FESTIVAL OF SPEED
’m no petrolhead but I still love attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS). When I first learnt how to drive a Land Rover my instructor kept telling me “as slow as possible ,as fast as necessary.” The theme for the 2016 FOS was the exact opposite to this, being Full Throttle – the Endless Pursuit of Power.
Still, there is much to see and do at the Goodwood FOS if you are a Land Rover nut like me. It was probably the muddiest FOS ever thanks to the ever-present persistent rain, which turned the grassy car parks into mud baths. Great if you are in a Land Rover but not so if in a very expensive Ferrari or Mclaren. I did witness a few Land Rovers carrying out rescue operations in the muddy fields. My first port of call was the massive 3000 m2 Jaguar Land Rover stand – their biggest yet. Kim Palmer, the Land Rover UK Public Relations Manager, reminded me of when, only a few years ago, he was trying to sweep away the water off their small open air stand. How times have changed.
The show heralded the UK debut for the for the 200mph Jaguar F-TYPE SVR and the Goodwood debut for the Range Rover Evoque Convertible and Sport SVR in Spectral Racing Red. I was like a kid in a candy store and couldn’t resist playing with the remote controlled Discovery Sports around a specially constructed track.
The friendly chaps from www. explorecampers.com also had an impressive stand - the star of which was their fully kitted camper Defenders with two rooftop tents. All you need is your sleeping bag and toothbrush.
While my friends from Mission Motorsport had several racing cars on display, the one that attracted the most attention was the Bowler Motorsport prepared Defender Challenge vehicle recently featured in LRM.
The military had a display opposite them and
Ithey were proudly showing off Defenders too, as were several of our advertisers including Urban Automotive, Bishops 4x4 and Nene Overland, who were exhibiting their abrasive Raptor paint. It is like covering your Land Rover in coarse plastic sandpaper basically. The FOS is famous for its hill climb and so I took a walk to the top to see the finish. Just beyond this lay the rally section where the recovery vehicle was a Defender, of course. I also allowed myself a stop at the off-road racing section where the Britpart MD Paul Myers was throwing his Defender around the track. It looked like loads of fun. I then ran into Giniel de Villiers, who has finished on the Dakar podium seven times in the last 10 events. No one has been more consistent than him.
As there were no Land Rovers doing the hill climb this year I managed to arrange a ride in a Mclaren 675LT Coupé, as featured in a recent Top Gear episode. After going up the hill in this with a professional driver, it perhaps explains why Chris Evans used to scream all the time. It was like nothing else I have ever experienced, but it was a great relief to get back into the Discovery 4 which Land Rover lent me.
If you think that the FOS is not for Land Rover fans, then think again. They might not be going up the hill but still they are still to be found.