On the final day of the Festival of Speed, Goodwood welcomed seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi – hot from his amazing victory the previous day at Saturday’s Assen MotoGP – for the very first time. The Italian legend put on some spectacular ‘Flat-out and Fearless’ displays in front of a sell-out crowd on both two and four wheels.
For his Goodwood debut on two wheels, ‘The Doctor’ rode his Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP bike carrying a special livery to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Yamaha Motor Co, and then rode the machine into Goodwood House before appearing on the balcony with Lord March and Suzi Perry.
On four wheels, Rossi drove the legendary 1991 Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B; the same car seen soaring out of the sky above Goodwood House in this year’s Central Feature, as well as an ex-Henri Toivonen Lancia Delta S4 Group B rally car.
The renowned ‘Festival of Speed Sunday Shootout’ was declared open by Rossi as he paraded up the Hillclimb in an ex-Jacky Ickx/Jochen Mass Porsche 962C. Following his run, the clocks were set and 35 cars ascended the iconic 1.16-mile course in a bid for 2015’s fastest time. The thrilling competition was broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
British Time Attack Champion, Olly Clark, claimed victory in his Subaru Impreza ‘Gobstopper II’ with a time of 44.91 seconds. The son of twice-RAC Rally winner, Roger Clark, defeated the Mitjet Mini Pikes Peak of ice racing king Jean-Philippe Dayraut and the Toyota Celica ‘Pikes Peak’ of New Zealander, Rod Millen.