2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed
The 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed weekend has officially begun and for the first time in a few years we are sadly not attending the great event this year. However, here is our guide of things to look forward to at this year’s show.
If you dont already know, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the most famous events on the motoring calendar where visitors are given the opportunity to be up close to the latest and greatest cars from the world’s best car manufacturers along with classic motor memorabilia, past and present racing cars, bikes and anything else to do with wheels and an engine. Manufacturers are clearly seeing the marketing benefit of this show as 20 different manufacturers are showcasing this year alone. As you may know, every year Goodwood celebrate the spirit and values of a single manufacturer by featuring them on their giant sculpture that serves as the shows centre piece where it’s viewed by over 150,000 people. This year is no exception as the 40 metre tall sculpture will be celebrating the success of Mazda in motorsport and will feature the Le-Mans winning 787B and LM55 Vision Gran Turismo concept car.
Cars to look forward to
McLaren will be marking the 20th anniversary of their stunning 1995 Le Mans victory with the return of a super rare McLaren F1 GT and a customised McLaren P1 prepared by McLaren Special Operations. The F1 GT is one of the rarest McLaren road cars ever built with only 3 cars worldwide and this being chassis number 58F1GT. On the other hand, the P1 will be presented in a unique white, blue and red paintwork which harks back to the helmet worn by the former F1 champion Alain Prost. The stunning new McLaren 570s Coupe will also be making its dynamic debut by driving up the famous hill along with the track only P1 GTR.
With Land Rover ceasing production of their legendary Defender, they will be making a special appearance at the festival by showcasing their two millionth Defender Series 1 Land Rover that rolled off the production line in Solihull. With Special Vehicle Operations adding some cosmetic and engineering changes along with various high profile names such as Jaguar Land Rover’s CEO and Chairman of Bonhams lending help in the building process; this car will be auctioned in December by Bonhams with the proceedings going to Land Rover’s Red Cross and Born Free charities. Other Land Rover products that will be at the show include a debut of the Range Rover SV Autobiography, which is the most luxurious Range Rover ever built. The 2016 model year Discovery Sport and Evoque will be showcased along with the mighty SVR which will be thundering up the hill. As usual, Land Rover will be offering visitors passenger rides on their off-road course which is always a crowd pleaser.
Other cars to look forward to include the debut of the 592bhp V12 Aston Martin Vantage GT12, Ford Focus RS, Ford GT, Koenigsegg Regera, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Bentley’s new revised Continental GT, Morgan’s all electric EV3, Lotus new 3-Eleven, Nissan Juke R Nismo, VW XL1, Golf R400, Polo R WRC car and many more.
Motorsport
As usual, the F1 cars tend to be one of the main attractions of the show and this year is no exception with five current F1 teams showcasing their race cars. MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi and other bike legends such as Casey Stoner, Freddie Spencer and Kenny Roberts will be riding up the hill which should please all bike enthusiasts. To mark the 60th anniversary of Sir Stirling Moss’s victory at the Mille Miglia in 1955, seven of the eight beautiful Mercedes 300 SLRs will be also showcased which should be quite a sight. Furthermore, if you like NASCAR then you won’t be short changed as this year they will be a variety of Nascar racers including a display by Richard Petty. Finally WRC star and YouTube drifting sensation Ken Block will be at the event in his 850bhp Hoonicorn Ford Mustang which should thrill most fans as you are guaranteed plenty of tyre smoke.
Bonhams Auction
With 90 cars for sale at this year’s Festival of Speed Bonhams auction, this should also be one of the more interesting and expensive parts of the weekend. There’s a wide selection of modern, old, road and racing cars. Highlights at this year’s auction include Sir Stirling Moss Porsche RS-61 Spyder made for the Targa Florio, Aston Martin LM19 which competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin DB4 convertible, Mercedes McLaren SLR, 2004 Ferrari Enzo, and a Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster. This GTR is one of only 6 cars built worldwide and has only covered eight kilometres since new. More impressively this car was owned by Mercedes-Benz until last year where it was fully serviced and kept on the button.
There’s no doubt that this year’s Festival of Speed is going to be a great exhibition especially with this year’s theme being “Flat Out and Fearless: Racing on the Edge”. We sure cannot recommend this event enough and hope that you attend this event at least once to witness the passion of the people, excitement, noise and great cars on display.