Tag: Goodwood Revival

When the words ‘Goodwood’ and ‘Mini’ are uttered in the same sentence it can surely mean only one thing; the St. Mary’s Trophy historic touring car races at Goodwood Revival. A brace of 1960s Cooper S racers nipping angrily at the heels of the giant V8 muscle from across the pond. Only this year it will be different, very different.

For 2025 the St. Marys Trophy reverts to its biennial pre-1960 touring car grid, where the humble Mini hasn’t been allowed due to its predominantly 1960s period competition success – until now. Having made the decision to include Minis in the race, Goodwood turned to a trio of trusted faces in the historic racing community to produce the right car for the occasion.

Austin Cars Ltd is a recently formed company which has chosen the classic Mini as the showpiece for its engineering and competition thinking and which will field two classic Minis on the illustrious pre-1960 Goodwood grid.

“It’s not really a new idea,” says Mark Burnett, Managing Director of Austin Cars Ltd. “Over at Burlen we’ve been producing a small range of classic car parts under the Austin name for years and in 2020 we set up Austin Pedal Cars, which is such a lovely natural path into the world of historic motoring for young people.

“The next step was always going to be the production of something for the grown-ups, something basic but fun, soul-stirring and memory inducing, no frills motoring, simply because we can. The Austin Cars cup of tea has been brewing for quite a while!”

Owens Fabrication in Wales were asked to produce the bodyshells and roll cages, paying meticulous attention to the detail of the 1959 model. They were then tasked with assembly of the cars to race specification, but without losing the production car feel.

Swiftune Engineering were chosen to build, test and supply the full race specification engines for the plucky racers.

“Swiftune and Owens are not only long-term friends of Austin Cars but they also happen to produce the fastest, most reliable classic Mini race cars and A-Series race engines in the world,” says Burnett. “There was no other option in our quest for perfection. We also went the extra mile with many uniquely designed and engineered touches, produced in-house at Austin.”

The cars have been built to accurately reflect the early production Minis from 1959. Subtle differences have been made to the bodyshell and trim, steels wheels have been added, and the ride height has been raised to replicate the body roll of the earliest racing Minis. Both race cars will feature less powerful versions of the famous A-Series engine than their later production cousins, fed by a single SU carburettor, and with the ‘wand’ gear lever of the original 850cc Mini.

Presented in Farina Grey, an original 1959 Austin colour, the two team cars will line up on the St. Marys Trophy grid for the first time ever at the 2025 Goodwood Revival.

“Minis are such a popular sight at Goodwood, and I am very excited to see them racing in the 1950s version of the St Mary’s Trophy,” says Will Kinsman, Goodwood’s Editorial and Content Director. “Our brief to Austin, Swiftune and Owens was to produce cars that look like “your Mum’s Mini, which you’ve borrowed for the day, painted a number on the side, and taken racing without telling her!”, and they have achieved it brilliantly. The attention to detail that has gone into creating cars that are distinctly different from the Cooper S-spec cars that we normally see racing is a credit to all concerned.”

No strangers to classic Mini racing, the cars will be driven in the famous race by Mark Burnett himself, as well as Nick Swift of Swiftune, but they will also be joined by some big names from the racing world. Co-drivers are required because the race is made up of two parts, on both the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend. Performing this privilege will be Karun Chandhok, former F1 driver and Darren Turner, endurance racing champion. The race results are then formed by the aggregate result of the drivers’ finishing times, with the nail-biting finale rounding off the weekend’s racing on Sunday evening.

“It’s a real pleasure to present our 1959 Austin Minis to the spectators and the world at Goodwood, and such a privilege to be asked to join the grid for the first time ever,” says Burnett. “What a way to showcase Austin Cars and who knows, perhaps their debut provides a hint of our plans for the future.”

The Goodwood Revival battled the elements this past weekend (September 6/7/8) to serve up a retro-themed extravaganza of close-quarter racing for the tens of thousands of spectators that had flocked trackside.

Bringing together iconic competitors and glorious machines, the Revival – which is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the historic racing calendar – closed out another entertaining year of motoring thrills at the West Sussex venue in style.

Like it does for both the Members’ Meeting and the Festival of Speed, the British Automobile Racing Club played its part in the three-day spectacle with many of its hugely admired officials and volunteers attending the event to fulfil a number of operational and marshalling roles.

With famous faces and spectacular vehicles in attendance, it will come as no surprise that the action on-track had everyone perched firmly on the edge of their seats, especially in the St. Mary’s Trophy presented by Motul for 1960s saloons.

