Vowles to make ‘dream come true’ with shock Williams outing

Williams team principal James Vowles will make “a dream come true” when he gets behind the wheel of one of the marque’s title-winning cars at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Vowles will be joined by his F1 drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, as well as F1 Academy starlet Lia Block, in piloting the 1982 FW08 that carried Keke Rosberg to the drivers’ championship that year.

Remarkably, Rosberg won only one race that season, the Swiss Grand Prix, albeit with the event held at the Dijon-Prenois circuit in France.

Vowles will take on Goodwood’s famous hill climb on Sunday, July 14. Albon, Sargeant and Block will precede him on each of the prior days of the event.

Vowles, who most recently competed in the Asian Le Mans series in 2022, said: “We are looking forward to being at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and sharing our passion for motorsport with fans from around the world.

“The Festival of Speed is such a beloved and unique event and gives us the opportunity to celebrate the rich heritage of Williams Racing and motorsport as a whole.

“It will be a dream come true for me to drive a title-winning heritage Williams F1 car. We can’t wait to take on the hill climb and put on a show for the incredible crowds that gather at Goodwood each year.”

Goodwood FoS founder The Duke of Richmond added: “I am delighted that Williams Racing are joining us at the Festival of Speed this year with such a stellar line-up of drivers and the FW08, which so brilliantly aligns with our theme, ‘Revolutions in Power’.

“Our fans are always hugely excited to see Formula 1 teams, cars and drivers in action and, like them, I’m very much looking forward to watching Alex, Logan, James and Lia take to the Hill.”

The Goodwood theme for the event will journey through the evolution of the motoring industry. Covering a timeline of more than 130 years, it will look back at the progress the automotive industry has made, while also looking ahead to the future.

In keeping with the theme, the ground-effect FW08 allowed it to take on and beat the more powerful turbo cars of that era.