UPDATE, 13/05/2020:
It was with some grim inevitability that the 78th Goodwood Member's Meeting was postponed, falling as it did on the weekend of March 28th/29th - or the weekend after the lockdown was announced. Less certain was when it would be rearranged for, whether the Meeting could slot into a truncated 2020 calendar or not.
Now we have that answer - no, put simply, the 78th MM now provisionally due to take place on April 10th/11th, 2021. Previously purchased tickets for this year's event will remain valid, or alternative arrangements made for ticketholders unable to make that date. Despite negotiations aiming to squeeze the Members' Meeting into Goodwood's calendar during 2020, the Motor Circuit has said the compromises involved "would have risked losing what makes it so special to so many people."
For now, the 2021 running of the 78th Members' Meeting will feature exactly the same mix of motorsport as was originally billed, with everything from Group 1 Touring Cars to pre-war races competing. The Duke of Richmond has added that the 78th Members' Meeting "will be our best yet, and we are already working to see how we can add to the spectacular racing we had planned."
So that's Members' Meeting dealt with, albeit in a manner nobody probably desired. As for Festival of Speed and Revival, the Duke said, "we are exploring a range of options to host events again as soon as we can." Which is about as committal as it's possible to be, surely, in the current predicament; more news as it's available.
ORIGINAL STORY, AS REPORTED 17/03/2020:
Goodwood has officially cancelled the March running of its Members’ Meeting due to the ongoing challenges created by the spread of coronavirus, which has seen the UK Government cease support of emergency services for mass gatherings. The 78th MM was due to take place on the 28-29th of March, but with a large number of international competitors and as many as 30,000 spectators due to attend, the risk has predictably been deemed too high. A new date will be announced in the future, with ticket holders given automatic eligibility for attendance to the event, which is due to celebrate the Lotus 72's successes in Formula 1.
“We had hoped that by following UK Government advice and implementing a number of additional safety and hygiene protocols, we could all ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ as coronavirus threatened the 78th Members’ Meeting,” said The Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood Estate that hosts the MM, Festival of Speed and Revival events. “Alas, with the situation constantly evolving, and the news that the UK Government will no longer offer emergency support to mass gatherings we have taken the decision to postpone Members’ Meeting.”
It’s another blow to the 2020 motorsport calendar, which has already seen the Formula 1 and Moto GP calendars postponed due to the threat of the Covid-19 virus, officially now a World Health Organisation global pandemic. Like other racing calendars, however, Goodwood hopes to commence with its later dates, including the FOS on the 9-12th of July and Revival on the 11-13th of September. At this stage it’s all up in the air, though, because some experts think the virus issue could remain widespread deep into 2020. All we can now do is cross our fingers. And wash our hands.
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