For years, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has brought together the world of automobiles, the automotive industry, and petrolheads like us. The beauty of it is that, despite all the superlatives and the exclusive atmosphere, the Festival of Speed on the stately estate of Sir Charles Henry Gordon Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, remains, to a certain extent, refreshingly down-to-earth.

Somehow, the hands-on motorsport flair at the Goodwood Festival of Speed doesn’t seem to be an empty promise. Even though celebrities from sports, film, society, and industry are constantly coming and going on the grounds, we fans can simply celebrate legendary race cars, concept studies, supercars, hypercars, and the automobile itself.

Always right in the middle of it all: the old warhorses and heroes of motorsport. And we don’t just mean that this year numerous F1 World Champions were on site, such as Mario Andretti (1978), Emerson Fittipaldi (1972, 1974), Mika Häkkinen (1998, 1999), Damon Hill (1996), Nigel Mansell (1992), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989, 1993), Sir Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973), and Jacques Villeneuve (1997). No, it gets even better. Many of these somehow still youthful legends are even driving themselves.

Anyone strolling across the vast estate will encounter current F1 drivers like Esteban Ocon, as well as the youngest WRC World Champion of all time, Kalle Rovanperä, current WRC leader Elfyn Evans, and many, many more. Even Bernie Ecclestone, Jackie Ickx, David Coulthard, Dirk Adorf, Dirk Müller, Andy Priaulx, Marc Surer, and Manfred Winkelhock were spotted in Goodwood, and where? Of course, in the paddock, and most of the time even behind the wheel.

Surrounded by plenty of stars and celebrities, even Hollywood actors Adrien Brody and Patrick Dempsey were on site, along with numerous British TV stars and many, many more. Anyone who takes the time to look through the full entry lists for the various competitions at the Rally Stage, Offroad Arena, and Hill Climb will count over 150 drivers. And that’s not even including all the participants in the drift shows and the manufacturer demonstration runs.

As every year, numerous car manufacturers were strongly represented at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2025, both as exhibitors and as participants.

The British Porsche Club showcased many air-cooled and current Porsche models in the hands of enthusiasts every day. Of course, various Porsche race cars took part in the Hill Climb, including a current Porsche 911 GT3 RS, naturally equipped with the Manthey package.

BMW put the spotlight on their turbocharged production cars as well as legendary race cars with turbo boost. The first BMW 3 Series appeared in 1975, and BMW went all out accordingly.

In a way, BMW also had a home game in England, since the iconic British automotive brands Mini and Rolls-Royce are part of its brand portfolio and were accordingly present.

Many other manufacturers and brands such as Audi, Bentley, BYD, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Koenigsegg, Land Rover, Lotus, McLaren, Pagani, Renault, Rimac, Subaru, Toyota, and more were also present as exhibitors at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

We at KW automotive were once again on site as exhibitors at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. At the center of our presence this year were BBS, KW suspensions, and Reiger Suspension. Because at hardly any other event or trade show in the automotive sector do you still encounter so many car manufacturers, motorsport players, and tuners. Simply a mix of SEMA Show and Tokyo Auto Salon with more action, more celebrities, and an even greater celebration of cars. In 2025, the Festival attracted over 200,000 visitors!

In recent years, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has developed into one of the most important events not only for our UK subsidiary, founded in 2005, but also for us as a globally operating company. Numerous British dealers visited our presence on the stately grounds, and many importers from across Europe and even from Australia were also on site.

After all, there was a lot to show and even more to tell. At our stand, we showcased our latest developments and highlighted our technology partnerships in motorsport and with selected special models from car manufacturers. It is no longer a secret that we develop and manufacture customized suspension solutions for various manufacturers, small-series manufacturers, and tuners on a contract basis.

After all, there was a lot to show and even more to talk about. At our stand, we presented current new developments and also put a spotlight on our technology partnerships in motorsport as well as with selected special models from automotive manufacturers. It’s no longer a secret that we develop and manufacture custom suspension solutions for various manufacturers, small-series producers, and tuners on a project-specific basis.

The BBS Unlimited adapters cover bolt patterns of 5×100, 5×108, 5×110, 5×112, 5×114.3, 5×115, 5×120, 5×120.65, 5×127, 5×128, 5×130, and 5×132 millimeters. For the first time in England, we showcased the CH-R II Unlimited wheel, which offers even more styling options thanks to its two-piece design. More on this soon on the BBS homepage (https://www.bbs.com/en/home).

The four-seater Koenigsegg Gemera was initially supposed to make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, but that didn’t happen in 2020 due to COVID. Since 2024, the 2,300 hp supercar with its hybrid drivetrain (5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 and electric motor) has been in production, and we supply the suspension. It features a coilover suspension developed based on our adaptive DDC technology. Since 2011, we have been offering semi-active coilover systems that are compatible with various OEM damper control systems.

