Goodwood Revival 2023 after dark

We’re drawn first to the cars of the Lavant Cup presented by Sky Cinema. For 2023’s Revival, it’s an all-Ferrari meeting, all the cars barring one 330 being 250 derivatives – including GTOs, SWBs and even rarer incarnations. They look stunning glinting under the low lighting, some of them sporting battle scars that echo the day’s action.

Next, we make a beeline for a row of Ford GT40s and AC Cobras. Most of them are covered up, but the silhouettes of their tightly-fitted shrouds belie their identities. There’s no mistaking their muscular forms. Turning on our heels and we’re treated to neatly parked rows of short-wheelbase Porsche 911s (and some even earlier 901s) that form the single-make Fordwater Trophy for 2023. Your mind’s eye can’t help by replay images of them four-wheel drifting around the Goodwood Motor Circuit earlier in the day.

Stopping by the Bentleys that form a significant portion of the Rudge-Whitworth Cup, our conversation turns to sustainable fuels. These big, brutal machines might be a century old, but they’re running on the fuel of the future of motorsport.

There’s almost too much to take in, and the temptation to stay here even later into the night is strong. But we also know we’ll be back bright and early in the morning for another full day of Revival when it’s in full swing and full of fans dressed in period clothing. We finally tear ourselves away from resting race cars to the sounds of distant mechanics continuing their efforts to get things in one piece for the action that lays ahead.

Photography by Jordan Butters.