Goodwood Fest: in the driver’s seat

Published Jul 26, 2013

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There are a few things they don’t tell you about the almost two kilometres of famous hill climb at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The first is that, contrary to what you see on TV, or even from the grandstands for that matter, the corners are tight and unforgiving, with one hosting a medieval wall as part of its run-off area and another a blind crest.

Then there are the changing elevations, which even over that short distance plays a big part in your throttle and gear-selection choices – especially in older classics. The last, and most intimidating, is the crowd - about 60 000 passionate petrolheads on each of the three days, all there to soak up the sights and sounds of the exotic machinery on parade.

I found all this out the hard way, after squeezing into a racing overall and harnessing myself into a priceless Porsche with the name “Ickx” above the driver’s door.

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF 911

This was the works Porsche 911 SC/RS 4x4 driven by Jacky Ickx to sixth place in the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally (a sister car driven by Rene Metge won the rally that year), and was one of three cars used by Stuttgart for research into all-wheel drive; they were the very first examples of four-wheel-drive technology in a 911.

Ickx’s baby is now one of the stars of the Porsche museum collection, and was wheeled out to celebrate 50 years of 911 at the 2013 Festival of Speed - and yours truly was given a go up the hill in the Porsche parade.

Now, as much as the organisers call it a parade, we all know what happens when you let a group of enthusiasts loose in such machinery - irrespective of their lineage. Speed limits tend to become guidelines and drivers tend to chase, rather than cruise up the hill.

BASIC DUST-BUSTER

To make matters worse, my Rothmans-branded dust-buster was as basic as can be, which may sound romantic but, crucially, it was missing aircon and handbrake - on the hottest recorded weekend in the UK this year.

I could live with the heat, barely, but trying to do a hundred stop-starts uphill through the exhibition area, in front of the throngs of fans, without said handbrake was hard work.

Not to mention an accelerator pedal like a light switch - it was either on or off - and a heavy clutch that took suddenly right at the top of its travel.

I was glad to make it to the start of the hill climb, and enjoy the mechanicals starting to warm up and talk to each other in one glorious howl. Then, after giving the crowd a bit of ‘Lenasia Launch Control’ I barrelled the 168kW 3.2-litre flat-six into the first corner, and realised that they hadn’t removed the Dakar sand from the shocks almost 30 years before.

STILT-LIKE SUSPENSION

The chassis set-up is clearly not intended for tar and the car wallowed its way through the first apex with me wondering what exactly it said on the indemnity form I signed. Nevertheless, I cruised up the hill without incident. I’m sure Mr Ickx, who was in attendance, was relieved.

The Festival itself is absolute petrolhead nirvana, and should be a definite top 10 on your bucket list. Unlike motor shows where everything tends to be static, Goodwood brings everything to life and well within the reach of visitors. But be warned, it’s quite spread out and felt like a weekend with the cousins from Walk for Life.

Porsche pretty much laid its “50 years of 911” stamp on the event, not only through the various 911 production and race cars in attendance, but also by commissioning an impressive 34-metre-high, 25-ton sculpture in front of Goodwood House.

It featured three 911 models – a Coupé from 1965, a 2.7 RS from 1973, and the latest Type 991 Carrera 4 – all mounted on majestic steel arrows.

GET WITH THE PROGRAMME

To best enjoy the show you need to get to grips with the programme, which lists the categories of cars and models represented - and maps the vast lay of the land.

The hill offers both timed and parade runs, the forest track offers a taste of world-class rallying, the various advanced driving areas take visitors for a spin (sometimes literally) on makeshift courses, there are dedicated classic and supercar areas, and the manufacturer area profiles new products and technology.

There’s also some amazing merchandise on offer, with everything from actual bits of old F1 cars to retro watches and gear on sale.

But it’s the sheer volume and magnitude of the cars that descend on Lord March’s estate - from classics to world unveilings (such as the McLaren P1) to race-specials that’s bewildering, leaving you gobsmacked the first time you walk through the gates (you need more than a day to do the event justice). Even world records were broken, with the car auction on the Friday fetching the equivalent of R294-million for Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Formula One racer.

RUBBING SHOULDERS WITH MOTORSPORT ROYALTY

Teams bring their older F1 and motorsport cars and a host of drivers (125 this year) to the Festival.

I shook hands with Alain Prost and Jenson Button, and saw Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg just metres away.

The Bloodhound SSC – which will attempt to break the World land-speed record in SA - had a huge model and display area, while the World Rally Championship celebrated its 40th anniversary by running every championship-winning car through the Forest Rally Stage.

The fastest cars up the hill over the weekend were the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak machine piloted by Peugeot test driver Gregory Gilvert (45.86 seconds), matched exactly by Nick Heidfeld in a prototype Lola B12/60 (Heidfeld also holds the record, set in 1998 at 41.6 seconds in a McLaren MP4 13).

The soapbox racers and Roman chariots weren’t in the top 10, but were fun to watch too.

The 2014 Festival dates are about to be confirmed and, like this year, will probably be sold out online months in advance; keep an eye out for them. - Star Motoring

Follow Minesh Bhagaloo on Twitter.

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