Winner Formula Jnr race

Chris Drake won our race. Generous man with huge character. Deserved to win.

Parades at Goodwood.

Noel at Goodwood.

Drivers' club for all meals.
After the race. Relieved it all stayed together.
Relaxing in the Rolex drivers' club.

Glam!

Planes at Goodwood.

And more...

More cars.

Cars at Goodwood.

Impossible to start...

Sights and sounds 5

Some people.

Sights and sounds 4

Dressing up for the occasion.

Sights and sounds 3

Yes, that's Noel with friend Paul at cricket match!
Our setup in the camping ground that turned to mud. Paul pulled us out in his Discovery. Fantastic!
Actors employed on mock snow to celebrate Ed Hillary's conquest of Everest.

Sight and sounds continued

Prescott Hill Climb

Next day they took us to a Ferrari picnic meeting at the Prescott Hill Climb in Gloucestershire.  Beautiful part of the country.  Noel got to drive a Ferrari 455 up the hill. A bit of a thrill and amazing generosity from our host, allowing him to drive. He also passengered up in a 458. The latest, greatest Ferrari. Set one dial to "race"and the other to "auto". Just steer and brake! I was driven up too. Heart in mouth but just had to trust my driver.

Burghley Horse Trials

A wonderful visit with our friends near Stamford (lovely old town). They took us to the Burghley Horse Trials where New Zealanders dominated, Land Rovers reigned and dogs were the main accessory.

Sights and sounds of Goodwood.

Spitfire flies low in many maneuvers over us at cricket match on the lawn at Goodwood House.

Amazing Goodwood

Inspite of problems continuing with gearbox, Noel with help from Dan and special help from Grant Bowring who was even on his knees on the grid doing fine adjustments,  Noel managed to come 8th in a field of 40.

Goodwood

We arrived Wednesday morning and were surprised to find how many competitors were already here. We drove around the track in the motorhome with the trailer on the back. We found our spot and unpacked the car and equipment. Found the battery charger didn't work but someone volunteered their's.
Finally, mid afternoon we headed for gate E which is dedicated to motor homes etc. Our home for the next 5 nights. It is massive! There are hundreds of huge RV's and motor homes, trucks, small caravans and tents here. There are showers and toilets but not enough and no power unless you have your own generator. Pretty hard to achieve a glamorous Goodwood style without power! Once again,  cannot get on the Internet!

Noel's choice at McLaren.

McLaren Centre visit.

The latest McLaren Supercar! My pick!
We were only permitted to take a few photos at the beginning of our tour, but we did see some marvelous cars.  The whole lineup of F1's each with a story to tell. A walk through a cup and trophy collection apparently unequalled in terms of years to wins ratio. We visited various workshops.  All incredibly white, shiny snd absolutely pristine. Almost SciFi with the "workers" dressed in black against the white polished tiles. Looking down on th the assembly line for the McLaren road car was a magnificent spectacle of bold colour and order.
The building is a work of art, although everything has a function. Despite it's 10 or so years, it looks as though it was designed tomorrow.  I love architecture and found it fascinating.

The visit to McLaren

This is the car that started Bruce McLaren's career.

Back on Internet

You will be wondering what has happened to us/gearbox.

Mainly due to no Internet connections. Now using friendly Dan Setford's computer so still no photos.

Noel found a gearbox expert in a tiny village called Nutbourne about an hour away. Bob Hicks is known for his expertise and he found the problem and fixed it for us. We have been up near Stamford for the weekend and came back on Monday (having spent nearly 2 hours on the M25 in pouring rain), picked it up and took it back to Dan's where Noel installed it again.

Of course we won't know if it works until Noel tries it out at practice at Goodwood on Friday UK time.

On Friday last week, we were lucky enough to have the grande tour of McLaren Technology Centre. Totally amazing! We were so lucky!

We had a great time with our friends at the weekend. Attended the Burghley Horse Trials where New Zealanders dominated. Noel drove our friend's Ferrari up the Prescott Hill Climb. I was taken as a passenger which was SCARY! So we weren't just hanging around. It was a great weekend with marvelous hosts.

Of course next weekend should be magic at Goodwood Revival. The weather has cooled off but hopefully we won't have rain. We move camp to Goodwood tomorrow.

Can't post photos as they are in my phone and it doesn't work at the moment. As soon as I have service I will do it. Keep checking!

Hiccups!

Noel walked back from practice. My heart sank. The gearbox jammed in 4th! With the help of friendly local, we managed to get it into the van and drove back to Dan Setford's.
They don't know what happened but Noel has removed the gearbox.  This is major but we hope it will be fixed by the time we get back on Monday. Then Noel can put it back together. Fingers crossed.

Track Day at Goodwood

Long awaited. There at 7:15am. Unload from Dan's van. Rev it up. Drivers' briefing 8:30am. Test for noise which is tightly controlled today. 101 is good.