Goodwood Festival of Speed is delighted to announce that the car Bugatti call “the world’s most powerful, fastest, most luxurious and most exclusive production super sports car,” Bugatti Chiron will be making its UK dynamic debut at the world’s most luxurious motoring celebration, now just one week away.

After its global premiere at this year’s Geneva International Motor Show, Festival of Speed visitors will be able to get up close to this incredible car, named after Monegasque racing driver Louis Chiron, as it prepares to tear up the infamous Goodwood hill.

The Chiron is the latest generation of Bugatti ultimate super sports cars and is a completely new development. The sports car manufacturer from Molsheim, with its long tradition of combining luxurious design with high-performance, has taken the unique features of a modern Bugatti to a new level and developed a super-charged machine that has become significantly better in every respect. With a power output of 1,500HP, unprecedented for production vehicles, an exceptionally high torque value of 1,600Nm between 2,000 and 6,000rpm, and a wide variety of technical innovations, the Chiron sets new standards.

In its Top Speed mode, the car can reach a maximum speed limited to 261 mph for road use, but this is by no means the end of the road for the Bugatti Chiron. The super car is well-positioned to become the next world speed record holder and reach a maximum speed significantly above the record of 268 mph currently held by Bugatti.

The Chiron will be built at the company’s headquarters in Molsheim starting in late summer, and will be strictly limited to 500 units. The basic price is €2.4 million net. Advance orders have currently been received for more than 200 and the first vehicle is due to be delivered to a lucky customer this autumn.

“The Chiron is the perfect embodiment of this year’s Festival theme: ‘Full Throttle – The Endless Pursuit of Power’, says Wolfgang Dürheimer, President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. “We are looking forward to presenting the Chiron to friends and fans of the Bugatti brand with its UK premiere at this long-standing event.”

Festival of Speed founder Lord March said, “I’m thrilled that Bugatti have chosen the Festival of Speed to give the fabulous new Chiron its UK dynamic debut. It’s certain to be an absolute star of the Michelin Supercar Run.”

Carl Fogarty will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the first time in eight years this June as he prepares to celebrate Triumph’s glorious heritage.

Representing the Triumph brand, Foggy, as he is known, will ride two of the British marque’s current bikes, the Speed Triple and the Thruxton R. He will also ride two bikes supplied by the National Motorcycle Museum, the Triumph Bonneville that Malcolm Uphill took to victory in the Production TT and the 750cc Production TT winning Triumph Trident, known as ‘Slippery Sam’.

Foggy will ride these four bikes a total of four times over Saturday and Sunday at the Festival, forming part of the joint Triumph/National Motorcycle Museum “Past and Present” feature. While not in use on the Hill, the bikes will be stationed in the Motorcycle Paddock and on display for the duration of the event.

The Lancashire lad is regarded as somewhat Superbike royalty, being the most successful World Superbike racer of all time, scoring four WSBK titles in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999. Alongside his World Superbike exploits, Foggy competed at the Isle of Man TT in a grand total of 26 races, winning three – The 1989 Production 750 race and the 1990 Formula 1 and Senior TTs. He also broke the lap record in 1992, setting a time of 18 minutes and 18.8 seconds at an average speed of 123.61mph, a record that stood for seven years.

Other successes for Fogarty include victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Bol d’Or, the Ulster Grand Prix and the North West 200. In 1993 Foggy dominated the North West, setting a new lap record and winning both superbike races, beating road-racing legends Joey and Robert Dunlop to the top step. He last appeared at the festival in 2008.

Carl said, “I am excited to be returning to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year. It is a special event in the motorsport calendar and I’m thrilled to be representing Triumph, especially on such iconic bikes from the past and present. Hopefully we can provide a real spectacle for the thousands of spectators.”

Goodwood is delighted to announce that tickets for the 2016 Festival of Speed and Revival go on general sale on Tuesday 3 November.

The Festival of Speed, which celebrates the very best of motoring and motor sport, will be held on 23-26 June, 2016.

As usual, the event will open with the Moving Motor Show on Thursday, 23 June, featuring many of the world’s largest motor manufacturers showcasing their latest models, alongside exciting and innovative concepts. From Friday to Sunday, 24-26 June, the famous Goodwood hillclimb will be taken over by a glittering collection of iconic cars and bikes, piloted by legendary drivers and riders.

