It’s the greatest show on Earth, probably. As I type this a gentleman has just lightly crashed a Porsche 917 Pan Am, causing very mild cosmetic damage to the venerable, vulnerable aluminium panelwork, probably causing more, altogether uglier, damage to his underpants in the process. Meanwhile, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is powering a 1936 Auto Union Type C up the hillclimb.
This could only be the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2016. Welcome.


Last year the conditions were arid- blue skies, barely a breath of wind and sunlight as scorchy as the South of England is ever likely to receive. Today, not so much. The temperature chart is roller-coaster uneven, with heatstroke one second and spine-deep shivers the next, together with a very real risk of drowning. But the feeling is the same as ever- every second spent here is on a constant wave of adrenaline which I have to support with caffeine in case I fall into the trough and get completely overpowered by it all.
This weekend has many a treat in store, I’ll be covering as many of them as I can, with any excess that I don’t post live probably filtering into the Hooniverse broadcast schedule over the coming days. I’ve got the programme in front of me and it’s pretty eye-watering. And what better way to overwrite the political maelstrom that has completely dominated life in the UK over the last few weeks than to fill eyes with vintage metal and our lungs with rubber and octane.

A quick word about this year’s Goodwood central feature, which this year is brought to us by BMW, celebrating their centenary. It’s the biggest yet to appear at the Festival of Speed and makes a fantastic sight against today’s turbulent sky. Designed by Gerry Judah, it features the Le-Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR, the 1982 Brabham-BMW BT52 and, prettiest of all, the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Roadster.
And, corporate sponsorship aside, it’s a perfect expression of what this event is all about.
(All images copyright Chris Haining / Hooniverse 2016)