FOS on two wheels | GRR
In just hours the 2021 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will get underway, welcoming hundreds of exclusive cars and motorcycles to the glorious Goodwood Estate.
As a pilot event under the government’s Events Research Programme (ERP) there are conditions for entry, details of which you can find here, but they’re a small price to pay for access to the biggest motorsport event for two years, and we’re now excited to reveal some of the incredible motorcycles that will be gracing the Hill this weekend.
For 2021, four motorcycle classes will feature (to 39 car classes), comprising Road Bikes (Batch: 6, Class: 32), Racing Motorcycles (Batch: 3 Class: 12), and the 50 Years of Suzuki in Grand Prix Racing (Batch: 3, Class: 11) and 110 Years of the Mountain Course (Batch: 3, Class 10) celebrations.
In total almost 70 motorcycles will take to the iconic 1.16-mile stretch of tarmac, giving spectators a glimpse at both the most iconic and successful of racing machines, and the most cutting-edge two-wheelers.
The Road Bike class will comprise some of the newest and most exclusive motorcycles in existence, with the likes of the pioneering Langen joining the outrageous 200PS+ ‘World’s Fastest Bobber’. While both feature innovative twins, the Langen makes 75PS (55kW) from its Italian-built Vins fuel-injected 250cc two-stroke Vee, while the Bobber boasts a supercharged and nitrous-injected version of Triumph’s 1,200cc parallel unit. Also joining them will be BMW’s M1000RR, Harley-Davidson’s Pan America and the all-new Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS, among others.
In its Golden Jubilee year CCM will launch two new motorcycles at the Festival, with 12-time World Trials Champion, Dougie Lampkin, pulling the covers off on Thursday at 15:00, before riding a Red Bull liveried bike up the Hill. He will be joined by Carl Fogarty, aboard a CCM Maverick.
Making a rare appearance on tarmac will be Britain’s first ever Dakar winner, Sam Sunderland, aboard his 2021 KTM 450 Factory rally bike. Joining him in the Racing Motorcycles group is stuntman extraordinaire, Mattie Griffin, who will no doubt be hanging off his 2020 BMW F900R up the Hill.
Eleven motorcycles will feature in the 50 Years of Suzuki in Grand Prix Racing, including Barry Sheene’s first championship winning Suzuki, the 1973 Seeley-Suzuki TR500. Barry’s son Freddie, meanwhile, will be entering a pair of RG500s dating from 1976 and ‘77 respectively. Understandably, travel restrictions mean that we can’t announce all riders just yet, but Kenny Roberts Jr. is also confirmed, riding the 2000 RGV500 XR80.
But by far the largest two-wheeled celebration will unfold in the 110 Years of the Mountain Course class. Almost 40 bikes, from the inaugural TT-winning Norton 6hp Twin to Peter Hickman's Isle of Man TT lap record-setting BMW S1000RR will tear up the hillclimb, treating viewers to a spectacular history lesson. Giacomo Agostini will be riding aboard his 1965 MV Agusta 500, while other TT legends include John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop and Jenny Tinmouth.