Last weekend we entered the automotive nirvana to cover the 27th annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. Bigger than ever before, it was now a full four days although there were enough activities to spend a week at the Goodwood Estate and not get bored. We focused on the hill-climb that still forms the heart of the event. Among the featured marques and celebrations this year were Aston Martin, Bentley's centenary, 125 years of road racing, 50 years of the Porsche 917 and Michael Schumacher's 50th birthday. Thanks to these and the many other special themes, it turned out to be a vintage year with an impressive array of cars that took part in the hill climb or were shown at the nearby Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d'Elegance. There was also quite a bit of excitement in the air as the once though unbeatable, 20-year old hill record of Nick Heidfeld was under serious threat for the first time in many years.
We were on the Goodwood estate throughout the weekend and have returned with a concise report that is illustrated by an action-packed, 280-shot gallery.

The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed is not only a celebration of the automobile's rich past, the event also looks firmly ahead with several world debuts. Ahead of our comprehensive coverage from the Festival of Speed later in the week, we have today taken a first look at the most interesting cars that broke cover during the last couple of days.
Porsche used the opportunity to debut the all-new 911 RSR GTE racer. Although still based on the previous '991' generation of the 911, almost no parts of the car that raced at Le Mans a few weeks ago were carried over. Among the many changes, is an enlarged engine with side-exhausts. The largest engine yet fitted to a 911, the RSR's flat six displaces just under 4.2 litres and produces around 515 bhp.
Another new race car launched at Goodwood is the Audi R8 LMS GT2. Built for the new GT2 class for gentleman racers, it boasts a 630bhp engine, making it the most powerful Audi customer racing car.
Toyota Gazoo Racing also announced a new racer by confirming the GR Supra GT4 for the 2020 season.
Built to no particular regulations but simply as a track-day only machine is the Ford GT Mk II. It is powered by a 700 bhp version of the twin-turbo V6 engine and production is limited to just 45 examples.
Two of Britain's specialist manufacturers also launched brand new, and very extreme road cars in the form of the 350 bhp Radical Rapture and the 340 bhp BAC Mono R.

This weekend we were at the Domaine de Chantilly for the fifth edition of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille. First held in 2014, the event has moved to a July date and from this edition will be biennial and alternate with the Le Mans Classic. The event stands out in that both modern and classic cars were subjected to judging with the specialist jury selecting three Best of Show winners, which were announced at the end of the day on Sunday. Many of the classes were dedicated to anniversaries with the centenary of Ballot, Bentley and Voisin being marked, while also the 50th birthday of the Porsche 917 and the 60th anniversary of Aston Martin's only Le Mans win were celebrated. In addition to the activities in the vast garden in front of the Chateau de Chantilly on Sunday, there was also a rally the day before for which all entrants were invited.
We spent the entire weekend in and around the Chateau de Chantilly, with this 240-shot gallery as the end result. It serves to illustrate a concise report with some of the many the highlights.

This weekend, all eyes will be on Goodwood as it stages the annual Festival of Speed. Among the many celebrations planned for this year's edition is the 50th anniversary of Sir Jackie Stewart's first World Championship. To get you in the right mood, we have taken a closer look at the very Tyrell 003 Cosworth that helped the talented Scot win the second of his three World Championships. A development of the original Tyrrell that was introduced in 1970, the 003 was driven to six Grand Prix wins during the 1971 season and a further two in 1972. Fittingly, the hugely successful Grand Prix Car is now in the hands of the Stewart family, who brought it out to Goodwood in 2017 and again in 2018.
Another fantastic Grand Prix car due to star at Goodwood over the weekend is this Lotus 79 Cosworth. Used during the 1978 season by Ronnie Peterson and soon to be World Champion Mario Andretti, this revolutionary ground-effect racer won Grands Prix in the hands of both drivers. Chassis 79/2 served into the 1979 season and was retained by Lotus. After laying dormant for 30 years, it was recommissioned by Classic Team Lotus and as can be seen in our 28-shot gallery is regularly campaigned all over Europe.
If you are interested in joining us at Goodwood, there are still a few tickets available for the Festival of Speed.