We have continuously developed our innovative DDC suspension technology and have long been supplying various industrial customers with a complete solution consisting of dampers, electronic valves, sensors, high-performance control units, software-based damper control systems, and more – even for motorhomes.

Our suspension control unit continuously processes all signals to enhance driving safety in real time. To achieve this, our system evaluates parameters such as vertical wheel acceleration, wheel load fluctuations, body roll and pitch, steering angle, and vehicle speed up to 1,000 times per second, adjusting the damping accordingly within six to ten milliseconds.

In contrast, the Ford Pro Electric SuperVan, the Ford SuperVan 4.2 Electric, and the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck do not use semi-active suspension systems. These high-profile electric prototypes, which recently made their appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed during the Hill Climb, are equipped with a five-way adjustable racing suspension system developed by us.

The prototypes equipped with KW V6 Racing suspension systems were built by the Ford Performance Team, the Ford Design Team in Cologne, and the Austrian rally and motorsport specialists STARD (Stohl Advanced Research and Development). During the final shootout on the Goodwood Hill Climb course, there was no getting past Romain Dumas in the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. With a time of 43.22 seconds, he was the fastest and won the Hill Climb Shootout.

Reiger Suspension is one of the undisputed leaders in off-road motorsport. In the WRC (World Rally Championship) alone, all M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 and Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 cars rely on Reiger shock absorbers. Since 2021, the Dutch off-road suspension specialist has been part of KW automotive.

In the WRC alone, motorsport customers of Reiger Suspension have won the World Championship seven times. In addition, there are numerous Rally Raid victories, including eleven overall wins at the Dakar Rally and two wins at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the USA.

So it was no surprise that many current and legendary rally cars took to the Rally Stage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In England, we used our presence at the event to introduce the two new Reiger off-road dampers for retrofitting, complete with parts certification and type approval.

While the three-way adjustable Reiger MT-RC 2.5 is based on developments from the Dakar Rally, the four-way adjustable Reiger SP-RC 3.0 incorporates our solid-piston technology, known from circuit racing. This means off-road and on-road performance are no longer mutually exclusive. The SP-RC 3.0 is already available for the Ford Ranger IV, which has been on the market since 2022. Detailed information about both new dampers can be found on the Reiger Suspension website (www.reigersuspension.com/de-en/performance-suspension).

KW suspensions’ presence at the Goodwood Festival of Speed was all about motorsport, as the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 celebrated its premiere in England. This new customer racing car will be competing in various GT3 championships starting with the 2026 motorsport season.

As an official technical partner of Lamborghini Squadra Corse, the motorsport division of the Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini, we now equip not only the Lamborghini SC 63 LMDh but also the new Temerario GT3 with our KW Racing dampers.

The KW V7 Racing dampers used in the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 are an evolution of our well-known KW V6 Racing dampers and are also manufactured using the displacement piston principle (KW Solid Piston Technology). This allows them to cover a very wide characteristic curve range with a force range from 1,000 N to 12,000 N.

Unlike the KW V6 Racing, the new V7 Racing motorsport damper is independently six-way adjustable: high-speed compression, low-speed compression, high-speed rebound, low-speed rebound, as well as an additional, separate blow-off adjustment for a flatter characteristic curve in the high-speed range of both compression and rebound. In addition to the Lamborghini Temerario GT3, the V7 Racing will also be available for other race cars in the future. More information can be found on our KW suspensions homepage (www.kwsuspensions.com/de-en/products/track-performance/v7-racing)

In addition to the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 and the Lamborghini SC 63 LMDh, we at KW automotive also equip various other race cars from customer motorsport programs of different manufacturers with our KW Racing dampers. These include, for example, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, BMW M4 GT3, and Porsche 911 GT3 R, as well as the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, BMW M240i Racing Cup, BMW M4 GT4 Evo, BMW M4 GT4, Mercedes-AMG GT4 Evo, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, Toyota GR Supra GT4, Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo, and Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo 2.

We also rely on a displacement piston design for our new KW V1 SP Racing damper. This is not a motorsport suspension system with individually adjustable damping forces. The V1 SP Racing is homologated for the new BMW M2 Racing, and according to the regulations, adjustable valves are not permitted. You can find more about the new BMW M2 Racing, which is in some ways the successor to the BMW M240i Racing, on our blog. Technical details about the damper are available on the KW suspensions website: www.kwsuspensions.com/de-en/products/track-performance/v1-sp-racing

Our return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed was a complete success, and we will definitely be back in the future. Whether we’ll bring the BMW 320 JUDD V8 to England next time is still undecided.

Photos: KW, KW automotive UK, Chris Wallbank, Matt Alexander/PA Media Assignments, BMW, Porsche