Goodwood Revival

Freddie March transformed RAF Westhampnett's perimeter track into a racing circuit, the former Battle of Britain fighter station hosting its first meeting in September 1948.

Freddie March, the 9th Duke of Richmond, converted the perimeter track of RAF Westhampnett into a motor racing circuit. The airfield had served as a fighter station during the Battle of Britain, and its flat, fast layout proved ideal for racing. The first meeting took place on 18 September 1948, drawing crowds eager for post-war thrills.

Reg Parnell took the first victory at Goodwood; Stirling Moss would go on to make the circuit his own.

The very first race at Goodwood was the Goodwood Trophy, won by Reg Parnell. The circuit quickly established itself as one of Britain's premier racing venues, hosting rounds of the World Championship for sports cars and attracting the finest drivers of the era. Stirling Moss became synonymous with the track, winning there more than any other driver.

A month in a coma, yet the sport raced on; Goodwood's most celebrated driver never competed again.

On Easter Monday 1962, Stirling Moss crashed heavily at St Mary's corner during the Glover Trophy. He was in a coma for a month and, though he recovered, the accident ended his competitive career. It was a dark day for the circuit, and a reminder of the dangers that defined the sport in that era.

Silenced by safety concerns in 1966, the circuit would lie dormant for more than thirty years.

The 10th Duke of Richmond, concerned about increasing speeds and the safety limitations of the circuit, took the decision to close Goodwood to competitive motorsport. The final race meeting was held on 2 July 1966. For over three decades, the circuit fell silent, used only occasionally for testing and track days. The grandstands emptied, the paddock grew quiet, and Goodwood became a memory.

A hillclimb in the grounds proved the appetite; a reopened circuit became the ambition.

Charles Gordon-Lennox, the current Duke of Richmond, launched the Goodwood Festival of Speed as a hillclimb occasion in the grounds of Goodwood House. Its immediate success proved the appetite for historic motorsport at Goodwood and gave the Duke the confidence to pursue a far more ambitious plan: reopening the circuit itself.

Fifty years on, the circuit woke up exactly as it had left off; not a signpost out of place.

On 18 September 1998, exactly fifty years after the first race at Goodwood, the Revival held its inaugural meeting. The Duke of Richmond's vision was uncompromising: only cars and motorcycles that had raced at Goodwood between 1948 and 1966 would be eligible. Spectators were encouraged to dress in period costume. The entire circuit was restored to its original condition, right down to the signage and the marshals' uniforms. The response was extraordinary. Tens of thousands attended, and the occasion was immediately recognised as something without precedent in motorsport.

Celebrity met professional, machinery stayed identical, and the crowd found its favourite race.

By its third year, the Revival had established a race programme that would become legendary. The St Mary's Trophy, a two-part saloon car race, paired celebrity drivers with professional racers in identical period machinery. The format produced close, unpredictable racing and became a crowd favourite. Other signature races, including the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration and the Sussex Trophy, cemented the Revival's reputation for world-class historic racing.

Headlamps piercing the Friday gloom; the Kinrara Trophy became the weekend's most coveted ticket almost overnight.

The Kinrara Trophy, a race for closed-cockpit GT cars from the late 1950s and early 1960s, was moved to the Friday evening slot and run as dusk fell over the circuit. Watching Ferrari 250 GT SWBs and Aston Martin DB4 GTs duel under floodlights, headlamps cutting through the gloom, became one of the most atmospheric experiences in all of motorsport. The Friday evening race quickly became the hottest ticket of the weekend.

150,000 souls turned up to toast 25 years of the world's finest historic motor racing meeting.

The 25th Goodwood Revival drew over 150,000 visitors across the three-day weekend, confirming its status as the world's greatest historic motor racing festival. The anniversary meeting featured a special celebration of the circuit's heritage, with tributes to the drivers and cars that had defined both the original era and the Revival itself. What began as one man's passion project had become a global institution.

Three titles, one centenary, and motorcycles on the grid for the first time; 2026 belongs to Brabham.

The 2026 Goodwood Revival, scheduled for 18 to 20 September, will celebrate the life and legacy of three-time World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, alongside marking 100 years of Maserati's racing success. The meeting also features a first for the Revival: a dedicated celebration of Barry Sheene and motorcycle racing heritage. The circuit continues to evolve while holding fast to its founding principle, that the past is worth racing for.