2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood Festival of Speed: is it significant?
- How significant is Goodwood’s FOS during the racing season?
- Do the brands developing exhibitions and unveiling products affects attendance at all, or are people just there for the races?
“In my opinion . . .”
As you may or may not know, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is a hill climb event, held annually, that features all sorts of historic motor racing cars and motorcycles. The event is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England between late June and early July.In the beginning years, the Festival was attended by tens of thousands. Today, it attracts about 100,000 each day of the event. In 2003, the attendance numbers were caped from growing higher by employing an advance ticket-only admission program. Now attendance is capped at 150,000.
This year, Mercedes has an assortment of attractions such as a massive sculpture yet to be revealed, video game stations for virtual racing and a virtual reality experience that lets fans have a 360 degree experience of the race.
Land Rover is unveiling its stealth package for the Range Rover Sport. The package is designed for the top-level HSE versions of the sporty SUV. It consists mainly of exterior design enhancements, among which is a satin black finish for the front grille, fog lamp bezels, hood and fender vents, upper mirror caps and tailgate finisher. A matte finish is added to the light surrounds at both ends of the vehicle as well. Customers can also choose from 21- or 22-inch wheels with the same satin black finish.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, also known as the “FoS” is like the Royal Ascot, Monaco Grand Prix, RAF Air Show, Geneva Auto Show and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance all rolled into one. It’s absolute petrol head heaven with an incredible mix of rare (read very expensive) sports and racing cars, motorcycles, celebrities and motor sport “royalty.”
In addition to the FoS, the Goodwood Revival is held a bit later in the year, and celebrates the glory days of the racing circuit there at Goodwood. It’s a must-see for fans of the golden-era motorsports. Often, you can see past championship drivers reunited with their winning race cars for the first time in decades, and seen driving them at speed. That is truly a delight for the historian.
The FoS is not that significant in the racing season, per se, in fact, the event is scheduled to fit around the motor racing calendar to avoid conflicts the Formula One season. This way, spectators are able to rub shoulders with team members who are involved in the current motor racing championships.
The brands unveiling their latest bag-of-tricks will not go unnoticed there. It’s a good move, as long as it is in context with the demographics and automotive theater. And no, people are there for FAR more than the races.
It’s truly an event—one that should put on their bucket list.
To learn more, watch the video:
Image credit: GRRC Goodwood, Land Rover Media Centre
