2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed - 29 Jun - 1 Jul 12

List of Drivers / Event Details

Posted: June 21, 2012 12:51 PM

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Goodwood Festival of Speed

BRC’s Goodwood good news

Posted: May 25, 2012 11:00 AM

Five drivers from this year’s MSA British Rally Championship (BRC) have been invited to compete at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, taking to the Forest Rally Stage at the world famous event, which begins at the end of June.

The championship will have a presence too; at the event to support Mark Donnelly, Gethin Jones, Jussi Kumpumäki, Garry Pearson and Osian Pryce, all of whom will drive their respective cars up the tricky stage over the festival weekend.

The drivers will attend Goodwood as a result of their class and overall victories on the opening BRC event of the season, Rallye Sunseeker International, a money-can’t-buy reward courtesy of the rally organiser Southern car Club (SCC)

As well as the BRC competitors, the championship will share the service area with the International Rally Drivers Club (IRDC). The club, which was formed in 1969, aims to enhance communication between those involved in the sport, and to promote, advance and protect national and international Rallying in the interests of competitors and organisers.

Southern Car Club’s Rick Smith:
“We are proud to be organising the rally stage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed again and this is the second year that we have arranged for prize-invitations for BRC class winners from Rallye Sunseeker.

“It is a fantastic spectacle and the quality and range of drivers, cars and experience that will be represented, both on the hill and on the rally stage, helps make it arguably the best motoring event in the world.”

BRC Manager Mark Taylor:
“We are so grateful to Rick and the team at Goodwood for arranging these invitations to the Festival of Speed. It is such a high profile event that it can’t fail to raise the profile of not only the drivers, but further enhance the profile of such an important series as the British Rally Championship.”

But before they get to Goodwood, the drivers and their co-drivers have another important engagement to fulfil. The fourth round of the MSA British Rally Championship, the Jim Clark International Rally, takes place over the Jubilee weekend on the closed public roads around motorsport legend Jim Clark’s home town.

So with just three weeks between this and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, they will all be hoping for trouble-free runs in the Scottish Borders.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed begins on Thursday 28th June with the Moving Motor Show, then continues over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, gates opening at 7am each day.

GOODWOOD ALREADY ABLE TO CONFIRM 100 DRIVERS AND RIDERS APPEARING AT THE 2012 FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Posted: May 12, 2012 7:21 AM

In less than two months the 2012 Festival of Speed will get underway with Goodwood welcoming more than 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 1 teams and drivers, with at least seven of the 2012 F1 teams confirmed for Goodwood. These GP teams will include Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari, Vodafone McLaren Racing, Lotus, Mercedes GP, Williams and Caterham. Current F1 drivers and leading characters in action at the Festival will include current double World Champion Sebastian Vettel, plus the two previous World Champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Bruno Senna, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey will also be in action up the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb.

Past Grand Prix masters present at this summer’s Festival of Speed will include Alain Prost, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Nick Heidfeld, Jochen Mass, Emerson Fittipaldi, Martin Donnelly and Alex Wurz, all joining a roll-call of other motor sport stars at Goodwood that reads like a Who’s Who of motor racing.

From the world of rallying, drivers Juho Hanninen, Thierry Neuville, Jan Kopecky and Skoda UK Motorsport’s 2011 IRC Champion, 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 andRussell Brookes. TV stars James Martin and Jesse James will also be in action on the Forest Rally Stage.

Motorcycling heroes will include big name riders such as three-time 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts, 1987 World Champion Wayne Gardner, present British MotoGP hero Cal Crutchlow, 13-time World Superbike race winner Aaron Slight, seven-time GP victor Henk van Kessel, plus legends Neil Hodgson, James Ellison, Steve Parrish, Guy Martin, Stuart Graham, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, Stuart Easton, and Sammy Miller, among many others. Joining them from the exciting world of sidecar racing will be the winner of a staggering 10 world titles, Steve Webster, partnered by three-time World Champion Paul Woodhead.

All of the drivers and riders participating in this summer’s Festival of Speed will appear on the walkway leading into the exclusive BlackRock Drivers’ Club throughout the event, giving Festival goers and fans the rare opportunity to see their heroes up close, and possibly even have a word or two with them too!

The latest summary of the drivers and riders due to appear at the 2012 Festival of Speed, along with the vehicles they will be running up the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb, is available via this news page.

Goodwood Festival of Speed

LOTUS TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AS THE CHOSEN MARQUE AT THE 2012 GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Posted: January 1, 2012 8:21 PM

A full six months ahead of next summer’s Festival of Speed (28 June - 1 July 2012), Goodwood is excited to reveal that it will be honouring the pioneering Lotus marque with the main ‘Central Feature’ installation, displayed prominently outside Goodwood House.

