We are fortunate to have many famous names take the wheel at the Goodwood Revival but the inclusion of a former F1 World Champion is always a special thing, especially when they are making their debut.
In the case of 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button, this year will not just be his Revival debut but the first time he has been behind the wheel in historic racing.
Appropriately, Button’s first competition laps will be in the race that pays tribute to one of Britain greatest-ever drivers; the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy. Formerly called the Kinrara Trophy and first held in 2016, the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy is for GT cars from the late-1950s and early-‘60s, and was renamed in 2020 in honour of Mr Goodwood himself.
Button will be sharing the driver’s seat of a car which epitomises this period, a Jaguar E-type prepared and run by RJN Motorsport, with endurance racer Alex Buncombe. With the start at 18:20pm, the pair will race into the sunset on the Friday evening of the Revival.
The dynamic duo will be back in action on Sunday afternoon in the RAC TT Celebration, contested by closed cockpit GT cars from 1963 and ’64 only. Arguably one of the most important races in historic motorsport the TT is always one of the most closely fought races of the Revival weekend, and Button and Buncombe should be competitive in their shared 1963 AC Cobra. Originally a factory-prepared racer for Shelby American, the car is now prepped and run by DK Engineering.
We hope that the Revival weekend gives Button the historic racing bug and this will just be the first of many historic races for the former champion.
Photography by Nick Dungan and Dominic James.
Revival
Revival 2021
Jenson Button
Formula 1
F1 2009
RAC TT Celebration
Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy
Alex Brundle
Alex Buncombe