Everyone’s a Winner at the Silverstone Festival

The event, formerly known as the Silverstone Classic has been rebranded as the Silverstone Festival for 2023. However, rest assured the change of name is not a sign that the weekend has lost its essence or direction. The rename capitalises on the success of the recent F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which similarly encompassed the motor racing spectacle with a myriad of entertainment.

This celebration of British motorsport was spread over three days on the bank holiday weekend, and wouldn’t you know it, we even had a bit of rain. The Silverstone Festival, which was first held in 1990, has developed into a significant visitor attraction, and this year’s commemoration of the racing track’s 75th birthday as the best in the UK was the event’s main focus.

Like many British motor racing circuits, the venue has its roots as a former Royal Air Force base, acting as the base for an operations training unit. Shortly after the decommissioning of the airfield in 1948, it opened its windswept plains to motor racing. Within two years it hosted its first Grand Prix and has proudly been the host of every British GP since 1987.

To celebrate its 75th birthday, there were 20 races with more than 800 entrants, and there were countless classic, contemporary, race, sports, and competitive cars for us to marvel at. There was even a spot of drift car demonstrations and some rally car action, along with the F1 Fan zone and a chance for youngsters to drive a car under supervision. The Silverstone weekend also includes live music, a classic car auction, stage shows, shopping, good food and a funfair. It’s fair to say that Silverstone Festival has something for everyone.

It’s difficult to know where to start, so perhaps let us ease ourselves into the different zones of the event. The Silverstone Festival is divided into seven different sections, but for the purposes of this review, we will only discuss the four-wheel categories. As worthy as they are, we were not tempted by the other attractions but felt compelled to pop our heads in to say hello. This included the Foodie Fest, with artisan local produce and a shopping village with an orientation towards automotive. Diddly Squat where also on hand, with Jeremy Clarkson rumoured to have made an appearance too.

The event has gained a reputation for live music, which appears to attract its own crowd with the appeal of featuring well-known musicians. This year it was the turn of The Christians, ABC, Sugarbabes and McFly to take to the stage and add a little extra groove to the proceedings.

Before we jump into the racing, we’ll visit some of the car clubs that were in attendance this year. The Silverstone Festival always has attracted an impressive array of clubs, which appear to cover almost every aspect of the classic car spectrum. Acting as ambassadors for their brand, they represent the owner’s dedication and effort in keeping these cars on the road. There were many notable anniversaries this year.

Among the half a dozen or so clubs celebrating 120 years of Ford car production, there was a rather notable presence this year in the form of the Ford RS200 Owners. Created in 1993, the club’s motivation is to trace and document every surviving example, which has proved to be rather successful thanks to the dedication and tenacity of the club. A rare opportunity to see at least half a dozen cars in one spot was one of the highlights of the club stands.

Slightly older but also demonstrating another important sporting link was the 60th anniversary of the Ford Falcon. It was the appearance of the American family compact with an impressive race touring car ability that heralded the start of the Falcons transatlantic success. Opening up the circuits to the iconic Mustang, both cars firmly established themselves on the European race tracks during an exciting time for touring car racing.

Not to be outshined by their fiercest rival, several Vauxhall clubs also celebrated the brands 120 year milestone and presented a wide variety of cars with an emphasis on their motor sporting heritage. The Chevette HS models are recognised as one of the last Luton-input cars and flew the flag for their design independence by maintaining credible success on both the race track and rally stages.

The 60th anniversary of the Rootes Imp is another British milestone this year. Demonstrated by the varied display of both production cars and Imp-powered kit cars, it enjoyed success in both racing and rallying. Granted, its arch rival the Mini may have been far more successful in capturing the public’s imagination, but the Imp offers an alternative avenue of driving excitement.

This year, Lotus celebrates its 75th anniversary. To go along with a wide range of more recent models, several of the earliest surviving cars are all on exhibit. A fascinating story of how passion and talent became a significant force in both motorsports and car production, thanks to the vision and genius of Colin Chapman. Its future looks bright for the brand as last year Lotus achieved its most successful financial year on record.

The Silverstone Festival was also a perfect opportunity to admire the chiselled handsome lines of the W113 Mercedes SL. Since the first one rolled off the assembly line 60 years ago, its design elegance and quality emphasised Mercedes’ approach to long-distance travel. Displayed as part of The Mercedes Benz Club, which has been serving its members for over 70 years, these exceptionally well-built and technically advanced cars are liked for their usability, as well as a collectable investment.

Neighbouring Mercedes in Stuttgart is Porsche, who celebrates 75 years of production. Of course, the 911 is the golden child for the brand, yet we were taken by the impressive number of 924s that were in attendance at the Silverstone Festival. Seen as an underling to its bigger sister, its relative affordability is only bettered by its 50/50 weight balance and ease of use.

