Rallying Through the Years, Goodwood Rally Stage. Goodwood Festival of Speed PT3 - 13/07/23
Words and Images by Mitcham Media
Every year we make the long walk up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to head into the forrest for the rally stage so 2023 would be no exception.
The stage itself is a chalk dust bowl which is slick and slippery for every car going through. Feeling the waves of grit and powder wash over as cars weaved through the trees is a feeing which will never get old.
Celebrating all eras of rallying, the entrants to the forrest stage ranged from early 60’s pretty much standard saloons, through Group B legends, right up to modern day WRC cars. The driving talent runs through the stages two with famous drivers from across the years.
Strolling round the paddock you’re greeted by nothing but gems, with infamous cars previously driven by McRae, Solberg, and Ogier to name just a few.
Of course it was difficult not to be drawn into the gravel spec 911 complete with a huge lamp pod and spot lights. Despite the stage only running during daylight hours, numerous cars were sending on with light pods.
Fresh off a run up the hill were Elfyn Evans in last years WRC GR Yaris, and Jari Matti Latvala in the GR Yaris Rally2 Concept car, as they headed into sign on and started queueing up to take to the stage this seemed like the ideal time to make our way back into the woods to watch the action unfold.
With the stage being so compact and doubling back on itself you’re never far away from action and you’re always surrounded by the noise of screaming natural aspirated historics or antilag chatter from modern cars.
Possibly the most iconic part of the stage is the jump, complete with distance boards to measure out the leaps. Having been years since attending a WRC round, getting to see the top level cars taking flight in the flesh was something not to miss out on.
With lots of tight and twisting sections, the rest of the stage was near constant running up and down the gearbox, making the most of the handbrake wherever possible.
The rally stage is a always a personal highlight and would be highly recommended to anyone who goes to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. With the full event being so vast it’s easy to see why people spend multiple days, if not all four days trudging round to full absorb all the action.
Check out more photos from the forest rally stage at Festival of Speed below, and keep an eye out for more posts coming soon.
