British motorcycle racing legend Barry Sheene will take centre stage at all three of Goodwood’s headline motorsport events in 2026, as the estate marks the 50th anniversary of his first World Championship title. For the first time, a driver or rider will be celebrated across the 83rd Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed, and Goodwood Revival, with tributes to Sheene’s extraordinary career and enduring legacy.
Sheene, a two-time 500cc World Champion, won 23 Grand Prix races and captured back-to-back World Championship titles in 1976 and 1977. Known for his fearless riding style, Sheene’s charisma off the bike and remarkable resilience in the face of injury made him an international superstar, elevating motorcycle racing to new heights and earning him fans around the world.
A longstanding supporter of Goodwood, Sheene was a familiar figure at both the Festival of Speed and Revival. In 2002, he won the Revival’s Lennox Cup motorcycle race in a fierce contest against friend and rival Wayne Gardner. That race would be his final competitive outing before his untimely death from cancer in March 2003. The Lennox Cup was subsequently renamed the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, ensuring his legacy continues at Goodwood.
In celebration of Sheene’s 50 years since his first World Championship, Goodwood will pay tribute across all three headline events. The 83rd Members’ Meeting (18–19 April) will feature up to 30 500cc Grand Prix motorcycles from Sheene’s career (1974–1984), including bikes he raced as well as rivals’ machines. Alongside a previously announced tribute to 1976 Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt, the weekend promises a full immersion into the spirit of 1970s motorsport, with period cars and bikes filling the paddocks and track.
The Festival of Speed (9–12 July) will welcome Sheene’s family and feature ten of the most significant Grand Prix bikes from his career. A special class will celebrate his racing legacy, with his son Freddie riding several of his father’s most recognisable machines up the iconic Goodwood Hill.
The celebrations will culminate at the Goodwood Revival (18–20 September), where Sheene’s championship-winning motorcycles, and machines he rode to victories at the Revival, will take to the Motor Circuit ahead of the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy.
Reflecting on his friendship with Sheene, former professional racer Steve Parrish said: “It’s been said ‘never meet your heroes’, but thank goodness I did! I met Barry in 1975 at Brands Hatch. Barry became my mentor, father, brother and mate all rolled into one. We became teammates with Suzuki in 1977 and what a wild, crazy, dangerous ride it became. Some say I was often in the Sheene slipstream, maybe so, but what a tow it was. I will never forget it and will always appreciate the memories, the man, my hero. R.I.P Bazza I hope I get in your team in the upper paddock!”
The Duke of Richmond CBE DL added: “Barry Sheene was an absolute force of nature. A fierce competitor on the track, he remains Britain’s last two-wheeled world champion in the top category. But it was the strength of his personality off the track – warm, cheeky and irreverent in equal measure – and his extraordinary ability to recover from injury, that made him a global superstar. Barry raced many times at Goodwood, and won his very last race here, in 2002, just months before he sadly succumbed to cancer aged just 52. The Revival’s bike race was renamed in his honour the following year. I am delighted that we will be celebrating his unique life across our three events in 2026, on the 50th anniversary of his first world championship. Bringing together the bikes that shaped his career, and welcoming his family and friends, will be a fitting tribute to a man who inspired so many.”
Further details of the celebration and additional information about this year’s events will be announced in the coming months. Tickets for the 83rd Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed, and Goodwood Revival are available now at goodwood.com.
