Rossi makes his Goodwood debut

Colin Smith
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Valentino Rossi rides the 60th anniversary livery Yamaha M1 MotoGP machine. Photos/ Colin Smith.

Valentino Rossi rides the 60th anniversary livery Yamaha M1 MotoGP machine. Photos/ Colin Smith.

MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi was the final day star attraction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Sunday.

Relaxing after his Dutch TT victory at Assen the previous day – the 111th GP victory of his career – the Italian star arrived straight from the Assen podium for a Saturday night gala dinner at Goodwood House.

On Sunday he made his Goodwood debut riding a retro-liveried Yamaha M1 MotoGP machine on the course as part of celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Japanese company.

The unveiling of the yellow and black bike commemorated Yamaha Motor‘s 60th anniversary and motorcycling legends Kenny Roberts, Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read also took part in the celebration of Yamaha‘s racing heritage.

Switching to four wheels ``The Doctor'' drove the Mazda 787B Le Mans winner (above) and also a Lancia Delta S4 Group B rally car.

 

Rossi then spoke to a packed crowd from the balcony of Goodwood House before switching his attention to four wheels in the afternoon.

He drove one of the star cars of the 2015 festival – the four-rotor Mazda 787B from 1991 which remains the only Japanese car to win the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race – as well as an ex-Henri Toivonen Lancia Delta S4 Group B rally car.

"It‘s been an incredible weekend,’’ said Rossi.

 "I was barely off the podium before immediately heading to the United Kingdom, but I‘m very happy that I got to attend the Festival of Speed at Goodwood, it has been a real pleasure.

"I knew about the event because I saw videos of it, but I had never been there before and it‘s even more impressive than I imagined. It is a very large venue and there were many fans but also lots of famous riders, drivers and other VIPs which gave it a great atmosphere, especially when I rode my Yamaha YZR-M1 up and down the hill."

Ken Block using all the road and a little of the lawn in the "Hoonicorn" Ford Mustang.

 

The competitive element of the annual festival – a run-off for the top-10 cars – was won by a 780-horespower ``Time Attack’’ Subaru Impreza driven by Olly Clark who scorched up the straw bale-lined 1.86km course in 44.91s.

Clark is the British Time Attack Champion and also the son of twice-RAC Rally winner, Roger Clark.

Sir Stirling Moss motors past Goodwood House in the 1955 Mille Miglia winning Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.

Italian motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini on an MV Agusta.

The big-winged Mitjet Pikes Peak Mini of French ice racing ace Jean Phillipe Dayraut was second quickest in 45.51s and New Zealander Rod Millen claimed third in his 1994 Pikes Peak Toyota Celica clocking 45.80s.

The unique six-wheel March-Cosworth 2-4-0 Formula 1 car from 1976  driven by Jeremy Smith was the fastest of the single-seaters and the best of modern racing cars was the GT3 specification Nissan GT-R Nismo driven by Alex Buncombe.

Andy Newall uses 8.0-litre Chevrolet power to fire the 1972 McLaren M8F Can-Am car up the hillclimb.

 

New Zealand's ``Mad Mike'' Whiddett puts on a show for the Goodwood crowd.

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