Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008 review

By James Mann and Tim Pollard

Motor Shows

13 July 2008 23:01

SUNDAY, DAY 3: LIVE NEWS FROM THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED.

The 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed rounded off with an epic Sunday with a jaw-dropping procession of supercars, historic race cars, an appearance by current F1 leader Lewis Hamilton and a series of historical curios and crashes to keep spectators on their toes.

Sunday's highlight was the much-hyped appearance of McLaren F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. He made a surprise appearance on the balcony of Goodwood House to be interviewed by red-top DJ and all-round car enthusiast Chris Evans, before jumping into the 2007 McLaren F1 car for a run up the hill. 

Lewis Hamilton: up the Goodwood hill

No show-boating for Hamilton. He didn’t smoke his tyres much or fool around like the other F1 drivers – but neither did he exit backwards off the track through the straw bales. Which is more than can be said of a marketing big-wig at Jaguar who unceremoniously ditched a priceless XK120 into the hay bales (click through our gallery above for full photos and captions).

Away from the track, the judging got underway at the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance. This year's judges included architect Norman Foster, art critic Brian Sewell and Queen drummer Roger Taylor. The 2008 winner? It was fashion designer Ralph Lauren’s fabulous 1930 Mercedes-Benz 710 SSK ‘Trossi Roadster’. An epic car and worthy winner.

More thrills and spills at the Festival of Speed

Eddie Cheever had a lucky escape when his 1988 Arrows-megatron A10B slewed across the start straight and hit the bales at speed. The impact smashed off its front suspension and span the car down the track.

Motorcycle stunt rider and all-round good egg Dougie Lampkin wowed the crowds again at Goodwood. This time he rode his trail bike over cars, along walls and even pulled off some spectacular wheelies on the roof of Goodwood House. You can see Dougie in action in our Goodwood videos here.

Another year, another great Goodwood Festival of Speed. We're just left wondering how Lord March can possibly upstage the 2008 event. Ten out of ten.


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SATURDAY, DAY 2: LIVE NEWS FROM THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

The grandstands quickly filled up for day two of the Goodwood Festival of Speed to see a heady mix of supercars and racing cars charge up the hill – driven by a rosta of some of the finest drivers the world has ever seen. First out the blocks were the supercars with FoS debuts for the Aston Martin Vantage V12 RS, Artega GT and Lamborghini LP560. VW also showcased its roadgoing Scirocco GT24 and Toyota the 197bhp mid-engined Aygo Crazy, which will be at the London motor show later this month.

Former Pink Floyd drummer and all-round car fan Nick Mason drove the stunning re-creation Auto Union D Type with its supercharged triple cam V12 engine capable of over 200mph up the hill. Elsewhere there was a rare outing for the Lotus Rotorvic 23. Built in 1965, the 1.5-litre V12 united six air-cooled 2-stroke-V-twin Ariel Arrow engines.

Thrills and spills aplenty

There were some spills, too, however. A Jaguar XK120 ‘Montlery’ slid into the hay bales at Molecomb corner – and the same bend caught out an heroically driven Donner Chevy Pikes Peak champion car, too. More details in our gallery (click on the thumbnails above and flick through our bespoke photography from Goodwood).

The Wacky racers made a popular return with their ranks expanded to include the Ant Hill mob, who caused havoc on the track in front of Goodwood House. And Stirling Moss pushed on with the Aston Martin DB3S while Justin Law put in a super-fast time up the hill in just 46 seconds in the Jaguar XJR12.

Mind you, he was beaten minutes later by Anthony Reid in the Williams FW07.

Planes and automobiles: a very Goodwood surprise

And when the action paused briefly for the lunch break, something typically strange happened: an Airbus 380 made a spectacular appearance overhead, surprising the crowds with a series of ultra-slow flypasts.

A very Goodwood mix of events, then.

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FRIDAY, DAY 1: LIVE NEWS FROM THE GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

CAR's team is at the Goodwood festival, reporting live from the 2008 event. And ace photographer James Mann is beaming photos over direct from the festival – see his work in our gallery here; just click on the individual thumbnails to flick through the Goodwood gallery showing all the action as it happens. 

The forecast bad weather held off all day to give visitors to this year Goodwood Festival of Speed a motoring banquet of the usual high calibre. The spectacular Land Rover central display in front of Goodwood House dominated proceedings with cars clinging to the 100-foot steel structure.

Bond cars at the Cartier Style et Luxe

Usually quieter than the weekend, this Friday seemed to be just as frantic with action taking place on the hill and rally stage all day long while the Cartier Style et Luxe attracted thousands of discerning classic fans. The James Bond cars were one of the themes featuring the famous Aston Martin DB5 – revolving number plates and all – plus five other 007 cars, including the submarine Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me.

The rally stage remained dry but that didn’t stop many of the cars leaving the track where they weren’t supposed to. Stig Blomqvist entertained in the 500bhp Audi Quattro in which he won the 1000 Lakes Rally, with not a wheel out of place on the dirt. And there were no less than six Escorts in various guises battling it out to show why they were so dominant in the hands of Hannu Mikkola and Roger Clark in 1968/69.

On the hill, Pedro de la Rosa pedalled the 2007 Lewis Hamilton McLaren up the hill to the delight of the crowds. Fancy the older F1 cars? Then you should have seen nine of the original 1908 Grand Prix cars put on a mighty charge re-enacting their last meeting at the 478-mile French race 100 years ago.

Elsehwere, CAR assistant editor Ben Barry popped his Goodwood cherry, with a thrilling drive up the hill in a Nissan GT-R. Click here to read how he got on.

Come back tomorrow for a round-up of Day 2's proceedings.

Click on the One Big Month button below to see CAR's full coverage from the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed – plus the British Grand Prix and the forthcoming British Motor Show

By James Mann and Tim Pollard