2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Tip of the hat to Lord March and his entire crew who put up another terrific Festival of Speed (FOS). The entire program, meaning that what those present at the Goodwood estate saw on the big screens and heard over Goodwood radio, was broadcast via live feed to the world. Needless to say, I spend three full mornings watching the hillclimb and writing. Below follows some of what caught my attention.

One of the aspects of the FOS that always moves many are reunions between older race car drivers and their championship winning cars. This time again their were many, such as Sir John Surtees, Al Unser, Sir Stirling Moss and Damon Hill, who was reunited with his 1996 F1 championship winning Williams FW18. To watch the video, click here.

Also, the organizers used a simple but effective way to illustrate technological advancements over a fifty year period. Sir John Surtees took the start of the hillclimb in his F1 Tipo 158 1964 championship winning Scuderia Ferrari, followed closely on the track by Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 F1 championship winning Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F1 car. This sight alone must have brought both tears and cheers to young and old. To watch the video, click here. It was absolutely magnificent.

Another great side by side hillclimb start was performed by Sir Stirling Moss in the legendary Mercedes-Benz W196 along side Lord March in the Streamliner version of the W196. To watch the video, click here. As a child I would play with my brother Dito's silver W196 Marklin electric race car. Just wonderful memories.

Everybody knows that aerial shows are a trademark of English Motoring events and this year's FOS would not be the same without the Red Arrows paying Chichester a visit. And as if that were not enough, the now retired but still incredible Avro Vulcan jet powered delta wing strategic bomber gave a truly unique show. The Vulcan bomber is the last of the cold war monsters that is still flying today. Some of you may remember it from James Bond's Thunderball.

Needless to say, there are many different classes of cars and race cars at the FOS. I won't try to touch on this for there is better reporting on the FOS section of Goodwood's website. If you have a chance, hop on over to the website to see footage and pictures of the weekend.

So OK, I have not forgotten about our younger motorsports fans. If you paid attention during the many videos you may have seen tire marks all over the road leading up to the Goodwood hill. Most of these were laid down by "Mad" Mike Whiddett in special highly tuned four rotor 530bhp Mazda RX-7. To go to a page with the video, click here.

I am not one to focus too much on crashes but if this is what amuses you, than the folks at Jalopnik have a page dedicated to many of the crashes at the FOS. Just click here.

And, cheers to The Telegraph for their wonderful support of the Goodwood FOS. Click here to visit their 2014 FOS page.

Thanks for reading and DO check back for updates!

Source: Goodwood, The Telegraph, Jalopnik
Photocredit: Goodwood