The theme for the Festival of Speed, to be held from 28 June to 1 July, will be ‘Young Guns – Born To Win’. This will encompass all disciplines of the sport (racing, rallying and motorcycling) as well as recognising the precocious talent of youthful engineers, too – anyone, in fact, who exhibits an “insatiable thirst for speed”.
Sebastian Vettel, the youngest-ever double World Champion, is a confirmed entry for the Festival, to be held a week before the British Grand Prix, thus ensuring the event's usual high turnout of F1 teams.
Present at the Press Day was Sir Anthony Bamford’s 1950 Jaguar XK120, the dark green car that was entered by Tommy Wisdom for a youthful Stirling Moss to drive in the 1950 Tourist Trophy at Dundrod, Northern Ireland.
In wet conditions, the future multiple Grand Prix-winner stunned onlookers all those years ago, with a consummate drive to win his first major race. The rest is history – although a World Championship evaded him.
Other youngsters likely to receive recognition include: Emerson Fittipaldi and Lewis Hamilton (F1), Mike Hailwood and Valentino Rossi (motorcycles) and, from the world of rallying, Henri Toivonen and Colin McRae.
The Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’elegance will celebrate (appropriately, in Her Diamond Jubilee year) the cars associated with Her Majesty the Queen. In addition to the limousines, expect to see some surprisingly ordinary (yet nonetheless interesting) cars with royal associations. There could even be – bring on the tumbrels – a striking Chapron-bodied Citroën SM Decapotable used for The Queen’s State visit to France in 1972.
The Festival will also have its popular Supercar Run, Moving Motor Show, Forest Rally Stage, FOSTECH engineering exhibition and Bonhams auction.
To be held on Friday, 29 June, Bonhams’ sale will have as its star entries the Daniels Collection of pre-War cars, and Malcolm Barber was to be seen behind the wheel of the dark red, 1929 Bentley ‘Birkin’ single-seater at the Press Day – surely a contender for most valuable car sold at auction this year.
There will also be the third dedicated Goodwood Aviation Show, now relocated to a Festival venue.
If you are interested in historic motor racing, from 14 to 16 September there will only be one place to be: at the Goodwood Revival. So much has been written about the finest-ever celebration of historic motorsport it’s difficult to avoid repetition and clichés when explaining the event to someone who has never been.
Suffice to say, the peerless level of entries, ferociously hard racing and wonderful ‘stage-set’ atmosphere make the Revival a weekend like no other.
For 2012, you can expect all the usual Revival action with the addition of one or two surprises (as we’ve said before, the introduction of a sixties-style supermarket a couple of years ago caused nearly as much talk as the grid full of GTOs) and the Shelby Trophy.
As 2012 will be five decades since Carroll Shelby’s Cobra hit the streets, the Revival will feature an-all Cobra race. And the circuit will also feature a ‘demonstration’ run of several ‘Silver Arrows’ pre-War Mercedes and Auto Union racing cars. We can’t wait.
Do remember, admission to both events is by advance ticket only.
Photos: Classic Driver
