Vettel to make Goodwood debut

Double Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel will take his Goodwood bow this summer, spearheading the 20th Festival of Speed’s main theme of ‘Young Guns — Born to Win’.

Lotus, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, will be the featured marque over the four days from June 28 to July 1. Other celebrations will include 50 years of both Brabham and Ferrari’s immortal 250GTO, while Group C sports cars will mark the category’s 30th birthday with timed ‘qualification’ runs on the Saturday ahead of the Top 20 shoot-out on the final day.

Lord March revealed his plans for both the Festival and September’s Revival during a packed media day at the Sussex estate in March. The event, which has developed into a mini-festival without the crowds, featured a roster of drivers including Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass, while a large collection of famous competition cars made runs up the hillclimb.

Standing on the steps of Goodwood House, Lord March announced that seven of the 12 current Fl teams will take part in the Festival of Speed, which for the first time will feature an aviation show as part of the weekend’s attractions.

Dan Gurney will be the honoured star of the Revival, which takes place on September 14-16 this year. Fellow US hero Carroll Shelby also plans to attend as part of the 50th anniversary feature race celebrations for the car he is most associated with, the AC Cobra.

The Silver Arrows ‘controlled race’ for pre-war Mercedes and Auto Union Grand Prix cars (see April issue) will be the main attraction of the weekend, while the Freddie March Memorial Trophy will be run on the Friday evening, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Goodwood Nine Hours.