2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed

More than 152,000 motorsport fans and over 120 star racing drivers and riders descended on the historic property. Among them were reigning World Championships Lewis Hamilton (F1) and Sebastien Loeb (WRC), as well as the current F1 World Championship leader Jenson Button. The F1 drivers and teams put on a great show for festival spectators with demonstrations of car control and lurid donuts. Lewis Hamilton, even quipped, "It's a shame we're not allowed to do donuts at races," but he more than made up for this at Goodwood, as did Timo Glock in his Toyota and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber. The 2009 F1 World Champion elect Jenson Button drove a mighty 1934 Mercedes-Benz W25.

Five time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb was on stellar form in his Citroen C4 WRC, flinging his C4 around with abandon and establishing a new benchmark time in the rally stage.

While racing was one aspect of the festival, there were also a number of major displays and anniversaries celebrated. Audi held centre stage with its 100th anniversary with a jaw dropping 'central feature' display outside of Goodwood house, along with a fantastic selection of historic Audi racing cars, including Auto Unions, quattros and R10 and R15 Le Mans racers.

The centenary of both Bugatti and Morgan were marked by Goodwood with some truly desirable cars. The 75th anniversary of the German Silver Arrow racers saw a record gathering of 14 examples from Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz, and a paddock row filled with 14 Porsches 917s (40 years after its introduction) was extremely popular.

Fifty years of Mini was also honoured with various examples of the Issigonis classic at the festival.

While the Festival had a large turnout of classic European racers, the Americas were also well represented, with entertainment legends Peter Fonda and Jay Leno. Fonda rode his famous 'Captain America' chopper from the Easy Rider movie up the Goodwood hill climb several times. US TV presenter Jesse James also delighted the crowd with his crazy exploits in menacing 950bhp Baja style 'Trophy Truck'.

The weekend saw a cavalcade of the very latest super cars. Making their UK debut was the targa-top Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport, the awesome Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren SLR Stirling Moss, Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M, Pagani Zonda R and the Tramontana from Spain. Other Goodwood debutantes included the Porsche Panamera S, Audi R8 V10, Morgan SuperSports, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Lotus Euro, Lexus LF-A and Nissan's GT-R spec V and 370Z.Billed as Britain's largest 'moving motor show', spectators were treated to an amazing series of track appearances from some of the world's oldest and most loved marques through to super cars and a number of concepts making their first public appearance.

The legendary pre-war 'Silver Arrows' German racers were a must see attraction, marking 75 years since the first appearance of the dominant Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz competition cars. Famous Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows that appeared included the 1934 W25 and 1937 W125, the 1939 W165 and 1954 W196, the latter with Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel.

Celebrating Mini's 50th birthday was a major collection of Minis, including ex-works racers. A special saloon car race devoted entirely to the Mini was a one off for 2009. A grid of 30 1275cc Mini Coopers contested a closely fought race, with most of the cars of identical specification.