Goodwood Festival of Speed 2023 PT1 - 13/07/23
Words and Images by Mitcham Media
Probably the largest and most anticipated car culture event in the calendar was upon us with the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
We made the trek down to join the queues bright and early on Thursday morning for a full day to cram everything in. Firstly we were struck with how busy the event was, normally the Thursday is the most quiet day meaning better access and less people in the way but it was chaos with long queues for just crossing the track.
One of the first stops was the Lanzante stand featuring a full range of the phenomenal perfection they produce and maintain.
From road converted McLaren P1 GTRs to the launch of a Porsche 930 Tag Turbo (featuring an F1 car engine) the attention to detail and no expense spared preparation is exquisite.
More will follow of Lanzante at Festival of Speed and the business they run, watch this space.
Attention to detail still at the front of mind at Lanzante leads very well onto the Singer who featured a DLS and a Turbo study in the Hill Climb also had a minimalist stand on the lawn with a clean cream run way featuring a Turbo Study and an exposed turbo power train sat behind.
As a big Porsche fan its always a treat to see anything produced by Singer, the classic style is always the favourite but the Turbo study has certainly had an attempt at knocking the classic off the top spot.
Keep your eye out for a full blog post on Singer at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Walking up the hill you’re quickly made aware of the dust and ferocious noise being produced by the Ultra4 and Cross Country off-roaders tearing round.
From bouncing across chasms and ruts to flying through the air, these monstrous beasts weren’t letting anything stop them from shredding the dirt.
Just watching looked like being an occupant would be great fun but also a full blown assault with the aggression ready to bruise every part of you.
Reaching the top of the hill climb and keeping the off-road theme going, the rally stage was in full throws with everything from Citreon DS’s to Group B Beasts and modern Rally2 and WRC cars.
Stars taking to the stage included Jari-Matti Latvala, Elfyn Evans and many more. Latvala was giving the concept Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car a thrashing through the chalky stage, putting it through it’s paces and showing what it’s capable of, lets hope Gazoo Racing and Toyota take the Rally2 to the next level and make it available for competitors.
Given the normal nature of the features on this website you won’t be surprised to hear there will be a full feature on the rallying at Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Cartier Lawn is a personal highlight every year, always featuring unicorns with the most rare and seldom seen vehicles in the world on display.
This year a selection of art deco looking Americana took the higher ground of the lawn with the vast, smooth lines detailed with chrome. Next up was a collection of some of the most iconic Ferrari classics including a stunning, deep green, 275 GTB.
Last but by no means least was the 90’s GT cars providing a true 200mph club with the (ex Musk) McLaren F1, Bugatti EB110 and Porsche 996 GT1 amongst many more homologation specials.
Watch this space for a full post on the lawn.
A wander round the paddock showed the full range of attendees at the Festival of Speed, from pre-war aero engined leviathans, to NASCARs, to the latest generation of LMPs cars. Road cars to race cars to never seen the public eye before cars, theres something for everyone and get the crowds talking.
Unicorn spotting is the best way to describe walking through the row of cars, much with the Cartier Lawn, the paddock brings together the rarely seen and much loved metal (and carbon) work.
One of the key themes for the weekend was 75 years of Porsche meaning you could get up close and personal to everything from a 550 Spyder to the 963.
Despite the traffic induced hassle of getting down to the Goodwood estate, the day was exceptional as always. A long day from leaving the house at 6am to leaving Goodwood at gone 8pm, and the 25,000 plus steps were well worth it.
Without doubt, no other show in the UK, Europe or potentially the world could come close to the spectacle of a Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Keep an eye out on the website here, on the Tyrotek Instagram and Mitcham Media pages for all the Goodwood action.