Eight reasons to watch the Silverstone Classic

Two weeks after reigning Formula 1 champion Alain Prost won the final British Grand Prix on Silverstone’s ultra-fast layout in 1990 – after gearbox failure thwarted Ferrari team-mate Nigel Mansell, to the partisan audience’s dismay – the racing world bade farewell to a circuit still rooted on the one where Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart were victorious in front of home fans in the 1960s. Its last hurrah was an Historic Festival, showcasing the venue’s influence on racing through the decades, sponsored by auction house Christie’s.

The 27-29 July weekend was something extraordinary, with 1964 world champion John Surtees saddling an Auto Union D-type in a Silver Arrows demo with Neil Corner’s Mercedes-Benz W154 (subsequently damaged in a race incident) and victories for past masters Sir John Whitmore (McLaren M8F), Brian Redman (Chevron B19) and Willie Green (Maserati 250F), who entertained daily crowds royally.

Far from just another grandly titled race meeting, it was a different kind of event, with much to see around the vast campus. Car clubs’ members subscribed to the fun, amid which there were concours competitions, autotests, and driving and flight experiences. Plus, of course, a Christie’s sale at which the more pecunious invested in classics. Some buyers were even inspired to return old racing cars to the tracks and go racing. Nothing changes there, beyond values.

Delighted, circuit owner the British Racing Drivers’ Club later picked up the cudgels and, having attracted big-money headline sponsorship, built the event into one that proudly earned its place alongside the Nurburgring’s AVD-Oldtimer GP and California’s Monterey monster among the world’s finest. A fortnight after Lewis Hamilton’s dramatic GP victory, the 2021 edition celebrates the current brand of cross-era action, from Brooklands – from which Silverstone took on ‘the home of British motor racing’ title – to 21st century prototypes.

1. 1990 winners reunited

Jaguar ace Pearson is back on the entry list, 21 years after participating in the original Classic

Photo by: JEP

Of the winners in the inaugural festival, local heroes Gary Pearson (above), Ray Mallock and Simon Hadfield are on this weekend’s entry. Pearson (who was victorious in the Formula Junior/Historic 1000cc F3 race in a Lola Mk5) and Hadfield (who scooped FIA Historic Touring Car gold with Michael Schryver in a Ford Lotus Cortina) have never left the arena in which they have forged their reputations as versatile competitors.

Both were brought up in racing families and have become world-leading restorers of historic racing cars. Pearson’s Jaguar speciality will have a special place in the 60th Anniversary E-type race, although we’ll also see him tame his Lola T70 Mk3B with Alex Brundle and a Shelby Cobra.

PLUS: The historic racing ace keeping classic Jaguars winning

Former F1 spanner man Hadfield is down to co-pilot a Ford Mustang, while sports and touring car engineering legend Mallock campaigns his late father Major Arthur’s U2 in which he is FJunior’s reigning front-engined champion.

2. Herbert remembers Murray

The late Murray Walker will be remembered with historic F1 races named in his honour

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Behind the name ‘John Herbert’ on the Historic F1 double-header’s entry is none other than Johnny, immortalised at Silverstone since his 1995 British GP victory for Benetton-Renault. That the local resident, who has raced the Ensign N180B previously, became a TV pundit makes the outing doubly poignant as it celebrates the remarkable seven-decade commentary career of Murray Walker, who was Formula 1 to most enthusiasts, and talked about the world championship from its inception. Murray loved all aspects of the Classic and was a keen visitor to its paddocks, where his sharp mind reigned until his passing in March.

The Murray Walker Memorial Trophy races, on Saturday and Sunday, encapsulate Masters series regulars including Steve Hartley (McLaren MP4/1), Mike Cantillon and Christophe d’Ansembourg (Williams FW07Cs), Steve Boultbee Brooks (Lotus 91) and James Hagan (ex-James Hunt Hesketh 308). Watch for Americans Jonathan Holtzman in his six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 and Ken Tyrrell – namesake of the marque founder – in his 011.

3. Formula 2 flies anew

Griffiths starts as favourite in F2 contests

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You have to feel for the Historic Sports Car Club’s International Historic Formula 2 series, which was experiencing growth like no other before the COVID-19 pandemic hit last spring, but has lost its continental flavour for two seasons due to untenable event and travel logistics. Back in 2019, competitors and fans were treated to two races and a record turnout of over 50 cars from the two-litre and 1600cc eras at that year’s Silverstone Classic. And the series is back this year, albeit sadly without most of its staunch European contingent.

If May’s International Trophy races on the Grand Prix circuit were an accurate barometer of things to come, Miles Griffiths starts as favourite to build on his double win in Philip Walker’s Ralt-BDG RT1 (above). Matt Wrigley (March-Hart 782) and Martin Stretton (running a two-litre BDG engine in his long-serving 712) went at it hammer and tongs for a win apiece in the Aurora Trophy at Brands Hatch last time out. Debutants include Mark Richardson (March-BDG 752), Dean Forward (Surtees TS10) and American Graham Adelman (March 732/4).

4. Grand Prix cars galore

The lesser-spotted Scarab was a curiosity in period, but is a competitive prospect in historic competition

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Members of the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, seeded from the 50th Monaco GP support race in 1979, have espoused the Silverstone Classic in all of its iterations. John Harper, American Stephen Griswold and Peter Hannen wrestled their Coopers to a 1-2-3 in 1990’s pre-1966 race, pursued by F1 bit-part player Rupert Keegan. Willie Green aced the front-engined set in a Maserati 250F.

