There is something fitting about the person who shapes a car’s dynamics being the one to demonstrate it in public. At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Craig Nicolson, Bentley’s Head of Chassis Dynamic Systems, drove the Continental GT S up the famous Hill, and by his own admission, he wasn’t hanging about.
“It’s not ten tenths,” Nicolson said of his approach. “But it’s maybe 9.5.” For a development engineer more accustomed to closed circuits and proving grounds, that is a meaningful distinction.
What the Hill Demands
The Goodwood Hill is deceptively challenging. Its combination of blind crests, tight corners, and the notorious flint Wall makes it a genuine test of both car and driver. Nicolson described the Wall section as threading a needle, adding that the Continental GT S made it possible through its sure-footedness.
The run involved hard braking, paddle-shift downchanges, and deliberate throttle-induced slides — including what he described as a “flamboyant” exit from the Wall. For a demonstration run rather than a timed one, it was clearly not a gentle cruise past the crowds.
The Continental GT S produces 680 PS from its V8, reaching 60 mph in just over three seconds. Those figures are well known. What Goodwood offered was a chance to see what they feel like in practice, on a real road, in front of tens of thousands of spectators.
Engineers in the Passenger Seat
Bentley used the event to put its development engineers directly in front of customers and enthusiasts. Nicolson described the passenger runs as one of the highlights, noting that the conversations gave him candid feedback from owners while allowing him to share the thinking behind the car’s development.
“We normally do all of this behind closed doors,” he said. That transparency is the point. Introducing customers to the engineers who developed their cars — and explaining the decisions made along the way — is a different kind of brand communication from a static display or a press release.
Nicolson spoke about the balance Bentley aims for: ride comfort that makes a long continental drive effortless, combined with enough agility and body control to justify an unplanned detour on a good road. That combination is harder to achieve than either quality alone, and Goodwood is one of the few places where both sides of it can be shown simultaneously.
The Wider Picture at Goodwood
Bentley’s presence extended beyond the GT S. Nicolson mentioned a colleague drawing applause from the crowd with a spirited run in the Supersports, including what he called “big burnouts” past the house. The contrast — showmanship alongside genuinely quick timed runs, reflects how Bentley uses Goodwood to make a broader argument about its cars.
The festival remains one of the most effective stages in the automotive calendar for exactly this reason. It rewards cars that can do more than one thing well, and it puts them in front of an audience that notices the difference.
For Nicolson personally, the weekend carried an unexpected bonus. His three-year-old son spotted him on television alongside footage from the animated film Cars, and concluded his father was both a racing driver and acquainted with Lightning McQueen. As Nicolson put it: “Only at Goodwood.”
