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Why 90,000 went to the Silverstone Classic

Historic racing is now a huge part of the sport, as last weekend's Silverstone Classic demonstrated. KEVIN TURNER was there and argues that historics are about much more than just rich drivers in old cars

Historic racing is now one of the biggest branches of the sport, and the Silverstone Classic one of the UK's premier motor racing events.

More than 90,000 turned out for the 22-race event last weekend, putting the Classic firmly in second place behind the British Grand Prix when it comes to Silverstone's car racing events.

The death of popular racer Denis Welch certainly overshadowed the 2014 edition, but the appeal of such meetings - the reason Welch was there in the first place - remains.

If you've never been to a historic event, or are one of those motorsport fans who think it's just a bunch of old men trundling around in slow cars, now might be the time to have a rethink.

Here are some of the reasons why.

THE CARS

Do you feel you don't get to see modern drivers really working because cars corner on rails? Do you like loud and spectacular machines? Do you get fed up with too much single-make competition?

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.