Goodwood: The Festival of Speed

For you petrol heads out there, or even people that just like going to a huge garden party in a picturesque estate in the Sussex Downs, the Festival of Speed affectionately referred to as FOS is a “must go to at least once in your life” event. Lord March, The Duke of Richmond, has laid on this spectacle on for 18 years at Goodwood his family seat and it gets better every year.

It is not just loud racing cars and the smell of benzene, Castrol R and rubber, at the FOS you can get up close and rub shoulders with the likes of Stirling Moss, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and see modern F1 cars misbehaving on Lord March’s drive, with no team bosses to spoil the fun! It has the only paddocks which allows you to be micro inches away from a vast array of exotic machinery, including today’s road going supercars, normally reserved for the Top Gear team.

This year is the 60th season of the world championship, so there will be an array of past and present champions – If you can’t go this weekend, then make a date for this time next year – it’s awesome fun and has style in spades. Regrettably, this one is the first of 18 I will miss, but rest assured my thoughts will be filled with the fantastic memories this motor junkie has enjoyed year in and year out.

Peter Jarvis

The Festival of Speed takes place at The Goodwood Estate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0PX 2-4 July 2010. For more information and tickets checkout out the Festival of Speed website.