The latest and greatest motorsport celebration in the world, The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019, is now finished for another year. Last weekend’s extravaganza was the 26th edition of the event and it just keeps getting better each year.

Last year, the event coincided with Porsche’s 70th anniversary and saw the EV movement gain more traction. See our highlights from 2018’s event here: https://wda-automotive.com/goodwood-festival-of-speed-2018/

This year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed had lots more surprises, record-breaking runs, exquisite cars and the latest in automotive technology on display. As tradition, the WDA team have been debating their favourite moments from the weekend. However, picking just one of them was impossible, so instead we’ve picked 6. Be sure to turn your volume up before you go any further!

A New King of the Hill

There’s now a new king of the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed – The Volkswagen ID R. VW’s amazing electric race car continues to break records. This time it has smashed the previous Hillclimb record of 41.6 seconds (set by Nick Heidfeld back in 1999), not once, but twice. The ID R first broke the record with a 41.18-second run and then managed to top that with a 39.9-second run. This mouthwatering machine accelerates from 0-62mph in just 2.25 seconds!

Ford’s Latest Supercar

The next level of Ford GT performance has arrived in the form of the track-only GT MKII supercar, unveiled at Goodwood. It’s powered by a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 which produces an impressive 700bhp. Watch it make its debut alongside a Le Mans racer.

History Celebrated

Aston Martin was this year’s celebrated manufacturer as it marked 70 years since they first raced at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. Aston Martin showcased some of its iconic vehicles, spanning seven decades and also unveiled the prototype for their first SUV – the DBX.

The S-Drone

The world’s first remotely-controlled 5G car was unveiled at Goodwood by Samsung (partnering with Designated Drive and Vodafone) – the aptly named S-Drone (a Lincoln MKZ). Vaughn Gittin Jr. piloted the car using a Samsung VR headset from a remote driving station a few hundred metres away. The station was built by remote control vehicle experts, Designated Driver. 5G technology with its low latency, ultra-high reliability and availability will be a game changer in the automotive industry for smart, connected vehicles.

De Tomaso Returns

The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019 saw the return of legendary supercar manufacturer – De Tomaso. They stunned Goodwood with their gorgeous P72, built to celebrate their 60th anniversary and paying homage to their 60’s P70 prototype racer. Just 72 of these are to be built using a carbon fibre chassis. Its technical specs are currently unknown.

Autonomous Technology

RoboRace returned to Goodwood this year with their DevBot2.0 – an all-electric race car that runs on the Nvidia DRIVE platform in autonomous mode but can also be driven by a human or AI driver. Watch below as Seb Delanney drives DevBot2.0 part way up the Goodwood hill before letting the car do the rest on its own…

Looking to the Future

The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019 certainly didn’t disappoint. It was another fantastic event that showcased the best of motorsport past, present and the future. WDA is constantly looking to the future and keeping updated with the latest automotive technological advances and trends. The future is certainly electric, autonomous and connected.

Finally, don’t forget to sign up to Goodwood ticket alerts at: https://www.goodwood.com/motorsport/events/ticket-alert/

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