2025 Whitsun Trophy preview | Goodwood Revival

What is the Whitsun Trophy? 

The Whitsun name has been associated with Goodwood since the inaugural Whit Saturday Meeting, held over the Whitsun weekend in 1950. The first Whitsun Trophy took place in 1954 as a Formula Libre event in which two BRM V16s claimed first and second places.

This was an era of experimentation in which sport-racing prototypes first moved to a mid-engined format. The powerful machines that emerged led to Freddie March, in period, to believe that the racing at the Motor Circuit was becoming too fast.

The first Whitsun Trophy took place in 2001 and picked up where things were left off. Revival’s interpretation most closely resembles the race held in 1965, in which John Coundley’s McLaren M1A beat Roy Salvadori’s Ford GT40 to victory at the head of a field that included open-cockpit prototypes from Brabham and Lotus.

It has been on the race card every year since its introduction, much to the delight of Revival-goers. The grid is made up of cars such as the thundering Lola T70 and nimble Ford GT40, all dating from 1960-’66, the year the Goodwood Motor Circuit closed.

As a result, this is a field where no two cars look alike, their only similarity typically being big-block Ford or Chevrolet V8s with no shortage of cubic inches. The Whitsun Trophy cars are the very quickest machines that race at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, which guarantees a great battle.

When is the Whitsun Trophy?

Official Practice for the Whitsun Trophy is set for Friday at 13:40, where these speedsters will be vying to set the fastest times possible for their spot in the starting grid. The 25-minute race then follows as the penultimate on-track event on Saturday evening, with the flag dropping at 16:40.

Previous winners of the Whitsun Trophy

Tickets for the Goodwood Revival are limited! Saturday tickets have sold out, so secure your Friday and Sunday tickets to avoid missing out on the world's best historic motorsport event.

Photography by Toby Whales.