'Trailblazing' GT4 blazes into Chilton's trail

Porsche probably thought it had the Goodwood hillclimb sewn up with 1,088hp - but 2022 was a banner year for fast

Apologies if you’ve beaten us to this epic bit of Goodwood highlightery today - but it’s too good not to shout about for anyone else that missed it on account of the fan car furore. We’ll obviously take nothing away from the McMurtry Spéirling that sits atop the countdown (we’ve covered it here, and it’s remarkable), but the top ten quickest countdown has some real humdingers in it, and no little variety.

Every competitor deserves credit, but we’ll highlight a few for posterity. Firstly, Jensen Button and the FC1-X, because twinning the former F1 world champ with ‘the most powerful rallycross car ever built’ is just a lovely idea all by itself. Secondly, the Porsche GT3 Cup driven by Adam Smalley - mostly for that rev-tastic race start, but for also spearing a car up the hill that mere mortals would stand a chance of getting their heads around. And for doing it quicker than Jenson.

Thirdly, the Jaguar XJR-12D, which gave a chance for any dad in the crowd of a certain age to bore any children nearby with stories of yore. Fourthly, the Pro Electric Supervan, because it allowed the children to return the favour (even if their gloating was like trying to argue an iPad is better than Apollo 11). And fifthly, the 862hp Subaru GL Family Huckster, which we didn’t have time to take about last week, but is, of course, manifestly brilliant and plainly (deservedly) a fan favourite.

And finally, the 718 GT4 ePerformance. Obviously Porsche had talked about the remarkable 1,088hp EV previously, but it chose Goodwood for the car’s public world premiere, and in most other years it might have justly expected the impressive 45.5-second run to land it the coveted title of quickest up the hill - especially when you consider it outpaced a hard-charging Formula 2 car. But it wasn’t to be, thanks to Max Chilton and McMurtry.