Lansdowne at Goodwood

This year’s appearances:

81st Members’ Meeting – 13-14 April 2024

Goodwood Revival – 6-8 September 2024 – read the 2023 report

For more information about the Goodwood events, click here

The Lansdowne Classic Series was inspired by the very first Goodwood Revival meeting in 1998. The idea for the motorcycle grid came from John Surtees who got the ball rolling but then handed over to the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club to organise the grid. A short time later the Lansdowne Classic Series working with the Goodwood Motorsport Team, began to curate and organise the motorcycle racing at Goodwood, which we have been doing ever since.

Nobody was quite sure what to expect from that very first Revival motorcycle race but what transpired was a grid of 20 very original Manx Norton’s, Matchless G50s, AJS 7Rs etc, the like of which had not been seen for a very long time.

Now, 25 years later the race has evolved into two distinct classes, one for pre 1964 GP type 500cc bikes and the other for pre 1955 bikes similar to the bikes that raced in the 1000cc race in the 1954 motorcycle race meeting at Goodwood. The Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, as it is now called, commemorates the country’s last 500cc premier class motorcycle world champion and is always a highlight of the Goodwood Revival. Barry of course was a multiple winner of the Lennox Cup before it rightly became the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy.

Each motorcycle is ridden by 2 riders, each sharing a minimum of 8 laps each. This is usually the bike’s owner and a well-known current or previous motorcycling champion. For extra drama a Le Mans type start is employed.

We also curate and organise the motorcycle racing at the Annual Goodwood Members’ Meeting where motorcycles of the 70’s and 80’s compete. So far GP Two Stroke bikes like the all-conquering TZ350 and Formula 750 big four stroke bikes have raced at the Members’ Meeting.

Previous riders include: