Each year, the central feature in front of Goodwood House is something of a focal point for the Festival of Speed.

Manufacturers use the space to display their dominance for this sold-out weekend, and this year it is Mazda's turn. Sculptor Gerry Judah has created a towering vision of Mazda's motorsport heritage, designed to tie in with this year's Festival of Speed theme - flat out and fearless: racing on the edge.

The statue features 720 individual beams, twisted into a spiral to represent Mazda's DNA and motorsport pedigree, as well as its 'Kodo - Soul of Motion' design language. At the top sits Mazda's rotary-engined 787B Le Mans racer - still the only Japanese car to take outright victory at Le Mans, which it did in 1991 - and its LM55 Vision Gran Turismo concept car.

It's interesting that the new Mazda MX-5 doesn't feature on the statue - given that it is Mazda's current 'hero' car and a track-focused version will appear in a new global racing series in 2016. The road-going MX-5 is also making its UK debut at this week's event.

Still, the idea behind Goodwood's annual statue is prominence and by towering over Lord March's house at a height of 40 metres, Judah's sculpture puts Mazda centre stage.

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2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed gallery

Autocar's guide to the Goodwood Festival of Speed