Goodwood is the ultimate event for petrolheads and with the 2018 Festival of Speed still fresh in our minds, we thought we’d share with you the five motorcycling moments that made the hair on the back of our necks stand up.
Britten V1000 rides the hill
There are only 10 of these machines on the planet. They were all individually hand built by New Zealand engineer, John Britten, in Christchurch, between 1991-1998. Although John isn’t with us anymore, every time one of his bikes is fired up, his legacy lives on. It is becoming an increased rarity to hear the V-Twin machines being ridden spiritedly, which made its runs up the hill this weekend even more of a spectacle for the watching crowd.
John McGuinness is back!
Although there have been a fair few opportunities to hear the Aprilia engined Norton V4 at full chat this year, the run at Goodwood was particularly special. Not because of the bike, but because of the pilot. John McGuinness was able to climb aboard what would have been his 2018 TT Superbike and take the SG7 up the Goodwood hill in a spirited display. McGuinness did complete a 115mph parade lap at the TT two months ago while waving to the fans, but the Norton is very rarely heard away from the Island. So this particular run up the hill was extra special, considering the fact that John is still recovering from a broken leg, four vertebrae and a handful of ribs from his crash over 14 months ago.
Peter Hickman on the BMW HP4 Race
McGuinness may be the most successful living TT racer but Peter Hickman is the new darling of the island after breaking the 135mph barrier on his way to winning this year’s Senior TT.
Hicky took BMW’s £68,000 HP4 Race up the hill in spectacular style, closing the weekend with a rather large burnout to the dwindling crowd on Sunday afternoon.
TopGear’s Rory Reid on the BMW Rnine T Racer
Having only passed his motorcycle test two weeks before the festival, Rory Reid from BBC’s TopGear was thrown the keys to BMW’s latest cafe racer inspired bike. Rory wasn’t entirely prepared for the climb as he had to borrow a pair of boots from our very own Marc Potter, to meet the standards from the scrutineers. But he made it up the climb without any trouble and demonstrated the increasing crossover between car and bike enthusiasts at Goodwood.
Yamaha Niken
Among all the exotic machinery and prestigious classics, the three-wheeled Niken shared the tarmac with the likes of Yamaha’s R1M, the Ariel Ace R, an Arch KRGT-1, Honda’s RCV213V-S and the BMW HP4 Race. World superbike star Alex Lowes was laying down the rubber on the tri-wheeled machine, and making the bike just as much of a spectacle than the rest of the carbon drenched lineup. Although it was a fairly unorthodox bike to have at such an event, it certainly pleased the crowd. Especially on the back wheel.
