Goodwood Festival of Speed will celebrate more than one anniversary.

This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed theme is called ‘Viva Veloce! – The Passion for Speed’ and will be organized over the weekend of 2-4 July 2010.

This theme celebrates Italy’s all-consuming fascination with motor racing, and its global influence on the sport.  From Alfa Romeo to MV Agusta, Ascari to Agostini, and Monza to the Mille Miglia, Italians have raced with breathtaking fervour, inspiring desire and devotion that transcends national identity. Celebrating Alfa Romeo 100 years recently, there will be more than one ancient Alfa around.

Italian DNA runs through many of the sport’s most memorable and passionate performances.  Whether it’s Fangio and Wimille dominating the immediate post-war years in Alfa Romeos, Moss and Behra battling against the odds in Maseratis, Villeneuve and Schumacher’s towering achievements in Ferraris, Toivonen and Kankkunen blasting through the forests in Lancias, or Surtees and Hailwood sweeping all before them on MV Agustas, competitors from many nations have shared in Italy’s glory.

This time of year is perfect for re-living those mediteranian sun soaked memories all over again. Equally, many legendary Italian motor sport heroes took on their countrymen in non-Italian machinery, such as Nuvolari and Varzi in German Silver Arrows, Agostini and Rossi rising to new heights on Yamahas, Mercedes-Benz conquering the Mille Miglia, and Porsche making the Targa Florio its own.

Running alongside the 2010 Festival central theme, Goodwood will also celebrate 60 years of the Formula One World Championship, with a gathering of cars and drivers that have shaped the history of motor sport’s most glamorous series.  The 60th anniversary of the epic Carrera Panamericana road race, and 50 years since the RAC Rally took to the forests for the first time, will both be marked in true Goodwood style too.

Furthermore Mazda’s rather wonderful MX-5 Superlight concept is set to make its UK debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, where it will both be on static display, and running up the hill as part of the Supercar category. The 995kg aluminium and carbonfibre MX-5 Superlight, with its 125bhp 1.8-litre MZR motor and five-speed gearbox will turn a few heads.