All roads lead to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend

The Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS) in the UK kicked off on July 11, running until July 14. Started in 1993, it’s now the world’s most premier destination for motorsport and car culture, attracting more than 200,000 people over the four-day event.

Think of the festival as a large catwalk for the world’s most desirable automotive brands under the sun showcased in a dynamic fashion for the benefit of sight and sound. 

Highlight features in 2024 include the ‘Horseless to Hybrid — Revolutions in Power’ theme thus, for 2024, the show will celebrate the evolution of the motoring industry, from the very earliest days of the “horseless carriage” to today’s march towards ever more sustainable sources of power, incorporating a few steam cars from the 18th century, and even gas turbine racers taking to the hill.

The hill climb competition where the fastest car up the hill is crowned is another highlight spectacle. The McLaren Solus GT (main pic) won it in 2023 but, it nevertheless didn’t break the overall circuit record posted in 2022, and posted by the diminutive electric McMurtry Spierling.

Personalities

Goodwood is also a place where motorsport royalty off all ages converges, and kicking off with well known personalities, Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen is in attendance, including the Red Bull alumni such as Sergio Perez, David Coulthard, Christian Klien, Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber. 

It’s a celebration of the 20 year anniversary of Red Bull. Each driver will be in action at the wheel of a Red Bull F1 car of some vintage while Christian Horner, RBR team Principal and CEO, will also be suiting up for a run up the hill climb in the RB8 racer.

Verstappen will take to the hill in the RB16B, the car that he drove to his developed countries championship triumph in 2021. The RB1, RBR’s first F1 car will be driven by former racer Klien; Webber will be in the RB6, the winner of Red Bull’s developed countries championships in 2010.

Ricciardo will take the RB7 up the Hill, Coulthard the RB9 and Perez will get back behind the wheel of the Red Bull RB19. Red Bull will finally reveal its new RB17 hypercar on July 12.

More F1 drivers 

Fernando Alonso, Mika Hakkinen; Damon Hill; Emerson Fittipaldi; Yuki Tsunoda; Alex Albon; Logan Sargeant; Juan Pablo Montoya; Bruno Senna; Marc Gene; David Brabham; Karun Chandhok and Hans-Joachim Stuck will all be in attendance.

Off-road

The FOS has a gravel section where rally, Dakar and other off-road racing cars and drivers shine. From the dusty discipline visitors will get to see World Rally Championship (WRC) stars such as Kalle Rovanperä, Sebastian Ogier, Dani Sordo and Stig Blomqvist in action. 

Le Mans: 

The endurance racing paddock is also catered for, with a number of track legends such as the former winners including the Porsche 919 hybrid and the Audi Le Mans prototypes that dominated the series between 2009-2016. Drivers from Le Mans include Romain Dumas, and Emanuele Pirro driving up the hill. 

Motorcycle:

Goodwood welcomes it all, including the two-wheelers. Isle of Man TT legend Michael Dunlop will be in mix as well other known riders.

Other Drivers and disciplines

Dario Franchitti (Indy, NASCAR); Richard Petty (NASCAR) and Travis Pastrana (Stunts)

New cars to look forward to seeing:

Alfa Romeo

No car show is complete without Alfa Romeo. For 2024 the Italian brand will bring the stunning new, and small-batch 33 Stradale super car. 

Bugatti

The new Bugatti Tourbillion is another headline this year. The new hyper car that launched recently is expected to take to the hill as well as the Minstral.

BMW

The German brand never misses the FOS with its caboodle of athletes. This year fans get to see the all-new BMW M5 with a hybrid V8 in action. The new BMW 1 Series will also be there as well as the BMW Neue Klasse cars. 

Porsche

Porsche will be out in full force with a range race cars, old and new cars including the all-electric Macan and the hybrid 911 Carrera GTS. The brand used the Goodwood festival to celebrate its 75th year anniversary in 2023.

Land Rover

Goodwood is a home festival for the Land Rover brand and there’s no better place for the brand to launch the new, twin-turbo V8 Defender Octa. The hulking performance SUV will take to hill to show off its pace and handling abilities.

Lamborghini

Another Goodwood patron is Italian brand Lamborghini. Expect to the new Urus SE hybrid, and other low-slung products of the brand such as the new Revuelto speeding up the hill. 

Tesla

Tesla’s Cybertruck will join the festival for the first time this year. The strange-but-cool truck is an all-electric take on the utility van. Spectators will get to evidence its marketed performance potential up the hill.

Bentley

Bentley’s newly-minted Continental GT will be among many British heirlooms converged at the Goodwood festival of speed. 

Lotus

Londoner Colin Chapman’s legacy will be remembered when the all-electric range, including the latest addition Emeya four-door coupe recently launched. 

Watch the Goodwood Festival of speed 2024 with running commentary on: https://www.goodwood.com/grr/event-coverage/festival-of-speed/live-stream/