The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed took place last weekend, and since it is one of the most iconic events in car and motorsport culture, we looked for ways to replicate it so you could all get your Goodwood fix.
Last year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed celebrated its 30-year anniversary. It is a mainstay for all kinds of motoring fanatics and simply a must-attend event if you are a fan of cars, as all kinds of vehicles can be seen there. Whether it is road-going supercars, racing legends from decades ago or even the machinery being raced today, the Festival of Speed truly is a celebration of all things motoring.
Just this year, there were classic F1 cars the Gordon Murray T.50S Niki Lauda road-going fancar, motorcycles and McLaren's incredible Solus GT. But the honours for the fastest time of this year's event went to Romain Dumas, setting a 43.98 second run on the 1.16-mile course in the same 1,400 horsepower electric Ford Supervan 4.2 he took on Pikes Peak with.
Surprisingly, the Goodwood Hillclimb is not that well represented in sim racing. You can count on one hand with fingers to spare the number of titles in which it is possible to recreate the Festival of Speed - which is exactly what we are going to do.
Gunnar333 has done an immaculate job recreating the environment. And the best thing about Assetto Corsa? Any car, whether it be official first-party content or a mod, can be driven as anything well and truly goes at the Festival of Speed.
You can try to beat the all-time record in the McMurtry Spéirling, or you can tackle the course in an overpowered road car if you are feeling really brave. EDIT 18/07/2024: The track model has been converted over into rFactor 2, it can be found here.
But what about when it comes to officially licenced first-party content? Where does the hillclimb appear?
Along with Spa and Hockenheim, the Goodwood Hillclimb featured in Rennsport as early as the first Summit in May 2022. On that occasion, many of those attending drove a Porsche Mission R up the course and it was now-reigning ESL R1 Fall Major champion Josh Rogers who set the fastest time.
Of course with Rennsport still not being a full release, there are not that many cars. You have probably heard it being referred to as "just another GT3-only sim" when that is far from true. There are four GT3 vehicles, but also a pair of LMDh, GT4 and TCR cars just to name but a few. Nevertheless, still probably not enough if you aim to fully replicate the mass variety of the Festival of Speed.
Unfortunately, the PlayStation 3 game's servers have been discontinued so there is no online play, not that you would need online to drive the Hillclimb. But thankfully it does not hamper your ability to play the game at all, so you can still load it up if you have your PS3 collecting dust at the back of your high shelf.
Of course, the car selection is all pretty dated for the most part since GT6 was released in 2013. Nevertheless, still a lot of great choices, like Ayrton Senna's old cars from his time racing British F3 and his 1985 Lotus. Plus some works of fiction, like the ultra-fast Red Bull X-cars.
They did say "two tracks" in their February 2024 Development Update post, so maybe they are rescanning a pre-existing one? Or maybe they are doing a third and it very well could be the Goodwood Hillclimb. Considering they have the Mt. Washington Auto Road hillclimb, it is not unprecedented for iRacing to have hillclimb courses.
Plus, in these development update posts, there is coded word of a "shocking" vehicle that will "propel iRacing to areas not yet explored". Can we seriously read into that?
It may be a tin foil hat scenario but the uses of the words "shocking" and "propel" seem pretty on the nose, could the McMurtry Spéirling be on its way into iRacing? Considering the all-electric Porsche Mission R has incredibly low participation in its official series, alluding to an electric car does make you wonder which EV would be worth the resources to scan into the sim?
The Spéirling was immensely popular after it shattered the all-time record, so if any electric car would generate hype and interest, it would be that. Of course that is not even factoring in the second hint, a fan car. The only electric fan car is the Spéirling so if it is truly getting added to iRacing, what better track to introduce to the sim than the one where it made its name?
Are there any other games with the Goodwood Hillclimb that we missed? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
Last year, the Goodwood Festival of Speed celebrated its 30-year anniversary. It is a mainstay for all kinds of motoring fanatics and simply a must-attend event if you are a fan of cars, as all kinds of vehicles can be seen there. Whether it is road-going supercars, racing legends from decades ago or even the machinery being raced today, the Festival of Speed truly is a celebration of all things motoring.