This year, one big field over two races presents a Pathe News-style showreel of GP and Tasman/Intercontinental history, from Richard Pilkington’s Talbot Lago – a class winner in 1990! – to screaming 1500cc Cooper T60, Lotus 25 and Lola Mk4 via a bevy of 2.5-litre machines of the pre-1961 epoch. Maseratis, Cooper T53s and Lotus 18s catch the eye among the F1 set, but watch for the speed of Julian Bronson’s Scarab (above) with Miles Griffiths up.

PLUS: The front-engined "s*** beetle" that was born obsolete

Many 1960s F1 greats’ prowess was honed in Formula Junior. The 1958-63 training ground is also back, with Richard Bradley, Andrew Hibberd, Cameron Jackson and Sam Wilson the men to beat.

5. Fabulous sports-racers

Sportscar veteran Emmanuel Collard will race the ex-Jos Verstappen Porsche RS Spyder that won the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2008

Photo by: JEP

Sports-racing fanatics are in for a treat, with contests for the greatest cars of the 1950s to the past decade competing in anger. Jaguar C and D-types take on Ferrari, Maserati, Lister and Lotus 15 opposition in Motor Racing Legends’ Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy/Stirling Moss Trophy enduro, in which tiny Lotus 11 and Lola Mk1 ‘roller-skates’ will bat well above their weight as they race into the dusk on Saturday.

The Masters Historic Sports Cars features a host of Lola T70s slug it out with agile stablemates, a Ford GT40, Chevrons from B8 to B26, and Lukas Halusa’s gorgeous Alfa Romeo 33TT3. The HSCC’s Thundersports set, meanwhile, puts Can-Am March and McLaren M8F to the fore and a trio of Osellas in the two-litre mix.

The youngest cars in action form the Masters Endurance Legends grids. If Peugeot 908s and 90X, Porsche 962, Lola-Judd B12/60, wailing Dallaras, thuggish Riley & Scotts, Aston Martin DBR1-2 and high-downforce ORECA, Pescarolo and Zytek prototypes are your favourites, you’ll be at trackside for a tantalising taste of Le Mans races past.

PLUS: The Le Mans racer that turned an underdog's dream into reality

6. Brooklands remembered

Pre-war racers will get a run-out in the BRDC 500

Photo by: JEP

The BRDC 500 retrospective, first run in 2003, pulls the pioneering days of Brooklands into focus. A sensational pack of machines of all shapes and sizes may not transport many onlookers back to Hugh Locke King’s monumental Surrey speedbowl, which closed in 1939. For subsequent generations of enthusiasts, however, such glorious gatherings are guaranteed to open eyes and generate respect for racers of a bygone era.

Aston Martins, Bentleys and Rileys abound, but the pacesetters are likely to be current sportscar pro Richard Bradley (Alta), Gareth Burnett and Michael Birch (Talbot AV105s), Germany’s Rudi Friedrichs (Alvis Firefly) and the spindly Frazer Nash TT Replica of Californian Fred Wakeman and ever-spectacular Briton Patrick Blakeney-Edwards.

Among the Bentley boys are young Oliver Llewellyn (sharing promoter Duncan Wiltshire’s 3-litre), and motorcycle and F1 engineering guru Dr Robin Tuluie in Ewen Getley’s potent 3/4½. Lotus Europa racers Steve Skipworth and Jim Dean may be dark horses in the former’s Aston.

7. Battling GT and touring cars

Lukas Halusa's Ferrari 250 GT ‘Breadvan’ makes a popular return

Photo by: JEP

Racing road-burners have always provided a wonderful spectacle. With more power than grip on treaded tyres or slicks – depending on age group – their drivers’ skill is constantly on call as the best twitch their way around the circuit.

As usual, there is something for all tastes. The RAC Historic Tourist Trophy race for pre-1963 GT cars has a magnificent grid. Can the AC Cobras and Jaguar E-types (which have their own 60th Anniversary race) beat Lukas Halusa in the Ferrari 250 GT ‘Breadvan’? How high will the diminutive Lotus Elites finish?

Pre-1966 tin-tops hark back to the days when Lotus Cortinas and Mini Cooper Ss ran rings around Ford Mustangs and Falcons in the corners, only to be blown off on the straights. The Historic Touring Car Challenge has turbocharged Nissan Skylines and Ford Sierra RS500s squaring up to BMW M3s, Rover SD1s, Chevrolet Camaros, a TWR Jaguar XJS and sonorous Ford Capri GAs and BMW CSL ‘Batmobiles’.

Steve Soper, Dave Coyne and Olly Bryant are among the star drivers.

8. Something for everybody

Fancy picking up a new motor? The Classic might be for you

Photo by: JEP

The sheer scale of the event may surprise newcomers, but Silverstone is a massive canvas around which to spread out – although for hardcore Classic-goers its focal point is not all about the racing, but a chance to socialise after 16 months of restrictions.

The mornings are due to start serenely with hot-air balloon fly-outs – with next month’s Bristol festival cancelled it may engender greater interest from the faithful – while the ever-popular live music returns in the evenings when the circuit action has wound down. Among the attractions this year are Aswad, Legal Jam, Scouting For Girls and The Brand New Heavies (see Classic website for timings).

For youngsters, there is a free vintage funfair on the village green, for older folk driving experiences, and for everybody Shift and Drift demos. And, if you are pumped up to get involved, there may be something to take your fancy in Silverstone Auctions’ well-stocked saleroom. In previous years, cars have changed hands and been raced the following day…

Silverstone's Wing paddock will be bustling with machines to cater for all tastes

Photo by: JEP