Triumph, who constructed their first car in Coventry precisely 100 years ago, marked another significant anniversary for a British manufacturer. With 60 years’ worth of cars to choose from, almost every example of Triumph sports cars was in attendance at the event, with the Stag and TR models taking centre stage.

The 1948 release of the Jaguar XK120, which is now 75 years old, made it the fastest production car in the world. The XK120 was extremely successful in both racing and rallying, although it was dependent on export markets. Only 1660 out of 12,045 were built for the RHD market, and many of those went overseas, echoing the government’s goal to return Britain to financial stability during the post-war austerity.

Aston Martin may have gained the most accolades in a year that has been notable for anniversaries. Aston Martin had several reasons to celebrate this year, including the 110th anniversary of the firm, the 75th anniversary of the DB1, the 65th anniversary of the DB4, the 60th anniversary of the DB5, and the 20th anniversary of the DB9.

Several other brands also celebrated anniversary milestones this year with notable other anniversaries for MG (100 years), The Chevrolet Corvette (70 years) and Mclaren (60 years)

Edging our way toward the Silverstone paddock, it’s too easy to get distracted by the dozens of beautifully prepared cars and we’d already spread ourselves too thin by missing much of the track action. Fortunately, Friday is dedicated solely to qualifying, which allows both Saturday and Sunday to catch up with the actual races.

We made the decision to devote Saturday and Sunday to the trackside after utilising Friday as an orientation day, burning calories by marching around the centre of the circuit. Noting that the Village and The Loop corners, the longest left-handed open hairpin on the F1 layout and the slowest, are the ones closest to the International Paddock, it turned out to be a an inspired and easily accessible vantage point.

Saturday morning started with the Historic Formula Junior series, with 54 cars listed to race in the morning. Many future grand prix stars got their start in this series, which was developed in 1958 as an Italian entry-level formula series. Italian manufacturers dominated F1 at Silverstone in its early years. Like most race series, it was categorised by the technical specification of the cars, with engine positions, brake types and age defining the classes.

Straight into the HSCC Thundersports race, which is the category for sports-racing cars. It straddles between the purpose-built Can-Am racers and the more recognisable production cars. Mostly focused on the 1960s and 1970s machinery, Rupert West’s and Richard Hodson’s 1965 Ford Mustang was timed as the quickest production car of the race, having finished in 12th overall. We were particularly captivated by Dave and Mike Smith’s 1980 Porsche 935, which finished one place ahead of the Mustang.

The Derek Bell Trophy for HSCC Formula Libra is a series of single-seater races with a long tradition with Silverstone. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the track served as the race series’ spiritual home, and throughout the weekend, a mixture of Formula 5000 and Formula 1 vehicles were raced. The engine capacities were vast between the competitor’s cars. Illustrated here by Paul Campfield’s 5000cc Chevron B24 overtaking Mark Goodyear’s 1600cc March 75B. Both Saturday and Sunday races were won by Henry Chart in his Trojan T101.

This was swiftly followed up by the MRL Historic Touring Car Challenge. Although technically the amazing sight of an Alfa Giulia racing an E30 BMW M3 may seem a touch unfair, each car is timed within its class. This is a popular category with spectators, and it includes dozens of classes inside the challenge, regulated by engine capacity as well as age. The race was won by Wim Kuijl in his Ford Capri 2600RS, who is on a winning streak having successfully won several races in Europe previously. The fastest MRL Historic Touring Car lap this weekend went to James Hanson in his R32 Nissan Skyline which averaged 95mph.

At Lunchtime, there was a break in the sporting excitement as a much more leisurely cruise took its place, giving dozens of classic car groups the chance to cruise the circuit. There are little opportunities to put your abilities to the test because of the limitations and large number of cars on the track, but there is plenty of time to enjoy a genuinely singular vision of unexceptional glory, as we did as we watched a Nissan Prairie amble alongside a Ford Granada. No, they weren’t lost! We’ll explain why such cars were let loose a little later in this report.

Racing resumed after lunch in the form of the Formula One Masters Racing Legends. We decided to shelter from the incoming rain by walking over to the International Paddock to watch the cars take off from the starting line.

A category for F1 cars dating from 1966 to 1985, it was another treat for spectators to admire 30 cars barrelling down the straights in less-than-perfect conditions. This was the biggest collection of historic F1 cars to be raced at Silverstone in several years, While technically the cars were not on full song, averaging around 80mph the sound was quite possibly the loudest of the weekend.

As the Masters GT Trophy, an out-of-homologation GT4 modern sports car race took over the circuit, we thought we would use the opportunity to let our ears recover and have a look at the recently renamed Iconic Auctioneers. Previously known as Silverstone Auctions, the auction house took over a section of The Wing building for the weekend to present a mouth-watering selection of temptations.