The Revival is the world’s largest and most celebrated historic motor racing and vintage culture event, bringing back to life Goodwood Motor Circuit’s glory days as an active race track from 1948-66. It will take place on 9-11 September, 2016.

A host of superstars from the world of motor sport attended Goodwood events this year, including the most illustrious grand prix motorcycle racer of all time, Valentino Rossi, alongside fellow two-wheel World Champions Casey Stoner, Freddie Spencer, Kenny Roberts and John Surtees, plus F1 title winners Jenson Button and Sir Jackie Stewart, US legends Don ‘Big Daddy’ Garlits, Richard Petty and Ken Block, and Le Mans heroes Tom Kristensen, Derek Bell and Emanuele Pirro. Expect a similarly star-studded line-up in 2016.

Key highlights of both events, including the Festival of Speed theme, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets and hospitality packages for both events went on sale to Members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club on Saturday 31 October. Those on the GRRC waiting list were able to purchase tickets from Monday 2 November, while tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 3 November.

Tickets for the 74th Members’ Meeting, which will be held on 19-20 March, 2016 are already on sale to Members. Those on the wait list could purchase from Monday 2 November, with a limited number of tickets going on general sale on 1 January, subject to availability.
Hospitality, tickets and more information is available via www.goodwood.com/tickets or 01243 755055

A superb line-up of legendary motorcycle racers, led by former World Champions Kevin Schwantz, Freddie Spencer and Troy Corser, will take part in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy at the Goodwood Revival on September 11-13.

Schwantz, who won legions of fans with his no-holds-barred style on his way to the 500cc world title in 1993, and made his Revival debut last year on the ex-Geoff Duke Featherbed Norton, will ride a 1961 Manx Norton 500 with Rodney O’Connor.

Fellow American Spencer, a two-time 500cc World Champion himself, will also be Norton-mounted, riding a 1962 model with entrant Julian Ide.

Australian Corser, whose World Superbike crowns came in 1996 and 2005, is, as usual, BMW-mounted, and will have a rare Kaczor R50S at the disposal of himself and co-rider Sebastian Gutsch.

Former GP racers Steve Parrish and Jeremy McWilliams are always popular additions to the Revival line-up. Both return for 2015 with Parrish, Barry Sheene’s close friend and team-mate during his 1977 500cc title-winning season, riding a 1962 Matchless G50 and McWilliams – twice a Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy winner – on a 1961 Norton.

Isle of Man TT winners Mick Grant and Gary Johnson are reunited on the 1964 MV Agusta 500/3 on which they won at Goodwood in 2013, while another TT winner, Charlie Williams, has a 1962 Norton at his disposal.

Two more TT victors, Ian Simpson and Michael Rutter, also return. Rutter will ride a 1962 Manx Norton with Simpson on a 1966 Hansen Honda CR450. Fellow road-racing favourites Maria Costello and Keith Amor will be attempting to upstage them on, respectively, a BMW RS54 and a Norton.

British Superbike race winners James Whitham and Steve Plater will share a Matchless G50 while three more former front-runners from the championship, James Haydon, Glen Richards and Steve Brogan have, respectively, Matchless, MV Agusta and Norton machinery to power their ambitions during the weekend.

Derek Crutchlow, father of MotoGP star Cal Crutchlow, and himself a former World Endurance Championship racer, will make his Revival debut on a Norton, as will Taylor Mackenzie, son of three-time British Superbike Champion Niall; the latter on a bike entered by GP winner Chas Mortimer.

The Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, which is this year for 500cc grand prix motorcycles of 1960-66, comprises one race on Saturday and one on Sunday, with a mandatory mid-race rider change in the pits for each bike and overall results decided on the aggregate finishing times of both races.

Previous winners include former 500cc World Champion Wayne Gardner, Barry Sheene himself, (when the race was known as the Lennox Cup), Mick Grant, Michael Rutter and Jeremy McWilliams

The Goodwood Festival of Speed will host the global public debut of the astonishing Bienville Legacy – set to be one of the most powerful four-cylinder production motorcycles ever created – on 25-28 June this Summer.

Born from Bienville Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana, the JT Nesbitt-designed Legacy has been in development for over three years and is widely acknowledged as one of the finest examples of two-wheeled design ever produced.

