What It’s Like To Race at Goodwood Revival

The Goodwood Revival is hands-down one of the best classic events of the year—and in the star-studded Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy race, which shines like a diamond in the event’s jewel-laden crown, the Revival offers arguably the greatest historic race in the entire world.

Held late in the English summer at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex, the Revival is three days of classic racing on both two and four wheels. The parkland circuit is owned by the 11th Duke of Richmond and is gloriously old school and fast, but the racing is only half the fun. Celebrities rub shoulders with professional racers, while thousands of enthusiasts show up in period costumes that make you feel like you’ve time-traveled straight back to the 1950s—the outfits are just as important as the racing.

It’s not just the fans who are dressed up. Catering staff, track medics, marshals, photographers—everyone gets into the spirit, looking like they stepped out of a postwar movie set, all stiff upper lips and derring-do. Even the overworked mechanics, who somehow manage to stay smartly dressed while elbow-deep in grease, wrestling with often less than oil-tight engines, add a layer of yesteryear authenticity. This year, F1 world champions such as Sir Jackie Stewart and Jacques Villeneuve graced the paddock alongside Giacomo Agostini as Goodwood celebrated one of motorsport’s greats: the late John Surtees, who remains the only human on the planet to win world titles on four and two wheels.

The Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy is, for bike fans at least, the highlight of the Revival. The highly competitive double-header features pre-1955 grand prix bikes with practice and qualifying held on Friday, and a 30-minute race on Saturday and a second 30-minute “part two” on Sunday. Each race starts with a Le Mans-style run across the track, with two riders per bike changing over at around the halfway point. One rider is typically the “star” or professional rider, the second the owner of a prestigious bike or a current classic racing specialist.

It’s a race like no other. In the recent past superstars like Dani Pedrosa, Wayne Gardner, and Kevin Schwantz have all raced at Goodwood. One of the big names making their debut this year was 2011 World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa. Astonishingly, there were also more than 75 Isle of Man victories on the grid, with 29-time TT winner  Michael Dunlop, 23-time winner John McGuinness, and seven-time winner Michael Rutter joining James Hillier (one win) and Steve Plater (two wins) and Iain Duffus. Davey Todd (two), who took the win for BMW in the Senior this year, was also on hand, as was the only man to take five victories in a week, Ian Hutchinson.

The entry list also included two-time British Superbike champion Josh Brookes, Irish roadracing star Adam McLean, former GP star Jeremy McWilliams, and the fastest woman around the TT Mountain Course, Jenny Tinmouth. Add recent British Superbike race winner Storm Stacey and some international fliers such as Australians Davo Johnson and Billy McConnell and French rider Sylvain Barrier, and you have a blend of talent and racing backgrounds like no other. Where else could you see the most successful TT rider and real-roads racer of all time, Micheal Dunlop, take on a former World Superbike champion such as Carlos Checa?

If you think the rider entry is impressive, the list of priceless machinery is equally head turning. All the race bikes are pre-1955, which makes for an eclectic and intriguing blend. As you might expect, Manx Nortons are the most popular choice along with the Matchless G80. However, a few jaw-dropping Vincent Black Lightnings and Shadows graced the paddock this year, and BMW also joined the party, bringing bikes from its collection, the most unusual being the R63 Kompressor ridden by Davey Todd. With some Beemers dating back to 1928, the combination of a hardtail rear suspension, supercharged power, and a hand change made for an interesting ride.

Your correspondent was lucky enough to be invited by the Duke of Richmond (entry to the Revival is by invitation only) to ride a lovely bike owned by UK classic racing specialist Stuart Tonge. As an English gent with a vast knowledge of classic racebikes, Stuart is typical of the event, and is a quick rider too. His bikes are regularly on the podium at Goodwood, and this year he brought two machines: a Matchless G80 ridden by TT winner James Hillier and classic racer—and previous winner—Dan Jackson, and a hybrid 1954 Manx Norton chassis with a Matchless G80 engine to be ridden by Stuart and me.

