The clean-cut world of polish and pomp are about to get an all-out, high-octane blast to the face as the tyre-slaying master that is Ken Block heads an all-star lineup ready to bring the heat to the typically English Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The Head Hoonigan in Charge is crossing the Atlantic for his third Goodwood appearance but this time he’s bringing an added extra - his all-custom, world-first all-wheel drive 1965 Ford Mustang.
Yep. The very car that quite literally tore through the streets of LA in Gymkhana SEVEN is heading to Europe for the very first time and it’s going to blow your mind. There is no vehicle in the world like this fire-spitting, decibel-smashing feat of engineering and it’s landing on our shores for one insane weekend of motorsport.
But Monster Energy wasn’t just happy with that, oh no.
We wanted to really bring out the big guns, so the world famous Hill is going to be assaulted by some big American muscle – roll up BJ Baldwin and his desert pumping, sand spitting trophy truck. The RECOIL star is making a rare appearance across the Atlantic and we know he’s pumped to bring his unique brand of shredding to the UK.
Rallycross rubber-burner Liam Doran, who will be freshly back from X-Games in Austin, is bringing his textbook super-aggressive style of driving to blast his 600hp Citroen DS3 past the chequered flag in the sleepy corner of Sussex too.
Speaking of his appearance, the British Bomb Doran told us: “I’m very excited to be at the Festival of Speed this year. Just having the envelope, with the official invitation, drop through my door felt like a pretty big deal. I was lucky enough to be at the Festival in 2013, and ran the hill.”
Gymkhana legend? Tick. Desert racing extraordinaire? Rallycross hero? Tick. So how about we throw in a British drifting fan favourite?
One of Monster Energy’s drift sons, Mr Buttsy Butler, is adding another string to our Goodwood bow and making his debut to bring his smoke-filling style at the Festival.
But it’s not just the guys with four wheels heading up the Hill: current Speedway World Champion Greg Hancock is bringing his 500cc machine to do something he never does - turning right!
That’s right. A man who rides a machine that has no brakes and no gears is loading up and heading to Goodwood to break the rules and create some motorsport history.
He told us: “I am really looking forward to appearing at the Festival of Speed and meeting my British fans. I’ve always wanted to go up the Hill and I can’t wait for it, it’s a bit different to what I normally do, so it should be fun!”
‘Grin’ isn’t the only man representing the two-wheel brigade though, as we heard a little whisper that some guy called Valentino Rossi is also going to be heading up the hill to celebrate Yamaha’s 60th Anniversary…
Yep, all 1000cc of the YZR-M1 will fire its way around the circuit and as we know from previous experience: he’s a dab hand behind the wheel too, so we reckon he might get some track time in a four-wheel beast… watch this space.
It’s going to be an overdose of anti-lag, exhaust cracking, non-street legal, high octane madness and you do not want to miss it.
