Dramatic rally action at the 2023 Festival of Speed

14th July 2023

Adam Wilkins

We say it every year, but if you’ve never made the pilgrimage to the Forest Rally Stage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, you’re missing out. Sure, we know it’s a long way up the hill but the sight and sound of rally cars from many decades makes the trip worth it. And you can catch a lift on one of the tractor shuttles to make it easier.

If you didn’t make it up there, here’s a snippet of what you missed. Several cast iron poster cars of rallying history were making their way sideways around the chalky terrain. Who could fail to be moved by the sight of a Subaru Impreza 22B in that evocative blue livery battling its way around the stage? If you prefer your rally legends a little older, how about a Lancia Delta Integrale? And further back in time, there are Ford Escorts in Mk1 and Mk2 forms going from lockstop to lockstop.

There’s plenty of less common rally contenders, too. A Citroën DS looks wonderfully out of sorts in the forest, its spaceship styling contrasting with the green scenery. Equally unusual, as far as rallying goes, are a brace of mid-engined sportscars: a much-modified Lotus Esprit and a Ferrari 308 that looks more showroom-fresh. Well, relatively speaking.

We also enjoyed seeing some British Leyland machinery taking to the stage in the form of a Rover SD1 and Austin Maxi. The latter was famously contested in the 1970 London to Mexico World Rally Team by Bronwyn Burrell, Tina Kerridge and Tish Ozanne. Completing our BL odyssey is a selection of MG Metro 6R4s, but we’re back into poster car territory.

We’ll wrap this up with a special mention for how much suspension travel the Toyota GR Yaris has. You could virtually park another Yaris in each wheelarch when the wheels are at full droop.