2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Beginning on Friday, The Goodwood Festival of speed is one of the premier British motorshows. It’s spread over three days and pays homeage to many different style of automotive related speed, this years show focuses on the theme of ‘Hawthorn to Hamilton – Britain’s Love Affair with World Motor Sport’ with the former actually making an appearance on the hill on the Sunday.

Highlights of the show are expected to be the six, current formula one drivers that will take to the course over the three days, the rally stage with its tribute to the recently departed Colin McRae, a huge display of motorbikes, the new Airbus A380 that will fly past on Saturday and a 35 meter centerpiece outside the house to Land Rover. There will also be the Cartier Style et Luxe where there will be a James Bond display, and a display of Ultra Rare supercars, The Sunday Times Supercar run where favorites from current Supercars will be on show.

The cars we are most looking forward to seein would have to be the new Artega GT, Nissan GT-R and Mazda Furio concept, which all made a debut at the show. We will be there for the Friday of the event so check back this Saturday for more info and pictures on how the event is going. Below you can find the timetable for the 3 Days and the full press release.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE FOR FESTIVAL OF SPEED – 11.12.13 JULY, 2008

FRIDAY:

0630hrs Car Park Open
0845hrs Track Opens – Action on the hill
0900hrs Forest Rally Stage Opens
1100hrs Drag Strip Cacklefest
1325hrs Morning runs finish
1300hrs Forest Rally Stage Closes
1325hrs Supercars and Wacky Races take to the hill
1400hrs Forest Rally Stage Opens
1400hrs Afternoon runs begin
1600hrs Drag Strip Cacklefest
1700hrs Forest Rally Stage Closes
1805hrs Afternoon runs finish
1830hrs Hillclimb Closes

SATURDAY:

0630hrs Car Park Open
0845hrs Track Opens – Action on the hill
0900hrs Forest Rally Stage Opens
1100hrs Drag Strip Cacklefest
1330hrs Morning runs finish
1300hrs Forest Rally Stage Closes
1330hrs Supercars and Wacky Races take to the hill
1400hrs Forest Rally Stage Opens
1405hrs Afternoon runs begin
1600hrs Drag Strip Cacklefest
1700hrs Forest Rally Stage Closes
1825hrs Afternoon runs finish
1840hrs Hillclimb Closes

SUNDAY:

0630hrs Car Park Open
0845hrs Track Opens – Action on the hill
0900hrs Forest Rally Stage Opens
1100hrs Drag Strip Cacklefest
1330hrs Morning runs finish
1300hrs Forest Rally Stage Closes
1330hrs Supercars and Wacky Races take to the hill
1355hrs Air Display – Red Arrows
1400hrs Forest Rally Stage Opens
1405hrs Afternoon runs begin
1600hrs Drag Strip Cacklefest
1700hrs Forest Rally Stage Closes
1825hrs Afternoon runs finish
1840hrs Hillclimb Closes
1850hrs Prize giving

MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

In just one week the 2008 Festival of Speed (11-13 July) will get underway with around 150,000 excited motor sport enthusiasts coming to see their favourite star cars and drivers in action. The Festival of Speed is firmly established as the world’s greatest celebration of automotive culture with something to offer for every taste.

The theme of this year’s Festival is ‘Hawthorn to Hamilton – Britain’s Love Affair with World Motor Sport.’ Britain has always played a key role in the global motor racing industry, forging successful relationships with the rest of the motor sport world. From Mike Hawthorn – who used a Ferrari to become Britain’s first Formula 1 World Champion fifty years ago in 1958 – to current F1 star Lewis Hamilton, driving a British engineered car with German power, British drivers and engineers have utilised global resources to achieve success. The 2008 Festival honours these winning combinations.

There are thousands of reasons to visit the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed – below are just ten highlights:

Contemporary Formula 1: No less than six of today’s very best F1 teams will be at the Festival of Speed, with acclaimed current F1 drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Bourdais in attendance. A number of previous F1 heroes, including Sir Stirling Moss, Sir John Surtees and Damon Hill will also be tackling the challenging 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb course.

