15 must-sees at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed

There aren't many places in the world where you can get up close to the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro that won this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, but you can at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. If you’re lucky, you might even get to talk to a team member and take a peek inside the cockpit of these incredibly advanced LMP1 prototype endurance racers. As a bonus, look out for its rivals: the hybrid Toyota TS040 and Porsche 919.

Over the years, the central sculptures at Goodwood have been spectacular grand displays of automotive heritage and prowess. There’s no reason to suggest this year will be any different, as Mercedes celebrates 120 years of motorsport involvement. You won’t be disappointed.

The 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed will host possibly the finest gathering of Formula 1 cars in the world outside of a grand prix. The Goodwood Formula 1 paddock features cars from all eras of F1. Take a stroll through and be amazed as you pass by some of the most iconic F1 cars in history, stretching from old-timers to current racers. If you’re lucky, you might even bump into a driver or two.

If you’ve taken a walk through the F1 paddock, now take a seat and watch them roar up the 1.16-mile hill climb. If you’ve never been up close to a running Formula 1 car in person, prepare to be blown away.

The list of cars due to be parked in the supercar paddock at the Festival of Speed is enough to reduce even the most experienced petrolhead to mush. Here’s a taster: the McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918, and Koenigsegg One:1 will all be in the same place at the same time, with demonstration runs up the hill. Need we say any more?

The 20th edition of Goodwood's own bijou concours event will feature some of the rarest and most beautiful cars ever made, all of which are put up for judging in their respective classes. This may well be your only chance to see many of the most sought-after, privately owned jewels of the automotive world.

Up at the Skoda rally stage, take the opportunity to observe some of the most iconic rally cars in history doing what they do best - sliding around a stage at full whack. If you time your visit to the rally stage right this year, you’ll find Paddy Hopkirk in his Monte Carlo Rally winning Mini Cooper S. It's one of the joys of the Festival of Speed: old meets new, and heroes galore.

With the theme of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed being ‘addicted to winning’, it’s no surprise to see nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb attending. He practically mainlines gold medals. He’ll be taking on the Goodwood hillclimb in his Pike’s Peak Peugeot, and you just know he’ll be near the top of the leader board come the end of the challenge.

These two Ferrari Formula 1 world champions will ascend the hill climb in formation inside the cars that took them to their titles. Surtees will pilot his 1964 Ferrari 158 and Raikkonen will take the wheel of his 2007 Ferrari F2007. It’s bound to be a magical Goodwood moment.

All across the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, you’ll find Maserati celebrating its centenary. Stand out highlights include an incredible selection of their racing cars taking to the hillclimb, a dedicated Maserati class of cars entered into the concours, and looking to the future of the brand with the stunning new Alfieri concept car.

A fantastic opportunity to get personal with your favourite brands is held on the Thursday at the Goodwood Moving Motor Show. Product experts will be on hand to answer questions, and the vast majority of manufacturers openly encourage you to climb inside the cars and make yourself at home.

F1 fans of a certain age will remember watching Damon Hill winning the 1996 Formula One world championship in his Williams FW18, and this year he’ll be back behind the wheel at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, driving up the hillclimb for you and all the other fans in attendance.

A couple of the 2013 NASCARs being brought over from the States have been modified specially for the Goodwood hillclimb, and are rumoured to be packing over 1000bhp. If you like a bit of history with your four-figure bhp outputs, you’ll be happy to know that you’ll be able to see ‘The King’ of NASCAR himself - Richard Petty - take to the hillclimb in one of the cars he made his name in, a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere. Whatever you get to see, prepare to hear your eardrums filled with hammering American V8s.

The 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed sees the addition of a grandstand overlooking the famous ‘flint wall’ corner. A snappy right-left, the flint wall unsurprisingly gets its name from the flint wall on the left hand side of the corner. On corner entry, it almost looks as if you are driving straight into it. Taking this corner at speed requires purity in two attributes: raw bravery and sheer driving talent.

The most important must-do on our Goodwood to-do list, especially if you’ve never visited before. The Goodwood Festival of Speed captures the spirit of something far more than just motoring. It's a unique festival spirit, more Glyndebourne than Glastonbury - and the cliched motoring garden party on Lord March's front lawn still holds true, despite the massive growth at the FOS. We'd argue it's still the finest motor show in the world, and it’s worth stopping what you are doing for a moment just to watch, listen, and remember.

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