Bentley shines at ‘Carnival for petrol-heads’

The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014 concluded last Sunday after four days of events and displays that catered for families and motor fans alike.
The occasion is becoming a must-do fixture on the motoring calendar in Britain and comes a week before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
This year Bentley made a special effort to display historical and new models and also took part in events.
Visiting Goodwood Festival of Speed is a memorable experience.
Thousands flock to the event every year and some regard the occasion as a “carnival for petrol-heads.”
Classic car displays, motorcycles, glorious F-1 cars of past eras, rally cars, and aerial displays by the Red Arrows and classic airplanes are some of the features of a weekend at Goodwood.
A visitor comes face to face with famous drivers, historical cars, stands for the latest cars and hill-climb racing all in one place.
This year, Bentley displayed the Continental GT3-R which was debuted last year and took part in a demonstration run driven by David Brabham.
The crowd appreciated the 600BHP twin turbo V8 machine roaring on the track and showing its winning pace.
The GT3-R notched its second win of the year at Paul Ricard just before the Goodwood event.
The car was on display at the Bentley stand together with Bentley’s flagship the Mulsanne and the Flying Spur.
Engineer Paul Johns explained the technical features of the GT3-R and said one of the main features was the reduction of weight without compromising luxury.
Bentley also displayed historic Le Mans racers and had the full range of models at its stand.
Derek Bell piloted the new GT V8 S in his customary hillclimb run.
On the final day of the festival the tradition hillclimb took place and this year nine-time world rally champion Sebastian Loeb recorded the fastest time in a Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak car.
However, the record of the event set in a McLaren MP4/13 F-1 car driven by Nick Heidfield in 1999 at 41.6 seconds.
These days F-1 cars are not allowed in the hillclimb competition.
Another competitor, Olympic champion (in cycling) Chris Hoy crashed his Nissan GT-R into a row of hay bales but was not hurt in the incident.
Many former and current F-1 drivers were seen taking part with their respective companies at Goodwood FoS this year.
Lewis Hamilton, Damon Hill, John Surtees, and Kimi Raikonen were among the stars at the event last weekend.
The second day of the Goodwood FoS saw Scuderia Ferrari’s official test-driver, Pedro de la Rosa, mixing with the crowd and signing autographs
There were also celebrities and media stars in full swing at Goodwood.
But the real stars were the cars.

Memorable cars
Some of the memorable cars at Goodwood FoS this year included:

• Bentley Continental GT3-R: This is the most dynamic road-going racer the company has ever produced and runs on a 4.0 liter twin turbo V8 engine. It is lightweight but keeps all the luxuries inside. It includes many innovations and is distinctive by its design with green insignia.

• Aston martin DP100: This is one of the concept cars specially designed for the Gran Tourismo 6 video-game. Designers were given a free hand to create a supercar of their dreams. The concept has a V12 twin-turbo engine with 800 BHP on tap. Download of this model will be available from this July.

• McLaren 650S GT3: This car will take part in FIA GT endurance racing championship next year. The race car is likely to keep the 3.8 liter engine with 641 BHP of the standard 650S. This car attracted a lot of attention at Goodwood this year.

• Jaguar F-type Project 7: Just 250 examples of what is arguably the best-looking Jaguar F-type yet will be made, at a cost of £135,000 each. It’s the first model from Jaguar Land Rover’s new Special Vehicle Operations division, and is intended to act as homage to the Le Mans-winning D-type, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Power output from its supercharged 5.0-liter V8 engine is up to 567bhp, while JLR engineers have also sliced 80kg off the car’s weight, leaving it to clock in at 1585kg.
Some of the new cars that made appearance at Goodwood this year included the Mercedes Benz CLS-Class; the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge; the Toyota Aygo; the Continental GT3-R; and the new Ford Focus.
Audi Tradition celebrated three major anniversaries at the Festival of Speed in Goodwood by bringing three iconic motor racing vehicles from Audi’s past to England: The Audi Type C “Alpine Victor” secured the first motor racing triumph. 100 years ago the 35 HP open-topped touring car won the International Austrian Alpine Trial. 80 years ago, the Auto Union Silver Arrow models made their racing debut, which Audi Tradition commemorates by showing the Auto Union Type C racing car from 1936.
The trio is completed by the Audi 90 Quattro IMSA-GTO, which was entered in the North American race series 25 years ago.
Le Mans winners Frank Biela and André Lotterer were behind the wheels for Audi Tradition.
Mazda unveiled the MX-5 limited edition to celebrate 25th anniversary, while McLaren displayed the 650S Bespoke and confirmed production plans for the model following positive reaction to the coupe concept shown in China earlier this year.