The Legacy advances motorcycle design with patented suspension leveraging one composite leaf-spring with the engine mounted at its centre. Carbon-composite blades allow for rake and trail adjustment for the first time on a production motorcycle.

Three concept models have been produced to-date, establishing an exquisite bill of materials in titanium, carbon fibre, leather, and mahogany. Powered by the American-made 1650cc Motus V4 engine, production models will be supercharged and provide up to 300bhp.

The Legacy will be ridden up the iconic 1.16-mile Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb by Jim Jacoby and Scott Miller. Both founded the ADMCi Foundation which has supported the Legacy project from its inception.

The Legacy is just the latest addition to a two-wheeled entry that includes MotoGP legends Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Giacomo Agostini, Freddie Spencer, John Surtees, Jim Redman and Kenny Roberts plus a celebration of Yamaha Motor Company’s 60^th anniversary, featuring an astonishing array of bikes from the Japanese manufacturer.

BIENVILLE LEGACY 1080p from Jim Jacoby on Vimeo.

Ticket information is available from www.goodwood.com or via the Goodwood Ticket Office on 01243 755055.

NOTES:

Staged every summer since 1993, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the world’s largest motoring garden party, set against the spectacular backdrop of Goodwood House in West Sussex, UK. Over 600 cars and motorcycles spanning the phenomenal history of motoring and motor sport take part, with some of the most legendary figures from the sport as well as international celebrities regularly attending. Highlights of the 2015 event, which takes place on June 25-28, include the Moving Motor Show presented by the AA in association with The Telegraph, Forest Rally Stage, Michelin Supercar Run, Goodwood Action Sports, Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance, Drivers’ Club presented by TAG Heuer, FOS Air and Bonhams auction.

Goodwood Motor Sport on social media:

YouTube: http://youtube.com/goodwoodtv

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/festivalofspeed

Twitter: http://twitter.com/fosgoodwood

This year’s Goodwood Revival, on September 11-13, will pay tribute to the great Ferrari racing sports cars of the 1950s by staging a special race exclusively for drum-braked machines from the iconic Maranello manufacturer.

The Lavant Cup, which was held exclusively for Jaguar D-Types in 2014, will sing to the sound of an Italian opera as some of the most beautiful machines ever adorned by the Prancing Horse badge race for victory, driven by a number of the world’s top historic racers.

Enzo Ferrari’s machines achieved phenomenal success in international motor sport during the 1950s, taking five World Sportscar Championship titles, and scoring victories in all the classic races, including Le Mans, Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Carrera Panamericana, Sebring, Nurburgring and Spa.

Among the drivers who achieved these incredible successes were Formula 1 World Champions Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Phil Hill, grand prix winners Peter Collins, Dan Gurney, and Froilan Gonzalez, and sports car legends Olivier Gendebien and Clemente Biondetti.

The Lavant Cup is set to feature such iconic machinery as the 166MM, an example of which took Ferrari’s maiden Le Mans triumph in 1949 in the hands of Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon, the 340MM, 375MM and 750 Monza, all of which were instrumental in establishing Ferrari as the most successful sports car marque of the decade.

Various iterations of the 250 Testa Rossa, which was taken to victory three times in four years from 1958-61 by, among others, Hill and Gendebien, are also expected at the 18^th running of the world’s greatest historic motor racing and vintage culture festival.

Goodwood is delighted to announce that the dates for both the Festival of Speed and Revival meeting in 2015 have now been confirmed.

The Festival of Speed, which celebrates the very best from the past and present of motoring and motor sport, will be held on 25-28 June, 2015. As usual, the event will open with the Moving Motor Show on Thursday, 25 June.

Alongside the overall theme of ‘Fast and Fearless: Racing on the Edge’, the Festival of Speed will also celebrate the 90^th anniversary of the motor racing’s inaugural World Championship, won by Alfa Romeo, and mark 50 years since Honda’s maiden grand prix victory as the Japanese manufacturer returns to Formula 1 with McLaren in 2015.

The event will also pay tribute to the 60^th anniversary of two sensational victories; Sir Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson’s triumph on the 1955 Mille Miglia and the first post-war grand prix win for an all-British line-up; Tony Brooks in a Connaught at Syracuse.

Sports car legend Derek Bell will be honoured as 2015 marks the 40^th anniversary of the first of his five Le Mans 24 Hours wins, which came behind the wheel of a Mirage-Ford.

