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Murilo Montiani – Chichester (England)
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Thousands of people have been attracted to the Festival of Speed of Goodwood in the last weekend in Chichester, Southeast England. Not even the credit crunch, that affects the whole World, especially Europe, demotivated the 152 thousand people, who had not saved efforts to witness the celebration of the anniversary of brands such as Audi, Bugatti and Morgan (100 years), Mercedes Silver Arrows (75 years) and the Mini celebrity (50 years).
The organizers put 350 cars to participate of the Festival of Speed (FOS) and have an estimated value of £257 million pounds (something around R$ 822 million). From historical race cars that go as far back as before the World War I, to more contemporaries as prototypes moved by solar energy, up until the newest models of Endurance cars, like the 24 hours of Le Mans.
Senna in cockpit of the McLaren
In its 17ª edition, the FOS continues to be a great attraction for pilots of the Europe, but not so much for the Brazilians this year. The only Brazilian present in the track was Bruno Senna, who had the honor to drive the McLaren MP 4/4 that belonged to his uncle – the three times World Champion of Formula 1 Ayrton Senna. Bruno drove in the car that Senna conquered the Championship of 1988, the first one of the series that includes 1990 and 1991.
After going up the traditional hill climb of Goodwood during the morning without any problems, Bruno decided to give to a bit of a show to part for the public and to make some smoke but the car stalled and had to be towed to the finish line due to a clutch problem. Bruno, who was strongly quoted to run in the F1 this season and disputes races Endurance to keep in activity, is one of the strong names to fight for one of the vacancies in 2010. The nephew of the legend guarantees that his manager keeps conversations with the teams.
This year the subject of the FOS was `True Grit – Epic Feats of Endurance`. In total there had been 120 privileged drivers who have had the honor be inside speeding the cars up the hill on the festivities at Goodwood. But the joy seen in the Earl of March – owner and responsible for the mansion and event – when seeing the public in direct contact with the machines that they have made and continue to make history can be sometimes greater. The chance to hear the roar of the engines of race cars from such a close range and being able, in many cases, to even touch them is, certainly, what brings the fans of motoring back year after year the gardens of the Earl. As wisely said by the three times F1 World Champion, Sir Jackie Stewart (known as the Flying Scott), on the last Saturday: “Here it is more about the car than about the driver”.
Easy Rider and Peter Fonda
The 4th of July, day of the independence of the United States, the North American actor Peter Fonda rode the bike used on the movie he was a star `Easy Rider’ in 1969. To the soundtrack of the movie and with trailers in all of the big screens spread around the hill climb, he paraded and waved to the public, bringing nostalgic memories to many visitors who had lived in the 60s intensely and some exposure to knowledge to the youngsters.
The North American presence also could be seen in the more commercial side of the festival. Three Mustangs were for sale for prices not as accessible as a copy of Easy Rider – about £4. The GT V8 Model, in blue was for £34.450 (about R$110 thousand). But don’t think that only the Americans wanted to sell things, the festival had a array of products related, and sometimes not so related, to races and automobiles.
Lewis Hamilton in a low
Replica of helmets, miniature of famous cars, t-shirts of current pilots and brands – interesting fact was to see that all the related products to the current F1 World Champion, the English Lewis Hamilton, were on sale, apart from the McLaren store. A helmet with the same painting of the one Ayrton Senna had could be bought by £650 pounds (about R$ 2 thousand). In order not to leave emptied handed, the simple mortals could buy a simple engine oil can and some wax. Right by the side of all that, pictures and posters of the recently deceased singer Michael Jackson and the of Marylyn Monroe were for also for sale.
The Alpha Romeo, who celebrates 100 years in 2010, had a very attractive stand, obviously in red. The Land Rover decided to attack with a mini circuit with slopes and artificial bumpers to replicate a off road terrain and where the public could give a turbulent stroll guided by a trained driver. Porsche and Audi have offered a more radical and also more expensive option, an off road track on board of the Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q7. It surely did not let the hungry for rubber and the thirsty for gasoline down.
Pit stop to eat
The public used the advantage of making one pit stop for food, recharging in the traditional tents that offered organic local burgers, traditional of Goodwood. The smell of meat in the grill competed with the one of gasoline and burnt rubber, but for fanatic the second was always the most important. The parents who like cars had no need to be worried about where to leave the children, since of FOS offered to the Junior Festival, which included attractions as an skate half pipe with lessons for beginners and presentations of professionals. Also a day-care centre where the children were able to paint, draw and do some activities among other children. As per the tradition of fanatic for motoring, the small ones (and adults too) also had the famous Wacky Race, with the the cartoon characters in its cars playing some tricks and entertaining the young fans.
