Goodwood FoS

Road & Track
The range of Mille Miglia cars plus sports racing, GT and saloon cars was equally impressive, with some spectacular examples of wonderful automobiles, including a monster 1930 Mercedes Benz 710 SSKL, a 1948 Nardi-Alfa Romeo Barchetta, Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, the unique Ferrari 212 E Montagna, through to cars from this year�s Le Mans 24 Hour Race. These were crowned by the winning Audi R8, which was displayed in the paddock alongside the magnificent perpetual trophy awarded for three successive victories with the same driving team. Also present were the Bentley EXP Speed 8, MG-Lola EX257, Courage-Peugeot C60, and the GTS class winning Chevrolet Corvette C5-R. The cars mentioned just being the tip of the iceberg of a diverse selection of machinery spanning a large number of years. Then there was the Supercar group of current road GT cars, that encompassed some of the finest sporting automobiles that money can buy, including the new Ferrari 575M Maranello, Pagani Zonda C12S and Bugatti based Edonis.

And More
As if the foregoing wasn�t enough to fill your weekend, there was activity in the sky including an RAF Tornado, The Blue Eagles helicopter display team, and of course everybody�s favourites, The Red Arrows aerobatic team. Then you had the motorcycle element with a vast array of bikes and stars of past and present, including Giacomo Agostini and Eddie Lawson, plus the increasingly popular downhill Soapbox Challenge. If you were celebrity spotting you would have had field day, the list of motor racing and motor cycling personalities would read like a who�s who of motor sport, everywhere you looked there seemed to be a familiar face, and all so accessible. One final ingredient, but a very important one at any outdoor event � the weather. Despite a cool start on Friday and some heavy rain in the afternoon, the remainder of the weekend was blessed with hot sunny conditions, with only light broken clouds, so this was the icing on a very special cake. Once again Lord March and his team produced a memorable Festival of Speed.

Keith Bluemel

Time at a Premium
Even if you attended all day every day of the event it is likely that you would miss something, such is the scope of displays, not only in the various paddocks and on the concours field, but in the numerous manufacturers display areas, plus a special dragster display on the cricket field, then there were the large vendor areas, helicopter rides, aerial displays, and that�s before you get to watch the action on the track. Add to this the concurrent Junior Festival of Speed catering specifically for the younger element with a range of displays, activities and shows, like the Team Extreme BMX/skateboard/in-line skating show, and it can be seen that there is an extremely full and varied programme to cater for virtually every taste.

Class Concours
The Cartier �Style et Luxe� concours once again provided a breathtaking display of elegance and luxury spanning the lifetime of the automobile, with the overall prize going to the jewel-like 1937 Alfa Romeo 2900B with coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan, owned by Chip Connor II. The display was really diverse ranging from children�s pedal cars through early examples of the caravan, motorcycle combinations, including a 1913 Rex with a basket weave sidecar, the finned wonder in the form of a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, to the achingly beautiful Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale.

Happy Anniversary
It seems quite incredible that it is already ten years since the first Goodwood Festival of Speed was held, and all the more amazing that the initial quality of the gathering has been maintained and expanded, such that it sets the standard by which others are now judged. This year was no exception, with a truly impressive array of machinery covering a wide spectrum of two and four wheel motoring activity, plus great support from the numerous sponsors, to provide a superb feast for the record crowd of over 138,000 people that attended over the three days.

F1 Big Time
Six of the current F1 teams were in attendance on the weekend between the British and French Grand Prix, Ferrari had an F2001 F1 car for their test driver Luciano Burti, McLaren had Alexander Wurz in an MP4/16, British American Racing had Anthony Davidson in a BAR-Honda 003, whilst Renault, Toyota and Williams not only had their latest equipment, but current F1 team drivers in the form of Jenson Button, Allan McNish and Ralf Schumacher respectively. All of whom were surrounded by a posse of autograph hunters whenever they showed their faces. However, they took it in good grace, and must have needed physiotherapy on their wrists by the end of the weekend, this close contact with the stars is much appreciated by the public after the insularity of the normal F1 paddock.

Rough Stuff
That is not to say that other fields of motor sport were not well represented, as their was an eclectic display of rally cars and off road vehicles, including examples of Renault R5 Turbo and Maxi Turbo, Lancia Delta S4 and 037 in their characteristic Martini liveries, Saab 96, Toyota Celica Pike�s Peak, which posted the fastest time of the meeting in the hands of Rod Millen, whilst Audi brought their Quattro S1 Pike�s Peak and Renault a Paris-Dakar �Buggy Schlesser�.

Days of F1 Past
Apart from the modern F1 cars there was a whole raft of classic F1 cars, including the main Renault feature display in front of Goodwod House celebrating 25 years of involvement in Formula 1, along with a broad cross section of their competition cars including the �Etoile Fillant� speed record car and their successful Le Mans racers. Another anniversary was 50 years since the foundation of Lotus, coupled with the 20th anniversary of company founder Colin Chapman. There was also a tribute to Ken Tyrrell with many of his company�s F1 cars in attendance, along with his star driver Sir Jackie Stewart, whilst Williams 25th anniversary was also feted with a fine selection of the company�s F1 machinery. Add to these a wide range of 1945 � 1970 single seaters including a Maserati 250 F, Cooper-Climax T51, and a Mercedes W196, and it can be seen that the Festival was a F1 fan�s delight.