MSA teams up with Škoda UK for Goodwood rally test
Posted: July 8, 2011 1:16 PM
Three of the UK’s most promising young rally drivers enjoyed an exclusive test in an IRC championship-winning Škoda Fabia Super 2000 on the forest rally stage at Goodwood today (Monday 4th July).
Thanks to a tie up between the Motor Sports Association (MSA) and Škoda UK, Team UK drivers Elfyn Evans, Harry Hunt and John MacCrone were able to gain their first experiences of a Super 2000 rally car, as well as spending time with the team’s engineers and star driver Andreas Mikkelsen.
The young Brits clocked up more than 20 kilometers each on the dusty 1.1 mile stage at Goodwood, which had been sponsored by Škoda UK for the duration of this weekend’s Festival of Speed.
“It’s been an extremely valuable experience for the drivers and they have all got a huge amount out of it,” said Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director. “The guys have had the opportunity to see a leading team in action first hand, to drive the car, to speak with Andreas and the engineers, and to see how a manufacturer’s rallying programme forms part of their wider marketing and promotional activity.
“We must give great credit to Škoda UK for making this event possible; they are strong supporters of rallying in this country and perhaps they don’t get the recognition they deserve. We have been talking with them for some months about this kind of initiative as it works well for both sides. Our drivers get to experience a leading rally car and showcase their skills, while Škoda UK can look at promising young talent coming through the ranks and further underline their commitment to UK motor sport. It’s been a great success.”
Driver comments:
Elfyn Evans: “It was unbelievable! Compared to my Group N car, every input you make has an effect. It is so sharp and responsive, the way it stops and turns in and the feedback from the wheel is excellent. We then looked at the data from the car and compared my trace to see where I was losing or gaining time. That was really useful for me as we don’t have the capacity to undertake that kind of analysis on my car.”
Harry Hunt: “The car was amazing. It’s very physical to drive and there’s no rest in there – it was pretty hard work. Even on the straights, the car was moving about and sliding on the gravel, so there’s no down time behind the wheel. I only have limited four wheel drive experience and learning the stage at the same time was a challenge, but the whole event has been a fantastic experience.”
John MacCrone: “If this is what you get in the end, then all the hard work is worth it! The car is so nimble and it does everything you ask of it. You can steer it on the throttle and flick it one way and the other. The four wheel drive takes a bit of getting used to, but I was surprised how easy it was to get in the car and drive it reasonably quickly straight away.”
Young drivers test at Goodwood
Posted: July 8, 2011 1:14 PM
Harry Hunt, John MacCrone and Elfyn Evans joined Andreas Mikkelsen at Goodwood
Perez Lifts Goodwood Award In Rebuilt Lancia Stratos
Posted: July 5, 2011 4:09 PM
Photo: www.cmwi.net
Less than a week after extensively damaging his Lancia Stratos on the Ypres Historic Rally, much to everyone's amazement, Kick Energy rally driver Steve Perez was back in action in the car at last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed and came away with the Spirit of the Festival Award.
The current BTRDA rally champion crashed at high speed on the Belgian event but thanks to Tim Ashton and the team at BTR Preparation and the Normandale's body shop, who worked round the clock during the week to rebuild and re-prepare the car, they wheeled out the iconic 1974 Italian machine to allow Perez to take his place with motorsport's elite at the event.
After a number of runs around the special rally stage, Perez was delighted to receive the Spirit of the Festival Award from Lord March himself, in recognition of the effort Steve and his team had put in to make sure they competed at the famous event.
Perez commented: "When we saw the amount of damage, I thought there was no chance of repairing it in time for Goodwood but the guys have worked night and day to completely rebuild the car. We knew there were so many fans hoping to see the car and we just couldn't let them down so we did what we had to in order to make sure we made it. A lot of people were coming up to us asking if it was the same car we had crashed and we had to assure them it was! But the highlight had to be receiving the Spirit of the Festival Award after three days of competition and the fact that Lord March made the presentation himself made the whole team justifiably proud. The car ran like a Swiss watch too so all is looking good for the Midnight Sun Rally next weekend and we can hopefully get a good result."
Richard Burns Foundation at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Posted: June 24, 2011 6:06 PM
Hours before a cornucopia of motor racing extravaganza goes under the hammer at the Richard Burns Foundation Summer Dinner at Salon Privé this evening, the charity confirmed it would be supporting Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation as the official fund-raising partner to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in early July.
Wings for Life is a spinal cord research charity founded in 2004 by Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz and the two-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner. It is devoted to finding a cure for spinal cord injury. By funding promising medical research projects to regenerate the injured spinal cord, Wings for Life accelerates scientific and clinical progress towards a cure for spinal cord injury.
