Stuttgart. Highlights of the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 will be documented by Mercedes-Benz Classic with the latest photographs. For journalists and bloggers, the photos will be continuously published on the multimedia database M@RS during the event. Up-to-the-minute photos will be available at the following link:
https://mercedes-benz-archive.com/marsMuseum/de/instance/ko/Goodwood-Festival-of-Speed-2018.xhtml?oid=40526215The “world’s biggest automotive garden party” has an anniversary to celebrate: like every summer since the inception in 1993, Chichester in the south of England is hosting the “Goodwood Festival of Speed”. Naturally, Mercedes-Benz Classic, a regular guest at the famous event on the country estate of the Duke of Richmond, will be joining in the celebrations. Mercedes-Benz Classic has been a participant from the outset with spectacular Silver Arrows. To mark the 25th anniversary in Goodwood, the brand with the star is again presenting some outstanding racing and record-breaking vehicles from the company’s own collection. These automotive icons will be piloted by Mercedes-Benz racing drivers and brand ambassadors Klaus Ludwig, Jochen Mass and Bernd Schneider.
Premiere of an exclusive showpiece
One of the highlights at the Festival of Speed will be the presentation of the original chassis of the record-breaking Mercedes-Benz T 80 from 1939. The “record-breaking giant” is being exhibited for the first time in public since its restoration by the specialists at Mercedes-Benz Classic. Even without the body, which is on show at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the authentically reconstructed spaceframe illustrates the form and dimensions of the impressive vehicle. Together with the V12 aircraft engine DB 603, of which an original cutaway version is installed, the exhibit affords a unique insight into the technology of the vehicle, which in its day achieved a maximum speed of up to 650 km/h, thereby setting the absolute world land speed record.
The experts at Mercedes-Benz Classic reconstructed the spaceframe, which acts as a substructure for the body, on the basis of original drawings. This means that the inner workings of the T 80 are presented just as they were engineered and built by Mercedes-Benz eight decades ago. In addition to the frame with major assemblies, the complete cockpit with leather steering wheel, pedals, instruments and driver’s seat, covered in the authentic fabric, is fully preserved in the original. The original body, including its spaceframe substructure and the wheels, has been part of the permanent exhibition at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart for many years.
In Goodwood, alongside the T 80, Mercedes-Benz Classic is presenting the chassis of the W 125 record-breaking car from 1938. This was the vehicle in which Rudolf Caracciola reached 432.7 km/h on the autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt in 1938, thereby setting a speed record for public roads which stood for almost 80 years and wasn’t broken until November 2017, and then only by a few km/h.
In keeping with the two chassis, the Stuttgart brand will also be represented at the Festival of Speed by a series of elaborately constructed 1:4 scale models of record-breaking cars. Produced by designers at Mercedes-Benz, they show record-breaking Mercedes-Benz cars from the period between 1936 and 1939. They also include the T 80 and the W 125 from 1938.
Racing legends in Goodwood
No fewer than five historic Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows will be on show at the Festival of Speed, some of them in action on the hill-climbing course in Goodwood. The origins of the Silver Arrows tradition will be represented by a Mercedes-Benz W 25 from 1934: the W 25 was the first Mercedes-Benz racing car for the 750-kilogram formula, which was introduced in 1934. Legend has it that the silver colour was due to the fact that, prior to the Eifel race at the Nürburgring, the mechanics had worked through the night to remove the white paint in a bid to meet the weight limit. The Mercedes-Benz W 125 dates from 1937. This was the vehicle in which, at the end of the season, Rudolf Caracciola was crowned European Grand Prix Champion for the second time after 1935.
The final stage of development of Stuttgart Grand Prix racing cars in the 1930s was the Mercedes-Benz 3-litre formula racing car W 154, which was used in 1938 and 1939. The vehicle on show in Goodwood dates from 1939. Mercedes-Benz landed a special coup in the same year with the 1.5-litre racing car W 165, which was constructed exclusively for the Tripoli Grand Prix. Its debut was also its only outing – the race ended with a phenomenal one-two finish for Mercedes-Benz. The second era of the Silver Arrows in the mid-1950s is represented by the Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing car W 196 R with free-standing wheels from 1955. This was the car in which Juan Manuel Fangio won the world title in 1954 and 1955.
