Valentino Rossi and Nico Rosberg at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Goodwood Festival of Speed concludes today with an all-star line-up that features MotoGP superstar, Valentino Rossi, fresh from his victory at the Dutch TT, and Mercedes F1 racer, Nico Rosberg, joining the action.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 sculpture SUS-150625-152850001The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 sculpture SUS-150625-152850001
The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 sculpture SUS-150625-152850001

Crowds gathered in their thousands outside Goodwood House at lunchtime to see the MotoGP superstar as he chatted to Suzi Perry.

Yesterday, Anthony Reid took victory in the Michelin supercar run.

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As the Goodwood Festival of Speed, reached fever pitch on Saturday, Anthony Reid claimed victory in the annual Michelin Supercar Run after ascending the iconic 1.16-mile Hillclimb in 51.33 seconds in the British-built Noble M600.

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 SUS-150625-152954001Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 SUS-150625-152954001
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2015 SUS-150625-152954001

Reid’s time was 0.78 seconds faster than the Lexus LFA piloted by Chris Ward, while third spot went to the all-new Aston Martin GT12 driven by Matt Becker, Chief Engineer, Vehicle Attributes at Aston Martin.

Although not part of the Supercar competition, last year’s victor, Jann Mardenborough, followed the Supercar batch up the Hill in the unique Nissan Juke-R 2.0, and set a time that would have been good enough for third spot.

Ahead of the Supercar Run, a stunt driving crew led by Paul Swift drove the ‘Vauxhall VXR Road Train’ up the hill. The procession of four of Vauxhall’s hottest variants; the Corsa VXR, Astra VXR, Insignia VXR and VXR8 had a combined power output of 1400bhp.

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In the paddocks and on the Hillclimb the ‘Flat-out and Fearless’ carnival continued with a special class dedicated to Goodwood local, Derek Bell. Forty years after his first Le Mans win, the ‘Derek Bell Celebration’ featured machines such as the iconic Porsche 962C; in which Bell took his last of five victories at Le Mans in 1987. Bell drove both the 962C as well as the Surtees TS7 in which he scored his only F1 point.

Another special Le Mans car, and fresh from its victory earlier this month, was the Porsche 919 driven by New Zealander, Brendon Hartley. All four of the Le Mans LMP1 manufacturers are present at the Festival of Speed; Porsche, Audi, Toyota and Nissan.

Ahead of next week’s Formula 1 British Grand Prix, two current F1 race winners joined the action on the hill; Brazilian ace, Felipe Massa, drove the race-winning 1990 Williams FW13B up the course. Meanwhile, Briton, Jenson Button, wowed the crowds in both McLaren road and race cars. Celebrating the McLaren-Honda reunion, Button drove Ayrton Senna’s 1990 title winning MP4/6. Later, Button showcased McLaren’s all-new 570S road car.

Alpine celebrated 60 years of innovative French road and race cars with an exclusive class featuring eight of its most iconic models, including the Le Mans-winning Alpine-Renault A442B, driven by Rene Arnoux. Alpine also revealed a special liveried ‘Alpine Celebration Goodwood’ show car decked out in Goodwood decals in the F1 Paddock presented by Sky Sports F1.

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All genres of motorsport were presented throughout the day; the Godfather of drag racing, Don Garlits, took his 1959 dragster, the Swap Rat 1B, up the hill, while ‘ballistic’ BJ Baldwin and Baja legend Robby Gordon made their UK debuts in, respectively, their Trophy Truck and Stadium SuperTrucks on the Hill and in the Activities Field.

Follow our live blog here: Live blog

Gallery: Star riders defy gravity Riders

Click here for our round-up of the event: Festival of Speed 2015

Watch a video of Lord March talking about this year’s Festival of Speed: Lord March

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