Goodwood Festival of Speed
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| Location | West Sussex, England,United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Major events | Goodwood Festival of Speed |
| Circuit length | 1.86 kilometres (1.16 miles) |
| Turns | 9 |
| Lap record | 41.6 seconds (Nick Heidfeld, McLaren, 1999) |
Typically held in late June or early July, the event is always scheduled to fit into the motor racing calendar, enabling not just fans but many teams involved in current motor racing championships to attend. Visitors can expect to see cars and motorbikes from over 100 years of worldwide motor racing history climb the hill, including the several of the latest Formula One machines. Aside from the machines, the event attracts a host of names from the past and present of motor racing, offering a rare chance to see world famous names driving a wide range of machines.
Between 2000 and 2004, one of the unique features of the event was the Soapbox Challenge, a downhill race for gravity powered cars, as accident became frequent, costs of cars became higher and safety rules became tighter it did not return in 2005. The specially built forest stage course for rally cars would be introduced for that year. The other unique feature since 1997 until 2005, was the Gerry Judah sculpture in front of the house with rare racecars tied on the structure.
This however is not the limit as to what makes The Festival of Speed completely unique as a motor sport event in the minds of most commentators. Thanks to the event's classification as a hill climb, its stunning location and desire to reflect the style and history of motor sport, visitors are afforded unparalleled views of the action - separated only by a few metres and reinforced straw bales from the track. In addition, visitors are free to walk around several paddocks where the cars and drivers can be viewed at close quarters. The atmosphere of the Festival of Speed, when compared to the separation of fan from driver and machine common to most top end motor sport events, encourages participation by the fan and is another feature unique to this event.
The record time for the hillclimb was set in 1999 when Nick Heidfeld drove a McLaren MP4/13 Formula One car up the hill in 41.6 seconds. For safety reasons Formula One cars are no longer allowed to do official timed runs, and will often focus on demonstrations that are spectacular rather than fast. In 2006 Heikki Kovalainen completed the course in a Renault R25 F1 car and was unoffically timed below 40 seconds. [link]
The Goodwood Festival of Speed has a sister event, the Goodwood Revival Meeting. This event, normally held in early September, relives the glory days of the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit and is viewed by many enthusiasts as the perfect complement to the Festival of Speed.
Honoured Car Manufacturer
- 1997 - Ferrari
- 1998 - Porsche
- 1999 - Audi
- 2000 - Jaguar
- 2001 - Mercedes-Benz
- 2002 - Renault
- 2003 - Ford
- 2004 - Rolls-Royce
- 2005 - Honda
- 2006 - Renault
External links
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