Speaking from his ancestral home of Inveraray Castle in Scotland, The Duke of Argyle has announced the creation of a brand new motorsport festival. Designed to celebrate Scotland’s rich motorsport heritage, the Argyll Festival of Performance will bring together significant cars and drivers from Formula One, Le Mans, Indianapolis, Touring Cars and International Stage Rallying, plus a whole host of unique vehicles never before seen in Scotland. The event will take place on the grounds of Inveraray Castle, on Argyll’s world-famous West Coast, on the weekend June 2-3, 2018.
“We are delighted to be able to host the inaugural Argyll Festival of Performance here at Inveraray Castle,” said The Duke. “With such an iconic location in the very heart of Argyll, the dramatic landscape and setting I hope will draw people from far and wide for a very special weekend.”
The theme for the inaugural festival is Formula One, and there will be no shortage of drivers and cars to celebrate, as Scotland is the fifth most successful nation in the world for producing Formula One World Champions.
“Scotland has an enviable reputation in motorsport but, as yet, there has never been an event that celebrates this success,” said Event Director, Bill Telford, is the driving force behind the project. “The Argyll Festival of Performance has been created to do just that, with a theme each year to allow the stories to be told. In year one, it will be Formula One, and Scotland boasts some of the biggest names in the sport from the legendary Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, to multiple race winners like David Coulthard. It’s not just drivers who have played their part, Scottish engineers, designers and manufacturers have also made a huge impact on the world of motorsport, and we believe the time is right to celebrate all of those achievements.
“We are delighted to have The Duke of Argyll as Patron of the festival, and can think of no better location to showcase Scottish motorsport and the beauty of Scotland than Inveraray Castle. We are also immensely proud and believe it is very fitting given the Formula One theme of our inaugural year, that the Jim Clark Trust will be our chosen charity for the Festival in 2018.”
The first of a series of announcements has confirmed that a series of iconic cars never before seen in Scotland will be on display at the event, including a Lotus 18 raced by Innes Ireland, Scotland’s first GP winner, and later raced by Jim Clark. A one-off Lotus 32B constructed for Clark to race in the 1965 Tasman Series. The Tyrrell 001, Ken Tyrrell’s first racecar as campaigned by Jackie Stewart. A Porsche 917K, Cooper-Bristol and the Tec Mec Maserati. Further announcements will be made in coming months on exceptional cars and drivers attending.
Among the other attractions will be demonstration runs of historic and significant cars, display paddocks featuring cars from all eras, a prestige car and memorabilia auction, Concours d’Elegance, vintage bus rally and 4×4 displays. Tickets will go on sale on November 10, priced at £40 per adult, and are limited to 5,000 per day.
For more information please visit www.argyllfestivalofperformance.com
