Dreams fulfilled at the Goodwood
Festival-goers rub elbows with racing heroes
WEST SUSSEX, U.K. — Wearing his trademark tartan-trimmed helmet, Sir Jackie Stewart waved to the huge crowd before climbing into a 1954 Mercedes W196 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“It’s a great thrill to be here and drive one of the most valuable motor cars in the world,” he said later of the Mercedes Silver Arrows. A similar machine holds the world’s record for the most expensive car ever sold at public auction.
“I think this one’s even more valuable because it’s won more grands prix.”
It was a dream fulfilled for the 75-year-old “Flying Scot” to drive the grand prix car raced by his hero, Juan Manuel Fangio.
He’s not the only one. For most of the capacity crowd milling about the Goodwood Estate, the Festival is the type of experience that dreams are made of.
Founded in 1993 by the Earl of March, the event takes place on the Goodwood Estate, a 12,000acre English landholding of the sort only seen in Merchant-Ivory productions. The site boasts a legacy rich in British motor racing, and when Lord March was unable to revive the nearby Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit, he simply decided to host it on the grounds of the family’s estate. Thus, the Festival of Speed was born.
Although the centrepiece of the three-day event is the 1.86-km Hill Climb, spread about the vast estate are the finest examples of historic and modern-day automobile indulgence in the world. These range from priceless 100-year-old classics, to Formula One race cars, and modern-day supercars. World Rally superstars compete on the Goodwood Forest Rally Stage and there are even spectacular displays by some of the world’s top BMX and motocross riders.
Soaring over the grand estate is a glorious tribute to sponsor Mercedes-Benz, celebrating 120 years in motor racing. The 90-metre sculpture suspends two cars spanning 80 years of the company’s racing history — a 1934 W25 Silver Arrow and a Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 — curving 26 metres over the roof of Goodwood House.
Maserati chose to celebrate its 100th anniversary at Goodwood, with a Cartier Style et Luxe concours display on the house lawns — featuring the glorious A6 1500 Pinin Farina, the debut of the stunning Alfieri and the largest collection of Maserati race cars ever assembled.
The paddocks were jammed with fans straining to catch glimpses of contemporary Formula One champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and legends John Surtees, Damon Hill and Stirling Moss. The Formula cars were the indisputable crowd favourites of the hill climb; engines screaming like trumpeting bull elephants made any communication other than delighted smiles impossible.
Other crowd favourites were Brian Redman, one of the most successful drivers in motorsports history, in the Porsche 917 PA driven by Grand Prix winner Jo Siffert. Redman chatted with the crowd from the open cockpit of the white Porsche as he made his way to the start line.
Derek Bell signed autographs, then laughed good-naturedly at a fan’s request for a selfie. “Bloody hell,” he said, draping his arm over the woman’s shoulders as she ecstatically holds the camera aloft.
Kimi Räikkönen, who later drove his 2007 title-winning Ferrari F1 car up the hill climb, casually strolled across the estate front lawns with young family members early Saturday morning.
For festival-goers, it’s this rare opportunity for interaction with their heroes that makes Goodwood one of the ultimate experiences for a motorsport fan. Aside from the chance to glimpse, and perhaps even rub elbows with legendary drivers, fans are also welcome to get close to some of history’s most iconic vehicles, from “Old Number 1” — the original 1929 Le Mans winning Bentley Speed Six — to Paddy Hopkirk’s 1964 Monte Carlo Rally-winning Mini Cooper S, and even Richard Petty’s 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX. It’s over a century’s worth of racing history, whether on two wheels or four.
There were a few spills to go along with the thrills.
The Goodwood hill climb doesn’t look particularly hazardous, but its subtle curves are deceptively challenging and proved the downfall of an Alfa Romeo 4C, and the Sin Cars R2, making its world debut at the festival. Both cars sustained heavy damage.
Six-time Gold Olympic cycling medallist Sir Chris Hoy overshot the notorious “Molecomb” corner of the hill climb, burying his rare Nissan GT-R Nismo deep within the straw bales lining the course. Exiting the car unscathed, Hoy waved and gave an embarrassed shrug toward the crowd at smashing one of only two rare prototypes in the U.K.
However, his teammate, Jann Mardenborough, took the hill climb record for supercars in 49.27 seconds. What makes this win even more spectacular is that Mardenborough is a former gamer whose only behind-the wheel experience prior to 2011 was of the Gran Turismo video simulation variety.
The fastest time of the day belonged to nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb, who rocketed to the top of the hill in 44.6 seconds in his Peugeot 208 T16.
While grounds crews made quick work of clearing the track during the few crash incidents — spectators were treated to spectacular aeronautics during the delays.
Lord March has managed to preserve a piece of Britain’s vanishing history, while at the same time indulging his own passion.