A pair of bright-blue cars linking the past and present with Daytona Beach will participate in this weekend’s annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex, England.
The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette Daytona Prototype, which races in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, will be joined by Sir Malcolm Campbell’s legendary Bluebird V, which set world speed records on the sands of Daytona Beach. The festival annually attracts 200,000 visitors to the Goodwood House.
Coming three weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans – which had a strong presence from both GRAND-AM and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, the appearance of the Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP is another indication of the growing international interest in American sports car racing on its eve of its historic reunification in 2014.
This will be the second visit for the Bluebird V to the event, which was started by Lord March in 1993. Campbell set a land speed record of 276.82 mph in the vehicle on the sands of Daytona Beach in 1935. The car – measuring more than 28 feet long and weighing nearly five tons – was also at Goodwood in 2004. The vehicle made the trek overseas from its permanent home at the Daytona International Speedway Tickets and Tours Building.
Coincidently, the Spirit of Daytona DP is painted in a similar shade of blue. While the Bluebird V will be on static display at the festival, the DP will participate in the prestigious hillclimb on a challenging 1.16 mile course on the festival grounds. Regular Spirit of Daytona driver Ricky Taylor will be joined by GoPro VIP Nick Woodman and team sponsor and former driver Sonny Whelen in the DP. Six runs up the hill are scheduled – two each on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
This also marks the second time that a Daytona Prototype will visit Goodwood. The first was the No. 59 Brumos Porsche/Fabcar 011, which was on display at the festival in 2005. It was driven up the hill by Hurley Haywood and JC France – who scored the first overall victory for a DP in that car – and Troy Flis of Spirit of Daytona, who prepared the car for the festival.
Source : Grand-Am