The highlights from day three quite rightly open with some outrageous sideways action from drift legend James Deane in his M3 Eurofighter. A tough act to follow, if you’re not a Ligier JS11 from 1979 belting out the song of a Cosworth DFV, or indeed capable of emitting the kind of noise that escapes the exhausts of the Shadow MkII Can-Am monster.
Goodwood’s most envied driver on Sunday might just be Adrian Newey, who somehow managed to find himself climbing the Hill at the wheel of Niki Lauda’s championship-winning Ferrari 312 T2, we suspect the emotions inside his helmet must have been running high.
We had Karun Chandhok pulling off some donuts in the Jaguar I-Type 6 Formula E car, and none other than two-time Formula One world champion Mika Häkkinen sending last year’s Timed Shootout-winning McLaren Solus GT up the Hill, V10 engine roaring as he went. That noise was trumped, however, by the howl of the GMA T.50’s 12,000rpm V12.
The Hill did fall silent for a moment as the whole of Goodwood stood to celebrate to Michael Dunlop on the Balcony. The most successful rider in Isle of Man TT history is a true legend of motorsport, and a huge crowd gathered to show their respect for a hero of motorcycle road racing who thoroughly deserved his moment in the spotlight.
Into the afternoon, the roar of engines returned and did so with aplomb as the BRM V16 took the Hill. We witnessed the remarkable Howmet TX jet car and the truly unmissable Auto Union Type 52 before the motorsport legends returned in the form of sportscar and F1 machinery.
Saturday was also the day for Shootout Qualifying, where the pace would pick up somewhat as Michael Lyons absolutely hurled his Gurney Eagle FA74 up the Hill. The Supervan 4.2 in the hands of Romain Dumas looks absolutely insane with its mammoth rear wing desperately trying to contain 2,000PS. His run was quick enough to see off the challenge of Scott Speed in the Subaru WRX: Project Midnight by just 0.1 seconds. Travis Pastrana was on top form as always in his own Shootout run, getting good and sideways, but still managing to keep the speed up to set a very competitive time.
The rain did eventually start to fall on Saturday afternoon, but that didn’t stop the likes of the Audi RS Q e-tron from putting on a show for the hardy spectators braving the downpour. We appreciate everything these drivers and riders do for us at the Fesitval of Speed. Here’s to one more day of brilliance on Sunday.
The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place from the 11th-14th July, and you can watch every moment of the action on our live stream right here on GRR!
