Goodwood Festival of Speed Salutes Motorsport Legends
For more than thirty years, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has drawn the world’s most celebrated drivers and riders to Sussex, transforming the estate into the ultimate motorsport festival. On Thursday, 10 July, five-time Le Mans winner, three-time Daytona champion and double World Sportscar champion Derek Bell MBE will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his first Le Mans triumph. He will reunite with the 1975 Mirage-Ford GR8, charge up the hillclimb and greet the crowd from Goodwood House’s iconic balcony.
Friday, 11 July belongs to four-time WorldSBK champion Carl Fogarty. “Foggy” will fire his championship-winning Ducati 916 up the hill to mark thirty years since his 1995 title, headlining the largest WorldSBK showcase yet, which unites more than twenty era-defining bikes and many of his fiercest rivals.
Saturday 12 July brings a once-in-a-lifetime balcony moment as seven Formula 1 world champions return for the F1 75 celebration. Alain Prost, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sir Jackie Stewart, Jacques Villeneuve, Mario Andretti, Mika Häkkinen, and Nigel Mansell will each pilot a landmark chassis from their careers before sharing stories with Karun Chandhok and the fans.
Goodwood will honour Alain Prost again on Sunday 13 July, exactly forty years after he secured his first world crown. The four-time champion will guide his 1985 title-winning McLaren MP4/4 up the hill, then join supporters outside Goodwood House. Sunday will also unveil “The Ultimate Grid”, a spellbinding procession of Formula 1 cars tracing seventy-five years of the championship’s innovation and drama along the famous hillclimb.
Organisers will publish the whole Festival of Speed timetable in the coming weeks, helping visitors plan every hill run and balcony celebration with precision.