This wonderful creation is hand-built and tuned by Stuart and a work of art. Assembling an engine takes 50 man-hours alone and the finished machine looks far too good to risk on the Goodwood racetrack, which asks a lot of these classic masterpieces.

But up and down the paddock are collectors’ dream bikes—many priceless and unique like the original Manx Norton owned and raced by Ian Bain—that will be ridden to the very edge of destruction. His Manx is a former factory bike owned and raced by Norton.

I’ve ridden at the Goodwood Revival several times and, like the classic horse racing festival held each July, it’s become known as “Glorious Goodwood” because the long weekend is usually blessed with late summer sunshine. Each day normally opens with a Spitfire display under perfect blue skies. But not this year. Instead, the heavens opened.

The Goodwood circuit was opened in 1952, is 2.4 miles long, and remains very much like it was back in the ‘50s. During World War II it was an active airfield, and the infield is still open for private planes today. It’s mainly flat and fast, and the list of famous drivers and riders who once raced here is endless. It was the track that ended Stirling Moss’ international career, after a crash in 1962 which he was lucky to survive.

In the dry it’s fast and flowing; in the wet, there’s standing water and the grip level diminishes considerably. The Barry Sheene Memorial race is just one of 14 races, whose entry lists include race cars dating back to the 1930s, meaning the surface also carries a mixture of oil, fuel, and water. Add skinny classic motorcycle tires and the challenges become even more complicated than sourcing a convincing circa-1953 tweed cap to wear.

Our plan for the 30-minute qualifying was simple. Stuart would go out first, make sure everything mechanical was OK, and then I’d jump on board to ride some safe but brisk laps that would hopefully put us in the top 15. Qualifying isn’t that important at Goodwood, as anything can happen during the chaos of the Le Mans-style start as we all run across the track. Neither crashing nor stressing the engine were the main goals.

Conditions were wet with lots of standing water that meant I couldn’t take the correct racing line at some points on the track, but it was the same for everyone. Luckily Stuart had put a great bike together and the feeling from the Norton chassis fueled my confidence. The G80 motor felt strong and, for an old thumper, the fueling was excellent, making it relatively easy to ride in the wet.

It all takes some getting used to: a right-foot race shift, drum brakes, and the same tires, wet or dry. By lap four I was getting a feel for the bike’s grip, which was changing every lap, while newcomers like former GP star James Ellison and even WSBK champ Checa were struggling. To ride a probably irreplaceable, right-foot gear-changing classic bike at a fast wet slippery track for the first time is as daunting as racing comes. Even the very best riders can be flummoxed by the vagaries of classic machinery and the British summer.

Meanwhile, I was enjoying the conditions. I ride almost every day on the road and grew up roadracing at tracks that always seemed to be wet. So while I wouldn’t know which way round to sit on a factory world superbike, when I handed our bike back to my teammate we were looking good.

With qualifying over, Davey Todd had crafted a brilliant pole on the supercharged BMW R63, followed by Brookes on the Vincent Black Shadow and Adam McClean on a Royal Enfield Interceptor. We performed way above expectations with a sixth, just pipped by Michael Dunlop in fifth and in front of Hillier on our sister bike in seventh. Somehow, we were 0.1 second from Dunlop, also on a Norton, and in front of McGuinness, McWilliams, and Hutchinson. This was a qualification sheet I will have to keep.

Race day thankfully the weather was dry and much warmer with a few damp patches lingering on the track. The mantra of most professional racers at Goodwood is “It’s only a bit of fun,” but everyone knows they will be trying. Racers race. Davey Todd and his team had a two-day private test a few weeks before the event; some take it very seriously.

In parc fermé, the sound and smell of 30 barely silenced classic bikes being warmed up simultaneously is as deafening as it is intoxicating. Knees wobble. It’s also impossible to have a proper conversation. And still all the actors in this sublimely strange event are in period costume. A gaggle of household names, riders you are used to watching on TV in their bright state-of-the-art leathers, stand together in traditional black outfits, just as Duke, Surtees, and Hailwood once did, chatting freely and trying hard not to look like the next half an hour matters.