Another racing legend is the 300 SLR, which Mercedes-Benz developed for the 1955 World Sports Car Championship. It was based on the successful Formula One racing car W 196 R. The 300 SLR’s superiority was impressively demonstrated by one-two finishes in the Mille Miglia, the Eifel race, the Swedish Grand Prix and the Targa Florio (Sicily) as well as by a one-two-three finish in the Tourist Trophy in Ireland and victory in the World Sports Car Championship.
Mercedes-Benz’s more recent racing history is symbolised by the CLK-LM, the winning car from the 1998 International FIA GT Championship. The most recent era of motor sport will be represented by the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 W05 Hybrid Formula One racing car, which in 2014 opened a new chapter in the uniquely successful history of Mercedes-Benz motor sport. This vehicle, in which Lewis Hamilton won the first of four driver’s titles so far for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS in 2014, will be on show in the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS paddock along with other Formula One racing cars of the team.
Festival of classic automobiles
Under the title “Festival of Speed – The Silver Jubilee”, Goodwood will celebrate its young 25-year history in splendid fashion this year. The Festival was launched in June 1993 as what was then a one-day event in celebration of automotive sporting culture. The organisers around the host, Lord March, expected up to 5,000 visitors. In fact, over 25,000 fans of sporting automobiles and motorcycles instantly accepted the invitation with the motto “ Relive the Glory of British Racing Green”.
Since then, the festival has continuously evolved – into one of the most famous dates in the calendar of mobile sporting culture. The range of vehicles on show extends from classic racing and sports cars to present-day super cars and motorcycles. Around 200,000 visitors are expected to attend over the course of the four days in this anniversary year.
Goodwood, which has also played host to the Goodwood Revival on the nearby Goodwood Circuit race track since 1998, has for many decades been imbued with the spirit of automotive sportiness: the hill-climbing course, which has been at the centre of the Festival of Speed since 1993, has its roots in the 1930s, when Frederick Gordon-Lennox, ninth Duke of Richmond and called “Freddie” by his race-loving friends, held the inaugural hill-climbing race for the Lancia Car Club.
This tradition was resurrected 25 years ago by his grandson, Charles Gordon-Lennox. The then Earl of March and Kinrara, Lord March for short, has held the title of eleventh Duke of Richmond since September 2017.
25 years of driving into the future
The Festival of Speed has evolved ever further over these 25 years – Lord March’s vision is thus driving into the future. In addition to the 1.16-mile (1.87-kilometre) hill-climbing course, since 2005 there has been the 2.5-kilometre “Rally Stage”, which is made up mainly of forest tracks. Since 2010, the Festival of Speed has opened with the “Moving Motor Show”, which takes place on the Thursday and in which some 20 international automotive manufacturers present their latest vehicles in dynamic driving action.
On Thursday, 12 July 2018, this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will once again kick off with the “Moving Motor Show”. This first day is the start of the “world’s biggest automotive garden party”, held against the setting of an English estate and in the adjoining park. This year, for the first time, the Duke’s family will also open the private “Library Lawn” to some of the visitors. Several hundred outstanding sporting vehicles will be on view in the paddocks, which are open to all Festival visitors. Many of them will set off from Friday (13 July 2018) until Sunday (15 July 2018) on the hill-climbing course or the “Rally Stage". The finale is the “Hillclimb Shootout” on the Sunday.
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018:
Mercedes-Benz Classic brand ambassadors
Klaus Ludwig
Born on 5 October 1949 in Bonn, Germany
Honoured with the title of “King Ludwig” by his fans, the outstanding racing driver and three-time DTM Champion Klaus Ludwig began his motor racing career in the early 1970s with slalom races, orientation rallies and touring car races. His first major successes included the German Motor Racing Championship (DRM) title in 1979 and 1981, and victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979, 1984 and 1985. Ludwig came to the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) in 1985, where he initially competed for Ford and won his first title in 1988. In 1989, he moved to the AMG-Mercedes team, with which he won two championship titles (1992 and 1994, runner-up in 1991) and a total of 19 race victories in the years up to 1994. In 1995 and 1996, he competed in the ITC (International Touring Car Championship) for Opel Team Rosberg. He subsequently returned to AMG-Mercedes, winning the driver and team trophy in the International FIA GT Championship together with Ricardo Zonta in 1998. Thereafter, he officially retired from motor sport, but competed once again in the new German Touring Car Masters (DTM) in 2000, ending the season and his motor racing career with a third-place finish in the overall rating in a Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM.
