Goodwood Action Sports at Festival of Speed
With less than two weeks to go, that magical heady high-octane mix of the world’s greatest competition vehicles and drivers in action at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed (30 June to 3 July) will achieve new heights as a host of world-class action sports athletes perform gravity-defying tricks on a variety of two-wheeled machines, ranging from BMX and mountain bikes, to freestyle motocross and trials motorcycles.
Called Goodwood Action Sports (GAS), and presented by Spanish car maker SEAT, this new cutting-edge Festival of Speed spectator attraction is an urban-inspired area with a Goodwood twist, consisting of more than 20 top athletes performing on obstacles, jumps, rails and ramps, using FMX, BMX, MTB trials, motorcycle trials and mini bikes.
The top-draw professional riders will be wowing the crowds with the latest tricks, time trials and head to head competitions, culminating daily in a finale of two one hour shows, ending with a multiple jump scene, in which all the riders aim to be in mid-flight at the same time.
The world-class athletes have been carefully selected for GAS, and are at the very top of their game, both nationally and internationally. They will perform in various skilled and dare-devilled disciplines of two-wheeled action sports, as follows:
Freestyle Motocross (FMX) is a spin-off of motocross racing. Riders compete to perform the most skillful, highest, toughest and well executed jumps and tricks. World-class FMX athletes in action at Goodwood will include Robbie Maddison, the record-breaking Australian who famously back-flipped London’s iconic Tower Bridge in 2009. Other FMX athletes throttling their motorcycles into a back-flip frenzy with Robbie Maddison will include the French duo of Thomas Pages and Jeremy Rouanet going head-to-head with the UK’s best – Chris Birch, Jamie Squibb and Dan Whitby.
BMX is familiar as a specific style of small stunt bikes used for racing, tricks, and competitions. Leading Devon-born BMX-riding brothers Kye and Leo Forte will be performing gravity-defying stunts in the GAS arena on a man-made dirt four-pack, along with other leading athletes Liam Eltham and Matt Priest.
Mountain Bike Trials (MTB Trials) is a highly skilled and technical discipline of riding, with low speed rides over almost impassible GAS terrain. Danny Macaskill is the big MTB Trials name of the moment, and will be joined by leading fellow athletes Martyn Aston, Blake Samson, Sam Pilgrim and Chris Doney.
Trials Bikes is like MTB Trials, but performed on a bike with an engine! Festival of Speed favourite and multiple World Trials Champion Dougie Lampkin will be back in action at Goodwood, along with others top Trails riders.
Mini Bikes is a smaller version of the FMX bikes, with these bikes being more nimble and maneuverable than the full scale versions. Look out for jaw-dropping performances from top Mini Bike riders Dave Wiggins, Arron Powley and Sam Eaton, amongst others.
GAS is guaranteed to pull a large crowd of open-mouthed admires and fans, especially among the younger Festival goers, who will this year be more prevalent, thanks to Goodwood’s new-for-2011 half-price Festival of Speed entry tickets for younger spectators, aged 13 to 18. This has already proved to be hugely popular, both for the Festival of Speed, Moving Motor Show (30 June) and Goodwood Revival (16-18 September). Admission is free for children of 12 years or less.
New Festival of Speed partner SEAT UK will also be entertaining the younger adults at Goodwood with a dedicated Club SEAT zone, which will include football tricks, beat boxing, graffiti wall, plus a host of other attractions. Club SEAT will also be the base where younger would-be drivers can pre-register to get behind the wheel of the latest Ecomotive Ibiza and Leon models on SEAT’s Young Driver training programme, which will be taking place on site at Goodwood throughout the event.
SEAT will also be showcasing its IBE concept car in the FoS-TECH dome, as well as its latest model range in the Moving Motor Show, presented by Auto Trader.
Tickets and further information for the 2011 Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show, presented by Auto Trader, can be found on the Goodwood website, goodwood.com/motor sport.