Forest Rally Stage: Current WRC teams will join more than 40 historic rally cars on the enhanced Goodwood Forest Rally Stage. Expect to see plenty of gravel-spitting sideways action from current WRC heroes such as Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson in the new hatchback Subaru Impreza WRC, as well as Ford Focus WRC drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Matthew Wilson, and rallying past masters, including Juha Kankkunen, Timo Makinen, Bjorn Waldergard, Martin, Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist and Gwyndaf Evans showing how it used to be done. A special tribute to rallying giant Colin McRae will feature at the event, including a paddock full of the machines that made him famous, such as his Subaru Impreza and Ford Focus WRC, along with lesser-known vehicles that he drove, including the Le Mans Ferrari 550 Maranello GTS and Jordan-Peugeot 196 F1 car.

Motorcycles: A who’s who of riders and bikes will be in attendance at Goodwood, with huge names such as Carl Fogarty, Troy Corser, Mick Doohan and Yukio Kagayama set to entertain the Festival crowds. Motorcycle highlights include the ex-Barry Sheene 1975 Suzuki XR14 RG500, ex-Mick Grant 1981 Yamaha OW53 YZR500 and ex-Randy Mamola 1989 Cagiva, as well as modern era bikes such as the Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000, BMW HP2 Sport, HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR and the Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000. Twelve-time international trials champion Dougie Lampkin will also be popping up all over the Goodwood Estate throughout the Festival weekend, riding on things that he shouldn’t.

Key Displays: Although still under wraps, this year’s extravaganza of automotive art directly outside Goodwood House will celebrate the diamond jubilee of Britain’s most travelled car marque – Land Rover. At over 35 metres high, this central feature will be one of the Festival’s largest and most ambitious yet, towering above Goodwood House, and visible from many miles away. In fact it is so tall that a red warning light has been fitted to alert any passing low-flying aircraft, including a flypast of the huge Airbus A380 ‘superjumbo’ on Saturday, and the Red Arrows air display team that will be performing at the event on Sunday. The Goodwood Cricket Pitch, the oldest in the world, will house a dozen top-fuel dragsters from the 1950s and 1960s with a twice-daily ‘cacklefest’ as these ultra-powerful machines fire up.

Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’: This prestigious annual homage to the finest in automotive design will this year include many of the extraordinary cars used by James Bond, including his iconic Aston Martin DB5 and Lotus Esprit, positioned on a special 007 film set. Other Cartier displays will range from the Ford Model T, celebrating its centenary, to the priceless supercharged coachbuilt pre-War Mercedes-Benz. Expect to see some ultra-rare supercars from the 1960s to the early 1990s, including the beautiful Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale and Audi AVUS.

The Sunday Times Supercar Run: A multi-million pound collection of the world’s most desirable contemporary exotica will be demonstrated on the Hill. Watch out for debuts of the stunning Bugatti Veyron 16.4 ‘Hermes’ and Aston Martin V12 Vantage RS being put though their paces, plus the first UK sighting of the new Artega GT, Nissan GT-R and Mazda Furio concept in action.

FoS-TECH: A recent Festival feature, this state-of-the-art technology exhibition focuses on the future of motoring and environmental issues in a series of interesting new initiatives and displays. FoS-TECH will showcase a variety of exciting new technologies from motor manufacturers, design specialists, oil companies and other motor industry suppliers, with exhibits of concept cars not seen in the UK before, including the Land Rover LRX, Toyota i-REAL, Morgan Lifecar, and the amazing Parajet Skycar, the world’s first and only flying carbon neutral automobile.

Junior Festival of Speed: Something to keep kids of all ages entertained, with masses of things to do, from discovering the latest Wacky Racers to big fun in the Big Top circus tent. The UK’s number one mountain bike stunt team, MAD, will amaze all, as will Rarekind, Britain’s only graffiti art gallery. And the live music is worth the ticket price alone, including the Ford Focus Orchestra making its Festival debut, playing instruments made from the parts of Ford Focus cars.

A Great Spectator Occasion: What Wimbledon is to tennis, and Henley is to rowing, so Goodwood is to motor sport, having quickly established itself as the place to be every summer to see the very best that motor racing has to offer. No other motoring event can match the unique combination of more than 350 vehicles and over 100 motor racing heroes, blasting up the drive of one of England’s most revered stately homes. Enthusiasts can enjoy watching a celebration of 50 years of BTCC and Lola racing cars in action, plus 40 years of racing F1 McLarens and Ford Escorts. No wonder the Festival of Speed has often been described as ‘the Garden Party of the Gods.’

