The Silverstone Festival hosted three days of thrilling Historic racing, on-track demos, car-club parades and live music between August 25-27, 2024.
Now in its 33rd year, the three-day motor sport festival is the largest of its type in the world, and 2024 was particularly special as it was headlined by a special tribute to the 30-year legacy of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna.
Senna’s life and legendary racing career were celebrated with what is believed to be the biggest-ever collection of vehicles he drove, owned and raced. The collection spanned his entire career, showcasing karts, rally cars, road vehicles, and his six championship-winners from Formula Ford, Formula Ford 2000, Formula 3 and F1.
Senna’s life and legendary racing career were celebrated with what is believed to be the biggest-ever collection of vehicles he drove, owned and raced
The display was organised with support from the Senna family, and Ayrton’s niece and nephew Lalalli and Bruno were present at the festival. Lalalli took the opportunity to exhibit her incredible sculptures of her uncle in the Silverstone Museum, while her brother and former F1 driver Bruno greeted fans on Saturday.
“Ayrton lived in the UK at the beginning of his career, so there are many memories here at Silverstone,” Bruno said. “It’s very special that so many people can see all these beautiful machines. Huge congratulations to all those who’ve made this wonderful tribute happen – I know it would have made Ayrton so proud.”
“This year’s incredible display of cars honouring Ayrton Senna was clearly very special, and we were deeply honoured that both Lalalli and Bruno joined us to share in this tribute to their uncle,” event director Nick Wigley added.
Another highlight for F1 fans came courtesy of another ex-F1 driver, Esteban Gutiérrez, who completed thrilling demonstration laps in Lewis Hamilton’s 2021 Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance. A rain shower on Saturday enhanced the spectacle, as the Mercedes Grand Prix car kicked up rooster tails of spray while battling for grip on the slick track.
“I’m really happy to be here, especially to be sharing what F1 is these days with the crowd at Silverstone,” Gutiérrez enthused. “The W12 won nine races in 2021 and the Constructors’ Championship – it’s a beast!”
Many of the drivers competing on Saturday also had to deal with tricky wet conditions, and few capitalised on them more than John Spiers, whose prowess in the rain meant that his 1955 Maserati 250F took an unexpected win in the first Pre-’66 Grand Prix Car encounter.
Spiers also won the RAC Woodcote Trophy alongside Nigel Greensall in a 1958 Jaguar Lister Costin. Lukas Halusa and Alex Ames, meanwhile, secured another victory for the marque in the Stirling Moss Trophy, after taking the chequered flag in their beautiful 1954 D-type.
Another highlight of Saturday was the sight and sound of the two Ferrari 512Ms racing wheel-to-wheel for victory in the Masters Sports Car Legends contest. The spine-tingling sound of these 5.0-litre V12-powered machines will undoubtedly live long in the memory of those who witnessed them, but it was the 1971 512M driven by the father-and-son duo of David and Oliver Hart that took the top step of the podium.
Similarly spectacular was the first Masters Racing Legends race for 1966-1985 DFV-era F1 cars. It’s fitting that one of the Festival’s headline races should deliver such a tense, nail-biting finish, as Stuart Hall’s 1982 March 821 stole the win from Matthew Wrigley’s 1982 Tyrrell 011 by just 0.356 seconds.
Sunday saw equally thrilling on-track action take place, such as Will Nuthall’s remarkable victory in the second Pre-’66 Grand Prix Car duel. After swallowing the bitter pill of a retirement on Saturday, Nuthall and his 1960 Cooper T53 took the lead on the penultimate lap, having scythed through the field from his 39th slot on the grid.
Before Nuthall’s win, the F2 and F3 Classic InterSeries provided another dose of exciting open-wheel racing. These races were run either side of the BRDC 500 for MRL Pre-War Sports Cars, which featured the oldest machines on the race card.
Patrick Blakeney-Edwards and Chris Ward emerged as the winning duo, after dominating the race in their 1927 Frazer-Nash Super Sports. Ward then joined forces with Gregor Fisken to take the win in the RAC Historic Tourist Trophy in a 1962 AC Cobra, following a heated battle with the Shelby Cobra of John Spiers and Nigel Greensall.
The second Masters Endurance Legends contest delivered another thrilling finish, with the 2011 Pescarolo LMP1 driven by Christophe and Werner D’Ansembourg securing back-to-back victories. Stuart Wiltshire’s 2011 Peugeot 90X was closing in on the Pescarolo in the final stages, but was ultimately demoted to third due to a driving infringement.
Sunday concluded memorably with two vast grids featuring more than 50 cars apiece. The first of these was the Pure Michigan Mustang Celebration Trophy, which saw pre-1966 American muscle cars put on a thunderous battle for victory against their lighter European counterparts.
The Ford Falcons driven by BTCC race winner Sam Tordoff and Julian Thomas crossed the line in first and second place. Gamer-turned-racer Jann Mardenborough teamed up with YouTuber Jimmy Broadbent to secure the final spot on the rostrum in the Brundle Motorsport Mustang.
Julian Thomas then immediately climbed into the cockpit of a 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe for the Festival’s spectacular finale: the International Trophy for Pre-’66 GT Cars. Thomas battled for the win against the identical Cobra of Oliver Hart, beating his rival to the flag by less than a car’s length.
This vast Historic racing extravaganza was founded by Stuart Graham, a renowned Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and saloon-car specialist. His legacy is celebrated through the Stuart Graham Scarf and Goggles Trophy, awarded to the most admired car on track at the Festival. This year, the honour went to Andy Middlehurst’s freshly restored Toyota Corolla GT, the car that clinched the BTCC title in 1984.
There was plenty for visitors to savour away from the grandstands, too. The tyre-smoke-filled Shift and Drift Zone proved popular, as did the hot rod cruises, deafening dragster fire-ups, rally demos and stunts performed by precision-driving extraordinaire Terry Grant. It was the ear-splitting dragsters, however, that bagged the Mervyn Garton Scarf and Goggles Trophy for the best off-track attraction.
“It has been another absolutely epic Silverstone Festival,” confirmed Nick Wigley. “The family entertainment has grown incredibly again this year, and the amazing track action – even by our own sky-high standards – was right up there with the best ever.”
The next edition of the Silverstone Festival is scheduled to take place on August 22-25, 2025. For more information, click here.