Keen to promote the motor racing aspect of their sales, there were Colin McRae cars amongst the big ticket items, but the pair of Ford Capris from the ITV drama series The Professional’s couldn’t be ignored. Belonging to lead characters Bodie and Doyle, the car’s unforgettable cameos proved to be a huge draw for visitors at the auction. The pair sold for £186,750.

Always attracted to cars that we don’t recognise, this 1970 Francis Lombardi Grand Prix is based on a Fiat 850. The designer’s other creations did not see much in terms of mass production, but his portfolio is worth seeking for the possibilities he brought to other Fiat models of the era.

Leaving the auction, as well as our dreams, we went out into the real world and were greeted by the spectacular mechanical ensemble and muffled roars of the start of the HGPC Pre ’66 Grand Prix Cars. The closest to the recognition of Silverstone’s 75 years, the sight of these rare and beautiful front and rear-engined ‘cigar tube’ cars launching off into the racetrack never fails to impress. Russell McCarthy in his rear-engined Walker Special averaged 86mph, which was notably quicker than the ealier front-engined cars. Tony Smith managed a 4th place in his Ferrari 246 Dino.

The vintage racers gave way to the Pre-’66 International trophy for classic GT cars. There were high anticipation for a glorious race when the lineup of E-Types, AC Cobras, Lotus Elans, and TVRs lined up in the International Paddock. The event was spectacularly oversubscribed, with almost 70 cars listed to run. Buoyed by the sharp waves of passing roars as the cars passed through the Wellington Straight, we felt we missing out on the action so after grabbing a few refreshments and encouraged by the clearing weather, we headed back to the track.

We arrived in good time to catch the end of the Classic GT cars and ahead of the afternoon session for the Historic F1 cars, as part of the 75th anniversary demo. The chance to hear what has to be considered the best-sounding race cars on the planet is made even more spectacular by the arresting sight of a six-wheel Tyrrell P34. Seven were made and the survivors are gathering dust in private collections and museums. Fortunately, this is one of two copies built, painstakingly recreated from original blueprints and scans of original parts. An earlier example of Ken Tyrrell’s memorable involvement in F1 was also represented with his first Tyrrell car. Known as the 001, it was originally driven by Jackie Stewart in 1970 resulting in impressive performances but very little in terms of silverware. Luckily the car was retained by the Tyrrell team and eventually bought by the Tyrrell family. It was driven this weekend by Ken’s grandson Adam.

We called it a day after the sounds of the F1 cars reverberated in what was left of our hearing, and decided to land back firmly to earth by making our way back to the main car club section and catch up with Andrew Roberts and his carefully curated selection of 25 of the UK’s rarest cars. An opportunity to let our heartbeats recover a little and chat to owners, this gathering of cars marked 5 years of attendance at the Silverstone Festival. The selection of Britain’s Rarest Cars proved to be a popular draw at the event; 25 unsung and mundane cars were on display all evoking memories and stories amongst the visitors.

A quick wander around the paddocks to reflect on the day is a fine way to wind down after the frantic pace. After leaving for home, we come back on Sunday to watch some of the races we missed and to photograph something rather unexpected.

Sunday morning formed the basis of the Retrorun, a sedate but serene opportunity to explore the beauty of the local countryside to Stowe House. Open to any pre-2003 car, owners can apply to be part of a collective of cars taking part in a 100-mile run. It has proved to be very popular, with many returning attendees. Dropping in by the Classic Motor Hub in Bibury on the way back, the entrants also have the opportunity to parade around the Silverstone track.

Returning to motor racing, now with the MRL RAC Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy race. This is a chance to open up the history books of post-war racing, with a lively demonstration of historic British racing cars. On par with the prestige of F1 cars of the era, the glamour and glitz associated with these impossibly beautifully streamlined machines were only outshined by the talent of their drivers. Luminaries such as Bruce Mclaren, Stirling Moss and Graham Hill started their ascent to immortality with these cars.

Another well-subscribed event, with cars mostly dating from the 1950s, the race was only held on the Sunday with 38 cars out of 58 finishing the race. Nicolas Harris and his 1954 aluminium-bodied Austin Healey 100/4 racing car is race-prepared by Dennis Welch Motorsport, a company with over 100 years of experience in motor racing. It was for sale at £250,000 around 5 years ago, which is a bargain when you consider the outlay needed for Benjamin Eastick Jaguar D-Type. The car has been a regular on the historic racing circuit for decades and is a genuine D-type having been built in the 1970s from various parts and spare cars.

