2014 Goodwood Festival Of Speed: What To Expect

By Santosh

It's time again for the biggest celebration of motorsport - the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Colloquially known as the Festival of Speed or simply, FoS, this famous event is held on the grounds of the Goodwood House, in West Sussex, England. The FoS features historic motor racing vehicles and famous drivers "addicted to winning" taking part in events like the hillclimb and rally stage.

Also Read: David Coulthard's Tour Of The Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb

The Festival of Speed was founded in 1993 by Lord March, who brought the event to his Goodwood House grounds, since he could not get a permit to host racing in the Goodwood circuit. The first show attracted a crowd of 25,000 people despite a clash of schedule with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Presently, the festival is held over three days with public attendance in the range of 100,000 visitors a day.

This year edition of the FoS begins tomorrow and will continue till the 29th of June. There's plenty to look forward to:

The story continues in the next section. Click through the slides for more.

2014 Goodwood Festival Of Speed: What To Expect

The story continues on the next slide.


Picture credit: Goodwood

1. Mercedes-Benz - Celebrating 120 years of motorsport

1. Mercedes-Benz - Celebrating 120 years of motorsport

Mercedes-Benz will be the highlighted marque this year with the company celebrating its many achievements across 120 years of motorsport history. Their successes and achievements will be the influence for this year's installation art by famous sculptor Gerry Judah, which is said to be the most challenging and architecturally significant installation to date at the FoS. Mercedes-Benz will display cars ranging from their pre-war Silver Arrows to the CLK-GTR, Mercedes rally cars, and their current-season-dominating F1 cars.

Picture credit: Mercedes-Benz

2. Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’elegance

2. Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’elegance

The 2014 Festival of Speed will see the 20th edition of the Cartier Style et Luxe concours d'elegance, a car show not unlike the Pebble Beach concours d'elegance, except with more varied participation. Cars that win in their respective classes here see their value significantly rise. This year, the elite car show is expected to attract a wide range of cars, from the downright weird to the stupendously beautiful. Visitors will be able to witness extremely rare autos from BNC, Riley and Amilcar in Class 1. Class 2 will be dedicated to the Mercedes Benz 500K while the Maserati marque will solely feature in Class 3 with 1950s tourers bodied by famous builders like Zagato, Frua and Allemano.

Picture credit: Goodwood

3. Jaguar Project 7

3. Jaguar Project 7

Several automakers now choose the Festival of Speed to present concept cars and launch new models as well. This year, Jaguar will showcase its Project 7, a car based on the Jaguar F-Type. The new car is absolutely gorgeous, and features a D-Type-inspired unique bit of fairing behind the roll bar of the driver, that has made it to production. Project 7 will be Jaguar's most powerful road car ever, with its 5.0-litre V8 engine coaxed to now produce 567 bhp, that will enable it to complete the 0-100 km/h dash in just 3.9 seconds.

Picture credit: Goodwood

4. Lewis Hamilton

4. Lewis Hamilton

One of the stars of this year's festival is sure to be Formula One championship-winning driver, Lewis Hamilton, who will climb the hill in a recent model Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 car. The Mercedes driver is currently in second place in this year's F1 season, behind team mate Nico Rosberg. His four victories this year mean he has won more races than any other driver this season.

Picture credit: Goodwood

5. Maserati - Celebrating its centenary

5. Maserati - Celebrating its centenary

The 2014 Festival of Speed will celebrate 100 years of Maserati producing its beautiful cars. There will be a number of Maseratis on show, including several racers from past and a dedicated class in the Cartier et Luxe concours d' Elegance.

Picture credit: Goodwood

6. Williams Heritage Division

6. Williams Heritage Division

Williams Heritage has just been formed to showcase the team's history, like when Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill each won championships in Williams F1 cars in the past. This year the 1996-championship-winning Williams FW18 cars will feature, driven by Damon Hill and Felipe Massa.

Picture credit: Goodwood

7. Elemental RP1 - New car debut

7. Elemental RP1 - New car debut

Move over BAC Mono, KTM X-Bow, and Ariel Atom, because a new player is set to be revealed at the Festival of Speed. The Elemental RP1 is a track-focused road car featuring a carbon fibre tub and extremely lightweight construction. The car has easily changeable settings to offer the driver an ideal setup for track use and has three powerplant options on offer: a tuned version of the little marvel that is the 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder EcoBoost motor, a 280 bhp version of the 2.0-litre EcoBoost engine, or a high-revving 1.0-litre Honda Fireblade unit.

Picture credit: Goodwood

8. Ford - New car debut

8. Ford - New car debut

Keep in line with car manufacturers choosing the Festival of Speed to launch new cars, Ford will reveal the Ford Focus ST facelift at the 2014 FoS. Big news is that the car is to feature a performance turbo diesel engine, which may be a souped-up version of the 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi engine.

Fender ender

Fender ender

This year's edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed is set to be unprecedented with so many exciting events, car launches and shows, and famous motor racing personalities. Log on to this location to catch all the action via a live video stream between 0825-1830 (BST) on each day between the 26th and the 29th of June.

Picture credit: Goodwood

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Read more on: #motorsport #auto news
Article Published On: Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 17:36 [IST]
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