Highlands and Hampton Downs owner, Tony Quinn, has ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett to thank for his invitation to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed from July 4-7.
Whiddett has been one of the stars of the world-renowned gala-style motorsport event since he made his debut in 2014 and returns this year to debut his latest (and first non-Mazda) drift build, a wild Liberty Walk bodykit-equipped Lamborghini Hurucan, nicknamed ‘Slambo!’
“My first Goodwood in 2014 was an incredible event and one of the highlights of my career,” says Whiddett. “Lord March (now the Duke of Richmond) who hosts the event, gave me the award for ‘Most Thrilling Driver’ that first year and he’s invited me back every year since then.
“It’s nice to be able to return a favour to Tony. He’s been so supportive of my career. He gave me my first opportunity to race a GT car a couple of years ago and I’ve really enjoyed the GT racing that I’ve done. He helped me set up my Mad Mike Motorsport shop at Hampton Downs and I was also the first driver to drift the track at Highlands.”
While Whiddett will be busy with Slambo at Goodwood Quinn will be competing in the hill climb in the heavily modified Ford Focus he’s raced at Pikes Peak for the last three years. Quinn is also shipping over one of his prized possessions from the Highlands Motorsport Museum, the Benetton Formula 1 car that Michael Schumacher scored his first points in.
This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will celebrate Schumacher’s career with a collection of his famous cars, family, friends, team-mates and former rivals coming together in a unique tribute to one of the greatest drivers of all time. Schumacher turns 50 this year and 2019 also marks the 25th anniversary of the first of his seven Formula 1 world championships.
A third Kiwi, Warwick Mortimer, who’s a member at Hampton Downs and Highlands, is also making the trip this year to show off his recently rebuilt Mazdaspeed March 84G sports car.
The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Speed Kings – Motorsport’s Record Breakers’ and another legend of the sport, Sir Jackie Stewart, will be the guest of honour.
