Dave Wright takes rally crown at Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Goodwood Festival of Speed witnessed a forest driving masterclass from Bentham’s Dave Wright as he took the 2021 rally shootout title.

Piloting the Ford Focus originally driven by Carlos Sainz in his 2001 World Rally Championship campaign – complete with newly added Davanti Tyres branding – he stormed the first two days before heavy rain hit on day three made the course incredibly slippery.

Nevertheless Dave – who owns authorised Davanti dealer Grove Hill Garage – stayed out of trouble and held on to be the fastest overall driver of the event.

“It was a great few days,” he said. “We were running perfectly for the first two days and despite the course being really tight for space we were able to keep up the pace without taking any real damage.

“On the final day we have a few technical issues to iron out, plus the rain, but we’d done enough in the first two days that just avoiding going off was enough to see us through.

“It’s always great to win at a big event like Goodwood so thanks to Fix Auto and Davanti Tyres for supporting me to achieve that.”

Dave also had the honour of giving popular supercar influencer Tim Shmee – @Shmee150 on instagram – his first ever rally experience.

“He absolutely loved it,” said Dave. “I couldn’t believe it was his first time but I certainly gave him the full forest rally experience. It was a long way from a supercar drive I can tell you!”

Find out more about Grove Hill Garage at www.grovehillgarage.com.