Andrew Willis

Gallery: Huge collection of Le Mans cars at FOS

With a number of Goodwood Road and Racing staff suffering from acute post-Le Mans blues, the arrival of the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard couldn’t be more vital to shake the funk. Packed paddock shelters and dynamic Goodwood hillclimb displays saw a plethora of past, present and future Le Mans racers – along with several iconic race-winning drivers – all exhibiting their 24 hour credentials.

Whether Jacky Ickx waxing lyrical about his love for both Goodwood and Le Mans within his 1979 race-winning Porsche 936, or Derek Bell taking his 1987 winning Porsche 962 from the ridiculous Henry Pearman Group C collection up the hill, the treats were coming thick and fast. Add in the likes of GT40s, Sauber-Mercedes C9s, Porsche 956s and 917ks and even an elegant 1954 Aston Martin DB3S to proceedings and we were all certainly getting our fill.

Video: Porsche's new 963 LMDh Le Mans car makes debut at Goodwood

The huge range of cars from all eras successfully evoked the sights, sounds and spirit of the Circuit de la Sarthe before two contemporary racers brought everyone bang up to date. Both the 3^rd place finishing Glickenhaus SCG 007 LMH, and the class winning Porsche 911 RSR which set a new all-out distance record for the GTE category were in attendance. Providing a perfect warm up to the crescendo moment. A world exclusive debut of the next generation Porsche 963 that will be challenging for Le Mans glory come 2023.

It was a line-up that not only cured the office blues, it revved us up for our annual French pilgrimage more than ever.

Photography by Michal Popisil.