Entertainment was served up across two races and for the second year in succession Romain Dumas was a winner as he this time teamed up with Bill Shephard to dominate proceedings in the monstrous Ford Galaxie 500.

Elsewhere the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy Celebration, which centres around closed-cockpit GT and Prototypes between 1960-1964, saw the current top two in the British Touring Car Championship enjoy a ding-dong battle for overall honours.

Former champion Tom Ingram and Mike Whitaker guided their TVR Griffith 400 to the chequered flag first, beating the team of Jake Hill and Oliver Bryant in their AC Cobra by a little under half a second.

While Hill missed out on the spoils of the RAC TT, he did reign supreme in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy whilst Ian Baxter was victorious in the Goodwood Trophy for Grand Prix and Voiturette cars from the 30s, 40s and 50s.

The Glover Trophy, which is for 1.5-litre Grand Prix cars between 1961 and 1965, provided plenty of thrills as Andy Middlehurst and Joe Colasacco went head-to-head – with Middlehurst winning by just 0.038s in his Lotus-Climax.

World Championship Sportscars from between 1955 to 1960 made up the Sussex Trophy and it was the team of Andrew Smith and Oliver Bryant that dominated proceedings; winning by almost a full minute.

Other race winners included Marc Gordon triumphing in the Fordwater Trophy, Miles Griffiths in the Madgwick Cup and the already aforementioned Bryant, who scooped the spoils in the Whitsun Trophy for sports-racing prototypes from the 1960s.

The legendary pairing of Jimmie Johnson and Dario Franchitti proved to be the perfect combination when it came to the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy as they guided their glorious Aston Martin DB4GT to the winners circle.

That was something that both Tom Waterfield and William Nuthall did in the Earl of March Trophy and Richmond & Gordon Trophies respectively too.

As always, it wasn’t just four-wheel machines that had those in attendance captivated as the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy showcased some jaw-dropping 1950s motorcycles. Michael Russell and Michael Rutter were the toast of the field, winning twice on their Norton Velocette MSS.

Concluding what was a momentous weekend was the Settringham Cup, which saw a total of 68 youngsters line up in Austin J40s for two feel-good dashes to the flag. On combined results, Josh Johnson pipped last year’s winner Luca Franchitti to claim outright honours.

To view the full classification of results from this year’s Goodwood Revival, CLICK HERE.

Goodwood has announced that the 2024 Goodwood Revival will become the world’s first historic motorsport event that will use entirely sustainable fuel in all of its races.

Coming off the back of testing the use of sustainable fuels at this year’s Revival event in the Fordwater Trophy race, the 2024 edition of the world-famous meeting will see each event conducted on sustainable fuel.

Competitors will be required to use a fuel which has a minimum of 70 per cent advanced sustainable components, but no modification or changes will be required for vehicles to use this fuel.

At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel drove his ex-Nigel Mansell 1991 Williams FW14B and ex-Ayrton Senna 1991 McLaren MP4/8 on sustainable fuels

“I enjoyed sharing my ‘Race Without Trace’ initiative with the fans at the Festival of Speed and having the opportunity to show that sustainable fuels are a fantastic way to ensure a possible future pathway for the sport that we love,” said Vettel. “It’s great that Goodwood is leading the way in promoting the use of sustainable fuels at historic racing events.”

The 2024 Goodwood Revival is scheduled to take place on the 6-8 September.

The Goodwood Revival served up a trip down memory like no other this past weekend (September 8-10) as tens of thousands of spectators soaked up the scorching temperatures for the world-famous event in West Sussex.

Bringing together iconic competitors and glorious machines, the Revival – which is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the historic racing calendar – brought the curtain down on another entertaining year at the venue in style.

As has been the case for a number of years, the British Automobile Racing Club played its part in the three-day spectacle with many of its hugely admired officials and volunteers attending the event to fulfil a number of operational and marshalling roles.

Famous faces and machinery proved to be tucked around every corner and when it came to headline acts on-track, nobody could look beyond the St Marys Trophy presented by Motul, which was for saloon cars of the 1950s.

Producing jaw-dropping sideways shenanigans across two frenetic races, the spoils of victory ultimately fell the way of Romain Dumas and Fred Shephard for the second year in succession as they piloted their Ford Thunderbird to a brace of victories.

Another showpiece spectacle was the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy Celebration, which was centred around closed-cockpit GT and Prototypes between 1960-1964, and it was packed with drama in the shape of changeable weather conditions and two big crashes. 

