‘I’ve never won a race in my own car before – so that was pretty cool,’ Jenson Button says with a smile. It’s Sunday evening at the 2025 Goodwood Revival, and we’re sitting in NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson’s hospitality suite overlooking the final chicane. Aside from the staff, Jenson and I are the only ones left inside; most have already headed home, hastened by the relentless rain that has soaked the Motor Circuit all weekend.
Rain has often accompanied Button’s greatest victories. His maiden Formula 1 win in Hungary in 2006 – and his most famous triumph in Canada in 2011 – both came in treacherous conditions. Fitting, then, that his first historic-racing victory should arrive on a sodden weekend like this.
As in F1, it took a few years for everything to click. The 2009 World Champion made his historic-racing debut at the 2021 Revival and, despite much fanfare and flashes of pace – including a third-place qualifying performance – his results never quite reflected his ability behind the wheel.
‘It’s really bloody tough,’ he admitted to me at the time. ‘I expected it to be a little more difficult than I’m used to, but it took me a long time to adapt.’
By 2023, a win looked inevitable. That year, he and his friend – and Revival teammate – Alex Buncombe were on the cusp of victory, only for his Jaguar C-type to be struck by an engine misfire in the closing stages of the Freddie March Memorial Trophy.
Fast-forward to 2025, and in that same car and race, everything finally came together. ‘It just feels awesome,’ Jenson says with relief, both elated and drained after a gruelling weekend. ‘I’ve had some good qualifying sessions here before – pole in the C-type and third in the TT – but we’ve always had reliability issues.’
This time, there was no such mechanical drama. After qualifying on pole, Button lost out to the Ford Thunderbird of Bill Shepherd at the start but reclaimed the lead with a daring move into St Mary’s on lap three. By the time he pitted, the C-type held a commanding advantage – one that Buncombe converted into victory with a masterful stint in terrible conditions.
‘It looked like it was going to be straightforward and then the rain came,’ Button recalls. ‘Alex said it was the most alive a race track has ever felt in that car because the set-up was so stiff. In the last ten laps, we were all holding our breath. To finally get the win in such tricky conditions was just so cool. It meant a lot.’
Having finally broken his duck with the C-type, Button also faced new challenges in his freshly rebuilt ‘Cut 8’ Jaguar E-type in the RAC TT Celebration and an Alfa Romeo Giulietta in the St Mary’s Trophy.
‘The E-type’s just finished being rebuilt and had done no testing before the weekend,’ he explains. ‘We didn’t quite have the pace, mostly because of the way we set it up. But with a bit of work, I think we’ll be fighting at the front. The Alfa, on the other hand, has no power whatsoever – but that’s what makes the racing so fun. Lots of towing and loads of action, you’re just laughing the whole time.’
Goodwood has Jenson hooked. Despite stepping back from professional competition earlier this year, he has no intention of leaving historics behind. ‘That’s the plan – to come back with the C-type and the E-type,’ he confirms without hesitation.
With unfinished business in his E-type and the Freddie March title to defend, don’t be surprised if Jenson braves the English weather to claim more Revival silverware next year.
