There’s  probably nowhere else on Earth you’d be likely to see a Grand Prix car from the 1930s, a rally car from the 1980s and a one-off, all-electric drift car from the present day all together – but that’s exactly what makes the Goodwood Festival of Speed so special.

In 2023, as in past years, Audi Tradition had a significant presence at the event which attracts car enthusiasts from all over the world to West Sussex in the United Kingdom to celebrate all things automotive. In addition to racing greats from the company’s past, this year’s Audi contingent included two state-of-the-art machines in the form of the RS Q e-tron Dakar campaigner and the special one-off electric drift car, the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron built for the late Ken Block.

Finding a suitable driver to take the wheel of the S1 e-tron Hoonitron in memory of Ken Block required someone very special. And while his friend and Audi Sport driver, Mattias Ekström, has driver the car in the recent past, he was already committed to driving his current race car, the RS Q e-tron at the event.

The obvious choice then was nine times Le Mans winner and Audi Sport great, Tom Kristensen. Although more used to getting every ounce of speed out of a car, than the great drifts and tyre-shredding performance the S1 Hoonitron was designed for, Kristensen threw himself into the Hoonitron program with his trademark professionalism.

“It’s very special to be asked by Audi to join the Hoonitron program,” he said in the lead up to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. “It’s very fascinating and very different from what I have been used to in my racing career.”

The result though, was a fitting tribute to Block at this unique festival that celebrates the automobile in all its forms – past, present and future – like no other.