A friend of Carbs and Coffee from Sweden recently hopped over to the UK to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed! He was also kind enough to document his experience with some pictures and the following piece!
Story and photographs by: Johan Calebsson
As motorheads there are certain words and locations that make our hearts beat slightly faster. LeMans 24 Hrs, Indy 500, Spa Francorchamps, Villa d’Este and a whole slew of Italian race tracks. Undoubtedly one of the most spectactular motorfests celebrated its 30th anniversary recently – the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Founded in 1993 by Lord March who invited 25,000 of his closest friends to race uphill and admire each other’s cars, the event has grown to a world renowned event where hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts (most of them more blue collar than blue blood) get to enjoy the sights and sounds of unique vehicles spanning from 1900’s racers to world premieres unveiled by the biggest brands in the automobile industry.
This year started out with rain and wind the first two days and as wind speeds climbed to 50 mph, Saturday saw the first cancellation due to severe weather in the festival’s history.
To every Sunday ticket holder’s relief the gates opened again on Sunday. I could not keep myself from speeding down the winding country roads south of London in a less than pulse augmenting Vauxhall Corsa.
Traffic and parking management was well thought out and after a brisk walk (and slower tractor ride) I finally made it into the Goodwood estate.
walking from Königsegg Jesko, to Bugatti Bolide
I was almost teary eyed when it dawned on me that I was walking from Königsegg Jesko, to Bugatti Bolide, to several Paganis (including Huayra R), to McLaren Solus GT, to the final classic Lamborghini V12 Revuelto as the sound of a wildly revving Gordon Murray T50 was replaced by the sound of generations of Formula 1 cars starting their ascent up the Hillclimb.
I didn’t shed a tear at my wedding or when my two children were born if you were wondering. Just for context.
If you plan on going (and you really should) my advice would be to spend two days if you want to see everything, one day will require some decisions.
The main attraction is definitely the hillclimb where cars are divided into batches and floor it, timed or untimed, up a narrow 1,890 meter track.
What’s unique to Goodwood Festival of Speed is that you will see cars of astronomical value that normally spend their days under cover in an air sealed room as a collector’s item suddenly floor it up a narrow track, sometimes ending badly. This Sunday ’s most expensive crash was a McLaren F1 GTR which got fairly wrecked, sadly. The last one sold for over 20 million dollars in 2019. Either way it’s really exciting as a spectator to see irreplaceable cars driven as fast as they can go.
A grandstand pass is a warm recommendation and will let you rest in any of several stands along the circuit. The ones opposite Goodwood Estate are good as many cars do donuts outside it and you get a sense of the speed on the long straight. The start is always exciting and closer to the end is where you’ll find a curve where most crashes happen.
applause was frequent for old cars
The atmosphere in the stands was great. People were ooohing and aaahing as cars swooshed by and applause was frequent for old cars, waving motorcycle riders or when crashing drivers emerged from their wrecks in one piece.
The batches are sensible even if the boundaries are sometimes a little unclear since many vehicles fit into more than one category. If nothing else it helps to keep a common theme for each batch so you can watch decades of F1 and Le Mans cars speed up the hill together, then rally cars through time, drifting cars go sideways and some brands get their spotlight moment (eg, McLaren, Lotus and Porsche).
In the end the McLaren Solus GT was the fastest car up the hill with a time of 45.34 seconds, not beating the McMurtry Speirling’s record 39.08 from last year. The Speirling went untimed this year but looked to be under 40 seconds again. Speaking of seconds, the wildest run of the day was silver placed Travis Pastrana in a 1983 Subaru GL Family Huckster with active aero that stands on end during braking. A car built by the Hoonigan team and the late Ken Block. Obviously modified but impressive nonetheless to beat a McLaren-Cosworth M26, 911 GT3, Ferrari 488 Challenge and electric supercar Rimac Nevera.
Jaguar XJ220, Bugatti EB110, Mercedes CLK LM
There is a rally stage and a paddock for classics like Jaguar XJ220, Bugatti EB110, Mercedes CLK LM and enough priceless 60’s Ferraris to make a Saudi prince broke that I just couldn’t fit in this time.
What I did experience in a full day at the Goodwood Festival of Speed far exceeded the high expectations I had and I will definitely return.
I brought my kids, 14 year old boy and eleven year old girl, along and they were just as thrilled as I was, not even my daughter getting bored with a full day of engine noises (some electric) and squealing tyres.
In a time where petrol heads are chased by legislators and activists it’s really nice to celebrate the automobile in a family friendly yet spectacular fashion.
Here’s to seeing you all at Goodwood some time.
A huge thank you to Johan for sharing his experiences with us – it’s nice to have an unofficial European corespondent!
