Photography by Nat Twiss
Walking through the smoky, oily, motorcycle paddock is one of the best experiences at the Goodwood Revival. The sound of two and four stroke engines aplenty, and a lot of friendly faces who are more than happy to spend time to talk to you about their machines. When called to the grid, they push their bikes through the masses of public stopping to look, like warriors going to battle. And battle they do. Racing in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy is no-holds barred, and there’s more close racing, and finger gestures to the other rides, than you can keep track of. A rider change mid-race, between the ‘gentlemen’ owner-riders, and the pros helps to mix things up too.
The credentials of the pro riders is nothing to ignore: from TT winners to superbike champions, the field has some serious talent, and serious bravery. Watching the riders (pro and amateur) manhandling these stunning classic bikes was a real treat, and would be the best thing about any other event in the world. Except this is the Goodwood Revival, and essentially every single thing that happens at this event is the best thing.