Three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx and William Paul survived what was a race of attrition to claim the coveted victory in a 1965 Jaguar E-type semi-lightweight.

Friday evening saw cars of the type that raced in the 1953 Goodwood 9 Hour take centre stage in the eagerly-anticipated one-hour Freddie March Memorial Trophy contest. After narrowly missing out on pole position in qualifying, the team of Richard Bradley and Richard Wilson guided their Maserati 250S to the win in commanding style.

The Glover Trophy, which is for 1.5-litre Grand Prix cars between 1961 and 1965, provided plenty of thrills as Andrew Willis and Ben Mitchell engaged in a ding-dong battle for overall spoils – with Willis ultimately coming out on top in his BRM P261 by less than half a second.

Sports prototype cars from the mid-1960s featured in the Whitsun Trophy and the glory years werewolf and truly alive as James Davison headed last year’s winner Oliver Bryant and Stuart Hall in a McLaren-Chevrolet M1B.

Bryant did end up standing on the top step of the podium – in the Sussex Trophy – whilst Horatio Fitz-Simon won the Chichester Cup and William Nuthall the Richmond & Gordon Trophies; Nuthall doing so for a second year on the bounce.

Elsewhere, Rob Hall claimed honours in the Lavant Cup presented by Sky Cinema in a Ferrari 250M whilst the Goodwood Trophy – which was for Grand Prix & Voiturette Cars of the 1930 and 1940s – went the way of Ian Baxter in an Alta 61 IS.

In celebration of the first-ever Le Mans 24-Hours, 1920s sportscars of the type that competed in the inaugural race starred in the Rudge-Whitworth Cup; with Ben Collings and Gareth Graham triumphing in a Bentley Speed Model.

Goodwood capped off a year of celebrating all things Porsche with the Fordwater Trophy, which was this time open to early Porsche 911s; former BTCC title winner Andrew Jordan and Matthew Holme proved too much for the opposition in the end.

It wasn’t just four-wheel machines that had those in attendance captivated as the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy showcased some jaw-dropping 1950s motorcycles. 

Steve Plater and Glen English claimed victory in race one however a second place finish followed by a win in race two gave the team of Michael Rutter and Michael Russell overall victory on their 1961 Norton Manx 30M.

Concluding what was a momentous weekend was the Settringham Cup, which saw a total of 65 youngsters line up in Austin J40s for two feel-good dashes to the flag. On combined results, Luca Franchitti claimed outright honours after finishing third and fifth respectively.

To view the full classification of results from this year’s Goodwood Revival, CLICK HERE.

The Goodwood Revival rolled back the years this past weekend (September 16-18) as thousands of avid race fans flocked to the West Sussex race track for an event like no other. 

Bringing together iconic competitors and glorious machines, the Revival – which is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the historic racing calendar – brought the curtain down on another entertaining year at the venue in style.

As continues to be the case, the British Automobile Racing Club played its part in the three-day spectacle with many of its hugely admired team officials and volunteers attending the event to run the operational and marshal aspect.  

Along with many other race meetings around the country, tributes were paid to acknowledge the incredible reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8.

Whilst there were to be many headline acts across the three days, the St Mary’s Trophy Presented by Motul proved to once again be an unmissable sight. Showcasing iconic production-based saloons from the 1960s, the Ford Galaxy 500 of Romain Dumas and Fred Shephard did enough to clinch the overall victory. 

Another showpiece spectacle was the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration, which was for closed-cockpit GT and Prototypes between 1960-1964. In what turned out to be a scintillating hour, Gordon Shedden and Andrew Smith piloted their AC Cobra to victory lane. 

Friday evening saw sportscars from the late 1940s and early 1950s take centre stage in the eagerly-anticipated one-hour Freddie March Memorial Trophy contest. After narrowly missing out on pole position in qualifying, the team of Frederic Wakeman and Sam Hancock guided their Jaguar E-Type to victory by a little under ten seconds.

The Glover Trophy, which is for 1.5-litre Grand Prix cars between 1961 and 1965, had everyone on the edge of their seats as however out front, nobody could stop Andy Middlehurst as he powered his Lotus-Climax 25 to a famous victory.

Sports prototypes from the mid-1960s featured in the Whitsun Trophy presented by Sky Cinema with Oliver Bryant emerging victorious whilst Miles Griffiths reigned supreme in the Madgwick Cup, which was open to under two-litre sport cars that were produced between 1948-55. 

