A busy weekend at Goodwood - for all archived blog updates from the event see below. To return to the latest blog, live streaming coverage and the comments thread
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My Goodwood kicked off last night with the unveiling of the centrepiece Mazda sculpture. I say unveiling. How you keep a 36-metre high, 120-ton structure with a 787B and LM55 concept on the top of it under wraps beats me and it will have been entirely evident to anyone who was here yesterday at the Moving Motor Show. Still, it’s (another) excuse for a bash in the house, (another) black tie dinner and opportunity to shepherd all the guests through the Bonhams auction lots. Which was as pleasant as it sounds. That
CLK GTRroadster
This morning I made my way along the back roads to Cocking (no sniggering at the back) where Mercedes promised a shuttle service to the FoS site with a difference. Now, I’m not going to claim the credit for inspiring this idea but ... OK I am. Last year I travelled herein a GL and managed to skirt around the worst of the jams by (possibly illegally) taking the off-road route. This year Mercedes has set up a park and ride with a bunch of G-Wagens and amusingly meandering route along local byways and then up the back of the race course and in via the campsite. Word to the wise – if you’re stuck in traffic and think it’s a good idea to follow a G-Wagen along a byway in your 5 Series ... it isn’t. He was OK for the first bit. Then the ruts got quite deep. I’m expecting to see him stuck there on my return journey.
For now I’m at Mercedes having been to see the Aston Martin Vulcan unveiled and now in prime position to see its first run up the hill. We’ve been promised noise, lots and lots of noise. I’m here on the outside of the first corner so will catch a glimpse of that I hope. We’ve also seen the Lotus 3-Eleven unveiled under its slightly odd #ITSNOTFORYOU hashtag. As in ‘ta da, here’s our new car but it’s not for you’. Me neither. Looks good though and the stats are dazzling. Next job is a quick chat with boss Jean-Marc Gales so if there’s anything you want to know about the car Tweet me your questions to @Trent_Dan.
Like a motor show but in the grounds of a stately home, the business part of the Festival of Speed means the obligatory chatting with execs, in this case Lotus boss Jean-Marc Gales. No stranger to these pages, both as an interview subject and a reader, his passion comes across as sincere. "Light is right" is his mantra, insisting this extends even to the
much discussed SUV
. As some observed in the thread that followed its announcement Colin Chapman was no sentimentalist and would no doubt have done the same, an idea that clearly fortifies Gales.
Gales insists 'light is right'
It will be light and it will be fast, he promises. And they're down to two prototypes ahead of final sign-off within a couple of months. What does it look like? It looks fast, it is fast he says. He offers one hint to the shape - the 1974 Elite. Yes, the kind of wedge-shaped shooting brake one. Which is ... bold.
Back over at the Mercedes hospitality on the outside of the first corner I joined James, Ben and the artist formerly known as Racing Pete for some Statler and Waldorf style assessment of those driving past. Whether the Project 7 Jag meant to go as sideways as he did was up for debate, the chap in the Can-Am McLaren M8F carving an elegant four-wheel drift past the front of the house got the thumbs up for his commitment and there was general wincing at the sight of the Mazda 787B [Correction - turns out it was the 767B - Ed.] stuffed into the bales after the inevitable Molecomb crash. Hearts out to the driver and the title sponsors Mazda; hope they can get it fixed in time for further runs over the weekend. It's either that or they grab the one down from the sculpture and swap it for an MX-5...
Damn DB9! Sat behind the new GT waiting to head up the hill, I was almost immediately then sat behind acres of smoke. So spectacular was the launch that the cameras followed it up, leaving the Cayman GT4 and I without any live feed coverage. Gah!
So it's written words only for my first experience of the Goodwood hill. And for my first experience of the Cayman GT4. Excitement running fairly high then...
The first dilemma is the traction control one. The crowds want a show but the car need to go back in one piece. I want to have fun but I don't want to make the coverage for the wrong reasons! The solution? Er, silly won out.
Traction off, ESC off and about 4,500rpm works a treat - clutch dumped and the GT4 takes way more throttle than initially expected, rear Cup 2s overspeeding and the fronts requiring just a tad of correction. It surely looks pathetic after the Aston smokescreen but it feels bloody marvellous.
Then the driver aids go back on. Don't get carried away Matthew. The GT4's gear ratios - course they had to be mentioned - means I'm not out of second before the first corner, and that can be held for the following curve too.
Immediately after I snatch third, attempt a glance at the incredible statue - missed it - and run under the bridge. Even going fairly early in the day the spectator areas are teeming with people, hopefully impressed by the poor little Porsche in a field of multi-million pound exotica.
Just time for fourth before braking very early for Molecomb. The crest hinders visibility and the corner is really soon after so most of the braking need to be done prior to seeing the bend. No issues, thank goodness.
Then the flint wall. Erk. So fixated on it, I hit the limiter in second and most look very oafish. But that's completed without drama (by which I mean slowly) and all too soon the right and last left whizz buy and the car flies under the finish getting towards the top of third. Yes! Done!
The way down is considerably more relaxed but no less rewarding, mainly because it involves lots of standing starts. Goody. A few more revs and a little more throttle than the start moves the GT4 around a fair bit, the car feeling totally controllable and quite magnificent actually. Hardly an extensive dynamic test but a damn enjoyable one! More to come following a Red Bull interview and a proper wander round. Which way to the rally stage?
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