Goodwood has announced that the 2024 Goodwood Revival will make history as it will be the first historic motorsport meeting to be powered by sustainable fuel.
Goodwood will require competitors to use a fuel which has a minimum of 70% advanced sustainable components, in accordance with the FIA’s current requirements for sustainable fuel. Serving as a drop-in fuel, no modification is required to the cars and there is no compromise on race performance. In fact, Goodwood’s first sustainably-fuelled winner came in the Rudge-Whitworth Cup at the 2023 Revival, as the 1925 Bentley Speed Model with the driver pairing of Ben Collings and Gareth Graham crossed the line ahead of competitors running on standard fuel
Four time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel who drove his ex-Nigel Mansell 1992 Williams FW14B and ex-Ayrton Senna 1993 McLaren MP4/8 on sustainable fuel at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, said:
“It was clear to me at the Festival of Speed that the team at Goodwood share my love of motor racing. I enjoyed sharing my ‘Race Without Trace’ initiative with the fans at the Festival of Speed and having the opportunity to show that sustainable fuels are a fantastic way to ensure a possible future pathway for the sport that we love. It’s great that Goodwood is leading the way in promoting the use of sustainable fuels at historic racing events.
Frequent Goodwood attendee and current Sky Sports F1HD pundit and commentator Karun Chandhok says:
The Duke of Richmond and his team have done a brilliant job at bringing motor racing to a new audience whilst celebrating the history of our beloved sport. I’ve been a very vocal supporter of sustainable fuels alongside electrification of motorsport and I think it’s hugely important to show the public that older high performance cars can run successfully on new fuels. This is an exciting and innovative step to ensure that we can all still enjoy these fantastic cars in a socially responsible way for the future”.
2009 Formula One world champion Jenson Button commented saying:
It was great to be a part of the Fordwater Trophy which brought together classic cars and the very latest in sustainable fuel technology. What’s so exciting about these fuels is that they can guarantee the future of historic racing, enabling us to enjoy combustion engine cars for years to come.
Actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson who is an avid car enthusiast said:
“I used synthetic fuel in my racing Jaguar at Goodwood this year and found it to be not just as good as the pump petrol used previously but in performance terms, superior to it in every way. It’s perhaps unsurprising that if you synthesise a fuel from first principles, you’re going to make a better product than that produced by just applying heat and pressure to some black gunk you dig out of the ground.”
The Duke of Richmond, founder of the Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival, said:
“Goodwood has an illustrious motorsport history and one which we are delighted to continue with the announcement that at next year’s Revival, all of our races will run on sustainable fuel. I am proud that we are the first to be mandating the use of sustainable fuels at the event, and would like to thank all of the participating owners, drivers and preparers for their support.”