A postcard from the 77th Goodwood Members' meeting

Unlike the Goodwood Revival, which is a pre-1966 costume party with added superb motor racing, the Members Meeting is for Goodwood's members, although you can buy a ticket by joining for the weekend. It effortlessly blends the old and new, while off-track it provides a lower-key, less crowded atmosphere. The track action is as fast-paced and competitive as ever though, and features historic racing and high-speed demonstrations. Click 'Next' to see more of our photos from the 77th Members Meeting. Only at Goodwood will you see such juxtapositions - some of the oldest and rarest cars on the planet alongside cutting-edge moderns such as the McLaren Senna. And you can get up close and really enjoy them, which is always part of the attraction at Goodwood... There's plenty to do, with each spectator (and each driver) given a nominated 'House' for which they could earn points by taking part in a huge variety of games such as Ferret Racing, Duck Herding and competitive Axe Throwing. Yes Goodwood trust their Members so much they issue them with axes, under supervision; the health and safety form on that one must be quite a read... The stars of the track were the Minis, 60 lined up to celebrate the car's 60th birthday on Saturday in two fast-paced 30-car heats of the Betty Richmond Trophy, which were super competitive. The final on Sunday (15 from each heat) developed into an epic race-long battle between Mini expert Nick Swift (of Swiftune fame) and Nick Padmore (who actually set the Goodwood circuit's outright lap record in a Lola T70 in 2015). After endless lead swaps, which also involved Jonathan Lewis and Ian Curley (whose race number 46 was written in a very familiar font) Swift got through at the last corner of the last lap in the Willow Green Cooper S UPU 2. It wasn't all racing on the track though, a high-speed demonstration of recent Le Mans Prototypes as dusk fell on Saturday night was a unique experience. Among the fastest cars ever to lap Goodwood you just don't expect to see a Bentley Speed 8 or a diesel Audi R8 thundering past the Goodwood pits; fantastic and a definite high spot. Thunder of a different type came in the form of another high-speed demonstration, this time featuring 12 genuine Nascar stock cars ranging from a 2006 Chevrolet SS to a 2016 Ford Mustang. All those thunderous V8s sounded fantastic reverberating around the English countryside and, despite the McLaren control car leading the parade, the two 2016 Camaros were lucky not to come together when one booted that 875bhp V8 into life a bit too quickly. The Nascar racers reflect the cosmopolitan flavour of the Goodwood Members' Meeting. It's a veritable melting pot of global car culture. Despite these first corner dramas the immaculate Faberge Capri 3.0S of Ludovic Lindsay went on to lead the Gerry Marshall Trophy Sprint race on Sunday for 1970s Touring Cars before he succumbed to mechanical trouble, leaving 72-year-old Stig Blomqvist (yes, WRC World Champion 1984) to take the win in the number 16 Rover Vitesse. Amusingly this entry was kept secret, even from the commentators, who were astonished to find the living legend emerging from the car for his post-race interview. Saturday's longer 45-minute Gerry Marshall Trophy featured a driver change. The attrition rate was high and many cars, including last year's winning Ford Escort RS2000, retired while fighting for top honours. A post-race scruntineering issue meant the Boss Mustang (15) that crossed the line first was disqualified. Handing victory to the inevitable No6 SD1 Vitesse of Neel Jani (2016 Le Mans winner) and James Wood (car in first picture group shot). Thus the little Morris/Shephard Golf GTI finished an unlikely second overall, if only everything in life was so simple... As part of the 917 celebrations former F1 and WEC driver Mark Weber achieved a life ambition to drive the iconic Mark Donohue 'Sunoco' 917/30 Spyder. Developing in the region of 1200bhp from its 5.3-litre V12, the 917/30 Spyder weighs just 850kg and will do over 230mph, but not at Goodwood! In period, Mark Donohue set a closed-course speed record at Talladega Speedway in the sister car at 355.848km/h. It was incredible to see it shrieking around the West Sussex track. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the awesome Porsche 917 Goodwood hosted a high-speed demonstration of five 917s, headed by 917 chassis number 1 driven by Richard Attwood, who won Le Mans in 1970 driving a 917K and who was involved in developing the car. That wasn't the most powerful car at Goodwood though. Pininfarina showed their new 1900bhp electric hypercar, the Battista - displaying it in a modernist glass box in the middle of Goodwood's charmingly 1960s pit area. Ancient and modern, right there. American car specialist Bill Shepherd brought along a meeting highlight for many, a Ford Thunderbird 'Battlebird' in which he finished a creditable seventh in the Peter Collins Trophy, beating European cars such as Jaguar C-types and an Aston Martin DB3S. The Battlebirds were a short-lived Ford works effort, initially prepped by Indianapolis 500 winner Pete DePaolo, who ran Ford’s competition programme before the contract was given to John Holman and Ralph Moody. It certainly didn't lack power, or noise, but also looked surprisingly poised when cornering. F1 racer David Coulthard made an unusual appearance back in the cockpit to race a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing in the Tony Gaze Trophy. He initially battled at the front with the Austin Healey 100 Coupe of Richard Woolmer, but was able to win easily when the Healey's engine expired. The roster of names was like a greatest hits of world motorsport - from Le Mans winners to former F1 champs. Lord March's little black book of contacts really is something to behold... Majzub led coming into the last corner but Lees accelerated harder form the chicane and looked to have got the win, even the timing screens briefly said so, and Lees, elated, celebrated exuberantly on the slowing down lap, only to find that he had in fact lost by 0.018 of a second, a fraction of time that had not even been invented when these cars were made... Star of the SF Edge Trophy for specials made before 1923 was Dun Pittaway's amazing 'Beast of Turin' a 1911 28-litre four-cylinder Fiat S76, and yes your maths is correct, each cylinder is approximately 7 litres in capacity... Apparently the flame-throwing exhaust and massive heat haze is 'normal'. The race, though, developed into a almighty tussle between Julian Majzub in the incredibly original 4.9-litre 1916 Sunbeam Indianapolis Special (It came fourth in the war-shortened, 1916 Indy 300 driven by Josef Christiaens) and Tony Lees in the unfeasibly tall (for a racing car) 1913 Vauxhall Viper Special. They diced throughout, each getting progressively more annoyed with the other but neither prepared to give way, although these are open-wheel cars with very little in the way of brakes and no protective bodywork, or seatbelts. Read on for some more of our best pictures from the 2019 Goodwood Members' Meeting. Unlike the Revival, which is a pre 1966 costume party with added superb motor racing, the Members Meeting is for Godwood's members, although you can buy a ticket by joining for the weekend. It effortlessly blends the old and new and off track and provides a lower key, less crowded atmosphere. The track action is as fast-paced and competitive as ever though, and features historic racing and high-speed demonstrations.