This weekend, we will be at the Chateau de Chantilly just north of Paris for the biennial Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille. Organised by Peter Auto, this Concours d'Elegance caters to a wide variety of historic machinery. Considering the other events held by Peter Auto, it is no surprise that competition cars are well represented. To get you in the mood for what promises to be a scorching edition, we have taken a look at four sports cars that have starred at Chantilly or will line up this Sunday.
Shown at the inaugural event in 2014 is this Lola T70 Mk3B Coupe. Originally owned by David Piper and finished in the familiar green colours of his longtime backer BP, this particular car has a long period racing history. It also starred in Steve McQueen's Le Mans movie. Now owned by a British historic racer SL76/150 is also raced at select events like Peter Auto's Le Mans Classic where it is also pictured.
In 2015, we were treated to sole surviving Mercedes-Benz CLK LM Strassenversion. It was shown alongside the unique McLaren F1 GTR art car. At this year's edition, there will be a special McLaren class and among the entries is an F1 GTR.
Also entered for this weekend is this Porsche 911 GT1 that was raced in period by Konrad Motorsport and Larbre Competition. Now in British hands, chassis 993-GT-109 will be part of a special class dedicated to GT racers from 1994 onwards.

One of the all-time great Grand Prix cars is the Williams FW14B. Raced during the 1992 season, it was the first World Championship winning Formula 1 machine penned by the now legendary Adrian Newey. Effectively an interim car that was developed from the 1991 FW14, it combined the Newey's very effective aerodynamics with a sophisticated active suspension system and Renault's powerful V10 engine. The FW14B proved so fast in testing that the FW15 planned for 1992 was never raced. In the hands of Nigel Mansell, the FW14B was particularly successful and he was crowned World Champion after just 11 of the 16 rounds during the 1992 season. Such was his dominance that Mansell qualified a full three seconds faster than Ayrton Senna in a McLaren. At next week's Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed sale, you have the opportunity to acquire a fully functional example. The chassis is offered by its first private owner and was driven to pole position and victory by Mansell in the first five races of the 1992 season. We have also highlighted FW14-6, which was the development and test car. It has recently been meticulously restored by Williams Heritage and demonstrated at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
BMW's Motorsport department have offered a glimpse at the future with the Vision M NEXT. Equipped with a 591 bhp hybrid system, the striking coupe can accelerate to 100 km/h in 3 seconds. We will get a chance to take a more detailed look at the Vision M NEXT as it will star in the Chantilly Arts & Elegance show on Sunday.

It will be a busy couple of weeks for us with the Chantilly Concours d'Elegance and Goodwood Festival of Speed on the horizon. At the latter, Aston Martin will be the featured marque, so to get you in the mood we have taken a closer look at two great and very distinct examples of DB3S that starred at both events in the past.
Developed over the winter of 1952/53, the DB3S was a more refined evolution of Aston Martin's first sports racer. Compared to the DB3 of 1952, it was smaller, lighter and more powerful. It was raced with considerable success during the mid-1950s by the works team and customers but the much desired outright Le Mans victory proved a stretch too far. The feature example came very close by finishing second overall in 1955 and again in 1958. Chassis DB3S/6 actually started life as one of the two factory Coupes but after a disastrous 1954 Le Mans, it was raced with considerable more success as a Roadster. The second place at Le Mans in 1955 was also a first in class.
In addition to the cars raced by the Aston Martin works team, a further 20 examples were built for costumers to race. Of these, three were Coupes of which chassis DB3S/119 was the second. Not raced in period, it has been owned by several leading Aston Martin enthusiasts. Its most recent owner had the DB3S Fixed Head Coupe meticulously restored to its original configuration before showing it at Chantilly in 2015.