WEC drivers at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is this weekend.  ​​In West Sussex the largest gathering of drivers, cars and motorcycles in the world annually attracts 150,000 people during its three days, who come to admire the legends of the motorcycle, rally and circuit racing cars both modern and historic.

One of the drivers of the FIA World Endurance Championship has held the record for the Goodwood hillclimb since 1999: Nick Heidfeld, fourth in the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Lola-Toyota No.12 of Rebellion Racing is back this year with McLaren MP4/13 from 1998 that allowed him to achieve a time of 41.6s. His teammate, Nicolas Prost will drive the Lotus F1 car, in the presence of his father, Alain Prost.

An Audi R18 e-tron quattro, the first hybrid car to win the Le Mans 24 hours, will be showcased at the hands of Allan McNish, driver of the iconic German marque. Tom Kristensen will take the wheel of a Lotus 98T.

The first Indian to have taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hours, Karun Chandhok, will also participate in the Festival with a Jaguar XJR12 while Matthieu Lahaye will show off the Morgan-Judd #24 of OAK Racing. Finally, Stefan Mücke will drive the V8 Vantage that took him to the podium in the 2012 24 Hours.

Other pillars of endurance racing who will appear this weekend: Nicolas Minassian, former Peugeot driver will drive the Matra MS67 victorious in the 1973 edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Marino Franchitti, seen with the DeltaWing at Le Mans, and Marc Gene, recent winner of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, will be at the festival.

Dave Davies

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, 24 HEURES DU MANS, MONDAY 11TH JUNE 2012, SCRUTINEERING. Nicolas Prost is at Goodwood Festival of Speed as many other WEC drivers.