Across the Pond Racing Adventure

Racing at the Silverstone Classic is on the “Bucket List” of many. But rest assured, racers will never be disappointed if the opportunity arises, as the quality of the “stonking” grids of racecars invited is like the ultimate racing “dream team.” The weather for this past July’s event brought intermittent rain at times, but most drivers had a dry track to qualify and race on. Silverstone Circuit was a massive former WW II RAF Bomber Station Airport, but it was in 1948 that the first official race was held by the Royal Automobile Club on the airport tarmac. The very complex 3.66-mile long circuit, with its 18 turns, has also two very long straights, which is an overwhelming learning curve for a “first timer” driver. Because Silverstone is a very flat race track, it is impossible to see ahead or around the upcoming apex of a turn, while the fast turns very abruptly arise in your view! It is like the mythical mermaid beckoning you in at the corners, enticing you to go deeper and deeper into the turns than is wise or prudent, which can lead to an off track excursion in a blink of the eye.

The distinctly different scenes at Silverstone included the many highly elevated F1 fan viewing stands, huge County Fair size concessions/vendor areas, and big amusement sections for fans along with the accompanying concerts in the evenings. This event is considered the largest Historic Racing event globally and the entrants are treated to racing on the British GP F1 circuit with expansive run-offs and very high speed corners. One of the many monumental tasks facing the organizers was the tech inspection of the over 1,000 racecars. What sets this historic race aside from other events was the unmatchable blistering speeds and the majority of the cars in full 4-wheel drifts with corrections at the high speed turns and “kinks.” Traveling in the UK, one hears “Mind the Gap” often, but mind you there is not much of a gap with the very “close quarters” during the very competitive racing with crunched fenders from time to time.