Lotus To Star At 2012 Goodwood Festival Of Speed

Lotus will be the featured marque at this summer’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world’s biggest car culture event, celebrating its glorious history and toasting the present.

As well as firing up some of the most exciting classic and current Lotus models, Group Lotus is preparing a dramatic sculpture that will become a centrepiece of Goodwood House’s stately grounds during the June 28 to July 1 festival.

Goodwood and Lotus have a lot in common: Passionate about the past and the future, for petrolheads they represent the very best of British. The shared philosophies of speed, emotion, style, competitive spirit and enjoying the good times are all here.

42 historic Lotuses will blast up the hallowed hill climb, while the Lotus F1 Team looks to break the course record with this year’s grand prix challenger, the black-and-gold E20.

The cars and enthusiasts will be joined by famous faces and Lotus legends from every era (can we give a hint or one or two confirmed names here?!?). Lotus remains committed to the motorsport world, with activities at every level in Formula One, IndyCar, GTs, endurance racing and rallying. Racing is core to Lotus’ DNA, and with seven F1 constructors’ titles, six drivers’ crowns and a World Rally Championship to its name, few marques can boast such a successful and multi-skilled heritage.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar is proud that the marque will be centre-stage this summer. “The Goodwood Festival of Speed is such an iconic event, for me it completely captures the spirit and passion of British motorsport. We’re always made to feel very welcome by all the fans and the organizers, it’s a home from home for us and I’m delighted that we have such a strong presence at the event this year.”

Landowner and organizer Lord March is thrilled that Lotus will have such a significant presence at Goodwood. “Lotus is without a doubt one of the greatest, most evocative motoring and motor racing brands Britain has produced and we are very happy the company will be our featured marque this year. Lotus’ beautiful, innovative, joyful cars and some of the heroes that made them famous will be out in force, not sitting silently but driven hard for the purpose they were born. It’s going to be a wonderful automotive celebration.”