Five unlikely epic drives

Charles Gordon-Lennox, aka Lord March, has been managing his family’s Goodwood Estate Company since 1994 - a year after he launched the Goodwood Festival of Speed. He’s also President of the British Automobile Racing Club and one of the most highly regarded characters in the motorsport and classic car scene. Ahead of Goodwood Revival (12-14 September), he shares his most memorable drives.

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A286 from Midhurst to Goodwood

I drive this road every day. You come down the A3, which is quite boring, but then you’re on a lovely country road that hasn’t changed for 50 years. In the 1950s and 1960s, the racers used to drive on this road while fans would wait in the lay-bys and chase them down. My record run to London was on this road in a Carrera GT Porsche in the mid-1980s; it’s a great car and handles fabulously.

Car of choice: Carrera GT Porsche

Photo: Getty Images

Mille Miglia, Brescia, Italy

I was lucky enough to do the Mille Miglia a couple of years ago in a 1940s BMW 328 Streamline coupé. I’ve done the race a few times, but this is an absolutely blockbuster car to do it in. My highlight is always driving through the Futa Pass, which is simply breathtaking.

Car of choice: 1940s BMW 328 Streamline coupé

Photo: Getty Images

Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway, Utah

Racing on salt is extreme, because it changes its density all the time, so it’s quite slippery.They drive all sorts of cars and dragsters on this speedway to break speed records. You need a special licence to race at different speeds and you must maintain that speed over the 10 to 12-mile track to show you’re in control. It’s surprisingly difficult.

Car of choice: 1982 Dodge Charger

Photo: Getty Images

R203 from Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

I drove this road when we were doing a recce for an event. It goes from Marrakech up into the Atlas Mountains. Richard Branson’s mother has a hotel there called Kasbah Tamadot, a great spot for lunch overlooking the mountains. There weren’t many other cars on the road, which always makes a drive memorable.

Car of choice: Lancia Aurelia

Photo: Getty Images

Isiolo to Garba Tula, Kenya

In the remote northern Kenyan town of Isiolo, there’s a barrier where the tarmac road ends, then you’re on rough dirt roads surrounded by unbelievable African landscape for about 80 miles to Garba Tula. You could drive on for hours and hours up to Ethiopia and Somalia. I haven’t driven this road for years – it was closed for some time – but it’s really imprinted on my mind.

Car of choice: Lancia Aurelia

Photo: Alamy

Lord March

Five unlikely epic drives

A286 from Midhurst to Goodwood

Mille Miglia, Brescia, Italy

Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway, Utah

R203 from Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Isiolo to Garba Tula, Kenya

A286 from Midhurst to Goodwood

Mille Miglia, Brescia, Italy

Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway, Utah

R203 from Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Isiolo to Garba Tula, Kenya

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