The Goodwood Revival, firmly established as the world’s largest and most popular motor racing and vintage culture event, will take place on September 11-13, ensuring neither event will clash with the Formula 1 World Championship calendar.

The Revival will pay tribute to the legendary driver, engineer and racing car constructor, Bruce McLaren, with a special parade of vehicles associated with his career.

Tickets and hospitality packages for both events are on general sale, as are a limited number of tickets for the 73^rd Members’ Meeting, which will be held on 21-22 March 2015. Information is available from www.goodwood.com or on 01243 755055

World champions to launch major motorbike festival at the country’s biggest free motor show

A trio of true legends from the world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing – Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Christian Sarron – will be adding some motor sporting sparkle to the forthcoming Regent Street Motor Show.

All three former World Champions will be on Regent Street to announce the creation of a major new European classic and racing motorcycle festival. Full details will be disclosed to the media and fans alike in the heart of London’s West End on Saturday, 1 November.

There will also be a display of some of the bikes that took them to racing glory as well as a chance for autograph hunters and ‘selfie’ snappers.

The forthcoming event, which has been inspired by hugely popular classic race meetings such as the Silverstone Classic and the Goodwood Revival, will take place in Spain in 2015.

“To have three such special ambassadors at the official launch in Regent Street is certain to be a major draw for all bikers and bike racing fans,” said Nick Wigley, CEO of Goose Communications, the company that organises the Silverstone Classic, the Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run and the Regent Street Motor Show.

Now in its fifth year, the Regent Street Motor Show is a unique showcase of motoring from the veteran and Edwardian eras to the modern day.

This ‘mile of automotive style’ sees the famous street closed to traffic from Piccadilly Circus to Oxford Circus for the day, so that enthusiasts, shoppers, London residents and tourists can pore over a huge variety of mouth-watering machinery embracing everything from motoring’s pioneers to the latest supercars. Last year it attracted more than 400,000 visitors.

Held the day before the Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, many of the veteran cars will be on parade hoping to take top honours in the EFG International Concours d’Elegance.

They will be joined by other historic, classic and modern cars showing just how far the automobile has come since the days when every ‘horseless carriage’ had to be preceded by a man with a red flag.

This year, as well as cars and bikes from motoring’s past, there will be modern performance cars, family cars, eco cars and racing cars. Among the manufacturers who have signed up for the show are BMW, Infiniti, Morgan, Tesla and Renault.

Goodwood is delighted to announce the provisional dates for both the Festival of Speed and Revival meeting in 2015.

The Festival of Speed, which celebrates the very best from the past and present of motoring and motor sport, will be held on 25-28 June, 2015. As has become tradition, the event will open with the Moving Motor Show on Thursday, 25 June.

The Revival, firmly established as the world’s most popular historic motor racing and vintage culture event, will be held for an 18th time at Goodwood Motor Circuit in 2015, and will take place on September 11-13.

Tickets and hospitality packages for both events will go on general sale on Thursday, 6 November, as will a limited number of tickets for the 73rd Members’ Meeting, which was recently confirmed as being held on 21-22 March 2015.

All dates remain provisional until further notice.

Ticket information is available from www.goodwood.com or via the Goodwood Ticket Office on 01243 755055

Where else in the world can you see a full scale model of Stonehenge, the largest gathering of Jaguar D-Types in history and Mods and Rockers duking it out on Brighton Pier without leaving the confines of a race track? At the Goodwood Revival of course, which takes place from 12–14 September at the iconic Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Keen to save motorists from the South East the journey to the West Country, the world famous Goodwood Revival continues its tradition of stunning displays and authentic set dressing with the most extreme example to date, in the shape of a full-scale Stonehenge installation at the ultra-fast 2.4-mile circuit.

Commissioned by Lord March to be larger than the original, and to be viewed by 150,000 Revival visitors – a greater number than the entire UK population 5000 years ago – the installation will be in place exclusively for the Revival weekend in celebration of the pre- historic monument’s 99 years in safe hands, after it was bought at auction in 1915 by Cecil Chubb for £6,600 (£500,000 in today’s money).

Some say it was bought to prevent shipment to America, and it is suggested that the Goodwood version may be offered up for sale after the Revival to offer potential US buyers another chance to take Stonehenge stateside!

