Goodwood Revival 2018: What we’re most excited about

| 7 Sep 2018
Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

The 2018 Goodwood Revival has roared into life in a heady mix of burnt rubber and petrol fumes – and we’re already loving it.

If the first day’s action is anything to go by, we’re in for a real treat over the remainder of the weekend. We’ve already taken in the most expensive historic race ever – Friday’s Kinrara Trophy – and spent hours gawping at all of the treats in the pre-’66 car park; you can view a full gallery from that here.

But there’s still a massive amount to look forward to over Saturday and Sunday, with 13 more full races plus air displays, parades, demonstrations, a well-stocked Bonhams auction and more all taking place.

And of course half of the fun is in simply walking around and taking in the glorious period sights – from the vintage stores to the tastefully attired attendees.

It’s all enough to leave your head in a spin, so to help make sure you don’t miss anything, here’s our list of the eight things we’re most excited to see this year.


Watch the Goodwood Revival 2018 live stream here

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1. The inaugural Jack Sears Memorial Trophy

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

‘Gentleman Jack’ Sears was one of the most versatile and talented British racers of the 1950s and 1960s, and became the first person to scoop the British Saloon Car Championship title in 1958.

The season was a proper thriller, with Sears scoring 48 points in his Austin A105 and rival Tommy Sopwith finishing on the same total in his Jaguar Mk1.

A race-off was arranged to separate the two, with both driving identical Riley One-Point-Fives in a brace of races; Sears ultimately triumphed by a mere 1.8 seconds.

The Jack Sears Memorial Trophy will pay tribute to that first season via a fantastic grid of representative cars including, of course, the Austin A105, Jaguar Mk1 and Riley One-Point-Five. 

It’ll take place on Saturday (8 September) at 1510 and will be well worth watching.  


2. The Revival winners parade

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

In case you missed the news, this year marks the Revival’s 20th anniversary and the organisers were never likely to let it pass without marking it with a special feature.

Prepare yourselves, then, for the Goodwood Revival Winners Parade.

Taking place on both Saturday (at 1555) and Sunday (1345), it’ll unite nearly 50 previous winners from the event for an unmissable assemblage of evocative machines.

From what we already know of it, it really will be something special: it will feature both Jim Clark’s Lotus-Climax 25 – a car that has won five of the last seven Glover Trophies – and the ex-Raymond Mays ERA A-type R3A.


3. Derek Bell and a host of Le Mans winners

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

The cars aren’t the only stars of the show, of course, and this year’s Revival has really outdone itself on the driver front.

Lining up over the weekend will be no fewer than five Le Mans 24 Hours winners, including five-time champions Derek Bell MBE (above) and Emanuele Pirro, 1969 victor Jackie Oliver, 1970 leader Richard Attwood and 1988 title-holder Jochen Mass.

Bell will drive a 1965 Corvette Sting Ray in the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration (Sunday, 1410), while Pirro will compete in three races. In the first of them, Friday’s awesome Kinrara Trophy, he drove the famed Ferrari 250GT SWB ‘Breadvan’ to victory in a thrilling contest.


4. A bevy of touring car stars

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

There are plenty of Touring Cars stars on show too, among them three-time World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx and double BTCC title-winner Jason Plato (above). Other tin-top icons taking part include Gabriele Tarquini, Andrew Jordan and 2017 BTCC winner Ash Sutton.

Elsewhere, former Formula One star Karun Chandhok will drive a 1964 McLaren M1A in the Whitsun Trophy (Saturday, 1640) and there’ll also be a host of two-wheeled champions taking to the track across the three days.


5. XK120s in the Fordwater Trophy

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

Another anniversary celebrated at this year’s Revival will be that of the venerable Jaguar XK120, now 70 years young.

The achievement will be marked in the 20-minute Fordwater Trophy, Saturday’s first race (1000), with six XK120s lining up on the grid, including one early aluminium-bodied car.

There’ll also be an XK140 on the grid, plus Porsche 356s (one of which will be driven by Take That star Howard Donald), Aston Martin DB2s and many more classics.


6. The Silverstone-themed pits

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

Want another anniversary? You got it. Silverstone celebrates its own 70th this year, and to pay tribute to that birthday, the Revival pits have had a makeover to resemble those at the Northamptonshire circuit in the early 1950s.

Previous themed pits at the Revival have included 2012’s Silver Arrows styling, 2013’s take on 1960s Le Mans and 2015’s tribute to the Sebring of 1965, complete with six Daytona Coupés.

What can we expect to see this year? You’ll have to head along to find out.


7. Bonhams' Revival auction

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

There’ll be plenty of special cars to gawp at off the track, too – thanks to Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival auction.

This £30m sale includes a host of wonderful classics, among them a 1990 Jaguar XJR-11 Group C Prototype – worth £1.2m-plus – and the 1964 Shelby Cobra Competition you see pictured above. 

For something a little different there’s even a Fiat-Bartoletti Transporter that reportedly carried Juan Manuel Fangio’s title-winning car in 1957, and that appeared in Steve McQueen’s classic film Le Mans. Oh, and a Dino 246GT once owned by Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones.

Entry to the auction is by catalogue only, but don’t worry: we’ll be rounding up all of the results here on Classicandsportscar.com.

For a full round-up of our 30 favourite lots from the Bonhams Goodwood Revival auction, click here 


8. All the over-the-road action

Classic & Sports Car – Goodwood Revival 2018 preview

And finally, no Goodwood Revival would be complete without a trip ‘Over the Road’. 

With vintage fairground rides, a roller disco, dozens of eating and drinking opportunities, a Revival Cinema, the Revival Car Show (AKA pre-’66 car park) and lots, lots more to see and do, you could easily spend your entire weekend here. 

We wouldn’t recommend that – you’d miss out on too much great on-track action – but equally you should definitely set aside a bit of time to enjoy a festival atmosphere like no other.

Still need more information? You can head to the official Goodwood Revival website or better still, download the official Goodwood app. It works on both Android and iPhones and will help you navigate the site and plan your day.

Images: LAT Photographic, Goodwood, Drew Gibson, Amy Shore, Bonhams


MORE GOODWOOD REVIVAL 2018

Goodwood Revival Day One: 'Breadvan' wins £200m Kinrara

Gallery: the greatest free car show in the world (aka the Revival Pre-'66 car park)

How to watch the Goodwood Revival 2018 (without being there)

Le Mans legends lead Goodwood Revival driver line-up

Revival to host world’s most expensive motor race

These stunning classics will be sold at the £30m Goodwood Revival auction

Who’ll be the first winner at the 2018 Goodwood Revival?

XK120s lead the way at the 2018 Goodwood Revival

20 years of the Goodwood Revival to be celebrated in style

Star-studded cast confirmed for Revival touring car celebration

Like a Rolling Stone: Keith Richards’ Ferrari goes to auction

Yours for £500k: Fiat transporter that starred in Le Mans