Rimblades' Favourite Goodwood FoS Moments of All Time
Sep 25, 2020
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a staple on the automotive calendar, first starting back in 1993. Every year, the event brings together some of the world's greatest cars, bikes and legends in motorsport.
Unfortunately, like most events and shows in our industry, this year's FoS has been cancelled. We can't wait to be able to go back down to Goodwood again and when we do, the excitement and atmosphere is sure to be greater than ever. Until then, we wanted to reminisce and share some of our all-time favourite Goodwood FoS moments. We’ve also included some awesome video clips from YouTube:
Brawn GP’s Return
First up in our favourite FoS moments comes from 2016, when Brawn brought their BGP 001, not seen in its original livery at the time for 7 years! It was the exact same car that Jenson Button drove in the season he won his championship. However, it wasn’t Jenson behind the wheel at the FoS, it was F1 Driver turned pundit, Martin Brundle.
John Surtees and Kimi Räikkönen
Next up is another fairly recent memorable moment that came 6 years ago, when the late John Surtees and Kimi Räikkönen (both world championship-winning Ferrari drivers) blasted up the hill in the exact cars they won their titles in - Surtees in the '64 Ferrari 158 and Räikkönen in the '07 F2007. Kimi even managed to keep it clean in the interview at the end!
Bugatti Chiron Debut
The Chiron, Bugatti's successor to the Veyron first debuted in the UK at the 2016 Goodwood FoS. The theme of the festival that year was “Full Throttle - The Endless Pursuit of Power”, something that the Chiron completely embodied, with its quad turbocharged 8-litre engine pushing out nearly 1500hp, and a top speed of 261mph! This was a supercar debut to remember.
Roborace Take on The Goodwood Hill Climb
In 2018, Roborace made history with their Robocar being the first driverless vehicle to take on Goodwood’s famous hill climb. While it wasn’t like the fast-paced, thrilling hill climbs that we’ve seen in the past (with the autonomous vehicle limited to 75mph), it was a truly defining moment. Their Robocar made several unofficial runs up the hill before its first public attempt which was in front of over 50,000 spectators. After the historic climb, Charles Gordon-Lennox, the Duke of Richmond and founder of the Festival of Speed, said: "It is an enormous achievement for a race car to complete the very first run of the hill using only artificial intelligence.”
Ferrari’s First Visit to The Festival of Speed
The first time Formula one teams visited the Goodwood Festival of Speed was back in 1994, with Williams, McLaren and Arrows all attending and putting on an incredible show. For us though, the more memorable moment was Ferrari’s maiden which happened 2 years later and comprised the full team including recently signed Eddie Irvine and their '95 412 T2.
Volkswagen ID R Smashes Record
Last year, Volkswagen's amazing ID.R, driven by French Racing and Porsche Factory Driver Romain Dumas, smashed Nick Heidfeld's previous Goodwood hillclimb record set in 1999! Despite looking decidedly ‘squirrely’ on the narrow track, the ID.R managed a time of 41.18 compared to the 41.6 second run Nick set in the McLaren MP4/13. This is a MUST watch:
Dougie Lampkin Let Loose!
12 years ago at the Festival of Speed, seven-time motorcycle trials world champion, Dougie Lampkin was invited to tour the majestic Goodwood House - on his bike! This was one of the most insane moments in the history of the event for us. He’s since rode on the roof of the house and popped wet wheelies on a CCM Spitfire at the event!
The Beast of Turin's Return
The Fiat S76 'Beast of Turin is a legendary car, spitting flames from the exhausts and producing 300HP (not bad for a 109-year-old car!). It returned to the Festival of Speed in 2015 with Lord March himself as a passenger, making several runs up the hill, and scooping the ‘Car of the Event’ award in the process.
“The King”
Nascar legend, "The King" Richard Petty, has appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on several occasions, but it was his debut appearance back in 2006 that was most memorable for us as he drove his restored, fully liveried, '72 STP Dodge Charger up the famous hill.
The Legendary Rally Duel
Probably one of the most amazing moments from Goodwood is the 1999 epic rally duel between Richard Burns and Colin McRae in the hill climb, the only 2 UK world rally champions, still to this day. We would sure love to fit a set of 'Blades on those gold Speedline St2's!
What’s your favourite Goodwood moment?
That’s it for our all-time favourite Goodwood Festival of Speed moments, which is your favourite? Is it one on this list or something else? You can let us know by tagging us on Social Media with the hashtag #RimbladesFoS
