FOS Great but..........................

[HONEYMON57ER]

I went Friday and I have to say that I didn't
enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. I
knew mostly what to expect as I went in 2004
and it was a fantastic day. I'm trying to pinpoint
why I didn't enjoy myself as much yesterday.

Firstly, I didn't enjoy th elong walk from the car
to the entrance although this hasn't changed so it's
probably just that I'm getting older.

The cars are still great but access in the paddock
again is the same as was but just so many more people.
So is it a victim of it's own success?

However my conclusion is that there are now too many
corporate grandstands along the track which limits
where you can take photos and makes joe public stand
4 or 5 deep by the track. These corporate stands were
half empty and some of the people in there weren't even
watching when cars were going up the hill.

Perhaps I'm being too critical as it is such a wonderful event and well organised but I'm afraid
I won't be going again any time soon.

[Moose.]

Second year for me (went in 2005) and I recon it gets better each time. We managed to get there before 10am and the crowds weren't too bad then. Things only got notically busy after about 2pm and by then we'd seen pretty much everything we wanted to.

I just love being able to stand behind an old Le Mans racer whist the owner starts it up in the paddock, bliping the throttle

Also nice to spot a few famous faces. Although this time the most famous person I saw wandering about (other than the drivers on track), was that young chap with the silly sideburns from Fifth Gear

I'll be there next year, despite the 3+ hour drive each way.

[The Hypno-Toad]

HONEYMON57ER said:

I went Friday and I have to say that I didn't
enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. I
knew mostly what to expect as I went in 2004
and it was a fantastic day. I'm trying to pinpoint
why I didn't enjoy myself as much yesterday.

Firstly, I didn't enjoy th elong walk from the car
to the entrance although this hasn't changed so it's
probably just that I'm getting older.

The cars are still great but access in the paddock
again is the same as was but just so many more people.
So is it a victim of it's own success?

However my conclusion is that there are now too many
corporate grandstands along the track which limits
where you can take photos and makes joe public stand
4 or 5 deep by the track. These corporate stands were
half empty and some of the people in there weren't even
watching when cars were going up the hill.

Perhaps I'm being too critical as it is such a wonderful event and well organised but I'm afraid
I won't be going again any time soon.

Got to say, Honey Monster, I think you are being a little hyper critical on this one. I went and thought it was much better than last year. Last year the place seemed a little flat, this year it seemed to be buzzing and everyone I spoke to seemed to feel the same. It wasn't perfect but it was pretty damn close. As for the grandstands, most of those are not corporate but are for people who have booked them in advance and there didn't seem to be any more than last year.

My Good Points would be: The amazing Toyota display outside the house, one of the best ever and really showed up how stinky last years Renault one was. The bigger array of stalls. The nutter in the Rally Evolution power sliding it past us up the hill in the wet. The Pikes Peak car made out of scaffolding which was going for it too. The lunatic stunt man on the bike. The Porsche Spyder, the Bugatti Royales, the Peugeot Pikes Peak car, the Allard, the Tyrrell P34, the Chaparral sucker, the Ferrari 312, the XJR6, the Peugeot 905B, the F40LM, the Harrods Mclaren, the Audi R10 etc, etc.

The only bad points would be the fact that the programmes now split in half (doesn't look right with all the others on my bookcase.) and I think that some cars, nice as they are, now live at Goodwood and Lord March just wheels them out of his lock up every year. I'm thinking here of the Sunoco Porsche, the March 717, the Lotus 88 and 79, 'Babs', Mclaren M23 and the Jaguar Silk Cuts. Don't get me wrong all of these are fantastic cars but they seem to always be there, so it would be nice to have something a little different one year.

So will I be going back like I have for the last eight years?
Of course I will. While I still have breath and they let Lord March get away with it.

Oh and I forgot Blue Flame, Wow!!!

Edited by The Hypno-Toad on Saturday 23 June 10:17

[freedman]

I got there at 9 O'clock and the crowds were easy to negotiate, as said after lunch it was really really busy. There were some great sights though

Vince Woodmans (beautiful)Cologne Capri in the holding paddock lined up to Jochen Mass in his Nascar, who of course raced that car in period.

Was nice to see the Porsche ALMS spyder as well, a fantastic piece of kit. (which unlike some cars didnt need a van load of mechanics just to get it running)

The BMW biker was awesome too

[driverrob]

Hi Barry. My wife and I are driving down there tomorrow - early start planned.
How wet/muddy was it; do you think we'll need wellies?
And how expensive was food & drink?

[HONEYMON57ER]

I'd take your own food /drink but wellies weren't
needed yesterday and there are metal roads all
over. Two small ice creams? That'll be £4.50 sir!

[Podie]

I went to the first FoS... Lord MArch had concerns he was going to get the 5000 people he needed to break even.

The tickets the old man got for yesterday were numbered in the 22,000s...

The event has changed enourmously over time, it's become more professional and better organised, but also a coporate marketing tool. Hell, the first year you could stand just behind the hay bales.

The is still no other place that you can get that close to the cars, so it still has the wow factor, albeit not quite as much as it once did. At one of the early ones I spent 30 minutes chatting to Dicky Atwood about 917's whilst he was perched on the door sill of one...

[Simes205]

Podie said:

I went to the first FoS... Lord MArch had concerns he was going to get the 5000 people he needed to break even.

The tickets the old man got for yesterday were numbered in the 22,000s...

The event has changed enourmously over time, it's become more professional and better organised, but also a coporate marketing tool. Hell, the first year you could stand just behind the hay bales.

