The Goodwood Festival of Speed is celebrating 20 years since the first event in 1993. Unbelievably, the target audience for the inaugural Festival was a mere 5,000, but to the utter amazement of Lord March and others involved, more than 25,000 people turned up. However, many of those who attended didn’t pay, much like those who hopped over fences and jumped ditches to see early Grand Prix races. These days the Goodwood Festival of Speed has become a global event attracting 185,000 visitors, and needs very little or no introduction no matter which continent you’re from.
At the recent media day Lord March commented on the success of the Festival, “We started off back in 1993 and it is amazing to think the Festival of Speed has been going longer than the motor racing circuit that my grandfather opened in 1948, which closed down in 1966. I looked at all the cars, the drivers, the bikes and the riders that have been here over the last 20 years and I realized that actually this little piece of ground here, this 200 acres in front of the house, has played host to more of the greatest drivers and cars in the world than anywhere else.”
This year’s event, July 12-14, is entitled “The Best of the First 20 Years,” and will celebrate some of the high points of the past two decades by including vehicles such as the 1923 Voisin Grand Prix racer, the Milliken Camber car, the Napier Railton, the Golden Submarine and the Chaparral.
The Cartier “Style et Luxe” Concours d’Elegance will provide a bastion of cultured calm as always, with some of the world’s most extraordinary vehicles displayed in relaxed surroundings, accompanied by a soundtrack of fine jazz. Star vehicles will be complemented by many star drivers and riders, plus cars and motorcycles from each of the world’s major motor sport disciplines past and present, including champions from Formula One, Indycar racing, the World Rally Championship, Superbikes, NASCAR, World Sports Cars and Touring Cars.
Goodwood will recapture many of the outstanding Festival of Speed moments from the 1993-2012 era, whether that’s great cars from the USA and elsewhere making a rare return to the UK, or famous car/driver pairings reuniting, as well as all manner of memorable—and often outrageous—contraptions on the 1.16-mile hillclimb, all providing a fitting birthday party for the world’s greatest celebration of motor sport history and car culture.
Given the success of previous Goodwood Festival of Speed events, everyone intending to attend is encouraged to buy their tickets early as they sell out very quickly. For further details contact the Goodwood website www.goodwood.com/motorsport/ or via the Goodwood Ticket Hotline +44 (0)1243 755055.
By Mike Jiggle
