“This decision has not been made lightly and His Grace, The Duke of Richmond, along with the whole Festival of Speed team, are deeply saddened that we will not run the event on Saturday for the first time in its 30 year history.”
Exhibitors were asked to secure their stands ahead of a site shutdown from 11am. Festivalgoers staying at the campsite were allowed to stay, but were advised to take heavy caution in the conditions.
The winds to have eased by the evening, and the annual Goodwood Ball – this year celebrating the festival’s 30th anniversary – was run as planned.
The event also resumed as planned on Sunday. Because the day was already sold out ahead of time, only Sunday ticket holders were allowed to attend.
Saturday ticketholders will be offered a refund in the coming days.
Cars to see at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed
This year’s theme, Goodwood 75, celebrated the 75 years of motorsport history since the Goodwood Motor Circuit opened in 1948, as well as 30 years of the Festival of Speed.
The famed Goodwood hillclimb featured a series of cars that celebrate the various eras of motorsport at the site: a group for the racing years (1948-1966); the testing years (post-1966); the Festival of Speed’s 30th anniversary (1993-2023); the return of racing (1998-2023) and the next 75 years. They were joined by a roster of brand-new metal and special exhibits, including air displays by the Red Arrows.
Porsche, which this year marks 75 years since it produced its first sports car, was celebrated by the Festival of Speed’s central feature, this year designed by Gerry Judah. The firm will also show several new cars at the event. Here are the biggest reveals from this year’s event
AIM EV Sport 01
The designer of the Nissan GT-R has returned to the drawing board to create this shapely 483bhp electric sports car that weighs just 1425kg. It uses two liquid-cooled, high-performance electric motors (one on each of the rear wheels) with a maximum speed of 10,000rpm. They draw their reserves from an 81kWh battery split into four packs for a total torque figure of 582lb ft, helping it to achieve a sub-6.0sec 0-62mph time.