Silver Flag

After last year’s Ferrari theme, and previous events celebrating Abarth, Maserati and other Italian machinery, the Vernasca Silver Flag, to be run this year on 15-17 June, will celebrate “The Best of British”.  The "Dynamic Restoration and Conservation Concourse for Competition Cars" centres around the Castll’Arquato-Vernasca hillclimb on roads closed to the public, but for which there is no timing and no competitive element.  It’s all just for fun and the camaraderie that organizer, Claudio Casale seems to be so well able to encourage amongst the participants.  Between three or four runs up the hill over the weekend, drivers have lunches, dinners, and plenty of time for socializing.  On Sunday night prizes are awarded to winners of the Concorso di restauro e conservazione.  Always reckoned to be one of the friendliest and enjoyable events of the season, the Vernasca Silver Flag attracts a fine array of Touring, GT and single seaters bent on having a good time.

The Aviation Show at Goodwood

The third dedicated Goodwood Aviation Show will be held this summer as a fully integrated attraction at the popular Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show on 28 June-1 July. 

The Goodwood Aviation Show is being relocated within the Festival of Speed’s Goodwood Parkland site for the very first time, rather than being based at the Goodwood Aerodrome, as in the previous two years.  This will make the Aviation Show fully accessible to the 180,000+ visitors that are forecast to attend this summer’s event.

With this new on-site location, the Show is set to expand considerably, with some additional attractions planned for the first time, including a dedicated military and civilian careers area. 

As in the past two years, the Goodwood Aviation Show will enable manufacturers and agents of fixed wing and rotary aircraft, as well as aviation service suppliers, to showcase their latest aircraft designs and products to both a specialist aviation audience and the enthusiastic Goodwood public.
 
Over 20 exhibitors have confirmed their participation so far, already exceeding the total number of exhibitors at the 2011 event, with more still set to follow as Goodwood has increased the available exhibition space.  So far these include Pilatus, Honeywell, Nicholson McLaren, Transair, and many others.

Pleasure flights for the public will be available daily.  Air displays, always a highly popular Festival attraction, will this year increase in number and range from the Red Arrows to the UK public debut of the Air Bus in flight.

Can-Am Versus World Sportscars

On the automotive front, this year’s Festival of Speed will mark two key anniversaries, with the peak of sports car racing 40 years ago, and the launch of the exciting Group C era ten years later.

The 1972 season was a pivotal year in sports car racing.  In America, Can-Am was at its peak, while in Europe a change in regulations prompted an intriguing fight between Ferrari, Matra and Alfa Romeo.  Although ostensibly similar in appearance, these cars were very different in design philosophy, highlighting fundamental differences between European and American racing – technical sophistication versus raw power.  A special class at the 2012 Festival of Speed will bring these cars together, providing a unique opportunity to see these sports racing prototypes in action.

A decade later, the Group C era began in 1982, and went on to become one of the most competitive in sports car racing history, with an unprecedented number of factory teams.  This summer’s Festival of Speed will celebrate 30 years since the launch of Group C with a dedicated class including cars from Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan, Aston Martin, Lancia and Peugeot, with many in the running for fastest time of the weekend.