It’s 20 years since Nick Heidfeld took the outright record up the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill, when he covered the 1.16-mile course in 41.6 seconds in the McLaren MP4/13. Last yearRomain Dumas came close to beating it in the Volkswagen ID R Pikes Peak car, with a 43.05 time (beating the previous electric car record of 47.34s, set by Jonny Cocker in the 850bhp Lola-Drayson B12 69/EV in 2013). Will 2019 be the year that the record gets broken? It would be kind of sad, but appropriate because the theme for 2019’s Festival of Speed, which takes place from 4-7 July, will be “Speed Kings–Motorsport’s Record Breakers”. It’s all about celebrating the people and machinery that have set the benchmark or raised the bar, not just of the Land Speed Record, but on every area of record breaking in motorsport, from the most consecutive wins, to most championships, fastest laps, most poles set by a manufacturer and many more.
Goodwood is promising some significant changes this year, relocating some of the regular attractions and introducing new ones. We don’t know what they’ll be yet but we’ll let you know when we do. Over 600 cars and motorcycles spanning the history of motoring and motor sport will take part, along with legendary drivers and riders and international celebrities. The highlights we know of so far include FoS Future Lab, Forest Rally Stage, Michelin Supercar Paddock, Michelin Supercar Run, F1 paddock, Drivers’ Club, GAS Arena, Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance, Aviation Exhibition and Bonhams Auction. Tickets are already available from the Goodwood website.
Images courtesy of Goodwood
