2021, and with fans attending as well.
Dates have been moved around to ensure the best possible chance of running without problems. The 78th Members Meeting has been pushed from its usual April slot to the weekend of May 15th and 16th; Festival of Speed will be between July 8th and July 11th, and the Revival will be held in its usual mid-September spot, this time September 17th-19th.
With a lot of 2020 tickets carried over for next year, those passes that do go on sale from February 1st are going to be very limited. Given Goodwood wants to ensure that all appropriate guidelines are adhered to, it seems likely that attendance numbers will be down on recent sold-out years. Other than that, expect events very similar to those we've come to know and love; the Festival of Speed's theme will be 'The Maestros - Motorsport's Great All-Rounders', celebrating the people, manufacturers and teams that have enjoyed success across all sorts of motorsport. Revival will feature a newly renamed Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, and Members' Meeting will run the rally and "many of the races" originally planned for 2020.
The Duke of Richmond said of the news: "More than anything else it is the people who make our events so special... We were incredibly disappointed not to be able to welcome them to our much-loved events in 2020. Now we are thrilled to be able to announce that all three motorsport events are planned to be back next year. Thank you to all our loyal followers who either rolled over their tickets or joined the Goodwood Supporters' Association, which helped us immeasurably in a very tough year. We absolutely cannot wait to see them and plenty of new fans in 2021."
Some good news for this year at last, then. Though SpeedWeek was a great online celebration of what makes Goodwood such an experience for car lovers, there really is nothing like being there in person. Looking forward to watching motorsport in the spring ought to get us through the gloomy winter weeks. Five months to go!
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