Goodwood Festival of Speed

Goodwood House sits in West Sussex parkland that has been motorsport-adjacent since 1948, when the 9th Duke of Richmond converted a wartime airfield into a racing circuit. The Festival of Speed is a different proposition: a hillclimb up the private driveway, with Goodwood House as backdrop and four days of everything from pre-war machinery to current Formula 1 cars attacking the same 1.86-kilometre stretch of tarmac.

The 2026 theme is "The Rivals — Epic Racing Duels", rekindling motorsport's most famous battles across F1, MotoGP, WRC, touring cars and endurance racing. Singer, the company known for its reimaginings of the Porsche 911, headlines the Central Feature showcase. The event runs 9 to 12 July, the week after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which means the F1 paddock tends to bring machinery and personnel south before the summer break.

The scale is what catches first-timers off guard. Manufacturers use Festival of Speed for global car launches, which means the newest road cars share space with Le Mans winners, hillclimb record-holders and rally stage cars. The Timed Shootout on Sunday afternoon determines the outright hillclimb record attempt. In 2022 a McMurtry Spéirling fan car broke the record that had stood since 1999. The Forest Rally Stage runs separately from the hillclimb and is worth a dedicated hour.

The South Downs around Goodwood offer good roads in every direction. The A286 north through Midhurst and the lanes around Singleton repay the detour. From Europe the most direct approach is Eurostar to London, then train to Chichester, followed by the shuttle bus Goodwood runs to the estate. Driving across from the continent and parking on site is possible but adds a day each way.