As official fund-raising partner to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Richard Burns Foundation manages the on-event promotion and logistics of collecting and cash-managing the charitable donations made by hundreds of thousands of spectators that attend one of the jewels in the British sporting calendar. It is the Foundation’s responsibility to mobilise the motor sport community to support and contribute to worthy causes nominated by the Festival organisers.
The Richard Burns Foundation also confirmed that at tonight’s gala celebration of the 10th anniversary of Richard’s 2001 World Rally title, a number of auctions for passengers to experience the ‘hill’ at Goodwood first hand would go under the hammer together with an impressive array of other motor sport ephemera, collectibles and money-can't-buy experiences kindly donated by Formula One and World Rally Teams.
As a newly confirmed Patron of the Richard Burns Foundation, British Rally ace and double national champion, Guy Wilkes confirmed that he would personally donate a ride in his Peugeot 207 S2000 Evolution along the world-famous Goodwood hillclimb during the Festival weekend.
“It’s a great honour to be asked to be a patron of the Richard Burns Foundation, and in this tenth anniversary year of his greatest achievement, I did think how I could best contribute to the cause and logically, it is by doing what comes naturally, by driving a rally car. But the opportunity to share it with a charity donor at the Festival of Speed makes sense all round.”
For those not able to bid for Guy’s kind donation at Salon Privé tonight, a number of other Festival of Speed passenger rides which will be promoted via text to win competitions on the Foundation’s website at www.richardburnsfoundation.com.
Funds raised at Salon Privé will be used to support a revised and recently launched mission to help the Brain & Spine Foundation create a nationwide network of brain centres in the UK in Richard’s name.
Inspired by the leadership of Richard’s surgeon, Peter J Hamlyn, MB BS, BSc, MD, FRCS, FISM, who is also the Chairman of the Brain & Spine Foundation, Richard’s charity will help to address the startling lack of neurological provision in the UK.
Given the scale & range of neuro injury and illness and the scarcity of specialist practitioners, the Richard Burns Foundation has committed its charitable endeavour to support the Brain & Spine Foundation to help close this resourcing gap. The ambition is to fund the first hospital-based Brain Centre, where members of public can access walk-in support and advice from specialist neurological nurses who can provide guidance for the array of neurological conditions from MS, Motor Neurone Disease & Schizophrenia to Autism and stroke, to name but a few.
Dependent on the success of this venture, the Richard Burns Foundation is committed to supporting the Brain & Spine Foundation to spread the Brain Centre project nationally.
MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS WRC RIDE IN STORE FOR ONE LUCKY FAN
Posted: June 22, 2011 11:05 AM
The largest motoring garden party in the world, set in the heart of the British countryside, will be the idyllic setting for an outing of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. This will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on the 1st - 3rd July and here a member of the public will get the once in a life time chance to be a passenger in one of these iconic cars while it is being driven at speed.
The lucky person, who will sit beside works rally driver, Kris Meeke (GB), on Sunday morning while the car goes through the 1.67 mile loose-surface forest rally stage, will be the winner of a raffle to be held at the annual glittering ball on the Saturday night. Dr Kay Segler, Senior Vice President Brand Management MINI, commented: "When we were invited to be part of this event, which has a worldwide reputation for being one of the biggest on the motorsport calendar, we were delighted. The affection felt for MINI as a brand is amazing, and I am confident the fans at Goodwood will give it as enthusiastic a welcome as I watched it have on its World Rally Championship debut in Sardinia. We wanted to make it even more special, so we felt giving a prize that money could not buy would be a great start."
Meeke will be driving the car on both the rally stage and up the 1.16 mile hillclimb on all three days. This event, which was founded in 1993 by the owner of Goodwood House, the Earl of March, has become a magnet for fans who come from far and wide to celebrate motorsport and all things automotive at their finest. The hillclimb, which is the main attraction, is very technical and challenging and rises over 300 feet from start to finish.
This year?s theme is „Racing Revolutions - Quantum leaps that shaped motorsport?. Priceless machinery from around the world representing two and four wheeled motorsport will be on display for the 150,000 sell-out crowd to see at close quarters.
The MINI WRC Team has been busy testing ahead of its next WRC outing on Rally Finland on 28th - 30th July. This is the second of six WRC events in 2011 that Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle (IR) and Dani Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio (ES) will take part in ahead of a full assault on the WRC in 2012.
GOODWOOD NOW CONFIRMS OVER 100 DRIVERS AND RIDERS APPEARING AT THE 2011 FESTIVAL OF SPEED
Posted: June 10, 2011 10:57 PM
In just three weeks time (1-3 July) the 2011 Festival of Speed will get underway, with Goodwood welcoming over 100 top drivers, riders and famous faces to the world’s greatest celebration of motor sport and car culture.
