Silverstone re-opens to spectators for first time since November 2019
The Silverstone circuit will open to spectators for the first time since November 2019 when fans are admitted to this weekend’s Historic Sports Car Club International Trophy meeting on the Grand Prix circuit.
The Northamptonshire venue has been off-limits for spectators for more than 18 months due to COVID regulations but will now open its doors to a limited number of fans for the annual HSCC weekend of historic racing for cars of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Admission needs to be booked in advance through the Silverstone website.
However, visitors will not have access to the full Grand Prix circuit. At this early stage of the re-opening process, spectators will be contained within a relatively small area around the grandstands at Luffield and on the heritage pits straight. There will be no access into the paddock area.
The International Trophy is a prominent weekend of historic racing and competitors have responded magnificently to the event. Around 375 entries have been taken, and most of the grids feature at least 30 cars. Many grids are even bigger, including the Guards Trophy (45 cars), Thundersports (36 cars), Historic Formula Ford (39 cars) and 70s Road Sports (38 cars).
A capacity field for the hour-long GT and Sports Car Cup race on Sunday afternoon features a host of AC Cobras and Jaguar E-types within a 58-car field. The E-types will be contesting a special trophy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of this iconic model.
The Thundersports grid includes five Can-Am cars, including the fabulous McLaren M8s of Dean Forward and series newcomer Warren Briggs. Former British GT champion Calum Lockie, in the mighty March 717, will be among the favourites.
Historic Formula 2 has a re-arranged date to replace the races lost at Hockenheim earlier in May and will feature a 29-car entry.
Callum Grant was one of the stars of Donington in his Formula Atlantic March 79B, and he'll take on the two-litre F2 cars once more, which include Matthew Watts in his debut in the ex-Marc Surer March 782.
Silverstone has previously backed plans for fans to return at full capacity for the British Grand Prix with the help of vaccine passports.
The event, which usually hosts around 340,000 spectators over the weekend, is set to take place from 16-18 July.
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