Jochen Mass
Born on 30 September 1946 in Dorfen near Erding, Germany
Jochen Mass, originally a trained seaman, began his varied career in motor sport in 1968 in touring car races for Alfa-Romeo and as a works driver for Ford from 1970 to 1975. During this period, he won the 24-Hour Race at Spa-Francorchamps in 1972. At the same time, he also took part in Formula 2 racing (1973) and competed in 105 Formula 1 Grands Prix (1973/74 with Surtees; 1975 to 1977 with McLaren; 1978 with ATS; 1979/80 with Arrows; 1982 with March). In 1984, Mass drove a Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC (C 107) in the Paris–Dakar Rally. After winning the German Sports Car Championship in 1985 and a stint as a works driver with Porsche until 1987, he joined the Sauber-Mercedes team as a works driver in 1988. He competed in Group C for the same team until 1991. In the new Silver Arrow, the Sauber-Mercedes C 9, Jochen Mass triumphed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 in the same team as Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens, going on to finish runner-up in the world championship in the same year. Three years later, Mass joined the team management of the DTM. Sir Stirling Moss once described him as a “soul mate” and as “a driver with an enormous feeling for racing cars and a great deal of expertise who is familiar with the racing history of every era”. It is therefore not by chance that Jochen Mass can nowadays be seen at the wheel for Mercedes-Benz at historical events. From the W 125 Silver Arrow to the Mercedes-Benz SSK – Jochen Mass knows and drives them all.
Bernd Schneider
Born on 20 July 1964 in St. Ingbert, Germany
Five DTM titles, 226 races in Mercedes-Benz racing touring cars as well as 102 podium finishes, making him the most successful driver of the championship series: Bernd Schneider is rightly known as “Mr DTM”. Although he competed in this racing series for around twenty years, his career began much earlier and also included other titles. He celebrated his first victories in karting and Formula 3. He also competed in Formula One, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA GT Championship, which he won in 1997. Yet his greatest stage was the DTM, where he celebrated his most glorious triumphs. From 1992, Schneider drove for AMG-Mercedes and won the 1995 German Touring Car Championship for the team, having finished third in the overall classification in both 1992 and 1993. The DTM having been recast as the German Touring Car Masters in 2000, Schneider won the title in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006. He also came second in 2002. In 2008, he announced his retirement from DTM, contesting his last race on 26 October 2008 at the Hockenheimring. Following on from this magnificent career, from 2010 until 2014 Bernd Schneider competed in the Mercedes-AMG customer sports programme, again posting one victory after another. In addition, Bernd Schneider passes on his expert knowledge to Mercedes-Benz customers as an instructor at the AMG Driving Academy and is also active as a test driver and brand ambassador for Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Benz Classic.
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018:
Mercedes-Benz Classic vehicles
Mercedes-Benz W 25 750-kilogram racing car, 1934
The W 25 was the first Mercedes-Benz racing car for the new Grand Prix formula introduced in 1934. The vehicle weight not including operating fluids and tyres was limited to 750 kilograms – as the organisers wanted to restrict the power of the racing cars and thus the possible top speeds. The designers at Mercedes-Benz opted for a classic vehicle concept with a front-mounted engine and driven rear wheels. The eight-cylinder in-line engine initially had a displacement of 3.4 litres and was equipped with a supercharger. In June 1934 Manfred von Brauchitsch won the very first race the W 25 entered, marking the start of the unique success story of the Silver Arrows. The W 25 helped Rudolf Caracciola win the European Championship title in 1935 followed by two Grand Prix victories in 1936. The exhibited vehicle is a reconstruction and was faithfully modelled on the car that won the Eifel race in 1934, right down to the racing marks.
Technical data
Cylinders: 8/in-line
Displacement: 3,364 cc
Output: 260 kW (354 hp)
Top speed: 280 km/h
Mercedes-Benz W 125 750-kilogram racing car, 1937
The Mercedes-Benz W 125 racing car was also designed according to the 750-kilogram formula that had determined the rules for Grand Prix racing cars since 1934. Following a less successful season for Mercedes-Benz in 1936, the new Silver Arrow was redeveloped from scratch. Newly appointed technical team manager Rudolf Uhlenhaut chose a revolutionary chassis design principle with soft spring characteristics and strong damping. The eight-cylinder in-line engine underwent a performance upgrade delivering up to 435 kW (592 hp). Success materialised immediately: not only did the W 125 win its first race, the Tripoli Grand Prix, it also achieved six wins, nine second places and six third places in 12 international races in 1937. It remained the most powerful car ever to start in a Grand Prix race right up until the early 1980s. In a W 125 Rudolf Caracciola won the European Championship, which became the current Formula One World Championship after the Second World War, for the second time in 1937.
