Goodwood Festival of Speed: PH Liveblog
A perfect Goodwood moment, courtesy of Mike Cross and the Vulcan
OK, we exaggerate a little. But there's a hell of a lot to see and do and the PH team will be attempting to bring you as much of it as possible over the next few days via this liveblog.
For more immediate updates keep an eye on Twitter and #PHFoS as we take in the sights, blag as many rides as we can and generally get stuck in.
Dan
Latest update: Sunday, 1600h: on the A3, homeward bound
This picture of the gear I've had to cart with me for Goodwood encapsulates the Festival of Speed quite neatly. So I've got my cheapo tux (more cheesy waiter than 007) for tonight's official unveiling of the Porsche sculpture. And race suit and lid for tomorrow's ride in theVuhl 05. And whatever else I can blag along the way.
In which outfit I look the bigger tool remains to be seen but at least I'll fit in at tonight's bash in the tux. Whereas tomorrow I'll be out in public, poncing about like some wannabe hotshoe, desperately trying to hide the fact my wristband says 'passenger' and not 'driver'. Ho hum.
Trying to prioritise what to check out over the coming days is, frankly, a bit daunting. There's so much, and not all of it 911 shaped no matter what you may have heard. First things first though. Anyone know how to do a bow tie?
Dan
So a fleet of Cayennes whisked us away from our little hotel in Portsmouth and into the melee on site at the FoS. I say melee, most people were leaving as we were arriving and shepherded through the Bonhams auction tent en route to dinner. A mini Mercedes W196 caught my eye. As did the real thing nearby, apparently genuine and from 'a private collection' and now up for sale. Amazing.
I sat at dinner beside Daniel Lloyd, a young Porsche Cup driver with a revealing line in chat about life as a jobbing racing driver and the bit - the track day tuition, the sponsors programmes - that most of us never hear about. He then disappeared mid-way through dinner to ... well, we found out later. Hearing him say he'd miss the interaction of the old mechanical sequential shifter in his 997 Cup car with the shift to paddle-actuation was funny though, given the parallel debate about the GT3 road car.
Now, anyone who'd been to the moving motor show would already have seen the headline Porsche sculpture on the lawn outside the house. At 35m high it's pretty hard to miss. But this was the official unveiling, fireworks and all. And mighty impressive it was too. But not as impressive as what Daniel and his colleagues did next, which was to run up and down outside the house in various Porsche Le Mans cars. You can keep your fireworks - foot-long blue exhaust flames out the back of a 917 are all the pyrotechnics we need!
A great chat afterwards with a couple of guys from the Porsche museum too. I met them on the 991 launch where they let me out in their 3.2 Clubsport prototype, which was jolly nice of them. They said come to Stuttgart and drive some more. Rude not to!
Dan
So, for something called the Festival of Speed most of the movement today has been damned slow. Including updates to the so-called liveblog – apologies for that.
So what’s been going on? Well, a lot of sitting around in traffic jams. The first, on the A27, was tedious. The second was sunnier and surrounded by nice cars so not so bad.
A lift in with the Porsche PR team and breakfast with GT cars man Andreas Preuninger was a good start to the day. Preuninger is steely and any heroics one may have had about discussing PDK vis a vis suitability for its use in GT3s immediately evaporates on meeting him. Paraphrase Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction shouting “I dare you, I double dare you, say PDK one more goddamn time!” and you get the idea. Because he’s had the argument and won.
Don’t get me wrong. Lovely chap. And fascinating company – a proper alpha engineer and bloke’s bloke. You’d expect nothing less of course – this is the guy behind everything with a GT3 or GT2 badge on its rump. And the personality of those cars and the guy who built them are pretty much one and the same. Turns out he’s also a passionate downhill mountain biker, which figures.
So that was that. Next I need to tell you about my ride in the Vuhl and reason it’s taken me most of the day to upload this small update. But I’ll have to leave you hanging for that. And track down some lunch…
Dan
So I've escaped the FoS for a little while in an attempt to file some blog updates. You've heard about Preuninger. What else has been going on?
Um. Not a whole lot. At least for your humble correspondent. Oh, other than a passenger ride in a global debut for a start up sports car brand's first car! And meeting the proud mum of the brothers that built it, which is a first I think.
