Sorry if this is in the wrong place, this is more of a 'drive out report' as my better half won't travel pillion
Popped down to the Goodwood Festival of Speed today. This was the third consecutive time for me after thoroughly enjoying the previous visits. We left Newport at 5.45am and was hoping to get there early to have a good wander before the masses arrived, exactly as we did last year.
How wrong I was! There was a serious smash on the A43 at 6.30am that apparently had the road closed for the whole morning and a diversion was set up. The traffic was utter hell
and delayed us quite a bit so that when we got closer to Goodwood the traffic had already backed up. If you've been there before you'll know what I mean.
We eventually managed to get parked up and into the grounds at 10.40am, completely pissed off because there were plenty of filtering opportunities but not quite wide enough for a Mazda 6. So as you would expect the place is pretty rammed already.
If you've never been to Goodwood before then I can't recommend it enough, with one caveat. If you have no interest in anything other than motorcycles then I feel you may be disappointed. Bikes only play a very small part of the Festival of Speed as it's a celebration of all things motorised, and as such it's a petrolheads wet dream
. It's worth going just for the noises
. Some of the old race cars will send shivers down your spine
.
The organisation and professionalism of the whole festival makes every bike event I've ever been to look utterly shambolic. It's like comparing Harrods to eBay. The toilets are clean and constantly attended and the grounds are spotless. You do pay for this though, general admission isn't expensive but if you are the type to complain at food and drink prices at somewhere like the NEC then take a packed lunch. The food and drink is good though.
Battling through the crowds we managed to take a few shots in and around the paddock
Every year there is a themed sculpture at the front of the Manor (thought is was a bit tame this year though)
Whilst waiting for the first bike run to start there was a fantastic Red Arrows display
The hill climb isn't really a proper race. It's timed and some take it more seriously than others, but it's really an opportunity to showboat in front of the crowds. Ken Block in the Monster Focus doing donuts alongside BMW's new stunt rider Mattie Griffin was awesome to watch. One of the bikes managed to crash within 20 yards of the start line. Can't remember who (sorry) went to hoist the front straight from the start line and managed to low side
. Very strange crash and only minor damage and egos dented
It was difficult to get a good spot at the trackside for photo's so we headed to the paddock for the bikes to arrive back there
Aaron Slight on his 1999 RC45
Neil Hodgson on his 2000 996RS
Neeves and Michael Laverty
Some more bikes in the paddock
There was this new Icon Sheene 'thing' there. The detail is top quality but it's seriously hideous. And for the money they are asking for it they can shove it up their arse
.
And the wife had to get a shot of Freddie Sheene in his underwear
On a positive note, the wife has told me to sell my bikes and buy a BMW S1000RR because she likes them. Don't know what to think of that, she obviously wants something
This was an odd one. This Blade was on show as a 'dealer special edition'. Looked fantastic from a distance, it genuinely looked like carbon fibre. On closer inspection it was a carbon fibre look vinyl wrap
A few random car pics from the paddock
Red 5 standing by
Ayrton Senna's old Mclaren
In and around the rest of the grounds it's a bit like a scaled down car and bike show
458 Italia
New Camero, officially imported next year
Have to admit, that new MV is a lovely looking bike, may have to take a trip up to Pontypool to have a closer look
Not a fan of custom stuff but these cars were incredible in the flesh
ZZ Tops Cadzzilla
Can't remember who's these are
This was interesting. Bloodhound SSC going for the land speed record, aiming for 1000mph. 135,000 horsepower. Swansea University plastered on it's side too. Anyone know what their input into the project is?
Got loads more photo's but thats boring enough
. The entire show is too big to take in in one day IMO so you don't get to see everything and just scratch the surface. So our intention is to give next year a miss, and either camp or stay locally the following year and get two days in. Should hopefully be less stressful too with all the driving. 340 miles round trip today.
