Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2023.

My favourite car of the weekend was this 1939 Mercedes-Benz W165.  This 1.5 litre car was built especially to win the Tripoli GP.

I was due to spend two days at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed  but as Saturday got cancelled due to the high winds, I only got to go on the Friday.  This year they were celebrating an astounding number of anniversaries.  On the Friday, the weather was rather wet as my shots indicate. However, what an experience!  They can be no other motorsport venue in the world where you can see such variety in one day.  I paticuarly enjoyed the Forest Rally Stage which didn't exist back in 2001 when I last went to the FOS.  About fifty of the vehicles present can be seen below:

30 Years of the Festival of Speed

A 1966 Brabham-Repco BT20 driven by David Brabham.  The model that made Jack Brabham win that years World F1 Championship in a car bearing his name.

1925 Sunbeam V12 "Tiger".   This car both set a new Land Speed Record at 152.33 MPH and also led the 1927 Italian Grand Prix in the hands of Henry Segrave.  Here driven by Patrick Blakeney-Edwards.

1926 Thomas Special "Babs".  This is another Land Speed Record car although eventually John parry-Thomas was killed trying for another record in this car on Pendine Sands. The car was then buried in the dunes before being dug-up and restored in the sixties. Driven by Geraint Evans.

75 Years of NASCAR

1969 Dodge Charger Daytona with 7.2 litre V8 and rear wing.  Here driven by Will Spencer.  perhaps the most beautiful NASCAR racer ever.

1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo here driven by Zak Brown but in the colours in which Dale Earnhardt won the title.

1983 Buick Regal that Bobby Allison drove to win the title.  Here driven by Mel Pocock.

Le Mans 24 Hours Centenary

1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa that finished seventh at Le Mans that year.

1970 Ferrari 512S.  This is Nick Mason's car that won the Sebring 12 hours and was driven at the FOS by Marino Franchitti.

1978 Alpine-Renault A442B.  I think this was driven by Alain Serpaggi at FOS.

75 Years of Porsche

1969 Porsche 908 Langheck.

1989 Porsche 962C.

1980 Porsche 935 K3.

50 Years of the WRC

1981 Opel Ascona 400 on Goodwood's Forest Rally Stage.

1987 Audi 200 Quattro.

1984 Ford RS2000.

75 Years of Motorsport at Goodwood - The racing years.

1950 BRM Type 15 V16

1956 Aston Martin DB3S.

1963 Ferrari 250 GTO/64.

75 Years of Motorsport at Goodwood - the testing years

1968 Lola-Chevrolet T160

1975 Brabham-Cosworth BT44B, here driven by Dario Franchitti.

75 Years of Motorsport at Goodwood - The return to racing

1959 Tojeiro-Jaguar.

1979 Ford Capri III 3.0S.

1907 Mercedes 120HP.

75 Years of Lotus

In the foreground a Lotus Type 25 - chassis number R4 with which Jim Clark took seven wins in 1963.  

1970 Lotus-Cosworth 72.

1987 Lotus Honda 99T - the model that took Lotus's last F1 win.

60 Years of McLaren Racing

1929 Austin 7 Ulster that Bruce McLaren took his first win with in 1954 at the Muriwai Beach Hillclimb.

In the foreground, the first ever customer car a McLaren-Oldsmobile M1A.  In the background (red 2) the car that McLaren Racing used in the first ever Can-Am series.

1969 McLaren-Chevrolet M8B.  These cars dominated the 1969 Can-Am season.

A real shame I didn't get to see the Lotuses and McLaren's in action at Goodwood, thanks to Saturday's cancellation and the attraction of the Forest Rally Stage on Friday.

As well as the various anniversaries, there was the usual mix of interesting machinery to see:

Sports Racing Cars

1969 Pronello-Ford V8 Huayra.  A car the Carlos Reutemann drove in its day in the Argentine Turismo Carretera series.  The only surviving example it was fast but unreliable in the Argentine series.

BMW M1 Procar - a F1 support series that they should bring back!

2004 BMW H2R.  A car that set a number of Hydrogen World Records.

Tin Top Titans

1992 Nissan Skyline - a model that dominated the Japanese Touring Car series plus also taking wins at 
Bathurst and Spa.

1984 Jaguar XJS - another Bathurst winner.

Ultimate Rally Cars

2023 Audi RS Q E-Tron E2.

Grand Prix Greats

1997 Williams-Renault FW19.

Moto GP Celebration

1952 Norton Manx 500cc.

Shootout

Always entertaining to watch in the Pre-War section of the shootout, Julian Majzub in a 1931 Maserati 26M.

Emerging from the flint wall section, this 2022 McLaren Solus GT trackday special won the shootout on Sunday driven by Marvin Kirchhöfer.

Runner-up in the Sunday's shootout was this Subaru GL Family Huckster driven by Travis Pastrana.

Supercar Run

2023 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro.

Birth of Stage Rallying

1968 Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600.

1977 Fiat 131 Abarth

1979 Toyota Celica RA40 

Legends of Group B

1986 MG Metro 6R4

1984 Audi Quattro A2

An unlikely Group B car, a Peugeot 504 Pick-Up.

Dawn of Modern Rallying

Making an impressive jump is the 2010 Subaru STI N15 of Richard Barrow.

A 2002 Skoda Octavia WRC Evo 03 gets it wrong in the dark forest section.

1992 Toyota Celica GT Four ST185.

1997 Subaru Impreza WRC98.

Contemporary Rally Cars

2022 Ford Fiesta Rally2

2022 Hyundai i20 R5

Off-Road Arena

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

It was great to see the hill record holder, Max Chilton in the 2022 McMurtry Spiérling.  Definitely the most exciting electric car I have ever seen!   it was fast even in the wet due to the fan generated downforce.

1969 Austin Maxi driven by Bronwyn Burrell who was part of the original crew on the 1970 London-Mexico Rally.

The 1935 Lagonda M45 Rapide that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1935.