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Highlights of the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed

From supercars to sculptures and stunt drivers, we look back on some of the highlights of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed

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Each year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed brings millions upon millions of pounds’ worth of historic racers, modern supercars and droves of petrolheads to Lord March’s estate in the West Sussex countryside. With the 2017 event now wrapped up for another year, we take a look back at some of the highlights.

Porsche 911 GT2 RS

The 911 GT2 RS was arguably one of Porsche’s worst kept secrets. Even after it was showcased at the E3 gaming expo in California early last month, the German sports car maker still refused to acknowledge its existence.

Porsche 911 GT2 RS
(Porsche)

However, that all changed after the 911 GT2 RS made its official public debut at this year’s Festival of Speed. It took to the famed hillclimb up Lord March’s driveway, although its run was slightly unorthodox. The Porsche’s driver attempted to perform a burnout halfway up the run, although it seemed the 911’s tyres were far too sticky for such things, meaning the stunt didn’t quite go the way the driver planned it.

With 690bhp and 750Nm being developed by the GT2 RS’s 3.8-litre engine, the stripped-out, rear-wheel drive sports car can complete the sprint from 0-60mph in just 2.7 seconds. It also claims the title of being the most powerful road-legal 911 ever produced.

BMW 8 Series concept

Following its official unveiling at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este earlier this year, the UK public was treated to its first look at the stunning BMW 8 Series concept in the metal at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of speed.

BMW 8 Series concept
(BMW)

John Buckingham, the man who designed the car’s gorgeous exterior, set out to create what he thought was his “dream BMW” when penning the car.

“It’s amazing how much freedom you do have,” he explained. “It’s a real pleasure because you do have freedom in terms of proportions, but to make the car believable it should be limited.

“There was a lot of freedom in terms of what we could do with surface language and themes and the centre line.

“It’s not normal that you don’t have a predecessor, that’s the interesting bit. There is a predecessor but not a recent predecessor. Compared to the old 8 Series, it’s the same kind of thing but we’ve treated it like a new car.”

The Goodwood sculpture

This year’s Festival of Speed sculpture celebrated the life and career of Formula 1 magnate Bernie Ecclestone. Named ‘The Five Ages of Ecclestone’, the gigantic installation tracked five incredibly important stages in Ecclestone’s career as a driver, manager, team owner, impresario and a legend of the sport.

Gerry Judah designed the sculpture. He said: “Coming up with a sculpture for Goodwood is always a challenge. They have to be different, dynamic and dangerous, as motorsport itself. This year is no exception given we are celebrating an individual, a phenomenon, and what better way than producing a firecracker.”

Sculpture
(Goodwood)

Historic race cars galore

The Goodwood Festival of Speed wouldn’t be complete without its priceless collection of vintage and historic racers.

From old F1 cars, to Colin McRae’s Subaru Impreza WRC car, to a glorious 1939 BMW 328 that claimed wins at both Le Mans and the Mille Miglia – the metal on display was incredibly impressive.

Mclaren racer
(Goodwood)

The Hillclimb

The Goodwood Festival of Speed wouldn’t be quite the same without the famous hillclimb event. Over the course of the weekend, Lord March’s driveway sees its fair share of action. From heart-stopping high-speed runs, to stunts and crashes – there’s no shortage of excitement on the hillclimb.

Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro
(Newspress)

While the majority of the cars that took to the hill managed to make it up unscathed, some weren’t so lucky. A 1986 Ford RS2000 Evo 2 was one of the first casualties of the weekend, sliding into the hay bales at Molecomb in spectacular fashion.

One of the more impressive hillclimb attempts came when stunt driver Terry Grant drove a Range Rover Sport up a section of the course on two wheels, while his passenger stood on top of the SUV.

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