Grand Prix and Voiturette cars from either side of World War II made up the Goodwood Trophy and after 20 minutes of fierce racing, less than second would ultimately cover the top three. Mark Gillies hustled his ERA A-Type R3A to victory ahead of David Morris by just 0.051s whilst Ian Baxter was hot on their heels in third. 

World Championship sportscars from 1955 to 1960 featured in the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy and they didn’t disappoint. The two-driver, one-hour bout saw plenty of thrills and spills play out, ultimately culminating in the team of Andrew Jordan and Mike Whitaker piloting their AC Cobra Dragonsnake to victory.

Fans of the famous MGB were well-catered for courtesy of the Lavant Cup and the race saw a popular winner in the shape of Ed Foster. Elsewhere, Andrew Hibberd won the Chichester Cup and William Nuthall the Richmond & Gordon Trophies. 

It wasn’t just four-wheel machines that had everyone captivated though as the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy showcased some jaw-dropping 1950 motorcycles. James Hillier and George Thomas teamed up to take the overall win aboard the 1954 Matchless G80 CS.

Rounding off what was a momentous weekend was the Settringham Cup, which saw more than 60 youngsters line up in Austin J40 pedal cars. Esme Graham emerged victorious on combined results. 

To view the full classification of results from this year’s Goodwood Revival, CLICK HERE. 

The Goodwood Revival made a triumphant return this past weekend (September 18/19) as the glorious machines from yesteryear took centre stage in West Sussex.

Headlining the weekend’s festivities was the famous RAC TT Celebration which was open to closed cockpit GT cars. Darren Turner and Old Bryant proved to much for the opposition to win.

Fans of the early days of British Touring Car Championship had plenty to salivate over courtesy of the St Mary’s Trophy. Romain Dumas and Bill Shephard shared driving duties in the Ford Thunderbird to take a win apiece, which collated in them claiming overall victory when results were combined.

The iconic Mini Cooper – which was marking its 60th anniversary – was celebrated via the John Whitmore Trophy Presented by Sure. Nick Swift and Andrew Jordan teamed up to produce a commanding performance to take the chequered flag by more than 20 seconds.

On the weekend where he would have celebrated his 92nd birthday, Stirling Moss was honoured with a memorable parade and with the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, which was open to 1960s GT racers.

After a full-throttle hour of competition, the team of Harvey Stanley and James Cottingham drove their Jaguar E-Type to victory lane by just over two seconds from their nearest challengers.

David Hart and Ben Mitchell meanwhile were victorious in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy and Richmond Trophy respectively. In the Brooklands Trophy, the team of Pittaway and Williams drove their 1932 Frazer Nash TT Replica to the chequered flag.

World Championship Sportscars from the 1950s took centre stage in the Sussex Trophy Presented by Lifebuoy and it didn’t disappoint as Cottingham piloted a Tojeiro-Jaguar to the top step of the podium.

The Whitsun Trophy – which is for Sports Prototypes up to 1966 – saw Phil Keen power a Lotus-Ford 30 to victory whilst Mark Gillies claimed a narrow win in the Festival of Britain Trophy.

Elsewhere, Andy Middlehurst was a comfortable winner in the Glover Trophy and Peter De Lan Roche charged to victory in the coveted Chichester Cup.

Rounding out what was a weekend to remember were two Settrington Cup races for Austin J40 Pedal Cars. Jon Bain was declared the winner when times were combined across both entertaining races.

It wasn’t just four wheels that had fans on the edge of their seats with the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy seeing the duo of Dunlop and Plater combining to score victory in the scheduled two races.

To view the full classification of results from the Goodwood Revival, CLICK HERE.

Goodwood’s final event of the year – the Members’ Meeting – takes place on October 16/17.

Goodwood Motor Circuit will reverberate to the sounds of horsepower from a bygone era this weekend (September 17/18/19) as the Goodwood Revival makes a triumphant return.

Taking place for the first time since 2019, the three-day event is one of the highlights of the historic racing calendar and after a pandemic-enforced sabbatical, it appears to be back and better than ever.

As has been the case for a number of years, the British Automobile Racing Club will once again play a pivotal role in running the meeting too.

Combining class motorcycle and car racing with 1950s and 1960s period dress, there is something for everyone when attending the Duke of Richmond’s Sussex circuit – with fun for all the family guaranteed.

However, it is on track where a majority of the entertainment will be found. Traditional contests such as the RAC TT Celebration for GT cars, the St. Mary’s Trophy for touring cars and Glover Trophy for F1 machines from yesteryear will headline the action.

