Silverstone Classic 2018 – Report and Photos

The Silverstone Classic 2018 was held 28-30 July at the 3.6-mile Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in Northamptonshire, England. The 28th annual historic race again welcomed more than 100,000 enthusiasts to witness a field of more than 1,000 race cars covering eight decades of motorsport history. This year’s packed 21-race program again delivered huge grids — often totaling in excess of 50 cars — of Formula One, GT, sports and touring cars from what many regard as the golden eras of racing.

With the Northamptonshire circuit celebrating the 70th anniversary of its first Grand Prix staged back in 1948, the Silverstone Classic 2018 featured four showdowns for F1 cars. Adding to those celebrations, a special display showcased eight Grand Prix cars that had raced on the original runways at Silverstone including a trio of ERAs plus a pair of Maseratis as raced in period by the first two F1 World Champions: Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Historic sports cars took centre stage on Saturday, with the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy for Historic Cars (Pre ’63 GT) going the way of Martin Hunt and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in their AC Cobra, before historic racer Chris Ward steered his Lister Knobbly to victory in the Stirling Moss Trophy for Pre ’61 Sports Cars.

The FIA Masters Historic Formula One guaranteed a bold opening to the afternoon’s racing with Nick Padmore charging to victory at the wheel of his ex-Carlos Reutemann Williams FW07C. Michael Lyons clinched second place in his Hesketh 308E with Christophe D’Ansembourg completing the podium in his own Williams FW07C, the Belgian having benefitted from a tangle ahead that delayed Martin Stretton (Tyrrell 012) and Matteo Ferrer-Aza (Ligier JS11).

With the sun beginning to dip, the trio of Daytona at Dusk races started with the International Trophy for Classic GT Cars (Pre ’66) being won by Jake Hill. The young gun produced a giant-killing performance in his nimble Lotus Elan to resist a hoard of more powerful AC Cobras, TVR Griffiths and Jaguar E-types with an exemplary display of driving.

The FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars ended with Oliver Bryant leading a Lola 1-2-3 after the Can-Am McLaren M6B of Andrew and Max Banks suffered a late retirement whilst leading comfortably.

Saturday concluded with the new Masters Endurance Legends race — cars running lights ablaze in the dusky conditions — which brought the action to a conclusion against a sunset backdrop. Steve Tandy in the Lola B12/60 claimed the spoils for the category’s inaugural Silverstone Classic outing, finishing ahead of the Gulf-liveried Aston Martin DBR1-2 of Christophe D’Ansembourg.

Sunday’s focus switched to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the British Touring Car Championship. Marking this milestone, the race card included four bumper-to-bumper contests with past champions such as John Cleland and Rickard Rydell renewing past rivalries.

“Every year the Silverstone Classic just gets bigger and better,“ said Silverstone Classic CEO, Nick Wigley. “Once again, it’s been a non-stop weekend packed with epic races, record track parades, vast car club displays, some truly fabulous family entertainment plus a great Saturday evening performance by UB40 – with so much terrific entertainment, it’s no surprise that so many are now staying with us for the full three-day festival. The dust hasn’t yet settled at Silverstone but we are already planning an even more spectacular Classic next summer.”

Similar to 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, Sports Car Digest also documented the Silverstone Classic 2018 with Jakob Ebrey’s following images from the 28th edition of the “World’s Biggest Classic Motor Racing Festival”.

Silverstone Classic 2018 – Photo Gallery (photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography)

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