Goodwood will celebrate this much-loved British brand at an exciting time in the marque’s history, as Lotus is currently two years into a dynamic five year brand reinvigoration plan with the goal of returning the marque to its original status alongside other prestigious sports car manufacturers. The plan includes an entire new range, the first of which will be the return of the iconic Esprit in 2013.

It’s not all about looking to the future for Lotus though, a big part of the brand is its heritage and Lotus will enjoy a vast array of significant anniversaries in 2012, including 60 years since the first Lotus company was founded by Colin Chapman in 1952, four years after the incomparable engineer had built his first vehicle – the Mark 1 trials car – in an old stable behind his parent’s Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London.

Next year also sees the 50th anniversary of the ground-breaking Lotus Elan sportscar, 40 years since the iconic Esprit supercar concept was first revealed by Giugiaro, 35 years since the innovative Lotus 78 ground effect Formula 1 car competed, and 20 years since cyclist Chris Boardman won a gold medal for Britain in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, riding the revolutionary Type 108 bicycle developed by Lotus.

The enviable global reputation that Lotus enjoys today grew out of Chapman’s unparalleled technical ingenuity to dominate all levels of motor sport, from club racing to Formula 1, to create a glorious and enduring legacy. To date Lotus has gone on to win 13 Formula 1 World Championships (six drivers, and seven constructers titles), and a spectacular collection of these victorious F1 cars will be at Goodwood in the summer, along with an impressive selection of Lotus Indycars, saloons, sports and road cars, all forming a key attraction at the 2012 Festival of Speed. A wealth of current and ex-works Lotus drivers are also expected to appear at Goodwood.

Full details of the Lotus vehicle and driver line-up, along with further news about the main Lotus Central Feature installation, will be revealed over the coming months.

Rallye Sunseeker International offers Festival of Speed Places

Posted: January 1, 2012 6:55 PM

Sunseeker Rally - 25 Feb 12

Goodwood Festival of Speed to kick off National Motorsport Week 2012

Posted: September 25, 2011 10:29 PM

Next year’s official National Motorsport Week (30 June-8 July) will feature the two most popular events on the UK motor sport calendar: the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The British Grand Prix date – 6-8 July 2012 – was confirmed last month by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for world motor sport, while The Earl of March, patron of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, has just announced that the world’s largest celebration of motoring culture is provisionally scheduled to take place in the beautiful surroundings of Goodwood Park over the weekend of 29 June-1 July.

National Motorsport Week is jointly organised by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) and the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) to celebrate the on-going success of British competitors, teams and companies as well as drawing attention to less well-publicised parts of the sport in order to generate increased participation.

“We couldn’t have hoped for a better platform from which to promote UK motor sport,” says Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive. “Between them the Festival of Speed and British Grand Prix attract more than 300,000 fans and millions more followers via television and other media.”

“While these two high profile events will help us to put the spotlight on the UK’s world-leading achievements, it’s essential that we maximise the opportunity to engage with more people and encourage them to get involved. Whether it’s as a competitor at grass roots level, an active member of a local motor club, or a trackside volunteer – motor sport has so much to offer. There are lots of opportunities in so many different disciplines for those inspired and excited by these major events – and that’s what National Motorsport Week is all about.”

National Motorsport Week 2012 will build on the many accomplishments of this year’s initiative. The scheme generated a massive increase in activities and events ranging from open days at some of the county’s top teams to a plethora of novice taster days organised by motor clubs throughout the country.

“National Motorsport Week is building the momentum deserved by both our world class UK motor sport industry and sport,” says Chris Aylett, MIA Chief Executive. “Right now, the UK needs good news from business and our industry beats the world in high performance engineering. We export more than 65 per cent of all we make, underlining our vital importance to this country’s revival and international standing. We sell nearly £10 billion of services and engineering each year, which underpins no fewer than 40,000 jobs. What’s more the high-performance engineering and motor sport sector inspires the next generation of world-class engineers, which is good news for the future of British industry. And, of course, UK motor sport success continues to promote the UK’s image for the best quality right around the globe.”

Provisional Date / Event Website

Posted: September 23, 2011 9:45 PM

The 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed is provisionally scheduled to take place over the weekend of 29 June-01 July, the same weekend that the world’s largest celebration of motoring culture has been held over the last three years. The 2012 Festival promises to be packed with action and excitement as the planet’s most glamorous racing machinery and famous drivers gather together in the beautiful surroundings of Goodwood Park. The 2012 theme for this leading motor sport event is currently being finalised and will be announced in the coming months.

Goodwood Festival of Speed