"Same procedure as every year", one is tempted to say when a myriad of historic (and current) sports and racing cars thunder up the castle hill in Goodwood/Chichester, or even whisper up it (more and more electric vehicles are also taking part here).
But Lord March, now called the Duke of Richmond, and his team manage to organize special experiences every year on a track that is actually quite unsuitable for such an event.
Relaxed and permissive
The enduring success of the Festival of Speed is certainly due to the fact that all participants, but also the spectators (and sponsors) take it easy. There are no age restrictions on the cars, nor does everything have to be original and as it was back then. On the contrary. The colorful mix of cars is part of the attraction.
And there is also plenty of "show" on offer, be it a daredevil pilot with a jet pack climbing up in front of Goodwood House as a quasi-James Bond or countless "donuts" being painted on the asphalt with a lot of love and emotion.
Another 70 years of Porsche
Every year, countless anniversaries are celebrated at Goodwood.
Porsche clearly took center stage at the 2018 edition, which took place from July 12 to 15, 2018, as evidenced by the traditional installation mounted in front of Goodwood House, as well as the special races and the impressive line-up of racing cars that the Zuffenhausen museum brought to England.
In memory of Steve McQueen
Twice visitors thought they caught a glimpse of Steve McQueen's winking eye.
Once, when the 1969 Porsche 917 in Gulf livery thundered up the hill - after all, the car is one of the movie cars from "Le Mans" - and the second time, when one of the original Ford Mustang GT390 Fastbacks drove up the hill together with the Dodge Charger, just like in the movie "Bullit".
However, the Dodge seemed to be in much better shape, as the Mustang quickly fell behind.
Rarities from over 120 years of motorsport
Of course, it is the many great cars that captivate the audience. Most of them let their full sound power be heard and also show what they are capable of in terms of performance. The private and professional collectors spare no effort in this regard.
Whether Mercedes-Benz W196, BMW V12 LMR or Matra-Simca MS640, the cars you can see and hear in a short space of time are top class.
Off the tarmac
Before we forget, in addition to the "hill climb track", there is also a rally track where former and current rally racing cars from the Austin 1800 to the Ford Escort and modern WRC cars can show what they are made of.
It remains to be seen whether this is a pleasure for the spectators, despite all the bales of straw and safety precautions, but the rally cars certainly came across very well in the live stream.
Racing drivers from then and now
Jensen Button (F1 world champion), Mark Webber, Jackie Stewart (three-time F1 world champion, with his sons), Derek Bell, Walter Röhrl, Frank Biela, (almost) Freddy Spencer (motorcycle world champion) and countless Le Mans winners, F1 racing drivers, rally luminaries, etc. - Celebrities were to be found at every turn around Goodwood House.
And they all seemed to be having a great time. Otherwise they probably wouldn't come back every year, like Jensen Butten, for example, who has been there 17 times, or Jackie Stewart, who has hardly missed any of the 25 runs.
One is tempted to say that if they stop coming, they are probably dead, like John Surtees, who was a regular at the Goodwood events and in whose honor Button drove the Honda Formula 1 racing car from the sixties up the hill.
Electric power beats the petrol engines
As every year, a highlight was the "Shoot Out", in which a wide variety of racing cars, but no current Formula 1 cars, were allowed to compete. It was already clear in the practice sessions that the two electric cars would probably be no match for them. The Volkswagen I.D., which had already set a new record at Pikes Peak, remained the fastest on the hill at Goodwood Castle, clocking a time of 43.86 seconds.
However, he was unable to beat Nick Heidfeld's Formula 1 record with this time. Romain Dumas commented that it might be possible to go one better next year. It will be interesting to see.
Second place went to Peter Dumbreck in the NIO EP9, who was five tenths off the pace. A small driving error was probably the deciding factor in the much heavier NIO not winning.
Third place then went to the first petrol-powered car, a Berg-Special based on the BMW E36 with a V8 Judd Formula 1 engine, driven by Jörg Weidinger. Fourth was Justin Law in the Jaguar XJR12D, fifth Jeremy Smith in the over 40-year-old Penske-Chevrolet PC22, 2.8 seconds behind the I.D.
Formula cars, pre-war vehicles, rally cars and Nascar racers are listed in a wild mix on the leaderboard, which is definitely an entertaining show from the audience's point of view, with the drivers showing very little consideration for the equipment and their own safety.
However, the "Shoot Out" was almost the end of the two-day event, and most visitors are probably already looking forward to the next edition.