A number of druids will attend to mark the occasion – as well as the 50th anniversary of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and will be invited to enact rituals and ceremonies at the site – though the rain dance is banned! Unlike the original, guests will be invited into the monument site, making it a must-visit UK ‘selfie’ destination this September.

Two-time World Superbike champion Troy Corser is the latest star name to be added to the entry list for Revival.

The 42-year-old Australian, who won the 1996 and 2005 WSBK titles and achieved 33 victories and 130 podium finishes, will ride an ultra-rare BMW R5SS from 1937 with Sebastian Gutsch in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy for motorcycles raced up to 1954. (Troy raced the same bike at Goodwood in 2012, and is pictured below with BMW Motorrad’s Hermann Bohrer.)

Tommy Hill, the 2011 British Superbike champion, will partner Alex Sinclair on a Norton Dominator 99 while Iain Duffus, a North-West 200 winner, rides a Vincent Comet.

Revival regular Mick Grant; the only man to win a premier class motorcycle grand prix on a Kawasaki – and a multiple Isle of Man TT winner – rides with Keith Bush on a BSA Gold Star, while another GP winner, Jeremy McWilliams, partners Duncan Fitchett on a Manx Norton and Charlie Williams – whose three GP wins all came on the Isle of Man – shares Peter Crewe’s Vincent Rapide.

Helmut Dahne, a 15-time champion of Germany’s ‘Seriensport’ endurance series and the man whose two-wheeled Nordschleife lap record will never be broken, rides another BMW; a 1954 R50RS, while former British Superstock title winner Steve Brogan races a Norton International F/B with Ian Bain.

Steve Plater, British Supersport champion in 2009, will race a 1953 Manx Norton prepared by Barry Sheene’s former engineer Fred Walmsley, and will share it with Glen English. Two-time series champion Glen Richards, meanwhile, has secured a ride on a similar machine and will share it with British Superbike race winner Scott Smart – Sheene’s nephew.

Already confirmed for the event are Sheene’s former grand prix team-mate Steve Parrish, 1993 500cc grand prix world champion Kevin Schwantz and Michael Rutter, a legend in both British Superbikes and road racing.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing legend Kevin Schwantz will make his Goodwood Revival debut during the September 12-14 event on an iconic Manx Norton ‘Featherbed’.

Schwantz, the 1993 500cc World Champion, last raced on UK soil during the 1994 British 500cc Grand Prix at Donington Park, but will tackle the daunting Goodwood Motor Circuit this year in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, which will be run for bikes of 1951-54 period.

The 50-year-old American will race the only remaining example of the 1950 Norton Works 500 ‘Featherbed’, a bike on which Geoff Duke dominated the Isle of Man TT during that season, and which has not been seen in public for 64 years. The ‘Featherbed’ is owned by Peter Bloore and is being prepared by Ken McIntosh.

While Schwantz has never contested the Revival before, he has been a visitor to Goodwood previously and wowed crowds at the 2013 Festival of Speed after taking to the fabled 1.16- mile Hillclimb on his title-winning Suzuki RGV500.

Schwantz was elevated to grand prix racing in late 1986 and spent eight full years at the highest level. During a 103-race career he won 25 grands prix, finished on the podium 51 times, started from pole position on 29 occasions and set 26 fastest laps

Kevin Schwantz said: “I’m excited to be taking part in the Goodwood Revival and riding not only one of the most famous racing motorcycles ever made, but also a machine whose design changed motorcycle racing forever. I’ve never raced at the Revival, but have been to the Festival of Speed and was blown away by what an incredible event it is. The
machines, not to mention the legends of motorsports in attendance, and the sheer number of spectators was just amazing. The Goodwood Motor Circuit looks really quick and I am looking forward to racing the Norton 500 “Featherbed” out on the track.”

Tickets remain available for the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, to be held on June 26- 29, but are running out incredibly quickly.

While weekend and Saturday General Admission tickets now sold out, there are still plenty of opportunities to see some of the biggest stars and most iconic machines from the past and present of motor sport and motoring on both the Friday and Sunday of the event.

Friday will give visitors a first opportunity to see machinery from five contemporary front- running Formula 1 teams – including Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull – in action on Goodwood’s iconic 1.16-mile Hillclimb, while the must-see Bonhams’ fine automobile auction takes place as well.

