With so much happening around Goodwood House over Festival of Speed weekend it's easy to miss stuff. We certainly did! Back at our desks and with working internet to catch up on the news, pics and press releases here's a run-down of what went on.
Porsche reminds us it makes non-911 models
It was a big weekend for the latest hybrid hypercars, with both the
McLaren P1
Porsche 918
making UK dynamic debuts on the hill. Did Ferrari miss a trick in not bringing a
LaFerrari
? The GTA Spano was also seen for the first time in the UK; it takes a rather less futuristic approach to the supercar though, with just an 8.4-litre V10 to make 900hp.
Other supercar minnows attracting the crowds in the paddock included the Sin R1, a sub-tonne mid-engined coupe with a Corvette V8 and a claimed 0-60mph time of less than three seconds. The Tauro Spider also uses Chevrolet's legendary off-the-shelf engine, and places it in a chassis related to the Pontiac Solstice.
As well as production cars, a few concepts were seen moving in public for the first time at Goodwood. The ItalDesign Giugiaro Parcour was one of them; the amazing Gallardo-based off-road coupe was a car we're sad to have missed. Aston's CC100 also ran up the hill, whilst a Jaguar C-X75 prototype stunned everyone with its speed and sound. The Project 7 Jaguar was predictably spectacular at the hands of Mike Cross too.
Ferrari may have neglected to bring a LaFerrari, but Eric Clapton's SP12 EC certainly provided an interesting distraction. The 458-based creation was inspired by the 512BB and rumoured to have cost around £3m.
Project 7 didn't spend long going straight...
Furthermore, Peugeot confirmed the
RCZ R
will cost more than £30,000 and the Porsche
991 GT3
made its UK dynamic debut with PH contrib Danny Milner hanging on in the passenger seat. The
VW XL1
(PH first drive coming soon) drew its fair share of attention as well.
With all this going on, it would be easy to forget that there was a hill climb competition to be won. The moral victor had to be the Lola-Drayson EV racer, which finished the day third with a time of 47.34 seconds. It was narrowly beaten by Peugeot's 208 T16; driven by Gregory Guilvert, it crossed the line in 47.32 seconds. Eventually though, the margin of victory was quite significant and, yet again, it was Justin Law in his Jaguar XJR8 (upgraded to XJR9 spec) who war crowned king of the hill. He took his fifth Festival of Speed victory with a time of 45.95 seconds.