Porsche at Goodwood Festival of Speed
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1973 Porsche 917/30 Can Am
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Porsche
3rd July, 2009
With an unbeaten record of 16 victories in the Le Mans 24
Hours race, the reputation of Porsche has been founded on success in the high speed, high pressure motor
sport environment. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Porsche 917, the first Porsche to win Le
Mans outright, and it is therefore appropriate that the theme of England's 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed
(3rd - 5th July) is ‘True Grit – Epic Feats of Endurance’.
To commemorate this birthday occasion in style, a stunning selection of examples of the 917 – many on
loan from the new Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany - will be present at Goodwood, including the 1970 Le
Mans winner and the distinctively-liveried 917/20 ‘Pink Pig’.
A novel feature of the Festival of Speed is that it seeks to reunite famous race drivers with cars of
the type they raced in period. Porsche enthusiasts visiting Goodwood will be able to see Richard Attwood,
former F1 driver and 1970 Le Mans winner for Porsche, driving a 917; sports car racing driver Brian Redman
will be behind the wheel of the 917/30 CanAm racer; David Piper, who bought a 917 new from the factory in
1969, will be driving his own car; and Jackie Oliver, who won Le Mans in 1969, will be reunited with an
evocative Gulf-liveried 917.
Naturally, there will be many other examples of the Porsche marque in action at Goodwood. There are, in
fact, two exclusive UK debuts in the 'Super Car Run", a renowned showcase of the fastest and most exclusive
road-going sports cars. The latest Porsche 911 GT3 – ten years since the now-legendary GT3 series began –
will be making its first UK appearance, and also guaranteed to draw attention will be the first public
unveiling of the new Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo.
Visitors to the Festival of Speed will also be able to experience Porsche power personally courtesy of
driving consultants from the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone, who will be demonstrating the
performance and handling of the Porsche Cayenne on a specially designed dynamics course at the Porsche
Driving Experience area.
For visitors wishing to 'refuel' themselves, the Porsche Café Le Mans will be once more situated on the
outside of the track near the footbridge, offering meals and refreshments.
The Porsche Café Le Mans will also host the UK debut of a remarkable 1/6th scale model of the Porsche
917. Produced by Dynamic Concept of Paris, this model offers such outstanding levels of detail that it would
not look out of place alongside the legendary 917 examples in the paddock.
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