In the afternoon we headed to the Motor Circuit. The ST is not a track car, something that became apparent quite quickly. Five cars were allowed on track at a time, running for 15 minutes solid before returning to the pits for a driver change. This happened constantly for three hours, and had already happened for another group of journalists that morning. Goodwood’s circuit is fast, and so, as I rolled gently onto the brakes at the end of the pit straight for the first time, I realised the brake pads were well past their best.
Did it matter, though? Not really. Anything short of a purpose-built track car would have struggled to survive the number of laps the STs were subjected to, particularly when the ambient temperature was hovering around 30 degrees centigrade.
After comments of ‘the brakes are tired’ had subsided, the wider consensus was, once again, that the ST was balanced, more than quick enough and, ultimately, very good fun. I left the launch wondering how Ford could have got it so right when so much had changed and there was a real risk it wouldn’t be as involving or fun to drive as the old car. I was desperate to get back behind the wheel of one as soon as possible.