Technical data
Cylinders: 8/in-line
Displacement: 5,663 cc
Output: 435 kW (592 hp)
Top speed: 320 km/h
Mercedes-Benz W 154 three-litre racing car, 1939
The W 154 was Mercedes-Benz‘s answer to the new regulations which were introduced for the Grand Prix European Championship in 1938. As the decisive technical factor, the displacement was now limited: a maximum of 3 litres with or 4.5 litres without a supercharger. In reducing the permitted displacement, the international motorsport association was aiming to lower engine output and, consequently, the speed of the racing cars. Mercedes-Benz again focused on the proven supercharging and developed a V12 engine which achieved 333 kW (453 hp) at 8000 rpm. In spite of the fact that the displacement was now virtually halved the W 154 lost practically no speed compared with its predecessor. In 1938 it won six of the nine most important races – including three triple victories and one double – and helped Rudolf Caracciola win his third European Championship title. In 1939 the thoroughly revised and performance-enhanced W 154 won five times in seven races – this time the most successful driver was Hermann Lang, with four of the five wins.
Technical data
Cylinders: V12
Displacement: 2,963 cc
Output: 344 kW (468 hp)
Top speed: around 300 km/h
Mercedes-Benz W 165 1.5-litre racing car, 1939
Mercedes-Benz developed the W 165 for one single race –p p p p the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix in Libya. The event organisers advertised the race in the Italian colony for voiturette formula vehicles with 1.5-litre engine only. This move was designed to oust the German competition as neither Mercedes-Benz (Tripoli winner in 1935, 1937 and 1938) nor Auto Union (winner in 1936) had a racing car for this class. But the racing department in Stuttgart took up the challenge and built an all-new Monoposto for the 1.5-litre formula within eight months. Two W 165 Silver Arrows lined up against the numerically superior opposition comprising 28 red-painted Alfa Romeo and Maserati racing cars on 7 May 1939 and achieved a triumphant double victory: Hermann Lang won the spectacular desert race for the third time, Rudolf Caracciola finished second, and the fastest Italian car crossed the finish line a good 4 minutes behind.
Technical data
Cylinders: V8
Displacement: 1,493 cc
Output: 187 kW (254 hp)
Top speed: 272 km/h
Mercedes-Benz W 125 twelve-cylinder record car chassis, 1938
Following the record week in October 1937 which was not at all satisfactory for the Stuttgart-based team, the Mercedes-Benz record vehicle was tested in a wind tunnel and thoroughly revised. The bodyshell was further improved to give it a sensational drag coefficient of just 0.17, made possible by cooling the engine with ice. In order to be able to manage without the conventional cooling air inlet and so to reduce wind resistance, a box filled with around 100 litres of ice and water was mounted in front of the radiator. This meant that the air inlet could be reduced to the size needed for the intake air. Two additional venturis helped increase the output of the 5.6-litre twelve-cylinder engine to 562 kW (765 hp). It was in this completely redeveloped record-breaking car that Rudolf Caracciola reached 432.7 km/h on the motorway between Frankfurt and Darmstadt in January 1938. A record on public roads, which stood for almost 80 years.
Technical data
Cylinders: V12
Total displacement: 5,577 cc
Output: 562 kW (765 hp)
Top speed: 437 km/h
Mercedes-Benz T 80 record car chassis, 1939
The T 80 record car can be traced back to racing driver Hans Stuck, who in 1936 was aiming to become the world‘s fastest man. He had a record-breaking car designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Daimler-Benz, which was to be powered by a Mercedes-Benz aeroengine. It was calculated that an output of 2,206 kW (3,000 hp) to 2,574 kW (3,500 hp) would be necessary to reach the target speed of 600 to 650 km/h, for which the DB 603 aeroengine still in development was deemed sufficient. The record attempt planned for February 1940 on the motorway at Dessau was thwarted by the Second World War: the engine was removed, and the car went into storage. The original body with its tubular-frame substructure has been on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum for some time, whereas the chassis is being exhibited for the first time here. To convey a realistic impression, it has been completed using a faithfully reconstructed tubular frame and a DB 603 cutaway engine.