The is still no other place that you can get that close to the cars, so it still has the wow factor, albeit not quite as much as it once did. At one of the early ones I spent 30 minutes chatting to Dicky Atwood about 917's whilst he was perched on the door sill of one...

Agree, I've been going since 1999 as yes it has changed a lot but I still go every year (twice!)

[siwil1]

Went for the first time yesterday and I cant believe how good it was, It was busy in the afternoon but not excessive and to be able to stand in the paddock next to cars being worked on etc was awesome.

When I eventually got home my wife said I smelt like a mechanic






...Just thought tho how does she know what a mechanic smells like?

[stephen300o]

I didn't go this year for the same reason, you get a bit more critical after six years of seeing mainly the same cars trundle up the hill, and over the years you see how the prolls are herded out of the way to make way.

[Furyous]

All I can say after going Friday for the first time is WOW ! Petrolhead nirvana pretty much.

Nowhere else are you going tosee as many famous and historical cars in action and as close.

I can see that after many visits it may lose its appeal, but Im def booking the whole weeknd next year.

The best car related event I think Ive ever been to.My only regret is that its taken me so long to actually get my arse in gear an book tix.

F

[da edster]

just visited saturday

omg i just saw the grtest show on earth it is petrol head heaven

the f1 and supercars were awesome

the only problem was the weather and that just made things funny to watch on track

a grt day out

e

[M J H]

Any comments about traffic , both to and from ? going tomorrow and want to arrive early , to avoid too much queueing .Any thoughts on route, guess most come from the north and go through Petworth ?

[GolfGT_Girl]

driverrob said:

Hi Barry. My wife and I are driving down there tomorrow - early start planned.
How wet/muddy was it; do you think we'll need wellies?
And how expensive was food & drink?

Wellies will be needed if it keeps raining I went friday/saturday not sure about tom bec of the wet weather, the red arrows are good

[steve2]

M J H said:

Any comments about traffic , both to and from ? going tomorrow and want to arrive early , to avoid too much queueing .Any thoughts on route, guess most come from the north and go through Petworth ?

go ia the A27 so you get put into the East car park as the one that you sometimes get put in from Petworth is on a slope and there were a lot of cars struggling to get out tonight, was more like Glastonbury in parts today so take a spare pair of shoes and trousers as they could get really muddy

[dougc]

Was fairly quiet on Friday morning. Headed down to the paddock in the afternoon and yes, it did feel a bit busier than I previously remember it and yes, it did seem like the corporate bits outnumbered the public bits on the startline and yes, ice-cream was expensive and a pint was £3.20, but then Derek Bell wandered past me on his way to the paddock and I forgot all about those little things and realised that there still isn't anything else like it.

[minimods]

M J H said:

Any comments about traffic , both to and from ? going tomorrow and want to arrive early , to avoid too much queueing .Any thoughts on route, guess most come from the north and go through Petworth ?

I avoided the traffic well by setting my tomtom to avoid the A27. I went down all the little back roads and didn't queue in any traffic (on the radio they said there were mile long tailbacks). One thing to note is I went past a sign saying "No Access to GFOS" luckily ignored the sign and it turned out it lead straight to the entrance to the 'flat car park' not sure what gate that is.

Edited by minimods on Sunday 24th June 00:26

[threesixty]

First time on friday for me too, can't really say I had any complaints apart from all the interesting cars being to crowded to get a decent picture.

Highlight cars for me where:

RUF ctr3, gorgeous paint work!
1960s Camber Car
Pikes peak cars
Silkcut Jaguar
Bugatti Royale, easily my favourite, the sheer scale of the thing!

Bit dissappointed with the supercar paddock all in all, since when has a 350Z been a super car??? just felt it was missing something.

anyone else notice how you could see a load of ugly welding when the spoiler was up on the veyron? Not what I expected at that price!

I'll definitely be back.

[freedman]

threesixty said:

RUF ctr3, gorgeous paint work!
.

I thought it was awful TBH (as was the whole car not just the paintwork) a vey strange finish

[matg]

Just got back from 3 days at FoS but did not bother using our Sunday tickets

This was our third visit in 5 years this year we took our 11 month year old boy, so push chair heavy bags etc. But we stayed about 2 miles away at a rented house. Friday was good we took it easy as we knew we had all three days to look around. Saw a bit on track but we met up with friends and luckily avoided the sudden downpour. Spent a bit of time in the GRRC members tent (I'm a member), great toilets

Saturday we went straight to F1 paddock and had a good look around and then watched the F1 hill climb lots of bikes and then later on the wacky racers and the supercar run. The rain then came down just before the Red Arrows, thunder lightening, hail the works, we got very very wet (but not as much as at Le Mans!). We then headed over to the GRRC members area to dry and after being in there an hour called it a day and headed off. The mud by this time was thick and a soaked wife and child and push chair in the mud really don't mix. Had big problems getting out the car park (car park M), the main route was thick mud and the Passat did not like it one bit, so I pity those in rear wheel drive cars. GRRC members have forward parking which is great on entry but bad on exit.

Got up Sunday and watched the rain come down and down and the traffic queue and queue from the accommodation, the thought of trudging about in the rain and mud the possibility of not getting out of the car park we decided not to bother (So 2 wasted tickets!) Watched the red arrows from where we were staying which was really good as they reformed over our heads, they were so low, but still the traffic queued to get in

A good show but not one to remember for us.

Goodwood should of but down straw in some of the walk ways and in the car park especially the area near the Porsche off road area. I'd be interested in thoughts of others about the car park and the mud as I'll be giving the GRRC a call this week.