GOODWOOD RACES FROM 0-60 IN 850 YEARS AT FESTIVAL

100 Years:

1908 French GP: For the first time since the famous 1908 French Grand Prix, a record number of the actual cars that competed in that race will be together again at the Festival, including GP cars from Benz, Itala, Mors and Mercedes.

Ian Fleming: The celebrated British author and James Bond creator would have been 100 this year. To mark this fact, the Festival will be gathering a selection of well-known cars used by 007 in various Bond movies as part of the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe.’ Confirmed cars present will include his Aston Martin DB5 with ejector seat from Goldfinger and the Lotus Esprit ‘submarine’ from The Spy Who Loved Me.

Ford Model T: Production of the Model T began in 1908, and a broad cross section of the world’s pioneering mass production vehicle will form part of the annual Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance

AC: The Centenary of AC will be honoured with a display of important models from the ex-Thames Ditton specialist car maker lined-up along the ‘Walk of Fame’ of the dunhill Driver’s Club, including a 1911 Sociable three-wheeler, a 1937 16/80 bodied by Lord March’s grandfather, plus the iconic 1960s Cobra.

60 Years:

Land Rover: Like Goodwood, Land Rover – the most travelled of British car marques – celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2008. Goodwood will help mark this significant birthday with a jaw-dropping 34-metre high installation directly outside Goodwood House. This central display will house a handful of Land Rover models, seemingly clambering over this huge structure. Examples of key models representing Land Rover’s history will be present at the Festival, including the first production model built in 1948, right up to the recent LRX concept car, getting its first UK public airing at Goodwood.

1948 Motor Show: The 1948 London Motor Show at Earls Court was the first significant post-War vehicle exhibition in Britain, with a number of now legendary cars launched at the event, including the Jaguar XK120, Morris Minor, Aston Martin DB1 and the first Land Rover. These cars, and others, will form the basis of a class in the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe.’

Porsche: The revered German sports car manufacturer also celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, since the launch of the first VW Beetle-based 356 production model. A selection of Porsches, illustrating the evolution of the rear-engined models, will be on the Cartier Lawn, as well as a number of iconic racing Porsches tackling the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb.

50 Years:

Mike Hawthorn: The theme of this year’s Festival is ‘Hawthorn to Hamilton,’ marking the 50th anniversary since Mike Hawthorn became Britain’s first F1 World Champion. As for Hamilton repeating Hawthorn’s success this year, who knows?

BTCC: Arguably the UK’s most popular race series, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), is 50 this year. To help celebrate, Goodwood is gathering a large selection of famous ex-BTCC cars and drivers, with TCC stars like Andy Rouse, Jack Sears, Win Percy, John Cleland, Steve Soper, Anthony Reid and Frank Biela being reunited with theirs cars from Ford, Jaguar, Vauxhall, Nissan, Audi and others.

Lola: To mark Lola’s half-century, a selection of significant Lola racing cars will be at the Festival, driven by famous names including John Surtees and Damon Hill.

Cosworth: Like Lola, another great British race engineering company – Cosworth – is also 50 this year, with Goodwood recognising the occasion with a selection of famous Cosworth-powered race cars.

40 Years:

McLaren: Legendary Formula One constructor McLaren celebrates 40 years of Grand Prix victories in 2008, and Goodwood marks this important achievement with an exciting display of significant McLaren race cars, including the championship-winning cars of Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. On Sunday 13 July, current works McLaren star Lewis Hamilton will drive his F1 car up the Goodwood hill.

Gulf: The distinctive pale blue and orange livery of the famous Gulf Oil-sponsored competition cars was first seen in the late 1960s and will be recognised by Goodwood with a paddock full of Gulf-livered competition cars, ranging from the Ford GT40, right up to the 2008 Aston Martin DBR9 that won its class at the Le Mans 24-hour race earlier this month.

Ford Escort: The Ford Escort was announced in 1968 as a humble family car successor to the popular Anglia. Forty years on, the Escort is now remembered more fondly for its dominance in rallying and circuit racing than as a car that your dad used to drive. Expect to see plenty of competition Escorts at Goodwood next month.