Video: 2026 Freddie March Memorial Trophy full race | Goodwood Revival

The front row offered a mouth-watering taste of the competition ahead, as Chris Ward and Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button lined-up in a pair of equally matched Jaguar C-Types, with Theo Hunt alongside them in a sleek HWM-Jaguar. Slicing into Madgwick on the opening lap, Button instantly showcased his world-class racing prowess, nailing the start from second on the grid to seize the lead from last year’s winner, Ward.

As Button tried to break away at the front, the briefest of missed gearshifts handed a golden opportunity to Ward, who effortlessly capitalised on the mistake to retake the lead. While fierce battles ignited throughout the mid-pack, spectators couldn't tear their eyes away from the leading duo. However, the focus quickly shifted further down the field as Maxime Castelein dropped a wheel, sending his beautiful Aston Martin DB3S sliding wide into turn one. 

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Hunt utilised the HWM Jaguar to breeze past Button, whose C-Type was rapidly shedding pace. While the leaders stabilised their positions with a few seconds between them, the real spectacle raged mid-pack, where sixth through tenth place were separated by less than five seconds; an Austin-Healey 100S, a Cooper-Jaguar T33, an Aston Martin DB3S, a Jaguar C-Type and a Jaguar D-Type were all running bumper-to-bumper. The intense action boiled over when Mathias Sielecki made an overambitious move down the inside, shunting Guy Harman's Cooper-Jaguar T33 and forcing Harman to cut the final chicane to stay in the running.

This dramatic collision compressed the field even further, leaving Frederic Wakeman’s Jaguar C-Type and Andreas Halusa’s Jaguar D-Type locked in a fierce duel, separated by a mere 0.2 seconds with under 15 minutes remaining. Nearby, Castelein pulled off a spectacular save in his DB3S, catching a wild snap of oversteer that sent his rear wheels trailing off the grass before he masterfully regained control.

Meanwhile, further down the order, the gritty racing refused to let up. Richard Woolmer in the HWM Cadillac and Jack Rawles in the Austin-Healey 100S went side-by-side through the chicane, both refusing to yield an inch of tarmac. Then suddenly, heartbreak struck at the front as Button’s ailing C-Type plummeted down the order and retire.

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Back in the mid-pack war, Rawles powered his Healey ahead as Woolmer dropped a wheel onto the grass, losing critical time. Rawles offered a polite thumbs-up as he cleared his rival — a moment of sportsmanship in a race you wished would never end.

This gruelling sprint saved its harshest twists for the final moments. With just under two minutes left on the clock, Rawles's hard-fought Austin-Healey 100S groaned to a halt on the grass by the tire barrier, huffing smoke as a cruel mechanical failure forced him out. Ben Cussons then suffered a similar fate, parking his Jaguar C-Type on the grass. These late-stage heartbreaks reflected the brutal mechanical toll of historic motorsport, making a triumphant victory for Chris Ward in his Jaguar C-Type all the more impressive.