Silverstone Festival

The August Bank Holiday may seem a long way away, but the Silverstone Festival, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the British Grand Prix’s home, is already filling up and will be one of the major sporting gatherings this coming summer.

It was back in October 1948 that Silverstone hosted its very first race meeting, staged on the runways and perimeter roads of a former RAF bomber station.  Even in the early seventies you could land a light aircraft within the circuit.  

With the loss of Brooklands, restrictions at Brands Hatch and Donnington, Britain’s other one time Formula One (F1) tracks, the Northampton circuit has established itself as the home of British Motor Racing ever since.

That first race meeting was an International Grand Prix featuring all the sport’s top stars and fastest cars and, two years later, Silverstone had the further honour of hosting the very first round of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Championship for the newly inaugurated F1.

Celebrating the glorious past and the circuit’s present as the home of the annual British Grand Prix, The Silverstone Festival will put a special spotlight on 75 remarkable years right at the pinnacle of global motorsport.

To mark this major milestone, a glittering parade of Grand Prix cars that have raced at Silverstone over the years will be taking to the track on all three days of the Festival. This incredible ‘moving museum’ will stir memories, honouring past champions and lauding British Grand Prix winners from yesteryear.

Adding to the Bank Holiday celebrations, the programme will also pay homage to 1948 with a dedicated showdown reserved especially for classic front-engined Grand Prix cars dating back to the circuit’s earliest days.

The Historic Grand Prix Cars Association will be inviting a selection of 30 front-engined and 30 rear-engined F1 cars to race and, following one qualifying session on Friday for all 60 entrants, the weekend will witness three not-to-be-missed 20-minute races.  One of these will be exclusively for front-engined cars with an evocative field of iconic Aston Martins, Ferraris, Maseratis and Scarabs all doing battle in The 75th Anniversary Grand Prix Trophy for Front Engine GP Cars.

At the other end of the timeline – and celebrating all eras of Silverstone’s distinguished history – the Masters GT Trophy will star a mouth-watering grid of exciting GT supercars that raced between 2007-2018 with Aston Martins, Audis, Ferraris, McLarens, Mercedes, Lamborghinis and Porsches all to the fore.

As well as masterminding the welcome return of Formula Libra, the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) will also be bringing its Roads Sports and Thundersports grids to the Festival, ensuring further variety to a standout 20-race programme, which also includes all the well-established crowd-pleasers.  Jaguar will also be highlighted.

“We really wanted to mark Silverstone’s 75th anniversary with a bumper track programme celebrating the circuit’s incredible heritage – notably its unique place in Formula One history,” explained Nick Wigley, Silverstone Festival Event Director. “While the Festival is broadening its appeal, the racing remains right at its heartbeat and I’m thrilled with the fantastic range of grids we’ve assembled to mark this important landmark in Silverstone’s ever-evolving story.” 

Camping is available and at the other end of the scale, sumptuous VIP hospitality options. 

Please also see the London Classic Car Show later this month by the same organisers. 

 https://www.travelnewsupdate.co.uk/article/76

www.silverstone.co.uk/events/silverstone-festival

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