The Silverstone Classic has been running for many years now, and remains one of the premier events on the annual international historic racing calendar.
What I like about this event is that the quality of cars remains extremely high, yet the classes taking part span several decades, right through until the 1990s. What I also like is that the promotion team running the event do an exceptional job of supplying quality photos and up to date information both leading up to, and during the weekend, which makes being able to cover it, for sites such as The Roaring Season, so much easier.
The 2016 Silverstone Classic took place on the weekend July 29 – 31. The organizers have kindly allowed me permission to use the stunning Jakob Ebrey they use for promotional purposes.
There were several classes taking part, and so I’ll upload each class in the order that they competed on the weekend, and include the brief race summary provided by Silverstone Classic for each.
More info on the Silvertone Classic can be found here >>
Begin Silverstone Classic event summary:
Saturday:
Even by its own record-breaking standards, Saturday (30 July) was very special at the 2016 Silverstone Classic with more than 16 hours of awe-inspiring action and epic entertainment wowing tens of thousands of fans at the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival.
It all started at dawn with 21 hot air balloons taking to the skies and ended after dusk with eighties chart-toppers, The Stranglers bringing down the curtain on another memorable day at the ‘Rocking and Racing’ Classic.
In between, the famous Grand Prix circuit hosted no fewer than 11 fiercely-fought races featuring something for everyone, ranging from early eighties DFV-powered F1 cars and fifties GTs, to slightly more modern Super Tourers and Group C prototypes. Spectators also witnessed three high-speed demonstrations and a succession of significant anniversary track parades.
Notable among these were the Lamborghini Club celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Miura plus 100 years since the birth of founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, the Viper Club marking its 20th birthday and Porsche Club GB which was honouring Porsche’s first ‘transaxle’ sports cars 40 years ago.
Indeed, the German marque was out in force with a massive display fronted by its Le Mans winning 919 Hybrid plus an impressive number of beautifully restored 924s, 944s and 968s. In total, no fewer than 2,500 club members were displaying 1,200 Porsches, including 200 transaxle models which took to the famous track for the special parade.
The efforts of Porsche Classic and the Porsche Club GB were rewarded with the coveted Mervyn Garton ‘Scarf and Googles’ Award for the best off-track visitor attraction.
While the unrivalled quantity and quality of the racing absorbs many, the amazing array of in-field entertainment is an equally important attraction at the Classic. Those at Silverstone were treated to an incredible array of privately-owned classic cars, fun fair rides, adrenaline zone activities and live festival music. The Boomtown Rats topped the bill on Friday before Reef and The Stranglers sent the fans home happy on Saturday evening.
Many of today’s highlight races will be back in action tomorrow along with a number of saloon and touring car showdowns on what’s a dedicated Tin Top Sunday.
The rest of this article can be viewed here >>
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