BMW Car Club GB member Rob Ryan was lucky enough to win 2 free tickets to Goodwood Festival of Speed this year thanks to BMW UK. Below, he recounts his incredible day…
Words and Photos by Rob Ryan
Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the UK’s most prestigious events so the offer of opening day tickets was simply too good to pass up. Plans were hastily drawn up to free up some time mid-week and, with a small group of friends, arranged an early start to maximise the day, needing to travel down from Essex via the dreaded Dartford crossing.
First decision of the day was which car to travel in for the 300-mile round trip. Should I take the daily driver, a roomy and economical E61 530d or bring out the E60 M5 and enjoy that glorious V10 soundtrack. No surprise to learn that the heart ruled the head for that decision so we jumped in the M5 and set off at about 6.00am. Traffic was surprisingly light through the rush hour and we arrived about 9.00am, ready to experience an overwhelming display of new and old, road and track, two and four wheeled iconic automotive machinery.
Goodwood simply never disappoints and on arrival you instantly knew that this is going to be a special day. It’s an old cliché but there really is something for everyone with each member of our group looking forward to seeing quite different aspects. We decided to tour the manufacturer and accessory display stands through the morning, stop for lunch then enjoy the track action through the afternoon.
With so much on display, we naturally migrated to stands that grabbed our attention and were predominantly BMW focused. On one stand we came across a particularly stunning Smyrna green M3 Touring which was running around 1200 bhp on ethanol. For those of you following the exploits of Misha Charoudin on YouTube, there’s a video of this car doing a lap of the infamous Nurburgring.
Arriving at the BMW stand we were welcomed by Jay from the hospitality team and managed to talk our way into the private members area on the top deck. BMW really pulled out all the stops with a very impressive display of classic, current and future models. Seeing the Speedtop concept car in the flesh, I noticed some subtle design influences from BMW’s classic line up including the sharknose front end I think the colour would take a little getting used to! The sound of a large capacity ICE is a particularly important part of automotive joy for me so I was pleased to learn that this car, with its limited run of 70 vehicles, will use the superb 4.4 litre petrol power plant from the M5. I’m sure it’ll sell out very quickly indeed.
Whilst enjoying the sunshine and a glass of champagne, we were lucky enough to have timed it perfectly to get a great view of the Red Arrows displaying overhead. The precision and discipline of the pilots never ceases to amaze and it’s always a tremendous thrill to see them spiraling across the sky with close passes and complex formations made to look effortless.
After a spot of lunch we stopped at various points along the hillclimb track to take in the sight of a wide range of supercars and concept vehicles thundering past along with the often quicker but somehow more subdued electric vehicles. A couple of my favourites were the Ferrari F80 with its rather controversial 3.0l V6 power plant which looked absolutely stunning. Pictures really do not do this car justice. The other was the Kimera EVO38 (a reimagining of the legendary Lancia 037 rally car) with a 600 horsepower, all-wheel drive and a manual gearbox – what’s not to like! We missed the drama of the following day with the new M3 CS Touring having a little off road and haybale action which must have been quite embarrassing for the driver in front of such a large audience.
Final stop on the wish list was a very dusty trip up to the rally stages where we were treated to an assault on the senses from the sounds and excitement of cars bending the laws of physics around the forest section, a truly exhilarating experience. I was pleased to see my all-time rally favourites from the Group B days with a stunning display of around 30 Metro 6R4s, an RS200 and of course, the one and only Audi Sport Quattro S1.
Gates closed at 6.00pm and reluctantly we took ourselves back to the car park. We were close to being cooked after such a warm day and were caked in dust, along with most of the cars in the car park, but had a thoroughly brilliant time at Goodwood. Talks are already underway for perhaps making it a 2-day experience next year, so we can adopt a slightly more leisurely pace and ensure we get to see everything on offer. Roll on 2026.
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