July 7: Goodwood Festival of Speed - 2017

Jolly old England. What a great place to be royalty. Look at the US, there is only one king and absolutrly no royalty, but in England, there are princes and dukes and earls and lords. Gosh, it seems like the list is endless. And everyone of them is in line for the throne, if a few thousand others come to some unfortunate end. And many of them own large old estates. So, what would you do with a huge property that has been in the family for ages? If you are the Earl of March, you look at your extra long driveway (1.16 miles or 1.86 km) as it wends its way up to the entrance of your sumptous estate and think, "What if?"

Well that, "What if?", became the Goodwood Festival of Speed and it began in 1993. The idea was to showcase all types of new and classic performance cars, as they raced their way, one by one, up the earl's very long and twisty driveway, past thousands of spectators revelling in the sounds and sights of those great cars. As this parade lap shows, the variety of cars showing up at Goodwood is amazing.........

.......and they are driven by a virtual who's who of the past and present racing world, like last year's F1 champion Nico Rosberg stopping to do donuts every few hundred yards, as he piloted his F1 ride up the earl's driveway this past week............

Do you think he became a spectator favorite?

There is nothing like tradition and a fascinating tradition at the festival, is the sculpture that is errected each year in front of the earl's home. Each year it is unique and each year it features cars held in some gravity defying position.......

Stand under it at your peril.

But back to the cars. You name it and it has shown up at Goodwood for the fans, from Ken Block's hoonigan style ride to a funny car to a NASCAR truck........

They have all been at Goodwood to put on a show beside the traditional.......

.......and the present day, like this Bugatti, where the emphasis is on the super part of supercar.........

But, where else can one see such a display simply by ponying up a few pounds for a ticket. One day or the weekend, emmerse yourself in these great sights and sounds..........

And, if you think the driveway looks reasonably wide and safe, these pics only show the wide part, other sections look like a tunnel and those cars, like this ultra rare Aston Martin Vulcan, are at speed, as they rush by those unforgiving stone walls........

On the other hand, the gentle touch of those very forgiving haybales can make any mistake in your very costly Ferrari less worrisome.......

Going to England around this time of year? Like to hang out with royalty? Like hot cars? Then thank the Earl of March and try to take in the Goodwood Festival of Speed. That festival of eye candy for the car enthusiast. Pay the money and enjoy the fireworks, both on his long driveway and in the sky......

Until next time.......