Thousands of motoring fanatics made their annual pilgrimage to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for a weekend of incredible vehicles, legendary drivers and a plethora of on-site attractions from July 11-14, 2024.
Held in the grounds of Goodwood House in Chichester, West Sussex, the vast four-day motoring extravaganza celebrated the progress made in automotive technology with this year’s Horseless to Hybrid theme.
Complementing the theme was MG’s position as this year’s Celebrated Marque, represented by a spectacular Gerry Judah-designed sculpture on the lawn in front of Goodwood House in recognition of the brand’s 100th anniversary.
The Sunday Shootout, a highlight of every Festival of Speed, lived up to expectations in 2024, as drivers pushed a diverse array of machinery to the limit for timed runs up the iconic hillclimb course that doubles as the Duke of Richmond’s driveway.
Thousands of motoring fanatics made their annual pilgrimage to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for a weekend of incredible vehicles, legendary drivers and a plethora of on-site attractions
This year’s fastest time was achieved by Romain Dumas in the Ford SuperVan 4.2 Electric, ahead of the sinister Subaru WRX: Project Midnight piloted by Scott Speed and the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup of James Wallis.
Despite masquerading as a commercial vehicle, the SuperVan’s victory was unsurprising to those who knew it could unleash a combined 1428bhp through its four electric motors. Such pace also meant that Dumas claimed the lap record at Australia’s Mount Panorama circuit earlier this year.
There was plenty more for visitors to see aside from adrenaline-fuelled sprints up the Hill, too. One of the main attractions came courtesy of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team. The reigning World Champion outfit chose the FoS as the place to celebrate its 20th anniversary in F1 by bringing together an incredible line-up of the team’s cars and drivers in a dedicated paddock.
Red Bull’s festivities were headlined by the Festival of Speed debut of three-time World Champion Max Verstappen, who took his title-winning RB16B for a spin up the Hill on Sunday. Verstappen was joined by team-mate Sergio Pérez, as well as former drivers including Daniel Ricciardo, Christian Klien, Mark Webber and David Coulthard.
As if that wasn’t enough, Red Bull also chose to debut its extreme RB17 hypercar at the event on Friday morning. Created by F1 design genius Adrian Newey, the RB17 offers Grand Prix car levels of performance to those who can afford its £5.75m price tag. Powered by a 4.5-litre V10 hybrid engine, the 1184bhp machine was personally unveiled by Adrian Newey alongside Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner.
Alongside the Red Bull Racing celebrations, the event hosted five other Grand Prix teams to satiate the legions of fans in attendance. The likes of Scuderia Ferrari, Alpine, Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes were all based side-to-side in a dedicated paddock area, with drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Oliver Bearman and Yuki Tsunoda all in attendance. Double World Champion Alonso also delighted fans by driving his radical V12-powered Aston Martin Valiant hypercar up the Hill.
American motor sport, meanwhile, was celebrated with the appearance of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard ‘The King’ Petty, alongside his son and former NASCAR racer, Kyle. This year sees the 75th anniversary of the Petty family’s involvement with motor sport. To mark the occasion, Petty was joined by his iconic 1970 Plymouth Superbird, whose thunderous V8 was heard as it accelerated up the Hill with Kyle behind the wheel.
Catering to the other end of the motoring spectrum were Audi Tradition and Mercedes-Benz Classic. Audi Tradition debuted a very special machine at the FoS: the Type 52 ‘Schnellsportwagen’ – or ‘fast sports car’ in English.
The Type 52 was originally envisioned as a GT racer in the pre-war era, and was masterminded by none other than Ferdinand Porsche. The car anticipated several contemporary hypercar innovations, including a pioneering three-seat cockpit layout and a formidable V16 engine. Although the Type 52 was never built in period, Audi Tradition finally brought this historic concept to life some nine decades later ahead of its world premiere at the Festival of Speed. The car was revealed to onlookers with the help of Tom Kristensen, who achieved five of his nine Le Mans victories with Audi.
Not to be outdone by its rivals, Mercedes-Benz Classic celebrated the marque’s 130-year involvement in motor sport with an unprecedented parade of machinery that bears the three-pointed star. The selection of cars traced the brand’s history as a race car manufacturer, starting with the Mercedes 2-Litre that won the Targa Florio in 1924 through to the 2012 Dubai 24-Hour-winning Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Other highlights included the stunning Blue Wonder transporter carrying the iconic 1954 Streamliner and a 1989 Sauber-Mercedes C9 endurance racer. Illustrating just how far engineering has come was a recreation of Daimler’s 1894 V-twin engine in the paddock.
Maserati and MG were other manufacturers celebrating milestones at this year’s Festival of Speed. Maserati marked the 20th anniversary of its fabled MC12 hypercar by showcasing its Icona and Leggenda limited-edition versions of the MC20 supercar. These MC20s looked resplendent in the Supercar Paddock, decked out in eye-catching liveries reminiscent of the MC12 Stradale and the Vitaphone-sponsored MC12 GT1. Maserati also showed off its new all-electric GranCabrio Folgore, which is due for release in early 2025.
MG marked its 100th anniversary by revealing two new production models: the all-electric Cyberster sports car and the HS crossover SUV. These cars were joined by the Cyber GTS, a hardtop coupé version of the Cyberster that’s rumoured to launch in 2025. MG fans were also treated to a parade of both classic and contemporary models up the Hill that was led by the Duke of Richmond in his grandfather’s MG C-type racer.
Other major launches came in the form of the hybrid-powered Porsche 911, latest BMW M5, BMW XM Label Red, Defender OCTA, controversial Ford Capri, Pagani Epitome and Yangwang U8, among others.
Admiring the beautiful cars displayed on the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours lawn is always a highlight for Magneto readers and this year’s edition was particularly special, with some of the most varied classes ever witnessed at the Festival of Speed.
One of the most popular classes among visitors was Cultivating Classics: Best by Farm for vintage tractors. These agrarian machines offered the perfect contrast to the jaw-droppingly elegant Bugattis that occupied the Types of Jean-ius class for Bugatti Type 57 variants. Other standout categories included Pagani Pizzazzz: 25 Years of Zonda, Ruled by Design: Marcello’s Mass-terpieces, and Jaw Droppers and Door Stoppers: Gandini’s Lamborghinis. The judging panel crowned the 1937 Bugatti Type 57 S Corsica as the deserving Best in Show winner.
Contrasting the gleaming cars parked on the manicured concours lawn were the dirt-splattered rally machines tearing around the Forest Rally Stage. This year’s edition saw current and former rally stars participate in head-to-head duels in cars that campaigned over the past decade. Fan favourites included Aoife Raftery – the first female driver in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy – driving a 2014 Peugeot 208 T16 R5, and WRC drivers Elfyn Evans and Dani Sordo, who demonstrated the speed of their Toyota Yaris Rally1 Hybrid and Hyundai i20N WRC respectively.
Collectors in the market for a new vehicle or piece of automobilia were well served by Bonhams, which returned as the event’s official auction partner. Topping the sale was a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Four-Seated Sports Tourer, which crossed the block for £2.87m. This was followed by a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupé, which sold for £1.13m and the 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster which sold for £1.04m.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed felt even busier than usual this year, even on the typically quieter days of Thursday and Friday. This is perhaps due to tickets being given to those who missed out on Saturday of last year’s event following its cancellation due to bad weather. The event remains a jewel in the motoring calendar, and we expect it to be just as popular in 2025.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed returns on July 10-13, 2025. For more information, click here.
