Ferrari at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Ferrari proudly showed two UK debuts at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the all-new Ferrari 458 Spider, with its innovative folding aluminium hard-top, and the new lighter and more powerful Ferrari California 30. Joining them was the flagship V12-powered four-wheel drive Ferrari FF with all cars setting a blistering pace on the famous 1.16 mile hillclimb route.
Also taking to the track was the 2009 F60 single-seater driven by Scuderia Ferrari driver Marc Gené. He commented, “The track is extremely narrow, so it feels quite fast even though we are only doing 250 kph [156 mph]. We have brought the car here because it won in 2009 and we like to bring F1 to the fans here in England. The Festival of Speed is one of the biggest – if not the biggest – events in the world.
There are also several fine classic Ferraris on display at the Festival of Speed, including Nick Mason’s very rare 250 MM from 1953, the ex-Carrera Panamerica car, which is still running in its original livery and was recently added to his extensive collection to fulfil his desire to own a drum-braked Ferrari. Nick also campaigned his classic 250 GTO, a regular at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival, which he has owned for over 40 years.
The ‘Michelin Supercar Run’ was led up the hill by Chris Evans’ ‘Magnificent Seven’, which comprises seven of the most important, iconic and beautiful Ferraris ever made: 250 SWB, 275 GTB4, 365 GTB4, 288 GTO, F40, 550 Barchetta and SA Aperta. Chris commented, “I only know about Ferraris. I’m quite busy and I’ve always been busy. There’s only a certain amount of time in life to learn about things and I thought I’d know a bit more about Ferraris.”