Rowan Atkinson is a well-known petrol head with a taste for expensive cars. He also has something of a chequered history when it comes to his motoring mishaps. In 2011 he crashed his McLaren F1 supercar into a roadside ditch. The insurance case took some time to sort out and it wasn’t resolved until 2013, when the actor received a reported £910,000 payout to cover the cost of repairs to the vehicle. Atkinson was not put off, however, and regularly enjoys race days in his various motors. It was at one of these events where he experienced his latest mishap.
A bad day at Goodwood
Atkinson was enjoying racing a blue Ford Falcon Sprint at the Goodwood Revival event, competing in the Shelby Cup. During the race, a fellow competitor up ahead on the circuit lost control of his car and spun his vehicle. The driver immediately behind managed to avoid the stranded car but Atkinson had little time to react and ploughed head-on into the vehicle. The Falcon is a big, tough saloon but nevertheless it was badly damaged enough to force Atkinson’s retirement from the event. Onlookers say that he looked shaken but uninjured. He may have been thinking that a new car insurance policy with Budget Insurance may now be a little more expensive.
The classic Shelby engine
The race in which Atkinson was competing was the Shelby Cup. The event was being held at Goodwood to celebrate 60 years of the legendary V8, an engine which has powered many cars, including the Ford Mustang and Plymouth Barracuda as well as the Ford Falcon Sprint. More than 15 Mustangs took part in the event as part of the Goodwood Revival festival, celebrating historic cars and planes as well as some rather fetching period fashion.
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