By Nick Sparkes
July 13 2006

For me it was my third Goodwood Festive of Speed, so I knew what to expect – Formula One, Touring Cars, Bikes and of course bumping into famous names from many different eras of racing. It really was the event of the year, and something that even put my Silverstone experience into the shade. You would had thought with it being my third Goodwood (working for Peugeot), I would had known the route too the event, well no. It was my first time driving there and with my Sat Nav still in the post I was left reading through two different route maps from the internet as well as my trusted AA Map, I’m sure you all know what happened next. One round about lead to another, and in the end I became lost and drove one big circle lasting 20 miles before ending up back at the same round about I had navigated one whole hour ago. Thankfully a nice old lady put me in the right direction and with another hour gone I was on site at the Goodwood Festive of Speed building our radio control car track for Peugeot. As evening set in on a coldish Thursday afternoon, me and the team pieced together the final parts before being able to relax and take a wonder around the site before Friday. The super car paddock was littered with cars worth millions of pounds, with names such as Ferrari, Zonda and Lamborghini filling the spaces, it was a truly magnification sight and one I would only experience for a few minutes before walking to the Goodwood house. There I was greeted by the Renault F1 team and their Formula One car, which incidentally was playing the French nation anthem using the throttle, a very clever party piece (this was changed to the British nation anthem during Friday, Saturday and Sunday). From there I looked at the Richard Burns World Rally Collection as well watching the Formula One teams pack up after their preparations for the weekend, at this stage I also retired for the day, knowing I had three long days, with plenty to witness and experience.

Friday was a mixed day in terms of weather; it was sunny in the morning and late afternoon with a shower of rain covering the area in between. For me working on the Peugeot stand it was pretty straight forward, running the cars and looking after members of the public, it was everything that I had expected. Taking a wonder the amount of people at the event was enormous, and taking into account it was only Friday, the numbers were set to increase as the event approached the weekend, There was very little to report on from the first day, for anyone who was there Friday was seen as a Practice day, a warm up for the weekends events. It was still an amazing experience, where else do you get Formula One Cars and Sports cars next to each other, with the drivers within touching distance? I knew Saturday and Sunday was going to be a blast!

Saturday was probably my best day, the sun was out pretty much all day, ideal conditions for watching the cars go up the hill. Whilst continuing my duties on the Peugeot stand I managed to take time out and sample the atmosphere of what was going on around me. A short walk to the bridge led me to the Formula One paddock where there was plenty of activity. I had just arrived, autograph book in one hand (you never knew who your about to meet) and camera in the other I was ready to capture whatever I could. I was suddenly moved to the edge of the F1 Classics paddock because the Touring Cars were moving back into their parking slots after going up the hill, I saw Mika Hakkinen in his DTM Merc, then Matt Neal in his BTCC Honda and finally Andy Priaulx in his WTCC BMW, three names, three different drivers all in the same line – that’s something you don’t see everyday! Whilst most were watching the cars enter the tight pit area, snapping away with their camera’s, I noticed the legend that was John Surtees stepping out of his Honda RA300 and gladly signing autographs, I quickly joined the very small crowd of people and was able to meet and greet the only man who had won championships on two and four wheels. It was already time for me to head back to Peugeot, but proof that you don’t have to stand around all day waiting to meet the stars you adore, you just need to be in the right place at the right time. A few hours later I decided to take a wonder around the stands which surrounded Peugeot, that of BMW, Honda and Jaguar. I also went to see Toyota, who continues to have the mother of all stands, although it’s starting to get a bit dated, a bit predictable. A couple of photographs with the Toyota girls were enough to make any male happy, although a phone number was out of the question. I’m not one to shout and scream and get all excited over classic F1 cars, but being the only things going up the hill at that time, I stood and watched the classics drive up the hill, passing the Goodwood house with thousands of spectators lining the circuit. It was a unique experience, behind me were the manufactures with their stands, in front was a piece of tarmac with various cars from various years laying rubber and showing off to the crowd, and beyond that you had the worlds best in Formula One, Sports Cars and Touring Cars all lined up in the pits. It crossed my mind that you really cannot get this sort of experience anywhere else, not even anywhere else in the world. It was making my Silverstone experience from last year look rather ordinary and this looking spectacular. My day finished at six, with a trip to Pizza Hut rounding things off. The only bad bit was me walking into a bunch of stinging nettles on the way to the showers!

Drip, drip, drip was my alarm clock for Sunday, the rain hammering down onto our tent pretty much gave a clear signal of what the weather was doing. When we got to the Peugeot stand it was wet and very overcast, a complete contrast to the conditions of yesterday. Thankfully the weather cleared before the afternoon, with the sun shining and warming up as the day progressed. During this time I managed to get a clear spot to watch the Formula One cars go up the hill, to hear the power and the noise was just incredible. I was about 25 yards, maybe not even that from the cars, and felt as though you could touch them they were that close. Once it had finished I quickly made my way to the F1 Paddock again, where I watched the teams wheel the cars back into their garages and set about making a few changes before the next run. There I was able to take some pictures of the cars, as well as spying on McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, who clearly was enjoying his time at Goodwood. I then returned to Peugeot where I finished my day. A truly amazing and unpredictable weekend, with so much to look back on, my third Goodwood felt like the first and is also an event that I enjoy going to. If I wasn’t with Peugeot I probably would have bought tickets for the weekend anyway, it’s that sort of event.

For those who weren’t able to make it, check out my selection of images to sample the experience (Click Here for Photo Gallery).

I would recommend going along to next years, when you consider the cost of a Grand Prix and the Goodwood Festive of Speed, keep in mind that your probably get better value for money with Goodwood than any other event in the world.