Stars and heroes from the past and present, historic and modern race vehicles again lured more than 150,000 fans to the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed at the estate of Lord March near Chichester in the UK over the weekend. The highlights were the hillclimb runs up the world-famous 1.16-mile road through the grounds. This run was also tackled by a selection of the most prestigious BMW motorcycles and racing cars, with riders being the legend John Surtees and BMW Motorrad Motorsport works rider, Leon Haslam.

Surtees, the only world champion on two and four wheels, tackled the hillclimb with the historic BMW Type 255 Kompressor. With this bike, Georg Meier won the "Tourist Trophy" on the Isle of Man in 1939, being the first non-British winner of this legendary race. Meanwhile Leon entertained the spectators with a latest-generation BMW S 1000 RR that he is competing with in the FIM Superbike World Championship.

"I have been coming to Goodwood for a few years now. It is always a fantastic show, with all the greats like Stirling Moss and John Surtees, all these old cars and all the bikes old and new," said Leon. "This year with the BMW it was fantastic, and the atmosphere is always great. It is a pleasure to be here. I did some autograph sessions with John Surtees and I asked him about the bike. Obviously he is the only guy having won the world championship in Formula One and on two wheels, so he is an absolute legend. To meet him was an honour for me."

Surtees actually is following Leon's career in the FIM Superbike World Championship. "I think that Leon is very good. It was disappointing to see that this year has not always gone well so far, but the season is still long and we have some more time. And it is good to see BMW back in motorcycle races."