The Silverstone Classic 2013 was held 26-28 July at the historic 3.6 mile Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in Northamptonshire, England. The 23rd annual vintage car races featured a field of more than 1100 classic race cars covering the full spectrum of motor sport including Formula 1, Le Mans and Touring Car racing.
Aston Martin was the featured marque for 2013, with a parade of 361 of the iconic British cars toured the track in date order to honor the marque’s 100th anniversary. Additionally, Italian marque Lamborghini celebrated its own half-century with a parade of machines that was thought to be the largest of its kind in the UK.
The Duke of Kent presented the prize ceremony for the FIA Masters Historic Formula One race, while three-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart enjoyed the race that included a class named after the great Scotsman. With F1 cars ranging from 1970-1984 in the sensational field, several of the machines entered were those that Sir Jackie raced against during his career. Sir Jackie commented, “It’s wonderful – Silverstone has done a great job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many beautiful cars all in one place. I’m here purely to enjoy myself – it’s a great collection of people and a great collection of cars – a real bonanza weekend.”
A number of motor sport personalities attended a BRDC Silverstone Classic dinner honouring the 50th anniversary of Jim Clark’s first world championship. As well as speeches from several of the legendary racer’s ex-team-mates, the Jim Clark Trust displayed a large collection of trophies, seen out Scotland for the first time since Clark’s death in 1968.
The racing attracted a growing number of top drivers from past and present generations. Former F1 driver and Le Mans winner Jackie Oliver proved he’s lost none of his competitive spirit winning the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy for Historic Cars in the yellow Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta he shared with Gary Pearson. Andy Priaulx – a three time FIA World Touring Car Champion – was among the pace-setters in the action-packed Sir John Whitmore Trophy for Under 2-Litre Touring Cars in his 1965 BMW 1800 Ti. Meanwhile Rob Huff, the reigning World Touring Car Champion, drifted his little Mini to a stirring class victory among a mighty field of V8 American muscle cars in the Trans-Atlantic Touring Car Trophy race.
Historic racing brothers Gary and John Pearson were prolific first sharing a Jaguar E-type to win the Piper Heidseck International Trophy for GT Cars on Saturday evening and then a Jaguar D-type to win the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy on Sunday morning. Gary Pearson also starred in the FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars finishing second in the Porsche 917 he shared with owner Carlos Monteverde.
“It has just been phenomenal,” reported event director, Nick Wigley. “Whichever way you look, the Silverstone Classic has gone fantastically well. It’s incredible to see how this event has developed over the last few years and, while the weekend was a huge success, we are already working flat out to ensure the 2014 Classic even bigger and better.”
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Senior Photographer Tim Scott documented the 2013 Silverstone Classic, offering up a wonderful selection of images that capture the “World’s Biggest Classic Motor Racing Festival”. We split up Tim’s 444 pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery and race results can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs. To see more from Tim, visit fluidimages.co.uk.
Silverstone Classic 2013 – Top Photo Gallery
