THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL of Speed is an annual motoring spectacle held in England, set against the spectacular backdrop of Goodwood House in West Sussex and is described as the world’s largest automotive garden party.
Goodwood has vintage, classic and priceless cars as well as modern greats, future models and the hot sports cars. Not to mention, trucks, motorbikes and the Red Arrows also make an appearance. So there is something for every type of petrol head.
There is also a race-to-the-top in a nail-biting hill climb, which sees vehicles and drivers of all ages put the pedal to the metal to see who will be the quickest up the 1.86km driveway of the Goodwood estate. This year, Olly Clark won the shootout for the second year in a row with an incredible time of 46.29-seconds in his Subaru Impreza “Gobstopper II’. His speed across the line was a rapid 225.6km/h.
The event also saw Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves take to the hill six times on his own Arch motorcycle; Keanu co-founded the Arch Motorcycle Company to create a bike in his own vision and was demonstrating the bike all weekend, as well of course as signing autographs and posing for photos with fans.
Also tackling the hill climb, and making it look easy was Formula One driver Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes W05 hybrid Formula One car. Ken Block also took to the course and put the Ford Fiesta RS43, star of Gymkhana 8, through its paces.
The festival saw the debut of the 1,500hp Bugatti Chiron, worth around £2 million, which is billed as the world’s fastest hypercar. Bugatti claims this quad-turbocharged monster has a top speed of 420km/h and a 0-100km/h time of just 2.5 seconds. Lord March became the first non-professional driver to get behind the wheel of the Chiron when he drove it up the hill climb.
Apart from the Bugatti, nearly 30 brand new cars made some form of debut at this year’s event including the Aston Martin DB11, the McLaren 570S Sprint and the Tesla Model X.
Renault’s hot version of its Twingo city car, boasting 110hp was also unveiled to the world for the first time, along with the new MINI Seven and the much-anticipated Ford Fiesta ST200 was also launched as the Fiesta celebrates its 40th anniversary.
UK debuts included nine new Audi models, the new Nissan GT-R, the Lexus LC500, the Ferrari 488 Spider, the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Maserati’s first ever SUV, the Levante, the Jaguar F-Type SVR, the new Bentley Mulsanne, Bentayga and GT Flying Spur and the Porsche 911 R.
Mazda’s latest iteration of its iconic MX-5, the MX-5 RF also debuted at this year’s festival. Its striking ‘fastback’ styling builds on the MX-5’s award-winning design to combine unique open-topped motoring with enhanced cabin comfort and quietness with the roof in place. Also at Goodwood, was the one-millionth Mazda MX-5 ever produced, as well as the MX-5 Speedster and Spyder concept cars, which were inspired by vintage roadsters and each offers a unique take on the world’s best-selling two-seater roadster.
Finally, in this year’s Cartier “Style et Luxe” concours d’elegance contest, the Lamborghini museum’s own 1971 Miura SV was crowned overall victor.
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