- Lotus to be celebrated as Central Feature marque at the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
- The Central Feature will head in a new direction to provide an immersive customer experience on-event and from home.
- The Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will take place 8-11 July 2021.
Goodwood is proud to announce that the Central Feature at the 2021 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will celebrate Lotus. The iconic Norfolk brand is best known for its pioneering road and race cars, including the spectacular all-electric Evija hypercar.
From the first sculpture in 1997 to the present day, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has become known for its creative and daring Central Features, which celebrate the greatest achievements of a different manufacturer or milestone each year through art.
Lotus was last selected as the Central Feature marque in 2012, with a 3D infinity loop sculpture that celebrated the singularity of purpose of a Lotus race car. However, this year’s sculpture will take an exciting new and immersive direction. It is being created using an entirely new design philosophy; while the sculpture itself is guaranteed to be just as visually stunning as previous years, it is also set to be more interactive and accessible for those joining from home.
This new approach aligns perfectly with Lotus’ development of innovative technology and its engineering-led approach to design and manufacturing, as well as complementing the long and often intertwined histories of Goodwood and Lotus.
Among the many records broken by Lotus, the Type 25 still holds Goodwood Motor Circuit’s period lap record. In the course of winning the last ever Formula 1 race at Goodwood, on Easter Monday 1965, Jim Clark in a Lotus 25 tied for fastest lap with Jackie Stewart, in a time of 1m 20.4. The record stands as a tribute to the skill and bravery of the drivers and to the passion for lightweight engineering and innovation that thrives at Lotus to this day.
At this year’s event, Lotus will give a public dynamic debut to the Emira, its all-new and eagerly anticipated sports car. Developed as part of the ongoing transformation of Lotus which has captured the imagination of car enthusiasts worldwide, the Emira will set new standards of technology, comfort, functionality and everyday useability for Lotus. It goes into production later this year at an all-new manufacturing facility at Hethel, Norfolk – the home of Lotus since 1966.
Commenting on the announcement, the Duke of Richmond said, "We are delighted that Lotus will star as the Central Feature at this year's Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. Lotus cars raced with great success at Goodwood throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, including setting the ultimate lap record in 1965, and this year’s Central Feature will serve as a fitting landmark to their past, present and future achievements. The sculpture looks set to be one of the most dramatic and futuristic yet, bringing in elements of interactivity for modern audiences that align with Lotus’ future-facing attitude and outlook.”
Simon Clare, Executive Director, Marketing, Lotus Cars, added, “Everyone at Lotus is very excited by the opportunity to be the Central Feature at the Festival of Speed. This year is a hugely significant one for the transformation of Lotus, and to be giving a public dynamic debut to the Emira at a location so closely associated with Lotus’ success and spirit of innovation will be great for those who can attend, physically or virtually.”
More details will be released ahead of the event, including how visitors and fans across the world can interact with the Central Feature in a new and unique way.
Taking place between 8th – 11th July, tickets for the Festival of Speed are available from goodwood.com and the Ticket Office can be contacted on 01243 755 055.
Image credit: Alex Lawrence
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, Thursday 8th – Sunday 11th July
Tickets
Tickets for the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard are available, but selling fast. The Goodwood Ticket Office can be contacted on 01243 755055.
Goodwood wants customers to be able to book with confidence and if it is deemed that Goodwood events cannot take place on advice from the UK Government due to the ever-changing pandemic, the ‘Ticket Guarantee’ means customers can transfer their ticket to the following year or receive a full refund.
Covid-19
Goodwood’s number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved, whether working behind-the-scenes, at the wheel, or attending the spectacle. Goodwood continues to work closely with Public Health England and UK Government advisory groups and all events will be run strictly in accordance with the Government’s Covid-19 guidelines.
Media accreditation
Media accreditation for Festival of Speed is now open. Make your application here.
***
Contact
Goodwood
For more information about the Festival of Speed and Goodwood’s 2021 motorsport events, please contact Katharine Morgan, Motorsport & Automotive Press Officer: Katharine.Morgan@goodwood.com
For all other press enquiries please contact: media@goodwood.com
Imagery and news from Goodwood are available from our Press & Media site.
Stay up to date with all future announcements and on-event action across our social channels:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Lotus
For more information please contact the Lotus Communications team:
James Andrew, Executive Director, PR and Communications
jandrew@lotuscars.com
+44 (0) 7384 830903
Rob Borrett, PR Manager, Content & Launch Programmes
rborrett@lotuscars.com
+44 (0) 7718 560789
Alastair Florance, Group PR Manager
aflorance@lotuscars.co.uk
+ 44 (0) 7802 918662
Samantha Thomas, PR Officer, Product Press & Digital Media
sthomas2@lotuscars.com
+44 (0) 7909 813785
Richard Yarrow, PR Manager, News and Technology
ryarrow@lotuscars.com
+44 (0) 7471 994525
The Lotus media site – https://media.lotuscars.com – contains news, images, specifications and full details of current models, as well as heritage cars and engineering technology.
For the latest news and information from the Lotus PR Team please follow:
https://twitter.com/LotusCarsPR
https://www.instagram.com/LotusCarsPR
For Lotus Cars social media please follow:
https://www.facebook.com/LotusCars
https://twitter.com/lotuscars
https://www.instagram.com/lotuscars
https://www.youtube.com/grouplotus
https://www.linkedin.com/company/group-lotus
***
About the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard
Staged every summer since 1993, the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by MasterCard is the world’s largest automotive garden party; set against the spectacular backdrop of Goodwood House in West Sussex, UK. Over 600 cars and motorcycles spanning the phenomenal history of motoring and motorsport take part along with legendary figures from the automotive world. Highlights include FOS Future Lab, Forest Rally Stage, Michelin Supercar Paddock, Michelin Supercar Run, F1 paddock, Drivers’ Club, GAS Arena, Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance, Aviation Exhibition and Bonhams Auction.
About Lotus
Group Lotus is based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK. It is part of Geely Automotive, the fastest growing automotive group in the world. Geely has a 51% controlling stake, with 49% owned by Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate.
Lotus Cars builds world-class, high-performance sports cars including the Evora, Elise and Exige ranges. In July 2019 it launched the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar. Production will start in 2021.
Lotus Engineering provides a comprehensive consultancy service which works with many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. It is internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking automotive engineering and vehicle development.
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
Follow us on Twitter @MastercardUK and Instagram @MastercardUK.
