10 things to watch at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
The hill at ‘30’
This year’s Festival of Speed will be the 29th edition since the first running in 1993, when a one-day event drew 25,000 spectators. Since then, the event has grown and grown and, but for being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, would now be reaching its 30th edition. As ever, the centre of the action is the challenging 1.16-mile hillclimb course.
Hillclimbing at Goodwood actually dates back to 1936 when the grandfather of the current Duke of Richmond and Gordon hosted an event on the estate. The Festival of Speed pre-dates the return of racing to the Goodwood circuit and continues to draw a capacity crowd of 150,000. Within the course are a series of challenges, including the left-handed Molecomb corner and the sweep around the intimidating Flint Wall before the narrow and tunnel-like rush to the finish line.
A year ago it was Rob Bell who won the shootout in the McLaren 720S GT3 with a best of 45.01 seconds. If conditions are right, the pace will be stronger still
