Goodwood Festival of Speed
Lord March hosts another fantastic Festival of Speed… but don’t worry if you missed it, the Goodwood revival’s in September.
There was a great deal of buzz about the Festival of Speed this year. Keen to increase the popularity of Goodwood, Lord March employed the powers of the internet to attract the unaware to the action-packed weekend. An inspired video of the 12 times World Trials Champion, Dougie Lampkin, tearing through Goodwood House from the ground floor all the way to the roof on a raucous motorbike, entranced Youtube and subsequently the news channels. I was very excited. Having been to the event before, I was relishing the opportunity to see the sights and hear the sounds. The tickets are similar in price to those of a Premiership football match, and I’m quite sure which one I’d rather go to. This year, I decided to take my brother and father along, neither of whom had been before. We made an early start and climbed into my sibling’s Jaguar Mk2. After an hour of comfortable motoring from central London to Sussex, with plenty of Goodwood bound, rare and exotic machinery to see on the roads travelling with us; we arrived with great anticipation. Thankfully, the weather was good, which always seems to be the case there; Goodwood makes it’s own anomalous weather. The sights and sounds of Goodwood beat my ability to describe them. There are manufacturers’ stands with the latest models, that men and children alike can climb inside and paw to their hearts’ content. This year, the car that caught our attention was the frankly mind-blowing Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé. My God, what a phenomenally imposing car that is. I just hope my father’s saving his pennies as I write. In the same area of Goodwood, there are also trade stands, where punters can pick up classic and modern car parts, automobilia and automotive artwork with excellent discounts. 
However, this is not the limit as to what makes The Festival of Speed unique as a motor sport event. Thanks to the event’s classifi cation as a hillclimb, its stunning location and desire to refl ect the style and history of motor sport, visitors are afforded unparalleled views of the action – separated only by a few metres and reinforced straw bales from the track. Throughout the weekend, a myriad of different cars and bikes from many eras sprint along the track and up the hill towards the rally s tage. One minute you’ll be watching a 1980s BWM M3 touring car, the next a 24 litre aero engined Napier Railton, and then the 2008 McLaren Mercedes F1 car. The record time for the hillclimb was set in 1999 when Nick Heidfeld drove a McLaren MP4/13 Formula One car up the hill in 41.6 seconds. For safety reasons, Formula One cars are no longer allowed to do offi cial timed runs, and will often focus on demonstrations that are spectacular rather than fast. The noise of an F1 car lighting up its tyres 6 feet away from you cannot be described, and should only be experienced. Not only did we get to see these amazing vehicles up close, we could walk up to the areas where the mechanics would tend to them under old-fashioned, wooden, open “garages”. Ultra-rare Ferraris and Lamborghinis would nestle next to the odd Lola or Auto Union, and other modern and old dreamcars. Close-by the Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’elegance displays the “art exhibition”. Beautifully preserved and restored cars from all decades, vie for the attention of the crowds. I was particularlytaken by Ralf Lauren’s Mercedes 710 SSK- whose 1st owner was a wealthy Italian, Count Trossi, who immediately had the car shipped out to Britain, to be comple tely restyled. My dad, however, could not be pulled away from Peter Livanos’s enormous drop-top Mercedes. Having enjoyed the sights and sounds of the holding bays, and the beauties within the Cartier enclosure, we made our way up the hill towards the rally stage. Halfway up, we came across the Bowler enclosure. Unlike everyone else, the Bowler company- which produces the Wildcat, a highly modifi ed Land Rover Defender- had a fi eld to tear up. The Bowler drivers would not go alone, they were accompanied by strappedin show visitors. Unfortunately, the queue for a spot in the passenger seat was quite long, and my patience is not. A tractor which tows a train of carriages, pulled us up the rest of the hill to the rally stage. Once again, the action is at the tip of your nose, especially just beyond the jump where the best is to be seen. 
The majority of the rallycars were kept in a holding area on the top of the hill. Metro 6R4s and Peugeot 205s squatted next to the odd Landcrab, or Subaru Imprezza. The whole event was started by Lord March. Goodwood’s motoring history was started by Lord March’s grandfather, the 9th Duke of Richmond. He was a renowned amateur racer and expanded his interest in the sport by creating a track on the perimeter road that bordered the WWII aerodrome situated on his property. That period of motoring came to an end in 1966 after 18 years and is celebrated each year by the Goodwood Revival, which takes place in September. Shortly after taking over the estate in the early nineties, Lord March wanted to bring back motor racing to Goodwood Circuit, but did not have the necessary permit to host a race there. He instead hosted it on his own grounds, and hence the reason it’s offi cially billed as a hill climb. Goodwood House and the land around it is the per fect setting for an action packed weekend. It’s typically British, and all the better for it, but perhaps the best thing about Goodwood is the atmosphere. All of the people there appreciate the machinery on display, they’re a friendly sort. There’s never any trouble, and the whole event exudes grace and elegance. My brother, father, and I all had an excellent time, and would all go again without a moment’s hesitation- I just hope next time it’s for the full 3 days in a Phantom Coupé.
