Sylvester Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hi Guys, thought you might be interested in some ramblings on my visit on Sunday to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. No piccies or details cos I aint into that kinda stuff - just a flavour in case you are thinking of going in the future. Anybody else who went who can add more please feel free. First time I have been and must say I was very impressed. Went with the Mrs and our 2.5 year old daughter so mobility and speed and activities I could get done were restricted but even so a great day. Random highlights.... Most spine tingling - Ferrari F1 being driven up the hill at full bore - no posing just flat out... ok so we only saw it for a second or 2 and heard it for a second or so longer but what a sound and what speed. Could not have been more than 50 feet away. The look of shock and awe on the crowds faces was mirrored by our own...stunning Lump in the throat moments - 1) standing 5 feet from Ayton's JPS F1 car as it went through its engine warming cycle. Richard Burns stand. RIP guys. Most draw dropping moment - Mrs saying she really liked the immaculate Scooby RB320 on the RB stand - she normally hates scoobies.... maybe I could get one to replace the Zed after all.... ( need to transport daughter sooner or later ) Funniest moment - wheel coming off Eddie Cheevers old F1 car..... Most boring time - the 30 mins it took to get Eddie Cheevers car off the hill.... Spookiest experience - standing underneath the land rover display - perhaps 150 foot tall structure of laticwork of metal beams with 5 or 6 landrovers appearing to drive up it vertically ( and upside down ). looking up at a landy 150 foot directly above your head with its lights facing down... gulp... OMG moment - watching the trials bike rider driving on the ROOF of Goodwood house - some multi world champion... nutter! Saddest comment heard - a dad complaining that his son only saw the Ferrari for a few seconds - I think he missed the point... the other 5 or 6 F1 cars did the stop/start/burn out/bouncing off rev limiter stuff - having one of them volunterring to go full blast was a great idea. And you can look at the cars as long as you want in the paddock! Hats off to - Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button for driving their F1 cars ( something tells me test cars.... ) up the hill - plus the other drivers - think they were mainly test drivers although I think Gene was there as well. ( No DC I dont think ). Derek Bell drove something too...( sorry just soooo many cars ( and bikes ) of all types and ages you loose track and just enjoy it all Saddest sight - the social parasites pestering poor Foggy for autogrpahs as he made his way to lunch. We picniced 10 feet from the entrance to where the bike riders were lunching ( by accident ) so he walked right past us... actually saw a grown man punch the air when he got a scribbled signature... loser.... Biggest disappointment - how quiet the red arrows were compared to the cars - literally could not hear them as the older F1 cars returned to their paddock... god them cars are loud ( and lovely ). Absolutely amazed by the access you had to all the cars and people - it was only the F1 cars that had little ropes across them - the rest were open to look at / touch even! Oh and nice cars in the car park including an orange zed ( too far away for details ). There was a black 350Z GT race car that went up the hill - my little girl would not believe it was the same car as Daddy's when she saw it in the paddock ( mainly cos it was black and mine is gunmetal - lol ) but she it probably right that there are few if any components the same. All in all an exceptionally enjoyable day very well organised. Programmes seemed a rip off at £12 but you got a radio to listen into the commentary included ( did not buy one though - happy just to soak up the atmosphere). If you go with youngsters definitely take them some ear defenders though. Only concern is the safety aspect - you are only seperated from cars travelling 100mph plus (?) by some straw bales and wooden posts. And some of those cars are old and prone to breaking. Yes its a great thrill but I reckon its only a matter of time before someone loses it big time and someone ( many perhaps ) get killed. ( You are warned before you go in thats its dangerous so its at your own risk.. Traffic in and out was fine - very short queues at 10 am and 3:30pm - good signs directing you there and good marshalling. Food a total rip off - take a picnic like we did. The car park is a LONG walk from the entrance though so you will need to carry it ( or take a pram like we did - ideal! ) At the end of the day we were knackered and had lots more to see but not the energy or time .... little girl was most upset and kept saying 'Daddy - I want to see more cars'... little petrolheaded angel I am sure I have missed loads of highlights we saw and I know we missed perhaps half of what was on show but there is always next year..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbs Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Great report, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Interesting write-up. I haven't been for a few years but always enjoy it when I go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Good write up but did you really mean " draw dropping moment " or jaw ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Only concern is the safety aspect - you are only seperated from cars travelling 100mph plus (?) by some straw bales and wooden posts. And some of those cars are old and prone to breaking. Yes its a great thrill but I reckon its only a matter of time before someone loses it big time and someone ( many perhaps ) get killed. ( You are warned before you go in thats its dangerous so its at your own risk.. That for me is the best bit: Screw all the H&S bollocks we've had stuffed down our throats for the last few years and let people decide for themselves what's safe and what's not. Watching Lewis light the rears on the hill no more than 10m away from me whilst everyone cheered him on was a proper spine-tingler for me. Bit disappointing how the supercars never gave it full whack going up the hill, you had to wait for them to come back down if you really wanted the fun as that's when they started playing silly buggers... The C63 AMG must've easy lost 3mm off it's tyres! Really good weekend, but I get the feeling it's something to do every other year rather than every year. That said, I could drool over the 8C convertible for hours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Quads Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Interesting report. You would be suprised how good those hay bails are at stopping cars. They are fairly solid. The cars are going 'fast' but not really fast. Last year an Aston went off at speed and the bails well and truely did thier job trashing the car. I thought the show overall was fairly good. Thought the Nissan stand was fairly medoka. Nothing special really. A car in a big baloon and a few cars on a hard standing area. Shame they did not have a right hand car on display, specially when its the same car they are going to be using at the Motorshow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Very good report but Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Quads Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Few Pics.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC350z Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Sounds great. Tell me you saw and heard the mazda furai. The bastards didn't take it to the Geneva show. I was deeply disapointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Quads Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 top pics rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC350z Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 God I love that car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilsheepshagga_turbo Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 the mazda furai is just simply the sexiest thing on this planet..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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