Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason will realize a lifetime's ambition courtesy of Audi when the motorsport enthusiast takes the wheel of a rare Auto Union at the Goodwood Festival of Speed near Chichester next weekend (22-24 June).

For the 10 th consecutive year, Audi supports Lord March's annual motorsport extravaganza with Mason, who raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours on five occasions and is a regular historic racing competitor, driving a replica of a 1936 Auto Union C-Type.

The C-type was the third evolution of the Auto Union racing car developed by Ferdinand Porsche and was raced between 1936-37. The car's supercharged V16 engine was located behind the driver and in front of the rear axle, its displacement gradually increased from 4.3 to 6 litres offering a top speed of 211mph.

The Auto Union C-Type scored 33 outright victories from 59 races, the likes of Hans Stuck Snr and Bernd Rosemeyer amongst the winners.

After World War II, most Auto Unions were taken from their base in Zwickau to the Soviet Union with many cars "disappearing" prompting AUDI AG to commission Crosthwaite & Gardiner, of Buxted in East Sussex, to build a replica of the "lost" C-Type. This replica was finished in 1998 and is now part of the Historic Collection of AUDI AG.

Mason, who will drive the fearsome Auto Union up the 1.16-mile hillclimb over the three-day event, confirmed: "The Auto Union comes from one of the most famous and exotic eras in motor racing. Driving it, I gain so much respect for the people who drove them as well as the talented engineers who designed such a ground-breaking machine.

"The C-Type is beautifully designed, engineered and built - completely without compromise - and sounds wonderful. I'm very privileged to get the opportunity to drive such a famous and pioneering racing car - I feel very honoured."

Reigning American Le Mans Series champion Allan McNish (37) will drive the history-making and record-breaking Audi R10 TDI, a sports-prototype the Scotsman races in the Le Mans 24 Hours (16-17 June) aiming to repeat the German car manufacturer's debut 22006 Le Mans race victory in a diesel-engined car.

Additionally Michèle Mouton, who celebrates her 55 th birthday on the Saturday (23 Jun) at Goodwood, drives her 1985 Pikes Peak Hillclimb winning Audi Sport quattro. The French woman remains the only female rally driver to win a World Rally Championship.

The Pikes Peak hillclimb in Colorado saw outrageously powerful rallycars, often boasting in excess of 900bhp, "race to the clouds" up a 12-mile, 156-corner gravel-covered mountain road flanked by sheer free-fall drops and hardly any guard rails.

Meanwhile 1983 world champion Hannu Mikkola competes in the 1.55-mile "forest rally stage" the Finn helped to design in a 1983 Audi A2 quattro. The stage includes a yump' for the first time which will see the faster rally cars getting airborne while a sweeping S-bend has also been added. Both Audis are owned by Manchester-based quattro enthusiast John Hanlon.

Festival of Speed founder, the Earl of March, added: "I am delighted at the enthusiasm shown for the Forest Rally Stage since it was introduced in 2005. It had long been an ambition of mine to see exciting rally cars performing in their natural environment, and the course designed by the great Hannu Mikkola has created a wonderful stage on which to marvel at some of the very best and most spectacular driving that motor sport has to offer."

The Sunday Times InGear' Supercar Run sees the Audi R8 heading the 50-car entry in the "supercar" event. The 420bhp R8 is Audi's first mid-engined sportscar and was inspired by Audi's five victories by its namesake R8 at Le Mans since 2000.

The Festival of Speed is far more than just a hillclimb - it is a celebration of the history of motorsport and can justifiably claim to be the world's biggest and most diverse classic motor sports event. Taking place outside Goodwood House, it uses the road through the Park as the track. Admission tickets are available in advance only.