National Motorsport Week got underway last weekend with the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed proving to be as popular as ever with thousands of fans gathering in West Sussex to celebrate the sport.
The famous 1.16-mile hillclimb remained the centrepiece of the festival with plenty of new and rare cars in action including exciting debuts for the Toyota GR GT hybrid supercar, next-generation Alpine A110 prototype, Denza Z electric supercar, Red Bull RB17 and Renault 5 Turbo 3E. For racing fans McLaren brought along a 1976 M23 to celebrate 50 years of James Hunt’s famous Formula 1 title along with the never-seen-in-public 1993 Lamborghini V12-powered MP4/8 test car, tested in period by Ayrton Senna and driven up the hill by his nephew Bruno. Reigning World Champion Lando Norris made a popular appearance and debuted the new MCL-HY World Endurance Championship Hypercar.
Past glories were also celebrated by Damon Hill driving his 1996 title-winning Williams FW18, Ford marking 60 years of their landmark Le Mans 1-2-3 finish with three generations of the Andretti family, and Lightning McQueen made his festival debut to celebrate 20 years of the Pixar film Cars.
On the final day attention turned to the timed shootout, which distilled into a battle between the electric-powered entries for top honours. Following-up from his Pikes Peak victory, Romain Dumas was fastest in the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E, closely followed by Dan Ticktum in the new Gen 4 Formula E car that is set to transform the championship later this year and at Brands Hatch in 2027. The combustion-powered entry was topped by the Shadow DN4 Can-Am car driven by Alex Summers.
Over on the rally stage, Tom Williams was fastest in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 car, followed by David Wright in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 and Gary Le Coadou’s Toyota Celica GT Four. The dedicated stage also hosted World Rally stars Elfin Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Ott Tanak, Jari-Matti Latvala and Jon Armstrong. The McRae family was represented by patriarch Jimmy McRae and future star Max McRae, while F1 drivers Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon also tried their hand at a new discipline.
Beyond the action on the hill, visitors enjoyed manufacturer displays, paddock access, interactive exhibits, Future Lab STEM-themed experiences and the new Fan Zone, which included Motorsport UK welcoming new fans into the sport via the Inclusion Hub. Our stand featured a Greenpower electric racer – a single seater car built and driven by schoolchildren to teach engineering and teamwork skills – and a McLaren 720S GT3 EVO competing in the British GT Championship. Both were popular with visitors, showing the breadth of motorsport – from grassroots to grandstand – with many keen to discover more through our ‘there’s a motorsport for everyone’ campaign.
With 14 disciplines to choose from, motorsport fans can recreate the Goodwood Festival of Speed competitor experience for themselves using their own road car. Hill climb events happen across the country and novices just need an RS Interclub licence costing just £85 and a crash helmet to enter – and the same rules apply to sprint events, which take place on sprint and race circuits.
The rally experience can be recreated in a variety of ways, from road rallies in which a driver and navigator can enjoy the thrill of competition with a free RS Clubman licence and a tank of fuel – or a battery charge – to targa rallies, which take place on private land. Both are very accessible motorsport disciplines which develop the fundamental skills required to succeed in stage rallying.
Check out our event finder here to locate a hill climb, sprint or rally event near you or click here to find out which motorsport is for you.