Slog: Goodwood Festival of Speed 2007

Alison and I spent a great day out yesterday at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Here are some of the highlights....

Colin McRae Rally 2007
Colin McRae was on form showing off to the crowds. We had him doing doughnuts up the hill climb course and bombing around the Goodwood Forest Rally Course. As you can see below, Colin certainly likes to show off for the cameras :-)

2007 Subaru Impreza WRC, originally uploaded by xrrr.

Porsche Driving Experience
We queued for about an hour to have a passenger ride in a Porsche Cayenne S being blasted around a muddy field. It was one of the brand new ones with 4.8 litre V8 engines. We were only out for about 10 minutes being driven around by a Porsche driver but it was well worth the wait. Before we started on the track I said to the driver that I can't imagine spending £70,000 on a car then risking the paintwork blasting around a field. Within 10 seconds of going sideways all 4 wheels spinning in a semi controlled power slide I changed my mind. Everyone who owns an SUV absolutely must do this at least once!

2007 Porsche Cayenne S, originally uploaded by xrrr.

Car Exhibitions
In between sitting and watching the cars going up the hill climb we went for a stroll around the car manufacturers stands. Lamborghini had the fantastic Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. It looks bloody amazing when parked up in the show room and I know I would feel a right cock driving it around Guildford. However, if I could afford to buy one I would be parking it somewhere where I would not feel like a show off. Monte Carlo maybe?

2007 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, originally uploaded by xrrr.

Audi had the amazing new A8. Lots of carbon fibre, a bit like a TT on the inside but still bloody amazing looking.

2007 Audi R8, originally uploaded by xrrr.

Mercedes were showing off the new soft top version of the SLR called the Mercedes Benz McLaren SLR Roadster. Price is currently TBC but the normal SLR is around £300,000 so I can only imagine this is going to be more. I think I would rather have the Lambo to be honest.

2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster, originally uploaded by xrrr.

And Then It Rained
Just as the Red Arrows were about to start their display the heavens opened. Fortunately Alison and I were in the grandstand a few rows back. I had left the umbrella at home so it was a good job we were under cover! 25 minutes earlier we were picnicking by the car so it was a flipping good job it did not start then as otherwise we would have been trapped in the car :-)

Goodwood but not Goodweather, originally uploaded by xrrr.

At the end of the day we were walking back past the Porsche driving experience after a thunderous deluge and an afternoon of showers and came across the Cayennes we were in at the start of the day when it was dry. Now that is a dirty car!