Discussion
Traffic was appalling - far worse than any previous visit; less than walking pace for the last 5+ miles. Seemed to be a new "traffic management" outfit involved: maybe they were not up to speed? The flow into the car park (M) seemed very slow compared to normal: if that was the same for all the parks it would explain the delays.
I left mid-afternoon and it took much longer than usual to get out of the car park although the numbers leaving were low. There were 4-5 guys in hi-vis chatting amongst themselves at the exit/entrance, making no effort to help traffic out onto the road.
I left mid-afternoon and it took much longer than usual to get out of the car park although the numbers leaving were low. There were 4-5 guys in hi-vis chatting amongst themselves at the exit/entrance, making no effort to help traffic out onto the road.
davidc1 said:
I went today. Enjoyed it as usual. But a lack of manufacturers . No audi no merc ,seat ,vw honda and more.. If they are not careful it will turn into visitors cars and food stalls . Like a fancy bromley paegent.
As in the big manufacturer stands? That's been the case for quite a few years now, seems a long time ago there was a line of huge temporary bespoke buildings for Ford, Audi, Honda etc.Still big manufacturer support though, probably more so than any other event in the world, it's just done differently now. The number of car launches at FoS seems bigger than ever this year, but they are certainly more specialised / sport / Motorsport focused, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Look at the front page of PH, it's like motorshow season.
Can only agree. I live a bit South West of Horsham and normally it’s about 30 minutes run to Goodwood. I have never taken longer than an hour home to parked at the Thursday FOS regardless of the time I left. Yesterday 2 hours 10 minutes. It also took significantly longer going home than previous years. You can’t blame it all on parking management as the event was significantly more crowded than any previous Thursday. My mate reckoned it was due to people “working from home”!
willy wombat said:
Can only agree. I live a bit South West of Horsham and normally it’s about 30 minutes run to Goodwood. I have never taken longer than an hour home to parked at the Thursday FOS regardless of the time I left. Yesterday 2 hours 10 minutes. It also took significantly longer going home than previous years. You can’t blame it all on parking management as the event was significantly more crowded than any previous Thursday. My mate reckoned it was due to people “working from home”!
I am going tomorrow. Live in the same place as you . What time did you leave for it to take that long to get in ?Left about 0830 as, based on previous Thursdays, expected that would have us parked by 0930. Actually parked at 1040. You will know that there’s a multitude of different routes you can take. We just did the Wisborough Green/Petworth (through the middle rather than the diversion round)/Duncton route. The last few miles was very slow. The rest of the route just slow with heavy traffic. I heard from others that the A27, both directions, was horrific. The only friends who didn’t have a problem were the super keen ones who were parked by 0730.
ch37 said:
Did anyone get out ok (i.e. without hour plus waits?) Used to be that either 4pm or a bit earlier, or effectively at kicking out time (after 7) used to be reasonably on, was that still the case yesterday?
Complete carnage trying to leave around 19:00 from CP S… took about 2 hours to get to highway, and then the roads I wanted were all closed or clogged.No issues at all going in however, very easy at around 7am.
willy wombat said:
Left about 0830 as, based on previous Thursdays, expected that would have us parked by 0930. Actually parked at 1040. You will know that there’s a multitude of different routes you can take. We just did the Wisborough Green/Petworth (through the middle rather than the diversion round)/Duncton route. The last few miles was very slow. The rest of the route just slow with heavy traffic. I heard from others that the A27, both directions, was horrific. The only friends who didn’t have a problem were the super keen ones who were parked by 0730.
Thanks for the heads up , I think I will leave by 7 latest then. See how I go.From the written accounts it appears much worse than previous years going in and out .
Edited to add , just looked at the weather ! Holy Fish it looks bad on Saturday . I suspect early in and early out for me . I am with my grown up daughter this year my son is working at Goodwood right now . Last time we went we got burnt to a crisp as we were not well prepared . I think I will get my motorcycle waterproofs out now .
Edited by cliffords on Friday 14th July 08:45
Mikehig said:
Traffic was appalling - far worse than any previous visit; less than walking pace for the last 5+ miles. Seemed to be a new "traffic management" outfit involved: maybe they were not up to speed?
We're going on Sunday - hopefully, they will have got their act together by then.Went yesterday, mega busy for a Thursday - too busy really. I assume the event being later than usual allowed more families / kids to go who have already broken up from school for summer?
I left home in Essex at 5:40am and went via the M23 / A272 / Petworth. The amount of cars on the road was high around Petworth but still flowing so we parked up in the Porsche car park via car M by 7:45am.
By mid morning it was heaving and still plenty of cars coming into car park M. Plenty of pinch points around the site, the worst being between the large bridge and the main house where the Porsche food enclosure was way too close to where the spectators were standing at track side meaning tons of people trying to squeeze through in both directions. Needs modifying the the rest of the weekend.
Seemed to be 'celebration' fireworks / music every 30 mins in the afternoon which got a bit annoying...
Left around 17:45, straight out of the dedicated Porsche parking exit and straight into heavy traffic heading towards Petworth. On the outskirts of Petworth it was at a standstill so took the short cut to the A272 to cut out Petworth which worked a treat so the journey home was fine until the Dartford tunnel which was as rubbish as usual..
I think I will skip the event if in mid-July in future as it was just as busy on the Thursday as it is on the weekend days. Certainly no evidence of a cost of living crisis going by the amount of people yesterday and the queues for all of the (costly) food and drink stalls!!
willy wombat said:
My mate reckoned it was due to people “working from home”!
