Great Goodwood Revival Races: 2022 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy

Opening with a chaotic Le Mans-style start, as is tradition for the Revival's bike race, the VIP riders were tasked with holding their machines steady as their team-mates made the short sprint across the track to get the action underway. 

It was breathless from the first moments a group of four riders got the better of the field and battled for the lead through Madgwick. It was three wide as George Thomas, Ben Kingham and Michael Russell steamed into Fordwater, the extra power of Kingham's Vincent proving decisive as he claimed the lead on the entrance to St. Mary's. 

When Russell appeared to suffer a problem with his Velocette as he rounded Woodcote corner for the first time, the leading pair immediately broke free and set about trying to claim the early advantage. 

You might have thought that these two would have considered going easy on their near-70-year-old motorcycles, but there was certainly no evidence of that as it became clear the victory in this second race of the weekend was well and truly up for grabs. 

No quarter was given as Thomas sent a daring but textbook move up the inside of Kingham under braking for St. Mary's on the second lap. The superior stopping power of Thomas' Matchless made the perfect foil to Kingham's advantage on the straights, and the theme for the next 25 minutes was set. 

However, their relentless battling allowed Russell, who was now back up to speed, to close in and rejoin the lead fight as all three navigated early traffic at the beginning of lap three. 

Russell's speed on the Velocette was electrifying, and he scythed past both Kingham and Thomas in the space of three corners, but the power of his close rivals told along the Lavant Straight as the leading three went side-by-side again into the braking zone at Woodcote. 

It was clean, it was fair, but it was fiercely competitive stuff as all three riders pushed their machinery to the limit, line astern and in a class of their own as they stretched out a gap over the rest of the field. 

The continual swapping of positions at the front carried into lap five. This time it was the turn of Kingham on the big Vincent to power his way into the lead with a spectacular turn of speed as the pit window opened, and the opportunity to hand over to the professionals arrived. 

George Thomas made the first move, diving into the pits to hand over to Isle of Man TT stalwart and race winner James Hillier. That left Kingham and Russell out together, and they continued their ruthless battle for supremacy for another two laps before Kingham too took to the pits. 

That left Russell out on his own with 12 minutes to go, but it was Hillier behind who had made huge progress since emerging from the pitlane. Josh Brookes, who had taken over from Kingham on the Vincent, trailed him in a net third place by some eight seconds. 

Hillier was well and truly on the limit as he danced his 'Matchy' through the Chicane, and the three-rider epic continued as Michael Rutter joined the fray having finally taken over from Russell. With eight minutes to go, the top three were all within reach of victory. 

It was Brookes who was setting the pace as he got to work reducing the deficit to Hillier, inspired not only by the chase of a race win at the Goodwood Revival, but also with the knowledge that he had to win by more than 13 seconds to claim the aggregate victory for the overall Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy. He certainly wasn't going to give up without a fight. 

Rutter wasn't about to be left behind either, and he clung onto Brookes' leathers as the chasing pair both took chunks out of Hillier's lead. 

Brookes was within striking distance with four minutes to go and took his opportunity as the leaders came across traffic into St. Mary's. It was a brave but brilliantly measured move to put the Vincent back in front — yet another example of how competitive these riders truly are, regardless of the age of their machinery. 

Three became two at the front of the field with two minutes to go as Rutter's Velocette gave up the ghost, leaving Hillier to try and wrestle the win from Brookes as they began their final lap. The pair brilliantly navigated a gaggle of back-markers through the treacherous run of Fordwater into St. Mary's, and Brookes was just able to cling onto victory, pushing that wonderful Vincent Black Shadow as far as it could go to take the chequered flag by just two tenths of a second. 

It's impossible not to enjoy this spectacular showcase of historic motorcycle racing. The 2022 Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy offered up 25 minutes of non-stop action and there's no doubt that this is one of the great Goodwood Revival races. 

Photography by Jayson Fong, Michal Pospisil and Toby Whales. 

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