Sunday hosts the Festival of Speed’s traditional show-stopping finale, in which the fastest cars of the weekend will make one flat-out afternoon attempt each against the clock to take home the honour of the quickest time of the event.

Each day features exhilarating stunts from X Games heroes – including Petr Pilat, Kye Forte and Edgar Torronteras – in the Goodwood Action Sports Arena, sideways action on the Skoda Forest Rally Stage and some stunning displays of aerobatic prowess with appearances by the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet.

There is a chance to see motor racing heroes John Surtees, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sebastien Loeb, Richard Petty, Al Unser, Giacomo Agostini, Wayne Gardner, Freddie Spencer and John McGuinness in action in a host of two and four-wheeled machinery, while the Michelin Supercar Paddock will feature more than 20 sensational road-going machines, including Koenigsegg’s amazing new Agera One:1, capable of a reported 273mph!

For tickets, please visit www.goodwood.com or call the ticket office on 01243 755055.

Goodwood Action Sports returns to the Festival of Speed on June 26-29 with a sensational line-up of riders from the worlds of Freestyle Motocross, BMX and Mountain Bikes ready to thrill with their gravity-defying tricks and stunts during the weekend.

The list of riders taking part this year reads like an international who’s who of action sports and includes X Games gold medallist and Freestyle Motocross founding father, Spaniard Edgar Torronteras and Czech ace Petr Pilat, who stunned the GAS crowd last year with his jaw-dropping tricks.

From the world of pedal power, Mountain Bike & BMX legends from all over the globe will battle for the coveted prize to be crowned the King of GAS. With a jump-filled course three times longer than in 2013, GAS fans will be treated to some of the world’s best bike action.

Britain’s former world champion, Kye Forte, heads the strongest list of BMX riders ever to appear at Goodwood. Also in action will be American X Games heroes Brandon Dosch and Chris Doyle. And GAS legend, 12-times Trials world champion Dougie Lampkin, will be showcasing his amazing skills in the GAS Arena and in several ‘pop-up’ GAS shows across the weekend.

There’s even a chance to give Motocross, Trials, BMX and Mountain Bike riding in the GAS Experience zone. A set of full-qualified instructors is available, along with all the safety equipment needed for adults and children.

Edgar Torronteras said: “I’ve heard so many amazing stories about Goodwood and the Festival of Speed from some of the other athletes that have visited – it’s going to be incredible performing in the UK.”

Petr Pilat said: “Last year at GAS we had such an awesome time, great weather, great people and such an unbelievable event. I am stoked to be invited back.”

Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 World Champion, will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 26-29, where he is sure to provide one of the event’s star attractions.

Button, 34, fits in perfectly with the Festival of Speed’s 2014 theme: Addicted to Winning. After a stellar career in karting, he won the British Formula Ford title and prestigious Formula Ford Festival in 1998, and was the standout rookie in Formula 3 the following year as he finished third in the British series and won the Masters of F3 race at Zandvoort.

Since being catapulted into Formula 1 less than three years since first driving a racing car, Button – now in his 15th season at the top level – has achieved phenomenal success.

His 253 World Championship grand prix starts for Williams, Benetton, Renault, BAR, Honda, Brawn and McLaren have delivered 15 victories, eight pole positions, eight fastest laps and 50 podiums. Only two drivers have ever scored more points in a single season than Button’s 2009 total.

Button is no stranger to the Festival of Speed and has attended 14 times previously, driving machinery as diverse as a 1970 Can-Am McLaren M8D, a P1 supercar and Alain Prost’s 1986 title-winning grand prix car. This year, McLarens attending the event include M23, MP4/2 and MP4-26 Formula 1 machines.

Button is the third ex-Formula 1 World Champion to confirm his attendance at this year’s Festival of Speed, joining fellow Briton John Surtees and Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi – who will celebrate 40 years since McLaren’s maiden drivers’ world championship by driving the M23 in which he claimed the 1974 title.

Jenson Button said: “Goodwood is one of the highlights of my season. I’ve had the chance to get behind the wheel of some incredible historic racing cars there, which I’d never have been able to drive otherwise, and to meet some of the most enthusiastic fans, who have given me a tremendous amount of support over the years. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Goodwood Festival of Speed on social media:

YouTube: http://youtube.com/goodwoodtv
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/festivalofspeed
Twitter: http://twitter.com/fosgoodwood

The Richard Burns Foundation is the Festival of Speed’s official charity partner. The Festival of Speed beneficiary for 2014 is the Chestnut Tree House.

