Goodwood FoS 2021 - the UK’s biggest automotive event
If there’s only one event in the UK automotive calendar that you go to, it has to be Goodwood Festival of Speed. There are few events that you can get so close to supercars, hypercars, and Formula 1 cars. As a true family event, there’s something for everyone at FoS.
Founded in 1993 by Lord March, the Festival of Speed was born out of a desire to bring motorsport back to the 12,000-acre Goodwood estate. It has run every year since its inception aside from 2020, for obvious reasons. What started out as a one-day event is now four days of entertainment with everything from drift cars and pre-war racers to aerobatic displays from the Red Arrows.
The PaddlUp F40 was parked up in the performance parking for all to see among a crowd of other supercars, with cards available detailing info on the #FindTheF40 competition. Even the Scuderia Ferrari team had a good look.
Walking through the pits at Goodwood is one of life’s great experiences for a petrolhead. Being inches from race cars, rally cars, Indy cars, Formula One cars, supercars and hypercars is something you can rarely experience elsewhere. Seeing and hearing these cars at full pelt up the hill makes FoS a unique event.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie was the standout road car on show, making its full debut in front of the FoS crowds. The British company’s first hypercar howled up the hill making an utterly outrageous noise from its 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12. The term ‘sounds like an F1 car’ is used far too often, but the Valkyrie really does sound like F1 cars of old. The car displayed is still a prototype, but we desperately hope that the road-going production version will sound just as epic.
Keeping with the British theme, we also got another look at the future with the Lotus Evija displayed to the public. Finished in a striking pearlescent yellow, the Evija is a stunningly unique piece of design with recognisable ducts that pass all the way through the rear lights.
Over on the Cartier lawn there was an eclectic selection of cars from the super rare Countach ‘Periscopo’ to the stunning Eagle Lightweight GT. The stunning Huayra 760VR immediately caught our eye, as any Pagani would do. This one is particularly special with its exposed carbon details and huge rear wing.
After a year with no FoS it was great to be back at Goodwood with so many other petrolheads. It’s an event we’d highly recommend to anyone even if you’re not into cars. 2022 promises to be even better!