Photo: Goodwood
Today, bells have ringed as this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed opened the gates for petrolheads and contestants alike. The Moving Motor Show was opened by a Mazda MX-5 (yes, a Japanese car has this honor again in Britain).
But as Lord March, the FoS patron, raced up the 1.16-mile Hillclimb in the small roadster, we were interested in finding out the festival's secrets, other than strictly car-related info.
The festival was founded in 1993, but Lord March didn't have the necessary permit to host the event at the Goodwood Circuit, so he used his own backyard so to say, hosting the FoS on his property.
But there's more than meets the eye in the festival's backstage, far away from flashing cameras, the smell of fuel, burnt rubber and classic racers receiving rounds of applause from the spectators. Nonetheless, Goodwood is more than that. And since numbers never lie, we decided to take this approach of painting the festival's portrait in digits.
We won't go too deep into logistics-related aspects, but we shall start with this: Goodwood’s Moving Motor Show (happening today, June 25) covers 5,500 square metres (59,201 square feet). To get a complete idea, that's enough space to park 1,200 classic Minis bumper to bumper.
The event will gather around 70,000 cars, including competition, display cars and those in the public car parks. That means a lot of people - over 202,000 - who will drink 10,000 cups of tea in the Goodwood House over the Festival of Speed weekend.
But how do you keep so many people and cars safe during the event? Well, this will be the task of 300 marshals who will probably sleep like bunnies throughout the weekend, keeping an eye on the 6,000 visitors ready to camp on the Goodwood Estate for the next three days.
Are you still doubting the popularity of Goodwood FoS? Well, hear this out: four active Formula 1 race winners, with 67 Grand Prix victories between them will drive during the Festival of Speed. Can you guess them? We're talking about Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.
Since we've gotten into the racing world, you should know that 4,200 miles (6,759 km) will be covered on the famous 1.16-mile (1.8 km) hill climb until Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 will put down its curtains. So if you decide to drive from New York to Goodwood, that's how much distance you'll cover.
In terms of ponies released during the festival, the collective horsepower of all of the cars running on the hill across the weekend is rated at around 120,000 BHP. However, one car will be teaching us that sound and engine noise are also necessary, as Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 1-B 1959 drag-racing machine is the loudest car to take part in the event.
The agricultural flavor of the event will be guaranteed by 3,800 bales of hay used as crash barriers. Also, if tall structures tickle your fancy, make sure you don't miss this year's Central Figure - which honours Mazda, by the way - measuring 37 metres in height and weighing around 133 tons.
The festival was founded in 1993, but Lord March didn't have the necessary permit to host the event at the Goodwood Circuit, so he used his own backyard so to say, hosting the FoS on his property.
But there's more than meets the eye in the festival's backstage, far away from flashing cameras, the smell of fuel, burnt rubber and classic racers receiving rounds of applause from the spectators. Nonetheless, Goodwood is more than that. And since numbers never lie, we decided to take this approach of painting the festival's portrait in digits.
We won't go too deep into logistics-related aspects, but we shall start with this: Goodwood’s Moving Motor Show (happening today, June 25) covers 5,500 square metres (59,201 square feet). To get a complete idea, that's enough space to park 1,200 classic Minis bumper to bumper.
The event will gather around 70,000 cars, including competition, display cars and those in the public car parks. That means a lot of people - over 202,000 - who will drink 10,000 cups of tea in the Goodwood House over the Festival of Speed weekend.
But how do you keep so many people and cars safe during the event? Well, this will be the task of 300 marshals who will probably sleep like bunnies throughout the weekend, keeping an eye on the 6,000 visitors ready to camp on the Goodwood Estate for the next three days.
Are you still doubting the popularity of Goodwood FoS? Well, hear this out: four active Formula 1 race winners, with 67 Grand Prix victories between them will drive during the Festival of Speed. Can you guess them? We're talking about Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.
Since we've gotten into the racing world, you should know that 4,200 miles (6,759 km) will be covered on the famous 1.16-mile (1.8 km) hill climb until Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 will put down its curtains. So if you decide to drive from New York to Goodwood, that's how much distance you'll cover.
In terms of ponies released during the festival, the collective horsepower of all of the cars running on the hill across the weekend is rated at around 120,000 BHP. However, one car will be teaching us that sound and engine noise are also necessary, as Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 1-B 1959 drag-racing machine is the loudest car to take part in the event.
The agricultural flavor of the event will be guaranteed by 3,800 bales of hay used as crash barriers. Also, if tall structures tickle your fancy, make sure you don't miss this year's Central Figure - which honours Mazda, by the way - measuring 37 metres in height and weighing around 133 tons.
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