Goodwood Festival of Speed 2023 Round Up
The 30th edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed had a memorable weekend with several milestones and debuts amongst a ton of action down in West Sussex. Not even the severe wind that caused Saturday’s festivities to be called off could dampen spirits, although this was remarked for its rare occurrence, being the first time in 30 years that any day has had to be cancelled.
Anniversaries Galore
It wasn’t just 30 years of the Festival of Speed that was being celebrated this year, but also 75 years of motorsport at Goodwood itself. To honour 30 years of the Festival, The Duke of Richmond opened this year’s event in his Jaguar D-Type, the same car in which he opened the first year of the event back in 1993.
There were brands which celebrated anniversaries at the event also, with Porsche marking 75 years by becoming the first manufacturer to create the Central Feature for the fourth time in the event’s history. The sculpture featured some of the most iconic cars from its history, including the Porsche 804, 963, 962, 911, 992 and 997. As well as this, a parade of Porsche’s from throughout its history were showcased to fans across the weekend including models from the 1961 718/8 Spyder through to the 2023 963.
Other notable celebrations included the 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 75 years of Lotus, 75 years of NASCAR, 60 years of McLaren and 50 years of WRC, making it a truly special event.
Motorsport Legends Assemble
As expected, motorsport legends from across the world make the journey to the Festival of Speed, with many drivers and riders from Formula 1, MotoGP and Le Mans in the mix. Four time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel drove up the Hill in a number of cars from his personal collection, including his ex-Nigel Mansell 1992 Williams FW14B and ex-Ayrton Senna 1993 McLaren MP4/8. This was all part of a sustainable fuel exclusive, something close to Vettel’s heart having launched his sustainable fuel campaign in 2022 called “Race Without Trace”. Hoping that this idea is eventually adopted by motorsport and the wider industry, Vettel took the time to meet fans to spread his message.
Continuing the Formula 1 theme, several current F1 teams were in attendance including McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams. The F1 Pit Lane was the place to be to see legendary cars from the history of the sport as well as meet the teams and drivers, including Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri. One of the highlights of the weekend came when Mick Schumacher drove up the Hill in the same 2011 season Mercedes that his father had driven 12 years ago.
2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button returned to Goodwood with Radford, as he drove the Pikes Peak Edition up the famous Hill. Also in attendance were the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans winning Ferrari team, who continued their celebrations at the event.
Auction Madness
An eyewatering collection of 240 spectacular and unique vehicles went under the hammer during the Bonhams Cars Auction on Friday afternoon. Highlights included the 2007 Koenigsegg CCGT GT1 Competition Coupe, a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 of James Bond fame and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren supercar. The official Goodwood Youtube channel posted a preview video hosted by Smith & Sniff detailing some of the cars for sale.
Record Number of Debuts
Over the course of the weekend, there were plenty of world exclusives, debuts and reveals for visitors to the Festival to enjoy with this years event having the biggest number of debuts seen in 30 years of the event.
Debuts included the Alpine A110 R, Alpine A290_β, Bentley Batur, Bentley Speed Six Continuation, BMW 5 Series, Caterham Electric Seven, Caterham Project V, Eccentric Diablo, Ferrari KC23, Genesis GV80 Coupe Concept, Genesis X Convertible, HiPhi Z, HiPhi Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster, Kia EV9, Lamborghini Revuelto, Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, McLaren 750S, McLaren Solus GT, McMurtry Spéirling PURE, MINI Aceman, MG4 XPower, MG Cyberster, Nio ET5, Porsche 718 Spyder RS, Porsche Cayenne, Porsche Mission X, Renault R5 Turbo 3E and Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer DLS Turbo Project. Keep an eye on Driven over the coming weeks and months for more details about some of these cars.
Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: Goodwood, Radford & Ferrari