The 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed will pay tribute to the innovation and achievements in motoring and motorsport by Mazda with a spectacular Central Feature in honour of the Japanese manufacturer.
Mazda, renowned for defying convention in its approach to automotive engineering, has also chosen Goodwood as the setting to showcase its range of SKYACTIV vehicles.
The Central Feature, created by renowned sculptor Gerry Judah and Mazda, will provide a spectacular backdrop to the Festival of Speed, which is preceded by the Moving Motor Show presented by the AA in association with The Telegraph, and runs from June 25-28.
Set spectacularly against the iconic sight of Goodwood House, the Central Feature will celebrate Mazda’s 95-year history, and its numerous international motor sport achievements.
Mazda is the only Japanese manufacturer to have won the world’s most prestigious motor race – the Le Mans 24 Hours – and the victorious rotary-engined 787B, with its distinctive sound, is certain to be a crowd favourite as it winds its way up Goodwood’s iconic 1.16-mile Hillclimb, along with many other examples of its sporting success and road-going innovation.
Further motor sport success has been achieved in touring cars, the World Rally Championship, Andros Trophy ice racing and sportscar competition in the USA - in which Mazda’s pioneering SKYACTIV-D turbodiesel technology is breaking new ground currently.
Every era of Mazda’s motor sport achievement will be marked by some incredible competition cars both on the Hillclimb and the Forest Rally Stage as the Festival of Speed celebrates the theme ‘Flat-out and fearless; racing on the edge’, while the Moving Motor Show on June 25, will showcase many of the key models from Mazda’s current range.
Lord March said: “The theme for this year’s Festival of Speed is ‘Flat-Out and Fearless: Racing on the Edge,’ and Mazda’s continual push to reject engineering conventions and strive for something unique perfectly aligns with this philosophy. We are delighted to be celebrating Mazda’s motor sport achievements and pioneering road-car technologies with the Central Feature, and to help it showcase its brand-new cars to an international community of car enthusiasts and the world’s automotive media – an audience that only Goodwood can attract.”
Jeremy Thompson, Managing Director, Mazda Motors UK, said: “Mazda has a long and proud heritage in racing, and through motor sport has demonstrated its engineering challenger spirit through the rotary engine, its Le Mans win and the LMP2 SKYACTIV diesel prototype currently racing in the United States. This spirit is also encompassed by both our historical and current road cars, being the only manufacturer to perfect the rotary engine, the only manufacturer to use the Millar Cycle engine, and the manufacturer who developed the world’s smallest V6 engine.
We were also the manufacturer who defied convention by bringing an affordable two seat sports car to market when all other manufacturers were deserting that market segment. Mazda also has more cars, and cars with Mazda engines, racing each weekend in the United States than any other manufacturer and it is all these landmarks and achievements that we will be celebrating at Goodwood this year.”
