Group B gets the stage at Goodwood Speed Week
With no fans allowed to attend, Goodwood is pulling out all the stops to make its new Speed Week event spectacular
Timo Salonen makes a splash in his 205 T16 in Sanremo, 1986. Now Goodwood will feature similar drama at Speed Week
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While Goodwood’s new Speed Week event in October will sadly be closed to the general public, the absence of spectators has opened the door for event organisers to get creative and come up with the most extreme rally stage ever seen at the West Sussex track.
The new Super Special Stage design will feature cars speeding through the circuit’s access tunnel before utilising parts of the race circuit itself and then going off-road through areas that would traditionally have been crammed with spectators, special guests, sponsors and champagne tents.
And to complement such a new feature, Goodwood has also come up trumps with a suitably fearsome set of cars to tackle the course, with a range of fire-breathing Group B machines set to headline.
As well as the stunning Lancia Stratos, the course will feature Metro 6R4s, Audi Quattros, Peugeot 205 T16s, Ford Escort RS2000s and more from rallying’s most power-hungry era. More modern challengers will come in the form of Subaru Impreza WRX and Lancia Delta Integrale Group A offerings, alongside a host of modern World Rally Championship machines, too.
Drivers have yet to be confirmed, but Toyota Gazoo Racing dropped a strong hint that former WRC charger Kris Meeke could be involved when it released a promotional video of the Ulsterman sampling the new stage layout in a road-going Yaris GR.
The rally sprint stage will take place on the evening of Thursday, October 15, with cars starting in dusk and the final runs being done under cover of darkness.
“It’s sad we are not to be able to welcome spectators to Speed Week, but we are determined to give our fans at home a motor sport event that is like nothing they have seen from Goodwood before,” said the Duke of Richmond. “We’ve been able to be much more creative with the course for our rally
Super Special, and viewers have something truly spectacular to look forward to.”
Goodwood’s new Speed Week runs from October 16-18 and aims to combine the best elements of the Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival, all of which were sadly lost from this year’s calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On track, Speed Week will feature a host of Goodwood’s signature motor races, such as the St Mary’s Trophy tin-top contest, the stellar grid of GT cars for the RAC TT Celebration, alongside classic Formula 1 races and even the mixed Can-Am and GT40 Whitsun Trophy.
Cars confirmed so far:
Lancia Stratos
Ford Escort RS2000
Ferrari 308GTB
Audi Quattro
Lancia 037
Lancia Delta S4 Metro 6R4
Audi Sport Quattro S1
Peugeot 205 T16
Subaru Legacy RS
Subaru Impreza WRX
Lancia Delta Integrale
Toyota Celica GT4