Friday, July 1st: the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the largest annual motorsports event in the UK, has just begun at Goodwood, West Sussex in the south of England.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed was begun by one of Britain's aristocracy, the Earl of March, whose aim was to show racing cars running in their natural element - and visible to the general public, with an annual show from the grounds of his family's vast estate at Goodwood. Nowadays, many European automobile makers have their exhibition booths proudly set up at the venue, the event resembling an outdoor motor show. The private hill climb course is set into a vast hilly landscape, beside which sit a multitude of racing machines including grand prix cars, Le Mans-winning contenders, current F1 racers, historically significant machines and modern supercars, all on display in the paddock.

The 1991 Le Mans-winning Mazda 787B, which recently carried out a pair of demonstration runs at La Sarthe in June, was brought to Goodwood after a request from Mazda UK. The 787B is scheduled to perform in front of some 300,000 spectators over the three days of the festival. The car arrived on June 30th, and after undergoing inspections and maintenance, was deemed ready for its first run up Goodwood Hill on July 1st. In the demonstration runs, ex-Formula 1 driver and Le Mans veteran Mike Wilds and current Mazda works driver Mark Ticehurst will be driving the 787B. Mike Ticehurst had his first stint in the car on June 30th. He went up the hill making sure the steering, brakes and other critical components were all in proper order. Looking a little tense before his ascent, he later said, “The tyres were new and it was my first time driving the car at Goodwood, so I decided to take it easy. I will be pushing tomorrow.” Mike Wilds drove the hill climb course in the afternoon.

A huge number of motorsport fans are expected to descend on July 2nd and 3rd for the climax of the event.