An extraordinary weekend at the 2024 Festival of Speed comes to a close

The Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard celebrated another incredible weekend, bringing together legendary drivers, riders and showcasing an outstanding collection of cars and motorcycles, with premieres and debuts around every corner.

Formula 1
Renowned as the place to see some of the most legendary drivers and riders in motorsport, the 2024 Festival of Speed served as no exception, welcoming both current and former Formula 1 teams, drivers and cars.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary and marking Goodwood’s biggest celebration of a Formula 1 team to date, Oracle Red Bull Racing brought together an incredible lineup of drivers from across the team’s history. Making his Festival of Speed debut at the event this year, the Festival of Speed was delighted to welcome current and three-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen who took to the Hill on Sunday in the RB16B in which he claimed his first world title in 2021.

Joined by teammate Sergio Pérez and Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner, as well as former Red Bull drivers David Coulthard, Christian Klien, Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber, the hugely successful Formula 1 team took to the Goodwood balcony on Sunday giving fans the opportunity to salute the seven drivers who between them, hold a phenomenal 97 Formula 1 race wins.

Alongside the celebrations for Oracle Red Bull Racing, the event hosted five additional current Formula 1 teams: BWT Alpine F1 Team, Scuderia Ferrari HP, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team and Williams Racing. Fans had the rare opportunity to see legendary cars from across the decades and meet the teams and drivers, with crowds flocking to see Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Frederik Vesti, Sophie Flörsch, Kush Maini and James Vowles across the weekend.

Both Oracle Red Bull Racing and Williams Racing brought their respective F1 Academy drivers, Hamda Al Qubaisi and Lia Block, with the latter driving a Formula 1 car for the first time in public on the Hill.

Motorsport icons and legends
Joining us on two wheels, Michael Dunlop – the most successful rider in the history of the Isle of Man TT with 29 victories – rode his 2024 IOM TT Superstock bike alongside 23-time winner and lap record-holder John McGuinness and 14-time winner and Mountain Course lap record-holder Peter Hickman. Dunlop also celebrated his recent triumph at the Isle of Man TT with a moment on the balcony of Goodwood House on Saturday.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty attended across the weekend, as the Petty family celebrated 75 years of their involvement with motorsport. Returning to the Festival of Speed, Petty was joined by his famous 1970 Plymouth Superbird, driven by son Kyle, as Goodwood celebrated “The King” and his extraordinary career.

Other drivers, riders and motorsport legends who joined us over the weekend included, the Iron Dames Julie Amblard, Karen Gaillard, Célia Martin and Sarah Rumeau, Giacomo Agostini, Karun Chandhok, Mick Doohan, Elfyn Evans, Damon Hill, Jacky Ickx, Sebastian Ogier, Emanuele Pirro, the championship-winning father-son duo of Kenny Roberts Senior and Junior, Kalle Rovenperä, Carlos Sainz Senior and and Kevin Schwantz.

Central Feature
MG celebrated its centenary at the Festival of Speed this year, headlining the event with the monumental Central Feature on the lawn outside Goodwood House and a daily extravaganza. Gerry Judah’s highly-anticipated sculpture featured the Cyberster EV roadster and MGB. The two cars from MG’s past and present, perfectly illustrated this year’s ‘Horseless to Hybrid’ theme which recognised the advances in technology and propulsion that have shaped the automotive industry over the last 130 years.

World-exclusives, debuts and reveals
Visitors were some of the first to witness global marques and manufacturers unveiling their latest projects at the Festival of Speed, including debuts of the new Porsche 911, BMW M5, BMW XM Label Red, BYD SEAL U DM-I, Defender OCTA, All-Electric Ford Capri, Honda Civic Type R, Jaecoo J7, Maserati M20, Pagani Epitome, Pagani Imola Roadster, RB17 and the Yangwang U8, among many others.

A step into the future
Located at the heart of the event and exhibiting some of the very latest technology, Future Lab presented by Randox showcased ‘Technology for a Better World’, with exhibitors grouped into four sub-themes: ‘Protecting the Planet’, ‘Robots to the Rescue’, ‘Future of Flight’ and ‘Our World in Pixels’. The interactive hub welcomed entrepreneurs and innovators, including Dronamics, Drone City, Performit Live, sees.ai, and Shadow Robot who have collaborated with Google DeepMind on their latest robotic hand.

