British GP2 pilot Sam Bird is to appear at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed driving two Formula One cars from two very different eras up the famous hillclimb course.
The ART driver will first take the wheel of the Marlboro McLaren M23 that Emerson Fittipaldi drove to the Formula One drivers’ title in 1974 in a season that saw take three victories, reach the podium four more times and narrowly beat Clay Regazzoni to take his second championship.
Then Bird will switch to modern times with a drive in this year’s bang-up-to-date Cosworth-powered Williams FW32.
The festival is, to many motorsport fans, the highlight of the racing season, beating even the British Grand Prix, and featuring an unmatched level of access to historic and contemporary cars from all racing disciplines, their drivers and owners as well as legends of the sport.
It takes place at the Goodwood country estate on July 2-4 and this year will feature an extra event, The Moving Motor Show on the Thursday preceding the weekend.
Bird said of the festival: “I’m quite passionate about the history of Formula One so to drive the ’74 title-winning McLaren will be a real honour. I am grateful to [owner] Richard Meins for the opportunity.
“I am also really pleased to get behind the wheel of this year’s Williams and I would like to thank Sir Frank, Patrick Head and everyone at Williams for calling upon me again this year.
“I am not under contract with Williams, or with any other F1 team at this stage, so for them to ask me to drive one of their cars at Goodwood for the second year is a real compliment.”
To find out more about this year’s Festival of Speed, visit the Goodwood website here.