That'll be the Vuhl 05 then, the Mexican track day car we've already discussed at length having seen it and met the Echevierra brothers behind it at the RAC in central London. At that point it was stationary on a nice rug. This time at least we'd be seeing it and experiencing it at full chat, or something approaching. Or not, numerous crashes ahead of us meaning a frustrating two and a bit hours stationary in a line of other cars waiting to go out, including the Caterham 620R, Alfa Romeo 4C and KTM X-Bow. Could've been worse. Representatives of all were knocking about, the chat was flowing easily in the sunshine and we were a few yards down from the start line so we could see cars warming their tyres just yards away. Weird in the case of the hybrid LMP1 Toyotas and Audis, noisy in the case of the Silk Cut Jaguars from a previous era and downright creepy in the case of the electric Drayson that recently set a speed record up at Elvington.
Anyway. The Vuhl. My driver for the run was Duncan Tappy, he of the blistering record run in the BAC Mono at last year's Cholmondeley Pageant of Power. So possessed of brass ones, suffice to say. Given that his sum total of driving experience in the Vuhl before rocking up to the start line was 200 yards across a bumpy field he was understandably a tad cautious but once freed from its slightly tappety idle the Vuhl's true nature was revealed.
And it's an explosive little blighter. Unsurprisingly the power delivery and noise are very reminiscent of the Radical SR3 SL it shares its Ecoboost engine with. Which is to say very boosty, a little bit laggy but with an explosive surge in the last few thousand revs. First gear is short, very short, and Tappy was advised the best 0-60 times actually come from starting in second. The soundtrack is more Dagenham High Street than Casino Square, with lots of whooshing and sighing from the turbo, but it goes well and has that same sense of soft springing and excellent damping you get from well set up cars that don't carry much weight. Yes, it feels a lot like a Lotus. No surprise there and nothing wrong with that - the Vuhl's looks and beautiful detailing ensure exotic appeal and we had plenty of time before the run to chat with interested FoS goers asking the essential what is it/how fast/how much before getting nods of approval in response.
The queue back down the hill was suitably surreal too, sandwiched between a Jaguar XFR-S ahead and a Skoda Octavia behind with Eric Clapton's one-off 458-based 512BBhomage a few cars up front. Bonkers.
And then a heart warming sight back at base. Beaming Echevierra brothers, the delight on their faces having seen their car in action for the first time in front of thousands of sun drenched festival goers clear to see. The only person more chuffed? Their mum!
Dan
It's rather difficult to update a blog when an event renders you lost for words! After a rendezvous with Garlick on the A3 this morning and a quick stop in Bepton to pick up a ticket, the Mini and I arrived just after eight.
This is my first Festival of Speed and, though I had some idea what to look forward to, the event had already surpassed all expectations. To walk the mile or so from the car park to Mercedes' pavilion has taken over an hour as there's just too much to see. Notable cars parked up in the motorsport paddock included a Jean Ragnotti 5 Maxi Turbo, a pair of Porsche 917s and a Martini Lancia Delta S4; it's hard to know where to look next!
Now stationed with a complimentary coffee, I've seen Bentley' stunning Continental GT3 racer storm past Goodwood House, Loeb's 208 T16 complete the hillclimb in 49 second s and Nick Mason's Ferrari 250 GTO to name but three cars.
Later today, I'm due to have passenger rides in both the Jaguar XFR-S and CaterhamR620. Until then, I'll continue to wander round in slack-jawed amazement!
Matt
So last night it was dinner with Renault and Alain Prost, whose name will forever in my head be delivered in Murray Walker's excitable tones. I just can't imagine it said any other way!
I was on the opposite side of the table from him so sadly didn't get an opportunity to chat but I was seated beside Renaultsport big cheese Patrice Ratti, who's delighted with worldwide demand for the new Clio Renaultsport especially in growing markets (for them) like Australia and Japan. He also let slip that after Honda promised to take the FWD 'ring lap record they took their man Laurent who scored that time to Suzuka. And took the same there, right under Honda's noses. Cheeky.
Also turns out Jean Ragnotti got a summons to the clerk of the course for performing his trademark doughnuts on his way up the hill. Really, what were they expecting? Anyway, apparently Ragnotti, whose English isn't especially strong, nodded his way through the ticking off, Gallic shrugged and said something to the effect of 'ah, but it is OK, it is not a doughnut because the car is still moving so this is different.' That's the spirit!
Dan
It may have taken some borrowed clothes, more waiting around and some rather frantic last-minute arrangements, but I now have a Goodwood passenger ride under my belt. And it was excellent.
