FORD, a major sponsor of the Goodwood Festival of Speed since its inception in 1993, will again be backing this year's event.

The Festival of Speed is Europe's premier historic motor sporting event - a combination of hillclimb, rally stage, garden party, and motor show, all in the grounds of Goodwood House, the Earl of March's ancestral home in West Sussex.

In a year in which Ford celebrates two important dates - the centenary of the launch of the Model T and the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the Escort - there will be an array of famous Ford vehicles at Goodwood from July 11-13. Ford will be represented on the Hillclimb, on the Forest Rally Stage, and also in the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours. In addition, many of the famous racing F1 and racing sports cars present will be powered by Cosworth-Ford V8 or V10 engines.

There were successful Model Ts in motor racing in the 1920s, Ford V8s won the Monte Carlo rally in the 1930s, and since the 1950s Ford has always been prominent in racing and rallying, often with specially-developed cars such as the Escort RS1600 and RS1800, the RS200, the Sierra RS500 Cosworth, and racing Mondeos. Ford-powered cars from all around the world will be present, ranging from Indy 500 winners, to successful British Touring Car Championship machines, an ex-Michael Schumacher Enstone-built Benetton-Ford F1 car and Escort Mk IIs which dominated world rallying for so long.

Ford success at world level continues to this day, and the latest Focus WRC rally cars will feature on the Hillclimb and the Forest Rally Stage.

Ford is pursuing a third consecutive FIA World Rally Championship after winning the manufacturers' title in 2006 and 2007.