Love speed, love racing and anything related to motorsport? If so, the Goodwood festival of speed is the place to visit this June for the largest motoring garden party in the world! Fans of F1, the WRC, NASCAR and Moto GP will be passing through the stalls at the UK’s premier motorsport celebration from Thursday June 26th to Sunday June 29th. You’ll see a host of ex-karters at Goodwood, including the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. To whet your appetite here are some interesting facts about the 2014 festival of speed.

• The first festival of speed was organised by the Earl of March back in 1993 and attracted a crowd of 30,000 people. In comparison, the three day event now attracts crowds of over 300,000 people so there’s no doubting how popular it has become.

• The Hill Climb is one of the major attractions of the festival of speed, cars and bikes from various decades take it in turns to travel up the 1.16 mile course, the fastest times are recorded and the course rises over 300ft from the start to the finish.

• The fastest time up the hill was set back in 1999 by Nick Heidfield driving a McLaren MP4-13. He blistered up the track in a mere 41.6 seconds and the record still stands today.

• A rally stage was introduced in the forest at Goodwood back in 2005. It was designed by ex-rally World Champion Hannu Mikkola and visitors get to see classic rally cars like the Mini Coopers of the 1960s, the Ford Escorts of the 1970s and the Audi Quattros of the 1980s being put through their paces once more by well-known drivers such as Russell Brookes, Jimmy McRrae and a host of modern day drivers.

• Plenty of famous faces can be spotted at Goodwood, buy tickets for the Saturday or Sunday for example and it really is a celebrity who’s who of well-known people. The great thing about the event is fans are able to meet racing legends in person and spend time in paddock areas getting up close to some of the most iconic vehicles from motorsport. Where else could you see Sir Sterling Moss racing a classic Mercedes, Chris Evans, driving his fleet of Ferraris or Jenson Button doing ‘doughnuts’ on the circuit in his McLaren than the glorious Goodwood festival of speed? It’s a magnet for anyone that’s enthusiastic about motorsport so if you’re into karting why not visit the festival this year?

Share this page
< Back to blog
»