Festival of speed

The ultimate international horsepower party, the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in west Sussex, will this year see some very special cars from Audi Tradition on show and performing as a tribute to Tom Kristensen, who turns 50 on July 7th.

Held each year in the grounds of Goodwood House and hosted by Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Earl of March and Kinrara, the event sees historic vehicles from all over the world come together for what is part show and part hillclimb event.

Road and race vehicles from all manner of manufacturers, famous drivers, both current and retired, make this a ‘must do’ event for any motoring aficionado.

Running for June 29th through to July 2nd, this year’s event will see Audi represented by a diverse collection of race cars, from the current DTM model RS 5 and reining Nürburgring champion R8 LMS, to a Group S mid-engined rally prototype and three Le Mans winners as a special tribute to Tom Kristensen ahead of his coming 50th birthday.

Kristensen, the only driver to win nine Le Mans 24 Hour races, will be driving the Audi R8 LMP from the year 2000, with which he brought home Audi's first Le Mans victory. In addition, the winners from 2008 (Audi R10) and 2013 (Audi R18) will be in attendance as part of a tribute that will feature a range of vehicles from throughout the Dane’s illustrious racing career.

‘The Flying Finn’, Hannu Mikkola, will also attend this year’s Goodwood festival. The former rally ace was the first responsible for giving Audi its first world rally championship title in 1983, driving the legendary Audi Rally quattro. He will slip behind the wheel of the Audi Group S prototype which was originally planned for use in the 1988 rally season under the new Group S regulations which unfortunately never came into being.

Alongside vehicles full of history and tradition, Audi will also be exhibiting current models from the Audi Sport motorsports range, with an Audi RS 5 DTM on hand as well as the Audi Sport Land team R8 LMS which won the recent 24-hour Nürburgring race – winning driver, Connor De Phillippi, will put the Nürburgring-winner through its paces on the Goodwood hillclimb.