Glamorous Goodwood Festival of Speed With Jackie Stewart
Staged every summer since 1993, the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by MasterCard is the world’s largest automotive garden party; set against the spectacular backdrop of Goodwood House in West Sussex. Over 600 cars and motorcycles spanning the phenomenal history of motoring and motor sport take part with some of the most legendary figures from the sport as well as international celebrities regularly attending. Highlights include FoS Future Lab, Forest Rally Stage, Michelin Supercar Paddock, Michelin Supercar Run, F1 paddock, Drivers’ Club, GAS Arena, Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance, Aviation Exhibition and Bonhams Auction.
This year Goodwood will celebrate Aston Martin. It’s the 70th anniversary of Aston Martin’s first race at Goodwood, and the 60th anniversary of its historic 1959 World Sportscar Championship.
The Lavant Cup race at the 1949 Goodwood Easter Meeting was held over five laps, and marked Aston Martin’s first Goodwood appearance, with W G Bingley finishing in tenth position aboard his Aston Martin. Little did Bingley know that 10 years later, Aston Martin would achieve its greatest success on the same circuit.
The 1959 World Sportscar Championship RAC TT at Goodwood was the title-deciding race of that year’s championship. Ferrari had won at Sebring, Porsche had mastered the Targa Florio, and Aston Martin had been victorious in both the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Though disaster struck for Aston Martin when Roy Salvadori and Stirling Moss’s race-leading car was set on fire in the pits during the first pitstop. Moss was swiftly put into the third Aston Martin DBR1 of Carroll Shelby and Jack Fairman. The trio went on to beat the Porsche 718 RSK of Wolfgang von Trips and Jo Bonnier by a lap, sealing the 1959 championship.
More recently, Aston Martin has been a stalwart of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and many of the manufacturer’s most important cars have run up the Hill, from its Le Mans-winning DBR9 to the DBR1 that won the aforementioned TT in 1959. There will be a class of Aston Martin’s most important racing cars that will take to the Hill at the 2019 Festival of Speed, while the Supercar Run will display a cross section of the company’s current range of road cars. One of the classes in the Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’Elegance will be dedicated to cars powered by the legendary Tadek Marek-designed Aston Martin V8 engine, which made its debut 50 years ago, in 1969.
This year also marks 50 years since Sir Jackie won his first Formula 1 World Championship, and this summer, the famous Scot will also celebrate his 80th birthday. Goodwood will celebrate both occasions by featuring a number of his most famous cars on the Hill. The list will include the first car he ever raced: a Marcos Xylon Special, and the BRM P261 he took his first Grand Prix victory in.
“The gathering of the very best road, race and rally cars in the world makes the Festival of Speed one of the great events in our country,” said Sir Jackie. “This year, I am very proud that The Duke of Richmond has chosen to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my first British Grand Prix win at Silverstone in 1969 and, in the same year, my winning the World Championship for the first time.”
Six teams Formula One teams are also confirmed to attend the Festival of Speed with several of the current drivers.
Tickets for the Festival of Speed are available from www.goodwood.com and from Goodwood Customer Sales on 01243 755 055.
