With just over eight weeks to go until the 2011 Festival of Speed (1-3 July), the Goodwood organisation has confirmed more than 60 star drivers and riders will be present at the world’s largest celebration of motoring culture.
To honour the centenary of ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’, the Indianapolis 500, an array of Indy 500 champions will gather in the West Sussex countryside, to create the largest celebration of Indianapolis outside the United States. Drivers present will include Emerson Fittipaldi, in action in a Penske PC23, Bobby Unser in his 1981 Indy 500-winning Penske PC9B, and Bobby Rahal in his 1986 Indy 500-winning March 86C. Gil de Ferran will also take to the hill in his 2003 Indy-winning Penske, with Dario Franchitti driving the Lotus 38 that Jim Clark drove to second place in the 1966 race.
Already several manufacturer teams have indicated their intention to attend this year’s Festival, and Goodwood is aiming to attract a record number of contemporary F1 teams to the Festival, with at least nine of the 12 teams competing this year looking like a real possibility. Those teams confirmed so far include Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes GP, Williams-Cosworth and Team Lotus.
Past Grand Prix winners present at the Festival of Speed are set to include Sir Stirling Moss, John Surtees, Jochen Mass, Peter Gethin and Martin Brundle. Le Mans winners Derek Bell, Richard Attwood, Jan Lammers, Jackie Oliver, Andy Wallace and Marco Werner will join a roll-call of other motor sport stars that reads like a Who’s Who of motor racing.
From the world of rallying, Skoda UK Motorsport IRC Rally driver Andreas Mikkelsen will be on the Forest Rally Stage along with many other rallying greats who will be reacquainted with the cars that made them famous, including RaunoAaltonen, Jimmy McRae, Hannu Mikkola and Russell Brookes. TV chef and classic car lover James Martin will also be in action on the Forest Rally Stage.
Motorcycling heroes will include current World Superbike riders James Toseland and Jonathan Rea alongside TT legends John McGuinness, Cameron Donald, Keith Amor, Guy Martin, Sammy Miller and Ron Chandler. Joining them will be Freddie Sheene, son of World Champion Barry, riding the Icon Sheene motorcycle.
You can download the complete overview right here! GTspirit will be at the event with an extensive team reporting the latest from the ultimate car event in the UK. Stay tuned for more in the upcoming weeks.
