By Colin Wood
Nov 30, 2023
|
Vintage Racing,
Goodwood,
Goodwood Revival,
Sustainable Fuel
Photograph Courtesy Goodwood Revival
What event organizers called a “landmark moment for historic motorsport,” the Goodwood Revival announced that all competitors will be required to use fuel with “a minimum of 70 per cent sustainable components.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Goodwood participants have used a more sustainable fuel. Earlier this year, at the Fordwater Trophy, some 30 early Porsche 911s used sustainable fuels. Drivers among that field of 911s were famed racers Mark Webber, Tom Kristensen and Jenson Button.
“What’s so exciting about these fuels is that they can guarantee the future of historic racing,” said Button, “enabling us to enjoy combustion engine cars for years to come.”
“Surely,” you might be asking yourself, “the cars will need to be modified to run fuel that meets the new requirements?” Apparently not, according to Goodwood:
It’s a change that has been carefully considered and researched, and cars will require no modifications in order to run on the new fuel. There is also no performance deficit, cars can run exactly as they do on standard fuel. In fact, the first-ever sustainably-fuelled winner at the Revival was the 1925 Bentley Speed Model, which Ben Collings and Gareth Graham drove to victory ahead of other cars running on standard fuel.
Ahead of the 2024 Revival, sustainable fuels will be used in the all-Mustang Ken Miles Cup and the Gordon Spice Trophy at the 81st Members’ Meeting, with all the other owners and drivers encouraged to make the switch.
For those looking to learn more about the new sustainable fuels, they will be showcased in greater detail at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
I see no downsides to this, other than paying high-end race fuel prices for a tank of gas - which is probably what most competitors were doing anyway, and a rounding error in the cost of driving at Goodwood.
Some people might miss the sweet period-correct smell of brain-poisoning lead in the exhaust, but they can try to think of all the neurons they're retaining to cheer themselves up 
Yeah, I’m assuming pretty much most of the cars there aren’t running pump fuel.
How can Goodwood expect respect with such environmental ignorance? How can a historic event buy in to green hysterics? They may want to team up with NASCAR EVs. They can hold each other's hands as they both lose a large potion of their fans' bases.
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