By the time the cars of the 2026 Bruce McLaren Trophy head out of the Assembly Area for the first time, it will have been a decade since Nick Padmore had taken his second successive victory in the race at the wheel of the all-conquering Lola T70. Padmore has remained a prolific competitor at both the Members’ Meeting and the Goodwood Revival ever since, and he must surely be eyeing up the prospects of a hat-trick of wins in what is a truly remarkable showcase of speed.
We’ll wait to hear if he’ll take up the challenge, but what is for sure is that the grid will once again feature a field of big V8-engined savages. Lola T70 Spyders will go up against McLaren M1s and a host of other incredible prototype racers from a legendary era of Can-Am racing that gripped the motorsport world throughout the mid-1960s.
The Bruce McLaren Trophy
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Officially, the Bruce McLaren Trophy is a 20-minute race for pre-1967 Can-Am and Group 7 sportscars. In other words, it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be dramatic, it’s going to be fast, and these cars are all going to be piloted by extraordinarily brave and talented drivers with the skills to keep these wildly powerful brutes under control around the high-speed Goodwood Motor Circuit.
The fastest race in historic motorsport
The Bruce McLaren Trophy
It’s named of course after the founder of the McLaren Formula 1 team, which has most recently won the World Constructors’ Championship in 2024 and 2025. Bruce McLaren was a pioneering figure in the world of motorsport throughout the late 1950s and the ‘60s, as a young teenager he worked on the cars he raced with his father Les, and he remained a keen and innovative engineer throughout the rest of his life.
He made strides as a driver in New Zealand before graduating to Formula 2 and eventually ending up in F1 in 1958, making his debut shortly before his 21st birthday. He won three Grands Prix and twice came within touching distance of the World Championship with Cooper before founding his own Bruce McLaren Motor Racing team in 1963 to compete in the Tasman Series.
Driving cars of his own design, Bruce McLaren was twice a winner of the Can-Am Championship in 1967 and ‘69. But it was here at Goodwood, while testing his latest creation, the M8D, that he was tragically killed in an accident at the age of just 32 years old.
His memory has remained at the forefront of motorsport activity at the Motor Circuit ever since, and it is truly fitting that a race for cars in which he was so devastatingly quick will bear his name once again.
With thousands of horsepower set to be unleashed when the flag falls for the start of the Bruce McLaren Trophy, there’s no doubt this will be an unmissable moment. We mean that quite literally, because window frames will be rattling for miles around as a field of 30 Ford and Chevrolet V8s roar into life.
At speeds of more than 160mph this is also set to be the most exhilarating race of the weekend. Get a good vantage point for this one, because there are few sights in motorsport more breathtaking than these cars racing around Goodwood at full tilt.
The 83rd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport takes place on the 18th & 19th April 2026. Tickets are on sale now for GRRC Members and Fellows.
You can sign up for the Fellowship now. Click here to find out more.
Photography by James Lynch and Charlie Brenninmkeijer.
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Bruce McLaren Trophy
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