Goodwood Motor Circuit

Circuit guide by Chris Pollitt · dates updated 2 November 2026

Goodwood was the perimeter road of RAF Westhampnett, and the first race meeting ran in September 1948. It hosted the Tourist Trophy and the Glover Trophy until it closed to racing in 1966, then came back in 1998 for the first Revival. The layout hasn't changed since the chicane went in back in 1952, so it's the same lap that Moss, Clark and Hawthorn drove. There's no modern run-off, just grass and banks, and the speeds are high.

Track days are for cars only. Goodwood runs its own days in 15-minute sessions with a small number of cars out at once, so it's calm and spacious compared with an open pit lane day. There are two main noise categories. The standard 98dB days suit most road cars, while the 105dB days have even fewer cars on track and are the ones for supercars and historics. It's not cheap, but the lap is fast and flowing, and you get to drive a big piece of motor racing history. Novices can book tuition, and sighting laps are offered.

A lap of Goodwood Motor Circuit

Layout: Full Circuit, 3.809 km (2.37 miles)

From the start line, get fully over to the left and brake gently for Madgwick, a long right taken in about fourth gear that rises over a crest. It has two apexes. In a modern car on grippy tyres, you miss the first one by a car width or so and let the car run towards the second. Get on the power just before the crest. Powerful rear-drive cars can step out over the bump in the wet. You'll usually be in fifth by the exit.

Fordwater is a very fast right, flat or close to it in most cars, but you need smooth hands. Stay tight to the apex in the dry and wider in the wet, as water sits there. Then it's a bumpy stretch towards St Mary's. Don't lift. The first part of St Mary's is a right taken in fourth after a short, firm brake just over a slight crest, and it leads into a tighter left that drops into a dip. The car goes light as the road falls away under acceleration, so be patient with the throttle and don't run wide.

Climb out of the dip on full throttle, stay left, and brake in a straight line for Lavant, a long, double-apex right taken in third. The camber pushes you wide, so be precise at turn-in and add power progressively from the first apex. Stay off the painted kerbs when it's damp. Then you're onto the Lavant Straight, which has a kink in the middle and is where the big speeds come up. Look for the darker patch of tarmac past the kink as your cue to move left for Woodcote.

Woodcote is a fast right with a heavy braking zone, roughly from the 100m board, and it tends to push the nose wide towards the outside kerb. Then comes the chicane, a right-left with a reputation of its own. Trail the brakes into the right, take the left-hand apex late and tight, and get the power on early for the run past the pits. The apex used to be a brick wall, so respect it.

Track day tips

• Pick your noise category carefully. The 98dB days rule out a lot of sports exhausts, and the 105dB days cost more but have fewer cars.
• There's very little run-off anywhere. Fordwater and Lavant are fast, so build up to them over a few sessions.
• In the wet, water collects on the Fordwater apex. Take a wider line when it rains.
• Don't lift on the bumpy run from Fordwater to St Mary's. Keeping the car loaded is quicker and calmer.
• Bring your photocard licence, as photocopies aren't accepted at sign-on, and long trousers are compulsory.
• Open-wheelers and three-wheelers aren't allowed on Goodwood's own track days.

Getting there

The circuit is just north of Chichester, off the A27 and next to Goodwood Aerodrome. Use PO18 0PH in the sat nav. From London, it's usually the M3 or A3 and then the A27, and from the west it's the M27 and A27. Chichester railway station is about 10 minutes away by taxi. Portsmouth's ferry port is close by for anyone coming from France, and Gatwick and Southampton are the nearest big airports. Chichester has a good range of hotels, but they fill up fast around Festival of Speed and Revival weekends.