Riding the Hill at The Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026

If you’re a petrolhead, there’s a high chance you’ll have heard of the legendary Festival of Speed held within the grounds of the Duke of Richmond’s family seat every year; I am, of course, talking about Goodwood!

It’s been something I’ve always dreamt of attending, but for whatever reason, I have never been.

That all changed when an email from Zero Motorcycles popped up in my inbox asking if I wanted to ride the Zero XP Concept bike up the hill built by UNTLD MOTO… it was, of course, an immediate yes!

To try and skip the worst of the traffic and to get to Goodwood for a reasonable hour, a 0330 start was required from home in Norfolk, which landed me within the grounds of Goodwood for around 0900 – oh, the joys of the M25 and FOS traffic!

I headed straight for the Zero stand and met up with Liv and the rest of the team at Zero just as YouTuber Freddie Dobbs and Founder & Chief Creative of UNTLD MOTO Hugo Eccles were preparing for their run on the XP & Zero LS1 Quadrophenia Concept, giving me a rough idea of what to expect for my afternoon run later in the day.

Initial cosmetic impressions of the XP were great, and despite having already seen it at Motorcycle Live last November, it still looks like a very impressive machine, especially on the Pirelli Diablo Superbike slicks.

Speaking with Hugo, he talked about how electric motorcycles in the current market mostly all look like their petrol equivalents, which they realistically don’t need to do, as the bare bones of them are so inherently and obviously different.

Stripping everything away from the Zero SR/F it is based upon, Hugo wanted the XP to lean more into the electric side of the bike, which is how it ended up looking so different and futuristic. The false hollow tank design was done so that the rider still has something to grip their knees onto to aid handling, but otherwise, the bike is as minimal as you can get it.

As Liv (from Zero) & I watched Freddie & Hugo take off up the hill, we ventured over to the Qiddiya Driver’s Club to sign on as a rider, gaining my wristband and doing the relevant paperwork and so on.

The Driver’s Club is an interesting one because seeing famous and familiar faces from across motorsport is a common sight here, and it soon becomes the norm.

Wristband gained, I headed back to the road bike stands to see what else was running up the hill to capture some photos and videos of the other machines on display, which were all mostly customs and all very impressive indeed.

Venturing into the road bike stands was impressive purely for the range of custom models from big brands like BMW Motorrad & Royal Enfield.

It’s great to see manufacturers getting on board with custom bikes, as while they’re not production models, the creativity in their design is incredible to see, just like the crazy exhaust setup on the six-cylinder BMW Vision K18 concept above.

The Animus One Custom Royal Enfield Classic 650 built by Nineteen Works is a true work of art and certainly a head-turner, but I can’t imagine it’s very comfortable!

Another highlight had to be the hand-built Aston Martin AMB 001 Pro motorcycle built in collaboration with legendary brand Brough Superior, with inspiration taken from the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, a true masterpiece and great to see it in person.

It’s not all about looks on the AMB, though, as it produces 225hp whilst weighing a minimal 175kg, totalling a mind-boggling power-to-weight ratio of 1,280 hp per tonne… I bet that’s a proper riot.

If we’re talking about stunning motorcycles, then we can’t forget about the 1,200cc deBolex Vincent, built in collaboration with Diez Concepts.

It’s the kind of bike that doesn’t hold a bad angle – quite literally everything about it just oozes style.

Heading back to the Zero side of the tent, I just had to get some snaps of the LS1 Quadrophenia Concept – totally wacky and oh so 60s.

To the untrained eye, it may seem odd to have so many mirrors, lights and horns, but if you’ve ever watched the Quadrophenia movie, experienced the mods and rockers scenes of the 50s and 60s yourself or just understand the whole thing – it will make sense, and I think they’ve done a cracking job of it for an electric scooter, although, I do find myself getting The Who stuck in my head every time I look at it…

By now, it was nearly time for my own run, so it was leathers on (in 30c+ heat!), all my gear checked by scrutineering with a shiny 2026 Goodwood sticker applied to my lid and off I headed towards the start line with the other riders.

The seat on the XP has been cleverly designed. Initial appearances make it seem very angled and uncomfortable, but in conversation with the XP’s creator, Hugo, he had earlier explained that the seat is dual density.

A soft angled layer on the top with a more neutral and firmer layer underneath, so when you sit on the bike it flattens out more than you would expect. There’s no question though that the riding position is fairly aggressive with my hips and knees feeling the worst of it, but overall, it wasn’t really too bad and gives you good control of the bike, especially at slow speeds when you can feather the throttle – which is incredibly smooth and responsive, I may add.

Everything becomes a little more real when you’re sitting at the start – there are a lot of eyes on you, but my focus always remained clear, and I didn’t allow the pressure to get to me too much once I was actually on the start line; at the end of the day, we’re all there to have fun and enjoy bikes!

Plus – it’s not a race. Although I will admit I’d never been on the hill before, so I was a tad anxious about where the corners were!

With a green light, I pulled the throttle back gingerly, mindful of the cold Pirelli Diablo Superbike slicks, but once I’d made initial progress for a couple of seconds, I pulled the throttle fully back and really experienced all 190nm of torque – more than double that of a Yamaha R9 and still 25nm more than a Kawasaki Ninja H2R, which I definitely felt.

Tipping into the first and second bends was spirited yet cautious, mindful of the cold slicks, but once I was on the straight, I wound it open and felt the rush of power. Electric vehicles may be near silent and perhaps not as exciting for some, but they certainly shift; that’s for sure.

The course is just 1.16 miles in length and is over in a matter of minutes, but the experience was unforgettable, especially on a concept bike at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Flying over the finish line, I backed off and coasted into the holding area at the top of the hill where all remaining batches of supercars and hypercars were sent up in one go – I think around 90 in the end? All Koenigseggs, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces… pretty special if you’re into your cars as well as your bikes like me, and I dread to imagine the amount of money sat on the asphalt at that one time.

It was soon time to head back down the hill and back to the Zero stand… and what an experience. One I will never forget, and of course, it goes without saying – a huge thank you to Zero Motorcycles and Hugo Eccles of UNTLD MOTO for the opportunity.

Thank you for coming along with my day at Goodwood and making it to the end. If this has tempted you into one of Zero’s road-going electric bikes, be sure to get your specialist Electric Motorbike & Moped Insurance quote through Lexham today.

… ride safe!