Just this year, there were classic F1 cars the Gordon Murray T.50S Niki Lauda road-going fancar, motorcycles and McLaren's incredible Solus GT. But the honours for the fastest time of this year's event went to Romain Dumas, setting a 43.98 second run on the 1.16-mile course in the same 1,400 horsepower electric Ford Supervan 4.2 he took on Pikes Peak with.
Surprisingly, the Goodwood Hillclimb is not that well represented in sim racing. You can count on one hand with fingers to spare the number of titles in which it is possible to recreate the Festival of Speed - which is exactly what we are going to do.
Assetto Corsa
It was always going to be a bit of a formality, was it not? In fact, how about we create a new entry in the 'Rules of the Internet': If it exists, there is an Assetto Corsa mod for it. The Goodwood Hillclimb is no exception, and thanks to OverTake user @Gunnar333 you can download it right now.Gunnar333 has done an immaculate job recreating the environment. And the best thing about Assetto Corsa? Any car, whether it be official first-party content or a mod, can be driven as anything well and truly goes at the Festival of Speed.
You can try to beat the all-time record in the McMurtry Spéirling, or you can tackle the course in an overpowered road car if you are feeling really brave. EDIT 18/07/2024: The track model has been converted over into rFactor 2, it can be found here.
But what about when it comes to officially licenced first-party content? Where does the hillclimb appear?
Rennsport
The latest player in the sim racing space finally entered open beta on July 10, so after two long years it is now accessible to everyone. If you download Rennsport for free via the Epic Games Store, part of the track selection is the Goodwood Hillclimb.Along with Spa and Hockenheim, the Goodwood Hillclimb featured in Rennsport as early as the first Summit in May 2022. On that occasion, many of those attending drove a Porsche Mission R up the course and it was now-reigning ESL R1 Fall Major champion Josh Rogers who set the fastest time.
Of course with Rennsport still not being a full release, there are not that many cars. You have probably heard it being referred to as "just another GT3-only sim" when that is far from true. There are four GT3 vehicles, but also a pair of LMDh, GT4 and TCR cars just to name but a few. Nevertheless, still probably not enough if you aim to fully replicate the mass variety of the Festival of Speed.
Gran Turismo 6
The final entry on this list marks the first time that the Goodwood Hillclimb was introduced officially into a racing game. Gran Turismo 6 had the track available under the Goodwood Festival of Speed event and in Arcade Mode under the time trial mode.Unfortunately, the PlayStation 3 game's servers have been discontinued so there is no online play, not that you would need online to drive the Hillclimb. But thankfully it does not hamper your ability to play the game at all, so you can still load it up if you have your PS3 collecting dust at the back of your high shelf.
Of course, the car selection is all pretty dated for the most part since GT6 was released in 2013. Nevertheless, still a lot of great choices, like Ayrton Senna's old cars from his time racing British F3 and his 1985 Lotus. Plus some works of fiction, like the ultra-fast Red Bull X-cars.
Future Inclusions
That is all! We could not find any more than a third-party AC and rF2 mod, Rennsport and GT6. But there could be another title joining that shortlist. In their May 2024 Development Update post, the iRacing team alluded to the fact they were scanning three tracks in England. We speculated as to which tracks they could be, and two of our guesses were correct: Thruxton and Cadwell Park.They did say "two tracks" in their February 2024 Development Update post, so maybe they are rescanning a pre-existing one? Or maybe they are doing a third and it very well could be the Goodwood Hillclimb. Considering they have the Mt. Washington Auto Road hillclimb, it is not unprecedented for iRacing to have hillclimb courses.
Plus, in these development update posts, there is coded word of a "shocking" vehicle that will "propel iRacing to areas not yet explored". Can we seriously read into that?
It may be a tin foil hat scenario but the uses of the words "shocking" and "propel" seem pretty on the nose, could the McMurtry Spéirling be on its way into iRacing? Considering the all-electric Porsche Mission R has incredibly low participation in its official series, alluding to an electric car does make you wonder which EV would be worth the resources to scan into the sim?
The Spéirling was immensely popular after it shattered the all-time record, so if any electric car would generate hype and interest, it would be that. Of course that is not even factoring in the second hint, a fan car. The only electric fan car is the Spéirling so if it is truly getting added to iRacing, what better track to introduce to the sim than the one where it made its name?
Are there any other games with the Goodwood Hillclimb that we missed? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
