It’s one thing to watch the Goodwood Festival of Speed from a third-person perspective. The path is narrow at some points, but there’s still plenty of room to run, right? Switch to the first-person view, however, and the perspective is very different. Add an element of speed to the mix, and one gains a new appreciation for the courage it takes to set a quick time during the rigorous 1.1 mile climb.
Luckily for us, Koenigsegg wanted to have a camera inside the blue Jesko tackling the hills last weekend. Factory development driver Markus Lundh gets behind the wheel, with YouTuber Mr. JWW (James William Walker) in the passenger seat. It was clear he was impressed by Jesko’s strength, laughing and generally having fun during the first half of the run. We glimpsed 213 kph on the digital speedometer in the open straight past the large spectator area, which translates to just over 130 mph. That’s a very impressive figure for such a short stretch of asphalt.
The second half of the run is where things happen Really interesting. The hay and trees effectively turn the hill climb into a tunnel blast at times, closing in to leave no shoulder areas or runoff. With that said, there was no room for error and Lundh kept Jesko on the boil. The general pace remained above 100 mph from the tight left-hander to the finish, with an observed top speed of 218 kph (135 mph) recorded at the finish. Oddly enough, Mr. JWW wasn’t very vocal during this stretch. With bales of hay becoming a blur on both sides of the pitch, we don’t blame him one bit.
There’s no official time stated for running it, but our unofficial calculations show that the track takes around 52 seconds. Provided the video is accurate, it’s almost fast enough to make the top 10 fastest hillclimbing cars this year. The Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport clocked in a run of 51.45 seconds to claim 10th place, but from there, it was under 50 seconds. The highest honor goes to the McLaren Solus GT, driven by Marvin Kirchöfer, finishing with a time of 45.34 seconds.
The Jesko runs a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V8 capable of 1,600 horsepower on E85 fuel, but in terms of flat speed it’s not the fastest version. The Jesko Absolut is being refined with the aim of breaking the 300 mph barrier. It will be a lighter version with reduced aero for speed, although on short courses like Goodwood the changes will likely make it slightly slower and faster. Lots scarier than in the cockpit.