Elsewhere; the Chichester Cup, Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, Whitsun Trophy, Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, Festival of Britain Trophy, Richmond Trophy, Brooklands Trophy and Freddie March Memorial Trophy will also take place.

The John Whitmore Trophy is expected to have fans on the edge of their seats as this year it will be fought over in what is expected to be a frenetic 45-minute, two-driver race to celebrate the Mini Cooper.

Some of the notable names to be competing over the course of the weekend includes Jenson Button, Andrew Jordan, Matt Neal, Martin Brundle, David Brabham and Tiff Needell, amongst many, many more.

To find out more information on this year’s Goodwood Revival, including links to live timing, entry lists and the timetable, CLICK HERE.

Recalling the sights, sounds and spectacle of a bygone era, the ever-popular Goodwood Revival took fans on a spirited trip down memory lane this past weekend (September 13/14/15).

As has been the case for a number of years, the British Automobile Racing Club continued in its organisational role by appointing marshals and officials, as well as ensuring the smooth-running of the meeting too.

Amidst the variety of celebrations that took place, one of which played homage to Mini, the West Sussex venue played host to a multitude of on-track thrills and spills as it brought together iconic names and machines from the world of two and four wheels.

Catering for unlimited sports prototypes up to 1966, the Whitsun Trophy saw Karun Chandhok pilot the McLaren-Chevrolet M1A to victory whilst Roger Wills was the winner of the Sussex Trophy.

The St. Mary’s Trophy, which is billed as one of the headline acts of the event, served up another mesmerising two races of vintage saloon car action with the pairing of Mike Jordan and Nicolas Minassian charging to the top of the rostrum in their Austin A40.

Harry Dark, Sam Wilson and Gareth Barnett meanwhile were the winners of the Settrington Cup, Richmond & Gordon Trophies and Goodwood Trophy respectively.

There was plenty of edge-of-the-seat entertainment from the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration, which is open to cockpit GT cars that race in the spirit of the RAC TT from 1960-1964.

At the wheel of their AC Cobra, Christopher Wilson and Andre Lotterer reigned supreme to claim outright honours after more than an hour of racing.

Teamwork was also required in the Kinara Trophy, which was another one-hour, two-driver race for closed-cockpit GT cars of three litres and over of a type that raced up until 1963.

Gary Pearson headed a Ferrari 250 GTO entry to triumph and he would enjoy further success as he also ran out as the winner of the Freddie March Memorial Trophy race too.

Robert Barrie, Andy Middlehurst, Peter De La Roche, Martin Overington, and the duo of Lee and Johnston rounded out the list of winners during what proved to be an unforgettable weekend.

To view the full classification of results from all sessions at the 2019 Goodwood Revival, click here.

In what is an annual motorsport celebration of yesteryear, the 2019 edition of the Goodwood Revival is set to be bigger and better than ever as it roars into life this weekend (September 13/14/15), with a host of new races, classic cars and motorcycles all set to feature.

Billed as one of the best-loved events on the motor racing calendar, the three-day spectacle is set to transport fans back in time spanning countless decades and subsequently showcasing a variety of different motoring eras.

As has been the case for a number of years, the British Automobile Racing Club continues in its organisational role by appointing marshals and officials, as well as ensuring the smooth-running of the meeting too.

With celebrations taking place for Mini and Bentley, with their 60th and centenary anniversaries being marked respectively; large fields are expected for both marques as they take centre stage.

Alongside the traditional centrepiece races such as the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration, St. Mary’s Trophy and Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, two new races have been added to the already impressive race schedule for the weekend.

The Earl of March Trophy will see 500cc Formula 3 cars from the 1950s will go head-to-head whilst the Brooklands Trophy will be a celebration of Bentley, with pre-war vehicles set to duke it out for victory.

As always, a host of top-name drivers will be in action during the event with former IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti one of the headline announcements to be confirmed leading into the event.

Jeff Gordon, Dani Pedrosa, Tom Kristensen, Jochen Mass and David Brabham, amongst many more, have also been announced too.

Over the course of the three days the on-track action will be accompanied by fashion shows, auctions, fairground attractions, static car displays and trade stands, ensuring that there is fun for all the family throughout each day.

Goodwood’s official YouTube channel will stream all the action across the weekend for fans that aren’t able to be trackside. To ensure you don’t miss a second of the action from the 2019 Goodwood Revival over the course of the weekend, click here.