The queue was already spectacular enough to begin with. Whilst sandwiched between a KTM X-Bow GT and the Volvo S60 Polestar, the skies were filled the sound of a Vulcan bomber flying overhead; even by today's standards, it was amazing to witness.
Surprisingly, given the inertia associated with preparing the supercar run, we reach the start line quite smartly. Now, with John Barker behind the wheel of the XFR-S, progress was always likely to be swift (and smoky). He certainly didn't disappoint, with the Jag leaving the line in a flurry of wheelspin, pulling fiercely into third gear before the first corner.
From the passenger seat, the XFR-S seems to turn-in sharply and adopt little roll. Predictably, it will drift for Queen and country but without ever feeling too wild or uncontrolled. Under the bridge and well into fourth gear (the speedo wasn't visible but I would assume it was comfortably over 100mph), the Jag felt seriously quick. It certainly feels big within the confines of the hill climb, though.
We slowed to squeeze through Molecomb before hauling up the rest of the hill through the finish. It's been the best 60 seconds or so of the day thus far!
Matt
Another big event, another communications meltdown and, like Le Mans, a load of blog updates written that I couldn't post. To the point where I was discussing with people the idea of a new type of media compiling stories on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, 'printing' them on bits of paper and selling them in shops. No?
Salvation and signal reclaimed now I'm off the Goodwood site - any longer there and Lord March would've started charging me rent - I can now bring you up to speed with the rest of my Festival of Speed.
Saturday kicked off with another brush with increasingly jobsworthy officialdom that's unfortunately a growing trend as the Festival of Speed continues to grow in its 20th year. Two techniques work - having someone on the inside who can get you in. Or vaulting fences with a pair of trousers in your hand on a mercy mission to help a man caught short by a clothing emergency. That man being PH contributor Danny Milner, who turned up full of excitement for his ride alongside Porsche's Andreas Preuninger in the GT3. But in shorts. The marshals said legs needed to be covered, Preuninger was going with or without him and I just about managed to fling some strides at him in time to make the run. Which from the outside looked pretty damned brisk, Danny confirming that Preuninger wasn't holding back and the GT3 knocking on the door of 9,000rpm is a pretty special place to be.
Even Preuninger couldn't match dinner companion from the other night Daniel Lloyd though, who stormed past in his GT3 Cup racer on a proper mission and, by the end of the day, with the third fastest time overall behind the Jaguar XJR9/9 of Justin Law and electric Drayson record car driven by Jonny Cocker. He was breathtakingly rapid through the first turns in front of Goodwood House and the onboard on the big screens showed how hard he was pushing all the way up the hill. Fair play.
Most stylish though? Inevitably Mike Cross in the Project 7 F-Type. A sideways Jag with a Vulcan flying overhead combining to create a perfect Goodwood moment.
I was lucky enough to be able to share this with both Mike and Ian Callum later in the day, as we joined Jaguar Land Rover's motorhome based glamping and digested the day's fun in the evening sun. Mike was typically modest, the angles he had the Project 7 at anything but. To be honest sitting by the bar in Land Rover's wig-wam would've been a nice way to see the day out but the day was about to take a turn for the surreal as we suited up and headed back to the house for the Goodwood ball. Which sees 1,500 people - plus a few conspicuously lacking black tie who must've found a gap in the fence - eating in and around the house before decamping to the back lawn for an epic bring on the dancing girls/fireworks/leaping motorbikes/on-stage F1 cars/more fireworks display.
Which explains why the bacon sarnies are so expensive at least. And then a lone member of the Eagles (an Eagle?) Don Felder, taking to the stage to tinkle out Hotel California to a gently swaying crowd. Whether that was the music or free wine was hard to say but I found myself in the slightly surreal situation of standing between Quentin Wilson and Allan McNish, before jumping back into an XJ and heading back to the glampsite and a man versus cheese showdown with Tony Harris from the Race 2 Recovery Dakar team.
So that was my Goodwood. Paul's still there though and will report in on rides on the rally stage and with Ragnotti in the mad Twingo Twin'Run. Which sounds awesome from the outside by the way. We'll find out from Paul what it's like from the passenger seat beside a rallying legend. And scourge of Goodwood jobsworths!
Dan
Additional photography: LAT Photo
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And this is easily the best video on how to tie a bow tie: http://vimeo.com/couchmode/thehillside/videos/sort...
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