Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is regarded as one of the planet’s must-see motorsport festivals, and having recently witnessed the event firsthand, I can whole heartedly concur with that poorly-researched blanket statement.

I rocked up to the Goodwood estate on the final day of the event – Sunday, July 3, 2011 – and was immediately surprised by the sheer size of the crowd. It looked like there were maybe 100,000 people there, and there probably were.

From a good vantage point atop a giant ferris wheel, it was clear that the Festival of Speed was much more than just a place where vintage cars and bikes mix it up with modern day vehicles on the 1.6-mile-long (2.57km) hill climb course. Though that part of the festival was pretty awesome and what seemed like 10 minutes of idle bike watching turned out to be almost an hour...

The static displays were incredible – the number of motorcycles and cars both on display and in action was gob-smacking – plus there were regular interviews with famous drivers and riders peppering an event where the atmosphere was all about involvement.

At some motorsport events, such as MotoGP and particularly Formula 1, getting up close and personal with the race machinery and the people who ride and drive them is difficult, to put it mildly. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, however, it’s anything but.

As I milled around the staging area, a mixture of modern-day World Superbikes and classic GP racers from the '60s, '70s and '80s cruised up, squeezing their way through the crowd with the help of a few marshals. It's as if everyone at the event is on an equal footing, from motorsport champions to ‘anorak’ car and bike nerds.

It's this wonderful sense of community that really sets the Festival of Speed apart – that and the fact that Goodwood's owner, Lord March, is happy to let people hoon around on his driveway. In fact, there's even an award for ‘The Most Thrilling Driver’, for who best embodies what here in Australia we might consider the ‘hoon’ ethos. Gymkhana freak Ken Block has won it several times, as he did again this year...

On top of all the motorsport action almost every major motorcycle and car manufacturer has a fully-kitted out exhibit at the event, creating a compact version of a modern day motor show. You know – lots of displays, show bags, flashing lights and scantily-clad women.

Some of the highlights for me included seeing the classic Isle of Man TT and GP racers of the ’40s and ’50s, especially John Surtees riding the 1939 Type 255 Kompressor BMW race bike. The ex-Arthur Wheeler Moto Guzzi 350, ridden by former Isle of Man TT winner John Kidson, was also impressive, as was seeing (and hearing) MTT’s Rolls-Royce turbine-powered Y2K superbike, as the US$150,000 machine gingerly swung through the corners. 

Freddie Sheene, son of the late Barry Sheene, was also there – riding the Icon Sheene superbike – and a surprise highlight was the extreme sports area, where freestyle motocross, motorcycle trials and mini moto displays took centre stage, proving the Festival of Speed is just as happy to embrace the new, as it does the old.

Brian May, guitarist from seminal rock band Queen, stood atop the Goodwood estate manor as he belted out a few tunes, which really was indicative of the surprise package that is the Festival of Speed. You cruise out into the English countryside, trundle onto a traditional estate expecting to see a tasty assortment of bikes and cars, and end up enjoying a huge variety of entertainment.

There's so much to explore at the Festival of Speed; the single day I attended wasn't barely enough to do and see everything. Chatting to a few of the locals who had camped on site since the Thursday evening, I learned that three days is barely enough to time truly appreciate the scope of the jaw-dropping event.

It's the kind of festival that will appeal to petrol heads, sure, but it will also find favour with punters who have no interest in motorsport whatsoever – the cross-section of spectators spanned almost every demographic, from young families to mature men intent on reliving the sporting achievements of their forefathers.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a tremendously enjoyable event, well organised, and is definitely one of the must-see events on the planet, motorsport or not.

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