A look back at the Goodwood Festival of Speed – Part 1 - 2009 to 2012

Report by David Harbey

19 November 2020

Miffed that I missed the inaugural Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1993, I determined to make sure that I got to one day or other of the event thereafter.

Over subsequent years, the event developed from a “quick run up ‘is Lordship’s drive for his friends” to a full on motor show, hillclimb, rally stage and much, much, more. I was in full-on spectator mode in those days and photography didn’t come into it.

By 2009, with family responsibilities reduced, Madeline and I started to make a weekend of it.

2009

With a point and shoot Olympus, I was a little limited photographically in 2009 but still managed to grab photos of the centrepiece which celebrated 100 years of Audi – a pre-war Auto Union Streamliner on one arm, a modern Audi R8 on the other. 

As I was more of a spectator than a photographer back then and camera didn't get used much however, I did manage to capture the legends that are Hannu Mikkola, Arne Hertz and Tony Mason on the rally stage.

Sebastien Loeb was there in his WRC Citroen and it was great to see a car driven by my boyhood hero, Jim Clark – his 1965 Indy 500 winner no less - on display.

In these two photos, we see the power of the Festival of Speed – the ability to attract rare cars and famous personalities – and put them within arms-length of the public.

2010

For 2010, the Olympus E500 was pressed into service for two days of action on the hill, rally stage, off road course and paddocks.

The centrepiece was dedicated to Alfa Romeo (an excellent decision !) and featured, by Sunday, a dusty 1924 P2 and a new 8C Competizione.

On the rally stage, which is chalk, there was a nice amount of dust thrown up to enhance the sense of speed.

The rally stage weaves in and out of the trees which brings into play some interesting and occasionally frustrating light, shadows and reflections on the windscreens.

Some classic Fords were out in force, from Mk1 Escorts to the mighty RS200.

A gorgeous (I am biased) Martini liveried Lancia 037, contrasted with the modern livery on Steve Perez’s Datsun 240Z and Lancia Stratos.

The McRae Impreza looked and sounded glorious.

Researching these photos I discovered that the MG below was driven by WRC rally winner Markko Martin. 

It’s an MG S2000 spec rally car that Estonian Martin was down to drive; apparently, he asked if he could bring a couple of Junior Team drivers as well – one of which was Ott Tanak – who turned out to be 2019 WRC champion driver. 

Also pictured is future WRC rally winner Kris Meeke at the somewhat sandy start of the stage in his Peugeot.

The off road area featured Rally Raid and off road rally style vehicles on a banked course with a number of jumps. Never did do the passenger rides that were on offer. 

A word here on the weather – 2009 was hot, dry, sunny and dusty – very dusty at the rally stage. We have also had damp and downright chucking it down rain other years even though the event runs in the summer.

Wandering through the paddock, again fully open, you come across cars and drivers. Some you may have seen race; some you have never seen before. I’d seen the Big Cat, Jaguar XJC at Silverstone in period – fast but flawed – and the Jeff Koons BMW Art Car at Le Mans a couple of weeks before. 

The detail shot of the Lotus 109 reflects “my” F1 team which ended with this car (despite later branding exercises).

New supercars or design concepts also feature; the “Alfa Romeo” is a TZ3 Corsa – a Zagato evocation of the TZ cars and created using Viper running gear.

More correct, is the Ferrari 375MM Berlinetta from the 1954 Carrera Panamericana – an open road race in Mexico. Doug Nye, the renowned motorsport historian was sharing the drive.

To the hillclimb; Molecomb is a blind left hander after the fast run in front of Goodwood House. A number of drivers have ended their day in the straw bales there.

Ken Block (yes, that Hoonigan videos Ken Block ) cuts the corner whilst the Red Bull driver shows more respect.

A more relaxed view is taken for the return down the hill, as shown here by the Jaguar C Type crew.

The highlight for many, but perhaps less so for this writer, is the contemporary F1 cars which tend to run on wet tyres and perform lots of donuts.

Here’s Lewis Hamilton doing his thing. Jackie Stewart got to drive Jim Clark’s Indy winner (only a static display in 2009) after its re-commissioning.

2011

By 2011, the camera was getting more use, but still it was very much spectating while taking photos. 

The Gerry Judah designed central display was dedicated to the E Type Jaguar on it’s 50^th birthday.

