[Carmagazine]
SATURDAY, DAY 2: LIVE NEWS FROM THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED.
The grandstands quickly filled up for day two of the Goodwood Festival of Speed to see a heady mix of supercars and racing cars charge up the hill – driven by a rosta of some of the finest drivers the world has ever seen. First out the blocks were the supercars with FoS debuts for the Aston Martin Vantage V12 RS, Artega GT and Lamborghini LP560. VW also showcased its roadgoing Scirocco GT24 and Toyota the 197bhp mid-engined Aygo Crazy, which will be at the London motor show later this month.
Former Pink Floyd drummer and all-round car fan Nick Mason drove the stunning re-creation Auto Union D Type with its supercharged triple cam V12 engine capable of over 200mph up the hill. Elsewhere there was a rare outing for the Lotus Rotorvic 23. Built in 1965, the 1.5-litre V12 united six air-cooled 2-stroke-V-twin Ariel Arrow engines.
Thrills and spills aplenty
There were some spills, too, however. A Jaguar XK120 ‘Montlery’ slid into the hay bales at Mollcomb corner – and the same bend caught out an heroically driven Donner Chevy Pikes Peak champion car, too. More details in our gallery (click on the thumbnails above and flick through our bespoke photography from Goodwood).
The Wacky racers made a popular return with their ranks expanded to include the Ant Hill mob, who caused havoc on the track in front of Goodwood House. And Stirling Moss pushed on with the Aston Martin DB3S while Justin Law put in a super-fast time up the hill in just 46 seconds in the Jaguar XJR12.
Mind you, he was beaten minutes later by Anthony Reid in the Williams FW07.
Planes and automobiles: a very Goodwood surprise
And when the action paused briefly for the lunch break, something typically strange happened: an Airbus 380 made a spectacular appearance overhead, surprising the crowds with a series of ultra-slow flypasts.
A very Goodwood mix of events, then. Come back for our report from the final day tomorrow (Sunday).
FRIDAY, DAY 1: LIVE NEWS FROM THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED
CAR's team is at the Goodwood festival, reporting live from the 2008 event. And ace photographer James Mann is beaming photos over direct from the festival – see his work in our gallery here; just click on the individual thumbnails to flick through the Goodwood gallery showing all the action as it happens.
The forecast bad weather held off all day to give visitors to this year Goodwood Festival of Speed a motoring banquet of the usual high calibre. The spectacular Land Rover central display in front of Goodwood House dominated proceedings with cars clinging to the 100-foot steel structure.
Bond cars at the Cartier Style et Luxe
Usually quieter than the weekend, this Friday seemed to be just as frantic with action taking place on the hill and rally stage all day long while the Cartier Style et Luxe attracted thousands of discerning classic fans. The James Bond cars were one of the themes featuring the famous Aston Martin DB5 – revolving number plates and all – plus five other 007 cars, including the submarine Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me.
The rally stage remained dry but that didn’t stop many of the cars leaving the track where they weren’t supposed to. Stig Blomqvist entertained in the 500bhp Audi Quattro in which he won the 1000 Lakes Rally, with not a wheel out of place on the dirt. And there were no less than six Escorts in various guises battling it out to show why they were so dominant in the hands of Hannu Mikkola and Roger Clark in 1968/69.
On the hill, Pedro de la Rosa pedalled the 2007 Lewis Hamilton McLaren up the hill to the delight of the crowds. Fancy the older F1 cars? Then you should have seen nine of the original 1908 Grand Prix cars put on a mighty charge re-enacting their last meeting at the 478-mile French race 100 years ago. Elsehwere, CAR assistant editor Ben Barry popped his Goodwood cherry, with a thrilling drive up the hill in a Nissan GT-R.
Come back tomorrow for a round-up of Day 2's proceedings.