The 2024 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard is fast approaching, and we can now reveal full details on every car, bike, driver, and rider that will be in action on the Goodwood Hill as we prepare to celebrate motoring and motorsport heroes of the past, present and future.
This year’s Festival of Speed theme is a special one indeed, as we look back to the very earliest years of the automotive industry and shine a spotlight on the progress of propulsion, beginning with a steam-powered Salvesen from 1893. Although almost certainly the slowest car in attendance this year, it will be taking to the famous Goodwood Hill in what ought to be a very spectacular moment as we experience a machine that pre-empts virtually everything else we’ll see over the course of the weekend.
Things move on quite quickly from there as we arrive in the 1900s with the likes of the Darracq 200hp, the Fiat S76 ‘Beast of Turin’, then on to the primitive 1920s racing cars from the likes of Sunbeam, Bugatti, and Delage. Cars began to take on a more recognisable form in the 1930s, with the likes of MG getting in on the act C-Type and the Magnette K3 among names like Napier and Auto Union which would eventually be lost to history.
Post-war, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and then Ferrari began to wave the Italian flag with gusto, leaving the rest of the world in their wake as they dominated motorsport around the world, including the early years of Formula 1. Many of the cars that define this era will be in action at the Festival of Speed: the Ferrari 166, 500, 156 ‘Sharknose’ 250 GTO and 158, not to mention the Maserati 250F, all icons of the 1950s and ‘60s that will deliver some incredible sights and sounds.
We’ll then be able to start enjoying the 1970s, a hive of innovation and progress that would birth the likes of the Lancia Stratos, the V12 Matra-Simca MS670, the Porsche 936, and Ferrari 512 BB LM, all of which will be taking to the Hill, the 936 in the hands of six-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Jacky Ickx.
Fans of the 1980s will also be well catered for. The Renault 5 Turbo Group 4 racer is bound to put on a show when it’s unleashed onto the Hill, as a selection of Group B cars from Audi and Lancia that includes the legendary Quattro, set to be driven by 1984 World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist, and the Delta S4.
You of course can’t talk about the cars of the 1990s without mentioning the McLaren F1, and it will of course be in action on the Hill in GTR ‘Longtail’ form alongside fellow Le Mans racers in the form of the Ferrari 333SP and BMW V12 LMR. We’d also recommend taking a moment to enjoy another ‘90s icon, the Ferrari F40 LM.
Our journey through time culminates in the present day, and the 2024 Festival of Speed will of course be packed to the rafters with the very latest cars, some of which you could happily go out and buy right now, and others you definitely cannot. We’re talking the latest absolutely incredible Ford Supervan 4.2 piloted by Romain Dumas, the slightly nuts Oilstainlab Half11, the BMW M Hybrid V8 Le Mans Hypercar, the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3, the current Jaguar I-Type 6 Formula E racer, and of course the Goodwood record-holding McMurtry Spéirling.
And this is just the span of this year’s themed celebrations. The Festival of Speed will cover far more ground than that. There will of course be the cars of First Glance presented by heycar and the Supercar Paddock, as well as bespoke celebrations for Niki Lauda, Mercedes-Benz, Joest Racing, and Shadow. The Lauda celebration will bring together many of the great Austrian’s F1 cars for a special parade on the Hill, from the March 721 that he raced in 1972, to the Ferrari 312T that he drove the 1975 world championship and even the Brabham BT46B fan car that he drove to a controversial victory at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix – John Watson will be climbing into the cockpit for a must-see demonstration.
Red Bull is of course a huge name at this year’s Festival of Speed as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Red Bull Racing by hosting all 20 of the team’s F1 cars in Cathedral Paddock. Of those 20, seven of them will be running on Sunday as part of a must-see moment on the Hill that will headline the weekend’s F1 action.
McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, and Alpine will also be bringing some of their own F1 machinery; expect to hear the sound of V10, V8 and V6 engines ringing through the Goodwood Estate on all four days of the Festival of Speed. We’ll have Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/4, Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2001, and a Williams FW26, driven by the man himself Juan Pablo Montoya. Other drivers set to be involved include Emerson Fittipaldi, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Lia Block, Bruno Senna, Jack Doohan and Sophia Floersch.
If F1 is not your be-all and end-all however, you might fancy indulging in a bit of drift action. This year’s drift contingent promises to be the most spectacular yet, with two-time world rally champion Kalle Rovanperä putting his skills to the test in his Toyota GR Supra Drift. He’ll be joined by the likes of James Deane, Axel Hildebrand, Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni, and ‘Mad’ Mike Whiddett, who will be creating many a smoke screen with his latest creation, the MADMAC.
Let’s also take a minute to big up the huge array of motorcycles set to light up the Hill at the 2024 Festival of Speed. With a list of brands represented by BMW, Honda, MV Agusta, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Ducati, you can bet there won’t be much missing from this year’s entry list. Among the earliest models include the BMW 255 Kompressor from the 1930s. With a supercharged boxer twin engine, the 255 was the first non-British bike to win at the Isle of Man TT with Georg Meier in 1939.
Moving a little later through time, we have the Yamaha YZR500, one of the most prolific and successful racing bikes of all time, produced in numerous forms from 1973-2002. The likes of Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, and Wayne Rainey have won championships on a YZR500, and a version from 1980 will be ridden up the Hill by Roberts himself.
From more recent times, we have a couple of LCR machines, a Honda-powered 600 F2 which will be ridden up the Hill Maria Costello, and a Yamaha-engined R6 sidecar bike ridden by Sidecar World Champions Todd Ellis and Emanuelle Clement.
We’re also incredibly excited to welcome a number of huge names from the world of the Isle of Man TT. The most successful TT rider of all time, Michael Dunlop will be riding his Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SC82, and he’ll be joined by Davey Todd, Peter Hickman, and John McGuinness.
Of course, the Festival of Speed Timed Shootout returns in 2024, bringing together another absolutely stacked entry list that we reckon will produce one of the closest battles for victory we’ve seen for a long while. Travis Pastrana returns in his Subaru GL Wagon ‘Huckster’, but he’ll face strong competition from the likes of Scott Speed in the new Subaru WRX: Project Midnight.
You also cannot forget the Forest Rally Stage, which promises to be more exciting than ever before with a stacked list of rally legends covering everything from the Alpine A110 Berlinette to the Porsche 911RS, through Group B monsters from Audi and Lancia, WRC legends from Subaru and Ford, to the very latest Rally1 machinery from Toyota.
There’s all that, plus Electric Avenue, with a showcase of the latest EV models and the Cartier Style et Luxe, which will bring together a stunning collection of unmissable cars from many of the most exotic corners of the automotive industry, and some tractors.
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Festival of Speed
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