I have to contradict Enzo Ferrari at this point, for it was he who declared that the E-Type was the most beautiful car in the world. I’d take a Ferrari 250GTO or perhaps a 250SWB in preference any day, but hey !

The skies were greyer and cloudy which meant that the air display from the Red Arrows didn’t get a blue background, but sometimes clouds can be very effective.

In the paddock you could come across a pair of Ducati Monsters or an Audi Sport Quattro.

A Quattro looks good on the rally stage too along with a Lancia 037. But check out this a rally icon, the bellissimo HF Integrale.

The Escort and Stratos were back again …

While the Toyota Celica and Porsche 911 SCRS added some variety.

Linking back to the hillclimb, the Quattro and Astra 4S rally cars get their chance – the latter was a ‘just too late’ attempt at Group B for GM.

The organisers’ ability to attract unusual or rare cars to the event was demonstrated by the presence of two of Jim Hall’s Chaparrals.

The be winged 2E from 1966 featured a semi-automatic gearbox and driver adjustable rear wing. Driver here is Gil de Ferran. The 1970 2J was even more innovative featuring a snowmobile motor to suck the car to the ground (way ahead of the later and infamous Brabham BT46).

In the single seater ranks, Bruno Senna got a run in the “Lotus” Renault (I’m old school as far as Lotus F1 goes) while Martin Donnelly was re-united with the Lotus 102 – this was the model in which he had his career ending crash.

It all went much better this time. 

Reminding us of the time that wings were first emerging in grand prix cars, this is the Ferrari 246 Tasman.

Famous driver wise, Stirling Moss was out in his Porsche 718 RS61, while Brian Redman was given a drive in the Porsche 917/30 – the car that won the 1973 Can-Am championship with up to 1500 bhp. 

Steve Soper is re-united with his BMW 320i Supertourer with Macau livery.

Back to innovation – the banned twin chassis Lotus 88 in the hands of Dan Collins which went on to win in historic grand prix racing and from an earlier era, the Ferguson P99.

This is the four wheel drive car that won the 1961 Oulton Park Gold Cup – the only F1 race won by a 4WD car.

Finally, the only rotary engined car to win at Le Mans – the screaming Mazda 787 from 1991.

2012

In 2012, the central feature was for Lotus – another excellent decision. This was definitely one of the better central display features.

A range of Lotus grand prix cars were displayed.

The rally stage entertained as ever –

Some rarer models were seen – an Opel Ascona and the very pretty Alpine-Renault A110 – Monte Carlo winner in 1971 and 1973.

I also discovered a new vantage point by the start. It’s challenging to get a clean shot with straw bales, marshals, team support and TV crew around.

However, it can produce some nice images as the drivers wait to, and then, depart. Stirling is clearly about to ask – “can I go now, old boy ?”. 

Annette Mason is aboard the Ferrari 250MM in Carrera Panamericana colours while Nick Mason is seen on board the quattro

Variety is the spice of life at the Festival. From the Gerry Marshall Firenza to a Can Am McLeagle making their suggestion of US President clear.

Bruce Canepa’s Pikes Peak entry doing nothing for the image of diesels !

Rod Millen was also a Pikes Peak regular and he was present in his winning Toyota Tacoma – not your standard “truck” as the post-indiscretion photo shows …

The start is also arguably a better place to shoot the bikes as the riders get ready to go up the hill. They don’t go for times, but set off at short intervals.

Here is John Surtees on the Norton, Kenny Roberts on the Yamaha.

Aaron Slights on the Honda talking to Tony Smith.

If you want a sense of how Formula 1 car designs have developed – look at the following photos – from Jackie Stewart in the 1965 BRM P261, Dan Gurney in the McLaren M14A.

To Marino Franchitti in the 1970 March 701.

Then contrast with the 1991 Jordan 191 (surely, one of the prettiest F1 cars ever) and the 2011 Red Bull and Mercedes driven by Sebastian Vettel.

Three final shots in the late afternoon sunshine – the afore-mentioned McLeagle – a McLaren CanAm car which received Dan Gurney’s attention, a beautiful Ferrari 312PB.

One car I hadn’t seen before – the Dorset Racing Lola T297 carrying Pink Floyd “The Wall” sponsorship for its Le Mans bid driven by Nick Mason among others.

As the years progressed, the sheer variety of things to see and do became overwhelming and soon we would need to there for Friday as well. 

More Festival of Speed memories will be published next Thursday.

You can share this report with your friends on social media.