The Festival of Speed remains unique in its ability to attract the majority of the current season’s Formula One teams and drivers, with at least eight of the twelve12 2011 F1 teams confirmed for Goodwood, one week ahead of their British Grand Prix appearance at Silverstone. These GP teams will include Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes GP, Williams-Cosworth, Marussia Virgin and Team Lotus. Current F1 drivers and leading characters in action at the Festival will include Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey.
Past Grand Prix winners present at the Festival of Speed will include Sir Stirling Moss, Nigel Mansell, John Surtees, Damon Hill, Jochen Mass, Emerson Fittipaldi, Thiery Boutsen andPeter Gethin, alongside the current voice of F1 on the BBC, Martin Brundle. Le Mans winners Derek Bell, Richard Attwood,Jan Lammers, Andy Wallace and Marco Werner will join a roll-call of other motor sport stars at Goodwood that reads like a Who’s Who of motor racing.
The 2011 Festival of Speed will see the largest celebration of Indy Cars outside of Indiana to honour the centenary of ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ - the Indianapolis 500 – with a stunning array of Indy 500 champions and cars. Drivers present will include the winners of the last five Indy 500 races, and 14 winners, victorious in 25 races, including the 2011 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon. He will be joined by three-time champion Helio Castroneves, Indy legends Bobby Unser and Al Unser Junior, Bobby Rahal, driving his 1986 Indy 500-winning March 86C, plus Gil de Ferran in his 2003 Indy-winning Penske and Dario Franchitti, driving the Lotus 38 that Jim Clark drove to second place in the 1966 race.
From the world of rallying, star drivers Kris Meeke, Dani Sordo, Ken Block, Guy Wilks and Skoda UK Motorsport IRC Rally driver Andreas Mikkelsen will be on the Forest Rally Stage, along with many other rallying greats who will be reacquainted with the cars that made them famous, including Juha Kankkunen, Rauno Aaltonen, Jimmy McRae, Hannu Mikkola and Russell Brookes. TV chef and classic car lover James Martin will also be in action on the Forest Rally Stage.
Motorcycling heroes will include current World Superbike riders Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea, alongside TT legends John McGuinness, Cameron Donald, Keith Amor, Guy Martin, Ian Hutchinson and Ron Chandler. Joining them will be Freddie Sheene, son of World Champion Barry, riding the Icon Sheene motorcycle. The very latest summary of the drivers and riders due to appear at the 2011 Festival of Speed, along with the vehicles they will be running up the challenging 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb, is available via this news page.
Despite being in a rush to get to Goodwood and experience the Festival of Speed’s challenging Forest Rally Stage for the first time, Skoda UK’s rising Norwegian rally star Andreas Mikkelsen recently found time to help a stricken young maiden - also en route to Goodwood - whose car had broken down.
Amber Le Bon - daughter of model Yasmin and Duran Duran lead singer Simon - was a grateful passenger as Andreas whisked her around the beautiful 12,000 acre Goodwood Estate in his works Skoda UK Fabia S2000, trying to locate Goodwood House, where Yasmin Le Bon and Festival of Speed founder Lord March were patiently awaiting her arrival.
GOODWOOD CONFIRMS OVER 60 DRIVERS AND RIDERS APPEARING AT THE 2011 FESTIVAL OF SPEED
Posted: May 8, 2011 12:38 PM
With just over eight weeks to go until the 2011 Festival of Speed (1-3 July), Goodwood can already confirm more than 60 star drivers and riders will be present at the world’s largest celebration of motoring culture.
To honour the centenary of ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’, the Indianapolis 500, a fantastic array of Indy 500 champions will gather in the West Sussex countryside, to create the largest celebration of Indianapolis outside the United States. Drivers present will include Emerson Fittipaldi, in action in a Penske PC23, Bobby Unser in his 1981 Indy 500-winning Penske PC9B, and Bobby Rahal in his 1986 Indy 500-winning March 86C. Gil de Ferran will also take to the hill in his 2003 Indy-winning Penske, with Dario Franchitti driving the Lotus 38 that Jim Clark drove to second place in the 1966 race.
Already several manufacturer teams have indicated their intention to attend this year’s Festival, and Goodwood is aiming to attract a record number of contemporary F1 teams to the Festival, with at least nine of the 12 teams competing this year looking like a real possibility. Those teams confirmed so far includeScuderia Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes GP, Williams-Cosworth and Team Lotus.
Past Grand Prix winners present at the Festival of Speed are set to include Sir Stirling Moss, John Surtees, Jochen Mass and Peter Gethin, alongside the current voice of F1 on the BBC, Martin Brundle. Le Mans winners Derek Bell, Richard Attwood,Jan Lammers, Jackie Oliver, Andy Wallace and Marco Werner will join a roll-call of other motor sport stars that reads like a Who’s Who of motor racing.
