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Now in its twelfth year and with a sell out global attendance , the Festival of Speed is a unique, historical celebration of endeavours on 2 and 4 wheels. With multiple exhibits from motor manufacturers and eminent private collections, combined with the stars who have shaped our sport the event is quite simply unmissable for any enthusiast, whatever your preferred discipline! This year’s featured manufacturer was Honda – celebrating its 40 year multiple championship winning endeavours and ”High in the Sky” Gerry Judah’s sculpture exhibited 6 cars that evidenced the evolution of F1 from John Surtees “Hondola” to Jenson Button’s 2005 mount. Simple in its design, the sculpture was your scribe’s favourite since the “Porsche Lollipop” of the mid ‘90’s. The adjacent Owen Brown sponsored art gallery exhibited the work of 20 respected automotive artists including Tim Layzell and the evocative, action style of John Ketchell. New for 2005 was a rally stage carved into the Sussex Downs, reuniting Sandro Munari and the Lancia Stratos, Hannu Mikkola and the Audi Quattro and Russell Brookes with the Talbot Sunbeam. In period, each driver delivered considerable success for their respective manufacturer and with the addition of Will Gollop and Dermot Carnegie from Rallycross, BTRDA rally champion Andy Burton in his self built Peugeot and Historic rally regular Tony Fall in his Datsun 240Z it was a fitting off-road celebration. The three established paddocks located either side of Goodwood House were split by the entrants of the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours and a Chevrolet display celebrating its legendary “small block” V8. With an eclectic entry of 50 cars ranging from a 750cc Stanguellini to a long-tail McLaren F1GTR, there was a car to suit every taste! Not seen in the UK for over 20 years, it was fantastic to see the condition of the “Blue Train Bentley” – now owned by former Pac West Indycar team prinicipal and Ferrari collector Bruce McCaw. Ferrari entries were limited but Garage Francorchamps founder Jacques Swaters displayed his unique Pininfarina bodied 400i and Modense industrialist and historic racer Mauro Bompani the highly original ex-Michel Lepeltier 250SWB. The overall winner was American enthusiast David Sydorick’s superb Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato. The adjacent supercar display has evolved into a world showroom - this year 15 manufacturers debuted new models. From Ferrari UK came a Superamerica, 430 Coupe and Spyder, a 612 Scaglietti and 575HGTC; but the star was the Pininfarina-built Maserati Birdcage concept car. Built on a MC12 platform, it is a celebration of the Italian design house's 75 years of styling excellence and the immortal T60 sports racer of the late’50s. The car was shared over the weekend by Pink Floyd drummer and historic racer Nick Mason and Maserati CEO Karl Heinz Kalbfell - whilst prize for the most ungainly supercar was a draw between the angular Spyker C8 and Audi-based Gumpert Apollo! With only 39% of the 167 car entry making timed runs of the 1.2 mile hill, the on-track activity is about demonstration rather than outright speed. For the 2nd year, overall winner was Justin Law in Steffan Svenby’s Jaguar XJR12, with runner-up Anthony Reid in a touring car spec. Nissan Primera, and third, Richard Dodkins in the mighty 900 horsepower March 717 Can-Am. As ever the Ferrari enthusiast was well catered for – Corse Clienti regulars Frank Mountain (F2001) and Paul Osborn (F93A) were joined by factory test driver Marc Gene ‘s (F2003GA). Ex-pat Lancastrian and F1 driver Brian Redman gave spirited emonstrations in Cornelius Tamboer’s 312PB; Nick Mason drove his green-hued ex-Le Mans 512BBLM; Chip Connor was at the wheel of the ex N.A.R.T. Competition Daytona, whilst Eric Heerema and Joe Bamford demonstrated the ‘62 variant of the GTO. Historic race car restorer/preparer Neil Twyman drove a pontoon fendered ’58 Testa Rossa; Terry Hoyle “slithered” Chris Cox’s exceptionally rare and powerful 410 Sport to the top, whilst Joe Bamford drove his current “Gentleman Driver's” mount, the 375 MM. Congratulations to the winner of the Ladies prize for F.T.D. - Sally Mason-Styrron in her 246 Tasman Dino - a car driven in period by another festival regular and 5 time Le Mans winner Derek Bell. After the farce of Indianapolis, 7 of the current F1 teams stopped off en route to Magny Cours to rediscover fun in the Sussex countryside – Williams, McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, BAR, Toyota and Renault shared the limelight, with smokiest burn out going to Toyota test driver, and former racer, Olivier Panis in the ’04 spec Toyota. Current points leader Fernando Alonso was making his first visit to Goodwood and was joined by regular attendees David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Takuma Sato and McLaren test driver Darren Turner. The well-attended Bonhams Auction had something for everyone –
(all figures include buyers premium), an unregistered 1966 Rover 3500
(£3220), a Jaguar XJR15 (£81,250) and the “star car”
- EA Stafford East’s Bugatti Type 59 (£1,321,500). 93 yr old
East had owned this highly desirable car since 1948 and whilst never restored,
the car had been sympathetically polished ahead of sale to superb effect.
Fittingly the car was purchased by Shell Historic Challenge regular and
Chairman of Bugatti France, Thomas Bscher. On a good afternoon for Bonhams,
amongst many others, they also found buyers for an ex-Rauno Aaltonen Austin
Healey 3000 (£100,500), a Le Mans spec Bentley 4.5 litre (£397,500),
the 1911 Coupe de L’auto Delage (£331,500) and achieved a
staggering £144,500 for the UK. number plate 1F!! If only Sothebys
could have delivered remotely the same sales total in Maranello 4 days
later... The popularity of the event can be seen from the number of famous drivers
past and present who relish the opportunity to be reunited with their
original charges – this year the Dunhill Drivers Club welcomed amongst
others Al Unser Jnr, Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Arie Luyendyk, Emerson
Fittipaldi, Sir Stirling Moss, Brian Redman, John Surtees, Derek Bell,
Jochen Mass, Hannu Mikkola, Sandro Munari, Gwyndaf Evans, Frank Biela,
Damon Hill, Mike Salmon, Peter Brock, Tony Brooks….and I haven’t
even mentioned multiple world bike champions Freddie Spencer, Mick Doohan
and 15x World Champion Giacomo Agostini! Me…I’ve just enough time to buy the sun cream, collect the
euros and board the plane for Oporto – the Gran Premio da Porto!!
Ate logo!
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