Freestyle Motocross will be heading to historic Goodwood Park near Chichester, West Sussex, next month for the annual Festival of Speed (July 11-14).
The list of athletes taking part this year in the Festival’s GAS (Goodwood Action Sports) Arena reads like an international who’s who of action sports with experienced Freestyle MX stars including Petr Pilat (Czech Republic), Brody Wilson (USA) and Jeremy Rouanet (France) whipping and flipping alongside young guns 16-year-old Chris Meyer (Spain) and 15-year-old Luc Ackermann (Germany). Add into the mix homegrown heroes Jamie Squibb and Dan Whitby and you’ve got a truly world-class FMX field.
The Festival of Speed is a potent cocktail of cars, stars and motorsport legends, brought together for a four-day celebration of all things petrol-powered. An estimated 185,000-plus visitors are expected to flock to the Goodwood grounds this year where, nestled among the manicured lawns, they’ll find the GAS Arena. GAS made its Festival of Speed debut in 2011 when it was an instant hit. The concept is a simple one – take amazing action sports, hand-pick some of the most accomplished riders on the planet and put them together in one purpose-built arena sculpted out of more than 7,000 tonnes of soil. The result is a spectacle that rivals even the historic hillclimb the Festival is built around.
The disciplines mix petrol and pedal-power with jaw-dropping Freestyle Motocross sharing airspace with BMX Dirt Jumping while a little closer to terra firma Spanish BMX Flatland legend Viki Gomez demonstrates an almost supernatural sense of balance and inch-perfect precision.
American two-time world champ and X-Games medallist Chris Doyly heads the all-star BMX Dirt Jumping line-up that also includes British champions Bob Manchester and Matt Priest and brothers Kye and Leo Forte.
As well as regular shows a series of competitions will focus on BMX High Jump, BMX Dirt Jumping, FMX Best Trick and FMX Best Run.