An example of being in the right place at the right time, we were directly in front of Tim Stamper’s Aston Martin DB2, who was just on his 4th lap when the car lost its rear wheel as he braked to approach The Loop. The car spectacularly rolled over and landed on its roof. Testing the rigidity of its roll cage, he was stuck upside down for a moment as he waited for assistance. There were mercifully no other cars nearby and as the race was temporarily halted Tim was helped out of the car by the marshalls and checked over by the medics. With no significant injuries reported, the race continued and was eventually won by Oliver Bryant in his 1958 Lotus XV.

After the drama and the unnerving sound of metal scraping on the tarmac, another selection of F1 cars made a welcome appearance. Masters Racing Legends showcased a selection of F1 cars dating from 1966 to 1985. Christophe D’Ansembourg in his 1982 Brabham BT49 cuts in beside Nick Padmore’s Lotus 77. Nick, driving the former Gunnar Nilsson vehicle, has had favourable results racing the vehicle this year, routinely turning the quickest laps over the course of the weekend and narrowly missing out on a podium place.

More Pre-66 touring car action followed shortly afterwards, with the Adrian Flux Trophy for Transatlantic touring cars, where you could enjoy a bit of heavy metal amongst the Minis. The Silverstone course contains a lot of high-speed turns, so the demand on the tyres of the V8-powered cars may exceed their advantage of outright speed on the straights, creating a wonderful contrast between brute strength and agility.

There are 4 classes governing the cars which categorise them into engine sizes. Another Sunday-only event, it was won by Sam Tordoff’s Falcon, followed by six other American cars, suggesting that the well-balanced distribution and power of the V8 won the day, despite the mild dampness in places.

The event always attracts respected names too, particularly those with a passion or active involvement in motorsports. Notable names include John Cleland who raced a 1955 Lotus MKVI. Also captured just before the race is six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy seen here chatting with Marco Attard who won the 2014 British GT Championship. Hoy partnered up with Alex Brundle in a Ford Mustarg.

The Ford Falcons and Mustangs dominate the over 2-litre class, with the Lotus Cortina making up the bulk of the up to 1600cc engine sector. The fastest Mini Cooper of the race was driven by Phil Bullen-Brown, marking up another significant class victory for the Mini. Engineered by Swifttune, who have 55 years of Mini experience, the Kent-based company have built a robust reputation for knowing its way around an A-Series.

Having missed yesterday’s Masters endurance Legends, we were glad to be given another opportunity to watch the cars run out again to honour 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The history of endurance racing at Silverstone was brought right up to the current era with a selection of hypercars, prototypes and GTs, with cars easily exceeding the speeds of 120mph.

Steve Tandy’s Honda ARX-04 saw its first race in six years this weekend, having only been competitively raced in three races over its competition history. Powered by a Honda V6 engine, using many of the same components from production Hondas, the ARX-04 represents Honda’s lifelong commitment to the top tier of motorsports. The podium went to Steve Brooks in his Peugeot 90X, designed specifically for the Le Mans prototype category, it’s powered by a V8 diesel engine. It won the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in 2011, having also fared well during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same year.

A rare opportunity to watch several generations of NASCAR racers navigate around the circuit was one of Sunday afternoon’s highlights. Capable of topping 200 mph, they were driven at a slightly more sedate pace as they needed to be shipped back to America intact!

One of the weekend’s final events saw an demonstration of 16 NASCARs, from the 1958 Ford Thunderbird to the 2017 Mustang, as part of NASCARs 75th anniversary celebration. The first competitive stock car racing event was staged on Daytona Beach in the 1940s, a key turning point from the sport’s 1930s prohibition-era origins.

With the NASCAR’s tyre marks still fresh, the last race of the weekend came courtesy of the HSCC Road Sports Trophy. The appeal is very clear to see, offering accessibility to racing to those operating with modest resources. Based on 1960s and 1970s production sports cars, its popularity and broad appeal provided a fitting end to a weekend of thrilling action.

Won by a 1964 Shelby Cobra driven by Kevin Kivlochan, it had an impressive 15-second advantage over the 2nd-placed car of John Davison in his Lotus Elan S1, who won the 1400 – 2000 cc class. The AC Cobra has a well-documented history of provenance. Retired race car driver and automotive designer Carroll Shelby, contacted Ford to install their small-block V8 into the car and created an instant legend.

The frantic excitement and literal nonstop fly-bys made it difficult to absorb the weekend straight away. Providing plenty of classic car racing at what is considered one the most engaging, wheel-to-wheel circuits in the world. Never predictable, with weather differing from one end of the circuit to the other, Silverstone provides a constant challenge to its talented drivers, but never fails to retain its attraction to the spectator.

Always an honour to be part of a great weekend, the appreciative visitors, the dedication of the competitors, the Marshalls, the organisers and the crew all help to place the Festival as a focal point for British historic classic car racing. The name may have changed, but it’s business as usual at the Silverstone Festival.