Rallying At Goodwood: The Festival of Speed Isn’t Afraid To Get Muddy

When it comes to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, we all know the drill to a degree. Incredible paddocks, outrageously fast hillclimbs, good champagne and even better company. It’s a bit on the corporate side as it grows and grows year after year, which the team behind Lord March is all too aware of as they continually seek to surprise and delight festival goers. It’s this very surprise and delight that I discovered when I ventured to the top of the hillclimb to spend the day at the rally stage, something that I suspect they’re pouring effort into to combat the corporate side of down below.

Now, most might expect an event trying to put on a rally stage to be a muddy parking lot with a bunch of cones arranged and a couple of cheeky MGs skidding around. Not at Goodwood. Lord March and his team have gone above and beyond to recreate what feels genuinely like a proper Group B rally stage before stocking the paddock with some of the world’s most legendary rally fighters. Sport Quattros? Check. Stig Blomqvist RS200s? Check. Lancia 037s? Check.

It was as if I had stumbled upon a muddy wet dream, and it was then that I rediscovered the magic of the FoS. Due to the pain-in-the-ass nature of getting the the rally stage it was marvelously sparse in terms of crowd. Gone were the malted masses of the hillclimb down below, I was alone in the pantheon of rally gods. I spent my day almost exclusively at the Rally stage trying to capture the glory with my camera to share with you on here. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.