For three days in July the Earl of March – a motor sport maniac of the highest order – opens up his fabulous grounds to the greatest cars and drivers past and present.

Thousands of fans can get right up close to the cars in the paddock and see generations of heroes from all walks of motor sport. Trackside’s Keith Collantine was there.

Imagine a game of football where Bobby Moore plays alongside Pele and Eusebio. Or a cricket match with Don Bradman, Ian Botham and Brian Lara.

That is what the Goodwood Festival of Speed is to motor racing fans. A chance to see the great drivers and the legendary cars up close.

Like Formula One hero Nigel Mansell with his 1993 Lola Indy Car, in which he won the championship at his first attempt. Or Allan McNish demonstrating Audi’s awesome Le Mans-winning diesel-powered R10.

You need the full three days at Goodwood to make sure you miss nothing. While the circuit cars race up the hill, rally cars tear through a special stage in the forest.

This year’s theme was “100 years of Grand Prix Racing” and for it Renault placed a special exhibit in front of Goodwood mansion. This featured their original 1906 ‘Agatha’ that won the first ever Grand Prix, and the R25 that won last year’s Formula One championships.

Among the highlights for rally fans was the Audi Quattro that introduced four wheel drive to rallying and revolutionised the sport overnight.

A brace of cars from Britain’s last World Rally Champion, the late Richard Burns, were on display. A touching moment came when Colin McRae demonstrated Burns’ 2001 championship-winning Subaru Impreza – the two seldom got on during their racing careers.

But the Festival is about more than racing cars. The Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ showcased the finest in luxury cars, with elegant and exclusive machines from the dawn of motoring.

More popular was the supercar paddock which featured some of the most phenomenal machines on the planet.

Bugatti unleashed the F1-like power of their 1,001 hp Veyron on the hill. Sadly the Caparo T1, an ‘F1 car for the road’, was only a static display.

By far the most spine-tingling moment came when Bruno Senna – nephew of the late great Ayrton – took his uncle’s 1985 Lotus-Renault up the hill. The younger Senna bears an uncanny resemblance to his triple-champion uncle, and watching him pass by was as if the clock had been turned back.

Only Goodwood can give you that kind of experience.

Racing round-up

Champ Car World Series, Toronto

AJ Allmendinger won his third consecutive race to set up a thrilling title fight with Sebastian Bourdais. Briton Justin Wilson could only manage fourth having started on pole, and compatriots Katherine Legge and Dan Clarke both retired.

Formula One

Columbia’s Juan Pablo Montoya shocked the F1 world by announcing he will quit at the end of the year. He will move to the American NASCAR stock car racing series.

Formula One: The Great Design Race is at the Design Museum, Shad Thames, London until October 29th. For more information visit http://www.designmuseum.org/f1/

A1 Grand Prix

As the football world cup came to a close the organisers of the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ announced the calendar for their second season. The series returns to Britain on 29th April 2007 for its finale at Brands Hatch.