Motorcycle magic at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The array of striking and famous motorcycles and world-class riders at this year’s Festival of Speed, held at Goodwood Park from 11-13 July, proved to be one of the event’s top attractions. A wide selection of exotic world-beating two-wheeled machinery was on hand including the famous motorcycles of legendary TT winners John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Joey Dunlop, David Jeffries and John McGuiness, as well as a historic look back at the revolutionary machinery that began racing at Brooklands almost one hundred years ago.

The undisputed two-wheeled highlight of the Festival weekend though was the amazing exploits of 12-time Individual Trials World Champion Dougie Lampkin, who made his Festival debut. Dougie was given the key to the event and had licence to make mischief wherever he saw fit, including riding up on the roof of Goodwood House, and even bunny hopping over Festival founder Lord March!

To celebrate the renowned domestic British Superbike series, Goodwood pulled together one of the largest collections of significant machinery and famous riders ever seen. Enthusiasts enjoyed everything from seeing Terry Rymer on his 1990 championship winning Yamaha OW01, to John Reynolds on his 2004 championship winning Suzuki GSX-R1000, with famous bikes ridden by the likes of Niall MacKenzie, Troy Bayliss, Chris Walker and Neil Hodgson displayed in all their glory. Current title contenders Leon Haslam, Cal Crutchlow, Tom Sykes and Michael Rutter were also present on their latest 2008 mounts.

Many stars from world motorcycle racing were also in attendance, including two-time World Superbike Champion Troy Corser, three-time 125cc World Grand Prix Motorcycle Champion Luigi Taveri, five-time 500cc World Grand Prix Motorcycle Champion Mick Doohan, ex-Moto GP rider Alex Barros, current World Superbike rider Yukio Kagayama, former World Grand Prix Motorcycle Champion John Surtees and other home-grown heroes such as Stuart Graham, Chas Mortimer and Stan Woods to name but a few.