Words: Nathan Chadwick | Photos: Goodwood
A grid of 30 pre-1966 Porsche 911s will battle it out at the Goodwood Revival’s 25th birthday bash – all being raced using synthetic fuels.
The Fordwater Trophy is the latest Porsche adaptation of sustainable fuels – a subject we’ve covered here. The Revival first dipped its toe in sustainable fuels last year, with a Jaguar C-type in Friday’s Freddie March Memorial Trophy and a Porsche 904 in the RAC TT on Sunday both running on the special juice.
The rest of the line-up for this year’s event – which takes place between Friday, September 8 and Sunday, September 10, 2023 – spans 75 years of Goodwood Motor Circuit history, and honours Carroll Shelby and Lotus as the iconic names celebrate 100 years and 75 years respectively.
New for the 2023 Revival is the Rudge Whitworth Cup, which pays tribute to the Le Mans 24 Hours 100-year anniversary. It will be a two-driver race featuring Bentleys, Alfa Romeos and Bugattis from the early years of the endurance classic. The Freddie March Memorial Trophy, one of the most popular events at the Revival, this year marks 70 years since the 1953 Goodwood Nine Hours. It’ll be a two-driver sunset race on Friday evening, with the likes of Jaguar C-types, Aston Martin DB3Ss, Jaguar XK120s and Austin-Healeys battling it out. The Goodwood Trophy will also return with cars from the 1930s and ’40s, such as ERA, Maserati, Alta and more.
Moving forward to the 1960s, the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy will bring Grand Prix motorcycles of the era out to play, ridden by stars of the current world of Superbikes, MotoGP and the Isle of Man TT in a two-rider format. Meanwhile, the Glover Trophy celebrates the 1.5-litre Grand Prix cars driven by the likes of Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark and Graham Hill between 1961 and 1965. Keeping to single-seaters, Lotus and Cooper will go head-to-head in the Chichester Cup, for Formula Junior cars dating from 1960 to 1963.
To celebrate 60 years since Graham Hill took victory at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in a Ferrari 250GTO, the Lavant Cup will be entirely made up of Ferrari GT cars built between 1960 and 1966. The RAC TT Celebration race, meanwhile, will be dedicated to closed-cockpit GT and prototype cars from between 1960 and 1964; you can expect to see lightweight Jaguar E-types, Cobras, Corvette Sting Rays and Porsche 904s in action. The Whitsun Trophy for sports prototypes from between 1960 and 1966 will pit Can-Am cars against the likes of Ford GT40s, for what promises to be the fastest race of the weekend.
Heading back to the 1950s and early 1960s, the Sussex Trophy will feature World Championship sports cars from between 1955 and 1960, such as the Ferrari 246S Dino, Lister Knobbly and Lotus 15, while the St Mary’s Trophy this year celebrates 1950s saloon cars, such as Austin A40s, Jaguar Mk1s and Alfa Romeo Giuliettas. Finally, the Richmond & Gordon Trophy will celebrate 2.5-litre Grand Prix cars from 1952 to 1960, with front and rear-engined cars doing battle.
More details on the Goodwood Revival can be found here.