A cavalcade of superstars from motor sport’s past and present will wow a capacity crowd at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 26-29, which celebrates the theme: ‘Addicted to Winning’.

Formula 1 world champions Emerson Fittipaldi and John Surtees, and Sebastien Loeb – the Frenchman the most successful driver in the history of FIA World Championship motor sport – will head an all-star line-up at Goodwood.

The 50th anniversary of Surtees’ 1964 F1 crown, which made him the only man to win world titles on two wheels and four, will be celebrated with a display of 11 cars and three motorcycles raced from his unique career; among them his championship-winning Ferrari 158.

Fittipaldi’s 1974 F1 World Championship – his second, and the first of 20 for McLaren – is now 40 years old. This milestone will be marked by the Brazilian driving one of his race-winning M23s from that season.

Frenchman Loeb, who has won a record nine World Rally titles and 78 individual rally wins, will drive Peugeot’s monstrous 208 T16 Pikes Peak car up the iconic 1.16-mile hillclimb in pursuit of Nick Heidfeld’s 41.6-second record that has stood since 1999. He will also drive a Citroen, for whom he is competing in this year’s World Touring Car Championship.

Richard Petty and Al Unser will bring American showmanship to the event. Indy car legend Unser will drive the 1978 Penske Lola-Cosworth in which he took the third of his record-equalling four Indy 500 victories. Meanwhile, NASCAR’s ‘King’ Richard Petty, with an astonishing 200 race wins and seven championships to his name, will get back behind the wheel of his most winning car of all – the #43 Plymouth Belvedere in which he won astonishing 27 races during the 1967 season.

The Le Mans 24 Hours plays a strong part in proceedings with multiple winners of the event – including the most successful driver in the history of the race, Tom Kristensen – taking to the hill in a variety of machinery. Joining the nine-time winner will be fellow Audi legend Emanuele Pirro, Derek Bell, Henri Pescarolo and a host of others, including new Porsche sportscar recruit Mark Webber.

Goodwood owner Lord March said: “To have assembled such a staggering line-up of drivers, who completely typify what the 2014 Festival of Speed theme – ‘Addicted to Winning’ – is all about, is an indication of the enduring appeal and popularity of the event. I’m incredibly excited about seeing the world’s greatest drivers reunited with some truly iconic vehicles.”

AGOSTINI HEADS ALL-STAR TWO-WHEELED LINE UP AT FESTIVAL OF SPEED

The most successful grand prix motorcycle racer of all time, Giacomo Agostini, heads an all-star line-up on two wheels at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The legendary Italian, a crowd favourite at Goodwood in recent years, encapsulates the 2014 Festival of Speed theme of ‘Addicted to Winning’, having taken a record 15 world titles and 122 race victories from 1964-77, and continued in the sport as a successful Superbike team manager after his retirement from riding.

Fellow 500cc world champions Wayne Gardner and Freddie Spencer will also play a significant role in the June 26-29 event’s proceedings. Spencer’s feat in 1985 of winning both the 250 and 500cc titles in the same season – the only time any rider has achieved this double – will be celebrated by Honda.

Meanwhile Gardner, who took the 500cc crown in 1987 at the peak of what many consider the toughest years of grand prix racing, will wow the expected mass crowds on a number of iconic Honda grand prix bikes.

Suzuki will pay tribute to the RG500, a machine that brought world title success for Barry Sheene and paved the way for future championships scored by its RGA, RGB and RGV bikes by Marco Lucchinelli, Franco Uncini, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr.

The RG, which turns 40 in 2014, is two years younger than John McGuinness, but the road racing legend, who racked up his 20th Isle of Man TT victory last year, shows no signs of slowing up. His incredible run of success on the Island will be marked by Honda, which will bring along his first TT winning 250cc machine from 1999 as well as his most recent winner.

Goodwood owner Lord March said: “It’s fantastic to be able to welcome names like Agostini, Spencer and Gardner back to the Festival of Speed. They have shown their addition to winning in a huge way during their careers and have achieved unprecedented success. I’m sure they will all be hugely popular additions to a fantastic line-up.”