I have Dunlop one spot in front, Hillier behind—I’m in good company. I also know some faster riders like McWilliams and Rutter will be coming hard from the back. I’m usually nervous before a race but this is on a different level. I am about to brush elbows with TT legends, on a priceless bike, on a demanding fast track live on TV and in front of close to 60,000 spectators.

My race strategy is simple: Run across the track, get to my bike before Dunlop, then ride as hard as I dare, trying to stay with the front-runners before handing over to my teammate Stuart at the halfway stage.

With the bikes lined up, we all wait for the flag to drop, and then it’s a self-conscious sprint to the bike, with note to self: Don’t trip up. Remember, throw a leg over the bike, up one on the right foot gear change, and we’re away. We make a great start but I get blocked by Davey Todd into turn 1. He’s struggling with his hand shift gearbox and we’re dropping back. On the long run out of turn 1 (Madgwick), I have Dunlop on the outside and Todd on the inside. Hillier is in the lead, with Brookes behind. Over the line at the end of lap 1 and we have dropped to eighth, tucked in behind Todd, with Micheal Rutter from the back of the grid now in my slipstream followed by Dunlop. What an opening lap!

On lap 2 Rutter on his Velocette-powered Norton breezes past. I’m still fighting with Todd, and Dunlop keeps showing me a wheel. I shouldn’t be in this company but my bike is so good. Todd is fast in a straight line (126.8 mph fast, to be precise), but really struggles around the left at St. Mary’s into Lavant, and I make a move into the right. On the long straight he slips past again as my sweet-handling bike can only muster 119 mph on the straight.

On lap three I try the same move but Todd again repasses on the straight, and now I have McGuinness and Dunlop on my back wheel. Todd is holding me up in the corners but is fast on the straights. We exchange positions sometimes twice a lap, with Dunlop and McGuinness ready to pick up the pieces.

On lap 6 I try the same move again, but this time try to block Todd so he can’t retake his position, and it works. The next lap I pass BSB star Billy McConnell and pull away from Todd. I am up to fifth on lap 8 and on lap 9 I am given the pitboard to hand over to Stuart, who rejoins in eighth after a sluggish pit stop.

Stuart immediately settles into the pace of the race and is riding well but, ominously, the bike doesn’t look quick. On lap 13 it lets go and releases a heartbreaking plume of blue smoke.

It’s over.

The combination of Micheal Russell/Michael Rutter takes an easy win on the Norton chassis/Velocette engine hybrid, with our sister team of Hillier and Jackson second, and Brookes and Ben Kingham third on the Black Shadow.

Back in the pits, we can reflect on a good race. Stuart’s immaculate creation was going well, but now it has a split in the casing that means there is more oil on the outside of the engine than inside, and we can’t fix the bike for Sunday’s race. We are gutted, but that is classic racing. We’d rather push this 1954 Matchless to the limit than let it collect dust in a private museum.

Goodwood Revival isn’t just about the results, it’s about the experience. For me, it’s a rare chance to relax and enjoy racing with my family. I get the unique opportunity to race elbow to elbow with some of the greats and make memories I will cherish forever. Like most who attend, either as a competitor or spectator, I love to immerse myself in the event. I have to pinch myself when I realize I am having lunch on the table next to Ago! The priceless cars and their races are totally absorbing and no less competitive too. There is so much to see and do that it’s hard to get around to everything over three days. The Goodwood Revival is the event of the year, one of biking’s best-kept secrets that sells out every year. If you’re interested in attending 2025, check out goodwood.com. And, yes, we will be back next year.

A huge thank you to Stuart Tonge and his team for such a fantastic opportunity. Also thank you to the Goodwood team and the CRMC, Sally and Gordon Russell.