Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009 daily bulletins

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Sarah-Jayne Harrison (good photos by James Mann, others DIY by writers)

Motor Shows

06 July 2009 10:00

Welcome to CAR's coverage of the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed. We'll be posting daily bulletins with news, photos, galleries, blogs and reviews from the Festival of Speed – live from Lord March's front drive. NB start at the bottom and work your way up!

Photographic rendezvous over, I decide to leave before the traffic gets too chaotic and because my uncle nearly ran out of fuel on the way in. We soon hit jams anyway and it takes four hours to get back to Peterborough, but seven hours’ driving in one day is worth it just to soak up the Goodwood atmosphere. As brilliant as ever.

Made it up to the rally stage, however the queuing on the way up delayed our arrival. Sadly no sooner am I there than my phone goes and I have to head down to meet ace snapper James Mann at the media centre for more great pics from today.  

Following behind the supercars are the electric cars. I stick around to see the Rinspeed i-change and the Infiniti Essence, as I’m quite intrigued by both. The Essence is one really good looking car. They are amazingly quiet apart from the slight whining electric sound as they make their way up the hill. The Royal Artillery guys were tasked with carrying a car up the hill, albeit fibreglass, with the aim of beating all the supercars to the top. Did they manage it? Yes they did, but then the supercars weren’t competing for best times and I’d still rather drive a car then carry one, especially up a hill on a baking hot day. Have to hand it to them – they actually ran with the model Escort on their shoulders! 

I drop in on exotica central just as they are lining up to get ready for the start line. I am the office’s biggest fan of the Bugatti Veyron, and seeing the Grand Sport is a highlight – especially alongside the Pur Sang in metallic silver. Call me sad, but I’ve got goosebumps being this near to car royalty. Unfortunately, there’s no space for me to take a ride in either. Damn. Quick trip round the corner to drool over the Caparo, Scuderia, LP670 SV, Zonda, the SLR Stirling Moss... So many to choose from, I’ll have one of each please. Drooling over, I get to the first bend just after the start line. A little snake-like manoeuvre, a quick elbow there and a big smile to get to the front and I’m set ready to watch them go up the hill. Fantastic. I’ve shot a bit of amateur video footage we’ll upload later today. 

The great thing about Goodwood is the sheer spread of cars it attracts. One minute there are touring cars from around the world, the next minute there’s a weird, bug-eyed 1976 Volkswagen Chevrolet Beetle. The Ford Mustang Boss is pleasantly loud, and the crowd love it. Then there’s a Ford GT Mark II (I saw one at the start line, amazingly cool) and now its 7.0-litre V8 is in full throb. And what’s this Howmet? Apparently it has a helicopter engine for ground-effect suction, it sounds as though it is going to fly up the hill. Absolutely extraordinary. What else catches my eye? The 250GT SWB aka ‘breadvan’ is quite a sight. That is one big butt. 

Time to sit down and attempt a plan of where to go and when. I say attempt. Festivals have a habit of ripping up your best laid plans. We started near the startline by the big screens – it’s always great to watch the cars scarper off the line, and it’s not too busy down there. An Audi 200 Quattro is out on the hillclimb, followed by American motorsport cars. The scent of singed clutch and sizzling rubber is a heady cocktail. Call it eau de Goodwood. 

Unlike my colleagues, I’m here as a plain old Joe Public visitor, so no rides up the hill for me. I grab my programme and head inside. The noise of the F1 cars churns up childish excitement within me – but where to head first. As a true Brit, I end up in a crowd and at 5ft 2in I quickly get lost. It’s only my second time at the FoS and all I can see is the Ferrari F1 tent. Think I’ll give that one a miss for now. 

Finally arrive at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009 after an easy three-hour drive down in the new Renault Clio GT. Even in the car park, I can hear the rally stage at the top of the hill – it gives me goosebumps and butterflys in my stomach and I’m not even through the gates yet! I wander past two gentlemen dressed in smart trouser, trilby hats, carrying umbrellas and chatting about their friends’ ‘private planes’.  They’ve parked a row behind me using their R8 as a picnic table. Seems a bit early for Pimms o’clock. Skies overhead are looking ominous but hopefully the earlier rainshower on the way in won’t return.

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Sarah-Jayne Harrison (good photos James Mann, others DIY writers)