I heard them make the same comment on the radio commentary.I don't know what it was. I joined the end of the queue in New Road, Midhurst. No real evidence it was a problem in the car park, once there it was fairly slick.
I've just heard a traffic report on the radio and it sounds like it's not so bad today.
First time for FoS for me yesterday. For a supposed 'quiet' day the traffic was the worse I've ever known from going to numerous Revival/Members meets over the years.
Queueing from Chilgrove in to Lavant; never known that before. Anyway, managed to get in to the Aston Martin VIP parking area fairly efficiently
.
Left after 6pm to head west along the A27. Waze directed me through Chichester to join the A27 on the west side so, clearly, at 6.30-7pm the A27 was congested. Once I got on to the A27 all was well although very busy for the time of day. Overall took a good 30mins longer to get home.
As for the event it really wasn't my cup of tea. The paddocks were interesting and some of the manufacturers' stands were good to see if you could get close....
I think I'll stick to the Revival/MM as it's the racing that I really enjoy; watching fast runs up a hill and cars doing burn-outs is not my thing. The other frustrating issue was the lack of information about what was actually going to be on the hill at any time. The app would just say 'Manufacturer Batch 2' with no further info.
Anyway I hope folk enjoy today but I fear it might be turning in to a bit of a mudfest.
Queueing from Chilgrove in to Lavant; never known that before. Anyway, managed to get in to the Aston Martin VIP parking area fairly efficiently
.Left after 6pm to head west along the A27. Waze directed me through Chichester to join the A27 on the west side so, clearly, at 6.30-7pm the A27 was congested. Once I got on to the A27 all was well although very busy for the time of day. Overall took a good 30mins longer to get home.
As for the event it really wasn't my cup of tea. The paddocks were interesting and some of the manufacturers' stands were good to see if you could get close....
I think I'll stick to the Revival/MM as it's the racing that I really enjoy; watching fast runs up a hill and cars doing burn-outs is not my thing. The other frustrating issue was the lack of information about what was actually going to be on the hill at any time. The app would just say 'Manufacturer Batch 2' with no further info.
Anyway I hope folk enjoy today but I fear it might be turning in to a bit of a mudfest.
Traffic nowhere near as bad as I had expected this morning.
Shame about the weather. I wish I'd bought a coat instead of just an umbrella.
I wasn't sure if a grandstand ticket was worth it but it has been a very worthwhile investment. I'm sheltering from the rain watching the cars but might venture out when they run the motorbikes and get an early lunch. Can't imagine the ice cream stands are going to do much business.
Shame about the weather. I wish I'd bought a coat instead of just an umbrella.
I wasn't sure if a grandstand ticket was worth it but it has been a very worthwhile investment. I'm sheltering from the rain watching the cars but might venture out when they run the motorbikes and get an early lunch. Can't imagine the ice cream stands are going to do much business.
ch37 said:
Out of interest, can you cycle in? The FAQs say no matter how you arrive they have a plan for you, it mentions sustainability, then nothing about arriving via non-powered means. I should be staying very close next year but as it's main roads I don't fancy walking.
Quite often bikes chained up near the ticket gates. If your close, definitely an option. We usually stay at Arundel and I might bring the bike next time to beat the traffic. Agreed it was very busy, I attended Sunday last year and it was a bit too busy for me so went for Thursday this time around, around the track seemed quieter but the stands etc were rammed.
I chose to come in 'from the top' purely as the public car parks from that direction are much closer to the event, queued for about 40 mins arriving just before 9.
Coming with my infant son this time we got collected from the car park and driven straight in, guy just appeared in a liveried up Range Rover offering a lift which is an amazing service.
As with all the past FoS events I have attended had I would 100% recommend to get in and at the gate before they open, the couple of hours you get in the pretty much empty paddock is the best bit for me personally. As the day progresses they get so busy you can't really get close, some cars are covered up but for the most part you can get up close without any trouble.
Most frustrating thing for me with having a pushchair this time is that it is seemingly random when you can cross the track, there were often times when we were stood waiting for 20+ mins with nothing on the track but you are still stuck. After giving up and carrying everything across the bridge it was ok but were that not an option it is not great.
I chose to come in 'from the top' purely as the public car parks from that direction are much closer to the event, queued for about 40 mins arriving just before 9.
Coming with my infant son this time we got collected from the car park and driven straight in, guy just appeared in a liveried up Range Rover offering a lift which is an amazing service.
As with all the past FoS events I have attended had I would 100% recommend to get in and at the gate before they open, the couple of hours you get in the pretty much empty paddock is the best bit for me personally. As the day progresses they get so busy you can't really get close, some cars are covered up but for the most part you can get up close without any trouble.
Most frustrating thing for me with having a pushchair this time is that it is seemingly random when you can cross the track, there were often times when we were stood waiting for 20+ mins with nothing on the track but you are still stuck. After giving up and carrying everything across the bridge it was ok but were that not an option it is not great.
If you plan to arrive after 8am and leave much after 4pm you will be stuck in traffic. It has been like this for a decade or more.
If you don't want to get stuck in traffic, arrive and leave outside of these times. It's that simple.
Goodwood is hugely popular and there is limited access via the road network. Queues at peak times should surprise no-one.
If you don't want to get stuck in traffic, arrive and leave outside of these times. It's that simple.
Goodwood is hugely popular and there is limited access via the road network. Queues at peak times should surprise no-one.
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