The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) returned to the Festival of Speed, following their debut in 2023, and took to the Hill across the weekend with the AV-24, the world’s first fully-autonomous racecar piloted by software from the PoliMOVE-MSU team. On Thursday, Durham University’s Solar Car set the first time for a solar car on the Goodwood Hill.

Over at Electric Avenue – the home of electric mobility at the Festival of Speed – the exhibition focused on four zones displaying urban cars, SUV and family cars, performance sports cars and future cars, featuring the likes of the BMW i5 Touring, Honda e:Ny1, Hyundai IONIQ 5 N, Maserati GranCabrio Folgore and the Polestar 4.

Cartier classics
The Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’elegance welcomed some of the most intriguing and beautiful vehicles at the event, celebrating incredible automotive design, exquisite restoration and marked a number of significant anniversaries in the motoring world. Featuring some of the most varied and fascinating classes ever seen at the Festival of Speed, ‘Best in Show’ was taken by the 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Corsica, as judged by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Gandy, Kenya Hunt, Mai Ikuzawa, Flavio Manzoni, Marek Reichman, Micheal Ward and Adrian van Hooydonk.

Bonhams|Cars Auction
A collection of spectacular and unique vehicles went under the hammer at the Bonhams|Cars Auction on Friday afternoon. Highlights included the 1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Four-Seated Sports Tourer which sold for £2,871,000, the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ Coupé which sold for £1,135,000 and the 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster which sold for £1,045,400. The sale achieved a total of £11,035,691 – the highest total for a Bonhams|Cars’ UK sale to date in 2024.

Forest Rally Stage
Over at the top of the event and winding its way through the trees of the Goodwood Estate, the Forest Rally Stage saw current and former rally drivers going head-to-head. Among those competing and highlighting contemporary cars of the past decade, Aoife Raftery – the first female driver in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy – took to the course in the 2014 Peugeot 208 T16 R5, whilst the Iron Dames brought their 2024 Ford Fiesta Rally2. Other cars on the stage included the 2018 Ford Fiesta R5 driven by Steve Chamberlain and the 2021 version of the Proton IRIZ R5, which previously won on the Forest Rally Stage back in 2017. Also on the stage were current WRC drivers Elfyn Evans and Dani Sordo in their Toyota Yaris Rally1 Hybrid and Hyundai i20N WRC respectively.

Surtees Pavilion with Ollie Dabbous
Providing uninterrupted views of the Goodwood hillclimb, the Festival of Speed’s new Surtees Pavilion worked with Co-Founder and Executive Chef of Michelin-starred restaurant HIDE, Ollie Dabbous, to provide a modern twist on classic dining. The unique dining experience showcased the very best produce from the Goodwood Estate and local area.

Event charity
This year’s Festival of Speed supported Two Wheels for Life, a charity dedicated to transforming healthcare across Africa using the power of motorcycles. Two Wheels for Life were on site across the weekend with volunteers sharing details of the incredible work they do, and some of the vehicles used for the delivery of healthcare on display.

The 2025 event
The 2025 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will take place Thursday 10 – Sunday 13 July. 2024 ticket buyers, Members and Fellows can purchase tickets for the 2025 event from 10:00hrs on Monday 15 July. Tickets will go on sale to the public later in the year. Sign up for ticket alerts here.

Catch up on the action
For those who couldn’t make this year’s event, catch up on all the action on ITV1 on Monday 22 July at 22.45 and Tuesday 23 July at 23.00.

Image highlights from across the weekend can be found at the following links:

• Thursday 11 July
  • Part One
  • Part Two
• Friday 12 July
  • Part One
  • RB17 Hypercar Unveil
• Saturday 13 July
  • Part One
• Sunday 14 July
  • Part One

Further details of Goodwood’s 2025 motosport event season will be announced in the coming months and media accreditation for the Festival of Speed will open in January 2025.