GOODWOOD TICKETS FOR SALE

On the Saturday Alonso, Sato and Button were doing doughnuts outside Goodwood House, spectators can never get as close to an F1 car. Ok, so they were only getting into 2nd gear but that's still about 130mph on a single lane road with a nasty camber I may add! Awesome to see and hear. I probably saw more F1 action than i'll see at Silverstone next week!

My only problem with the F1 lot is that they ought to be punting their cars up the track as fast as possible, but I get the impression the teams are scared of doing this in case they get beaten (having said that I believe Williams hold the hill record....maybe its just BAR and Renault) so decide to mess about instead. They could do both but I think politics get in the way. The excuse about them being too powerful etc is nonsense, the top hill climb cars are lighter and will have the same power to weight ratio....but without the cutting edge aerodynamics or tyres.

The old 6 wheel Tyrell Formula 1 is always up there near the top, and its a pretty old bit of kit, so yeah I don't buy those excuses either!

My fav though has to be John Surtees. For a guy who raced back in the '60s he goes up that hill almost faster than anyone, whether he's on two wheels or four.

Shame I missed it all this year I'm too busy restoring the outside of the house.

The current F1 teams drive up in last years models and don't officially time the hill climb as they are far far faster than anything else at The Goodwood Festival of Speed, even cars with the same power to weight ratio.

On one attempt Alonso (without pi**ing around like he did all day) did a time of 1 min 21 seconds, beating the Goodwood record by about ten seconds!

However, you're right about team politics/orders as the cars aren't set up for such events, instead they put on a show of tyre destruction! Either way, thrilling to hear and see! (Apart from the 2003 Ferrari looked like an old woman was driving.)

I can e-mail an mpeg of Jensen Button destroying his Honda should anyone wish....!

They ought to invite some of the front runners from the national hillclimb championship one year.......that would be an interesting experiment!

From what I saw last year, there simply isn't the runoff, or fencing if an F1 car hit the grass whilst having a go. A few hay bales are just not going to do it. To have 50 spectators killed by a car running off at 150mph is just not good advertising, and in a society where everyone is sueing for huge payouts, it would mean the end of a great event.

I would guess Alonso, even at 10 secs under the record was probably only at 70%. In Australia we have enough trouble now with insurance for club events, and I expect in GB as well, adding greatly to the costs for the competitor.

What a sensible comment. The litigeous society gets everywhere. Goodwood is not really a competitive event more of a show off but it is great to see the cars being driven properly and making the right noises. That is why a Formula 1 car pottering up the hill just does not cut it. Geoff