Goodwood Festival of Speed is considered the world’s biggest and most diverse celebration of the history of motor sport and car culture.
For 13 successive years Audi UK has had a significant presence at the event, 2009 was no exception. Audi celebrated its centenary in spectacular style at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed as one of the main sponsors of the world leading event.
The Audi Pavilion returned even larger. The terminal-style building brought over from Germany was one of the many focal points for Audi. A display of historic Audi models covering the history, and the future of the brand drew the crowds.
Giant TV screens positioned prominently around the huge site broadcasted historic Audi footage and short films reflected 100 years of Audi. The Audi merchandise shop highlighted the exciting range in the Audi Collection.
An off-road course put the Audi Q5, Audi Q7, A4 and A6 allroad through their paces. Over 1500 people, including many customers, enjoyed test driving these models on the exciting 4x4 course.
Lord March, the driving force behind the Goodwood Festival of Speed, revived the legendary hill climb in 1993 in the grounds of Goodwood House. Around 25,000 people attended the first event, this year over 150,000 flocked to the world-famous circuit on the South Downs. “Audi has been involved with the Goodwood Festival of Speed since 1997 so it’s entirely appropriate for us that they chose to be the main showcase sponsor for 2009” said Lord March.
Audi brought a huge amount to the event. “Audi made a very strong commitment to the festival this year. They put on an excellent show with a fabulous Audi Pavilion and wonderful cars. It was great to see the Auto Union D Type, the R8, R10 and the quattro models. They deservedly received a fantastic response from the crowd,” said Lord March.
The theme of this year’s festival – True Grit: Epic Feats of Endurance – was tailor-made for Audi. “It’s not just about winning races like the Le Mans 24 Hours, but also the people who have persisted in motorsport for a long time, as well as design and engineering endurance, which Audi clearly displays with its 100-year history,” said Lord March.
The philosophy behind the festival is very simple. “People aren’t pushed around or pushed away. They can get up close to the cars, talk to the drivers and really feel involved,” he added. “We try very hard to attract the most interesting, rarest and exciting cars of all ages from across the globe. For one weekend a year, Goodwood becomes the greatest car collection in the world and it’s accessible to everyone.”