From the world of rallying, rising star and Skoda UK Motorsport IRC Rally driver Andreas Mikkelsen will be on the Forest Rally Stage along with many other rallying greats who will be reacquainted with the cars that made them famous, including RaunoAaltonen, Jimmy McRae, Hannu Mikkola and Russell Brookes. TV chef and classic car lover James Martin will also be in action on the Forest Rally Stage.
Motorcycling heroes will include current World Superbike riders James Toseland and Jonathan Rea alongside TT legends John McGuinness, Cameron Donald, Keith Amor, Guy Martin, Sammy Miller and Ron Chandler. Joining them will be Freddie Sheene, son of World Champion Barry, riding the Icon Sheene motorcycle. The latest summary of the drivers and riders due to appear at the 2011 Festival of Speed, along with the vehicles they will be running up the challenging 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb, is available via this news page.
Goodwood confirms 2011 dates and announces the Festival of Speed theme: ‘Racing Revolutions – Quantum leaps that shaped motor sport’
Posted: November 12, 2010 12:09 PM
Further to the recent announcement of provisional dates for Goodwood's ever-popular motoring events, Lord March can now confirm the finalised dates for 2011. The Moving Motor Show will be held on 30 June, the Festival of Speed from 1-3 July, and the Goodwood Revival from 16-18 September.
The theme for the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed, from 1 to 3 July, will be ‘Racing Revolutions - Quantum leaps that shaped motor sport', celebrating the ceaseless quest for increased power; greater efficiency; more speed.
From motor racing's pioneering early days, engineering ingenuity has been the irresistible force behind the sport's inexorable rise, with designers constantly pushing technical boundaries in search of ‘the unfair advantage'.
For example, in 2011 it will be 75 Years since Auto Union won the European Championship with a ground-breaking rear-engined car; 60 years since increased economy helped the normally-aspirated Ferraris vanquish the supercharged Alfa Romeos; 30 years since the dawn of rallying's four-wheel-drive age; 25 years since turbocharged engines ruled the roost in F1; and 20 years since a rotary-engined Mazda took the chequered flag at Le Mans. It is therefore especially fitting to celebrate the innovations - both giant strides and iterative evolutions; masterstrokes and blind alleys - that have seen the racing automobile develop from crude behemoth to space-age projectile.
Alongside this central theme, the 2011 Festival of Speed will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, with a stunning gathering of cars and drivers that have written the history of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing". It will also be 60 years since the C-type scored the first of Jaguar's seven Le Mans victories, and the iconic British marque's illustrious racing heritage will be honoured at Goodwood.
Jaguar will be much in evidence at the 2011 Festival, as the 50th anniversary of the E-Type - the ultimate personification of 1960s style, and one of the most admired car designs of all time - is marked in true Goodwood fashion. The E-Type will also be in the spotlight during the Revival from 16-18 September, with a spectacular one-make race.
The Festival of Speed will also feature a glittering array of cars and motorcycles from a huge variety of disciplines, further enhancing the Goodwood event's reputation as the world's greatest celebration of motor racing history and culture. Tackling the famous 1.16 mile Goodwood hillclimb will be everything from early Grand Prix and endurance machines, to off-road and contemporary racers and racing motorcycles.
Complementing the overall Festival of Speed theme will be a host of other attractions at the world's greatest celebration of motoring. Aside from getting close to the action-packed hillclimb and paddocks, Festival-goers will be able to admire some of the most stylish vehicles ever designed at the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe' concours d'elegance, see and potentially try the very latest road cars at the Moving Motor Show exhibition, glimpse into the future of transportation at FoS-TECH, see many of motor sport's famous faces up close, swoon at the mouth-watering display of supercars, witness the exciting sideways action on the Forest Rally Stage, and become a part of the action at the off-road activity fields and Junior Festival of Speed.
Goodwood Festival of Speed founder Lord March says: "I am really looking forward to having so many great cars and drivers here at the Festival of Speed to celebrate our 2011 ‘Racing Revolutions' theme. For me it is always magical to see so many of the world's greatest drivers, riders and machines in action." He adds, "At the Revival, the E-Type-only race and special track display honouring 100 years since Fangio's birth also promise to be truly special."
As in previous years, admission to both Goodwood motor sport events will be strictly by advance ticket only, with 2011 tickets now on sale. All orders placed before January 2011 will benefit from a VAT saving of 2.5 per cent.
New for 2011, young adults aged between 13 and 18 can now purchase Festival of Speed and/or Revival tickets for half the full adult price. Previously all visitors aged 13 or over would have been charged at full price. Children of 12 years or under remain free of charge, as does all car parking.
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