Goodwood Festival of Speed: How to thrill the crowds My head is spinning, but not as fast as the Citroën I'm sat in. This is what happens when you agree to ride shotgun with a 24-year-old hot shoe in a full-blown WRC car and ask him to put on a show for the crowds. Belgian driver Thierry Neuville nearly took overall honours in last year's Intercontinental Rally Championship and is this year driving for Citroën's Junior World Rally Team in a DS3 WRC. He's a first timer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed but, belted into the car in a seat so low I can barely see over the dash, it takes moments before I realise that's not going to hold him back. Even leaving the paddock for the drive down to the start of the course Neuville is weaving around and jumping between throttle and brakes. The DS3, which has been set up for gravel rallying, rolls from side to side on its soft suspension like an old 2CV as Neuville tries to get some heat into its tyres. Then, when we reach the holding area at the bottom of the course, he pitches the little Citroën into a ludicrous series of donuts, each so fast that I lose count of how many we've completed, let alone which direction we're facing. "I think the tyres are warm now," I say to Neuville, who looks over, grinning. That's what we're here for, isn't it? To entertain the fans," he replies. And entertained they are, Neuville's exploits greeted with laughter and applause. This is all, I should point out, before we've even set off from the start line to tackle the 1.16-mile hillclimb. Eventually though, it's our turn and Neuville launches the DS3 with everything its 1.6-litre turbocharged engine has got, firing us forward as if launched from a catapult. The nose rises as he snaps through the sequential gearbox's six ratios before jumping on the brakes and attacking the first right-hander completely sideways. Using a blur of footbrake, handbrake, throttle and steering he sends the car into a series of perfectly controlled spins outside Goodwood House and then straightens up for another charge through the gears. There's time for a few more donuts before we drift through Molecomb, but the most impressive part of the climb comes as we enter the section past the famous Goodwood wall, where Neuville throws the car within inches of the stonework, his feet dancing on the pedals to manipulate its line. It's breathtaking to behold from the passenger seat, not least when Neuville tells me that he's not going flat-out because he doesn't yet know the course. At least I now know why the co-driver's seat is mounted so low that you can barely see out. As we cross the finish line Neuville doesn't need to ask if I've enjoyed my passenger ride, because he can hear that I'm still laughing. A job well done then. Something tells me he'll be back.