Technical data
Cylinders: V12
Displacement: 44,522 cc
Output (planned): 2,206 kW (3,000 hp) to 2,574 kW (3,500 hp)
Top speed (planned): 600 to 650 km/h
Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Formula One racing car, 1955
The W 196 R marked Mercedes-Benz‘s return to Grand Prix sport in 1954 following a 15-year hiatus. The new Formula One car was designed based on new regulations that had just come into force, stipulating a maximum displacement of 2.5 litres. Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling landed a double victory at its very first race on 4 July 1954 in Reims. The futuristic-looking version designed for fast race tracks lined up with a streamlined body. However, the version with open wheels was used for most Formula One races in 1954 and 1955. This version was more suitable for twisty tracks because the driver always had the front wheels in view. This version‘s debut in the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in August 1954 likewise ended in victory for Juan Manuel Fangio. The W 196 R achieved three further wins in 1954, followed by an impressive six victories the following year, with Fangio being crowned Formula One World Champion in both years.
Technical data
Cylinders: 8/in-line
Displacement: 2,497 cc
Output: 188 kW (256 hp) to 213 kW (290 hp)
Top speed: up to 300 km/h
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR racing sports car (W 196 S)
Mercedes-Benz developed the 300 SLR (W 196 S) for the 1955 Sports Car World Championship. It was based on the successful W 196 R Formula One racing car. The main difference besides the body was the engine: the racing sports car did not have to comply with the Formula One displacement limit and was powered by a three-litre version of the eight-cylinder in-line engine, which ran on regular premium-grade petrol rather than special racing fuel. Its high performance potential and unrivalled durability and reliability made the 300 SLR far superior to its competitors. After the still unsurpassed record-breaking victory achieved by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson at the 1955 Mille Miglia, the first race the 300 SLR entered, the car continued to impress in no uncertain terms: double victories at the Eifel race, the Swedish Grand Prix and the Targa Florio (Sicily), a triple victory at the Tourist Trophy in Ireland, and victory in the 1955 Sports Car World Championship.
Technical data
Cylinders: 8/in-line
Displacement: 2,982 cc
Output: 222 kW (302 hp)
Top speed: more than 300 km/h
Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM GT-racing sports car, 1998
The sports car scene was revived in 1997 with the introduction of the FIA GT Championship. Mercedes-Benz and AMG developed the CLK-GTR for the new race series in just 128 days. Powered by a six-litre V12 engine, it dominated the 1997 season, winning six of eleven races, including four double victories. At the end of the season, AMG-Mercedes took the team title and Bernd Schneider won the drivers‘ title. The further developed CLK-LM equipped with a five-litre V8 engine arrived at the end of June 1998 to replace the CLK‑GTR - and it proved even more dominant in the races than its predecessor: not only did it win its very first race at the Hockenheimring, it also won the following seven races that season. After the two wins for the CLK-GTR, this record-breaking performance secured yet another team title for AMG-Mercedes. At a tense finale in Laguna Seca, California, Klaus Ludwig won the FIA GT Championship drivers‘ title together with the Brazilian Ricardo Zonta.
Technical data
Cylinders: V8
Displacement: 4,986 cc
Output: 441 kW (600 hp)
Top speed: 360 km/h
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 W05 Hybrid Formula One racing car, 2014
In the 2014 season Formula One experienced the birth of revolutionary regulations. With immediate effect the focus was on hybrid power in the champions league of motorsport. The F1 W05 Hybrid Silver Arrow redesigned from scratch was the most complex Formula One car Mercedes-Benz had built to date. The vehicle was driven by the PU106A Hybrid Power Unit, a 1.6-litre V6 combustion engine with a single-stage turbocharger and compressor. This was combined with the new hybrid energy recuperation system (ERS) with electric motors capable of processing both kinetic energy and waste heat energy. With these and many other innovative technologies an efficiency increase of more than 30 percent on the previous year was achieved.
The new F1 W05 Hybrid helped the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 team win the Constructors‘ World Championship in 2014 and Lewis Hamilton his second World Championship title in the same year.
Technical data
Cylinders: V6
Displacement: 1,600 cc
Energy recuperation system
output: 120 kW (161 hp)
