Words: Nathan Chadwick | Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography/Silverstone Festival
The Silverstone Festival saluted 75 years of the legendary track’s history with 20 races with diverse grids of historic Formula 1, endurance racing, touring cars and plenty more besides. Non-competitive demos of NASCAR and Formula 1 cars, plus club parades, meant there was plenty to see between August 25-27, 2023.
One of the highlights of the weekend had to be Luc Brandts’ Talbot-Lago T26, which contested the first Grand Prix at the circuit in 1948; the car duly won the Scarf and Goggles Trophy for most admired racing machine at the Festival. Meanwhile, F1 highlights included laps from a BRM V16, Jacques Villeneuve’s 1997 Williams FW19 (above) and Lewis Hamilton’s 2013 Mercedes-Benz W04, driven by Esteban Gutiérrez. In the Masters Racing Legends races for F1 cars built between 1966 and 1985, Michael Lyons took victory in a JPS-liveried Lotus 92 as raced by Nigel Mansell in the 1983 F1 World Championship. The other MRL race was won by Florida-based Ken Tyrrell in his Tyrrell 011, the car Michele Alboreto took to victory at the 1982 Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix.
The Yokohama Trophy for Masters Sports Car Legends, featuring Le Mans-style cars from between 1962 and 1976, was won by Gary Pearson and Alex Brundle in one of two Ferrari 512LMs, while Steve Brookes won the Masters Endurance Legends race in his Peugeot 90X. The Formula Junior single-seater events drew grids of 50-plus cars, and both races were won by Sam Wilson in a Lotus 20/22. There was also a special race for front-engined Grand Prix cars dating back to 1948; this was won by the 1960 Scarab Offenhauser of Mark Shaw.
The two-drive MRL Big Cat Challenge (above) was won by John and Gary Pearson in their Jaguar E-type; Gary also won the MRL Stirling Moss Trophy in a Jaguar D-type. The ever-popular touring car races were split into two ages; the Adrian Flux Trophy for Transatlantic Pre ’66 Touring Cars saw Sam Tordoff beat a 50-plus grid made up of the likes of Steve Soper, Gordon Sheddon and Andy Priaulx. Wim Kuijl’s Ford Capri, meanwhile, saw off much newer and more powerful rivals in the rain-afflicted Masters Historic Touring Car Challenge for 1970s, ’80s and ’90s cars in his Ford Capri.
The event was the first sale for the rebranded Silverstone Auctions, now known as Iconic Auctioneers. With more than 200 road and racing cars for sale Silverstone’s Wing was packed, but all eyes were on the McRae collection. Not only were the former competition steeds of Colin and Jimmy McRae up for grabs, but also Subaru Impreza 22B 000/400 – one of the prototypes and Colin’s personal car. It sold for £480,500 (plus fees) – a new record – against a £400k-£500k estimate. A 1977 Chrysler Sunbeam Ti and a 2005-build Ford Escort Mk2, Colin’s first and last rally cars, sold for £90k and £157,500 respectively. The 1992 Subaru Legacy RS with which he won the British Rally Championship (pictured below) sold for £414,500. In all, Iconic Auctioneers sold £7m worth of lots.
One of the Silverstone Festival’s highlights is always the British Racing Drivers’ Club car park, tucked away at the bottom of the Wellington Straight. This year you could find almost everything in there, from Aston Martin DB4 Vantages to pre-war Alfa Romeo 8Cs, parked next to hypercars and SUVs. There was also oddball rarities such as a well used Mercedes-Benz E60 W210 estate, one of just 200 built, and an intriguing Alfa Romeo Spider with angular body kit on a Q plate. However, the BRDC reserved two fascinating lightweight super-sports cars behind its gates for members: the new Nichols N1A and the car pictured above, a Simpson Ferrari GTR. For this, Ferrari donated an F40 chassis tub that had been used for crash testing to client racing team Simpson Motorsport. Unlike the F40, however, it used an F133 V12 engine from a 550 Maranello matched to a Hewland transmission, along with F40 GTE-style bodywork, a full FIA roll cage and custom-built suspension. In 2005, the gearbox was upgraded with Hewland NLT six-speed sequential transmission. Simpson also built another car from a crashed chassis, although that car has the regular twin-turbo F40 V8.
You can enjoy the Silverstone Festival without ever seeing any racing, such is the breadth of the club support. Special cars could be found in many corners of the circuit, such as the Nissan Skyline C110 2000 GT-R Racing Concept replica brought along by the GTR Owners’ Club for Nissan Skyline and GT-R enthusiasts. In 1972, Nissan asked its motor sport division to build a racing version to race in 1973, and thus a concept was built. Sadly, due to the 1973 oil crisis, the car would never raced and only 197 GT-Rs were sold. The original concept is in the Nissan Heritage Collection in Kanagawa, Japan. This replica began life as a 1976 C110 GTX, and was first brought to the UK in 2014, then sold to a Lithuanian enthusiast and then brought back to the UK in 2017 by the Heritage GT-R Centre, to be turned into the current model. It uses a three-Weber carb set-up, Watanabe wheels, Japan-sourced body kit and a custom straight-through exhaust.
The Ford RS200 Owners’ Club put together a large display of its Group B homologation cars, with around 20 on display, ranging from full-bore rally machines to road cars. This particular model is chassis no. 086, and is the only right-hand-drive RS200 EVO built by Ford Boreham. It was one of three cars bought by Gary Baker for use in rallycross in 1988, and kept as a spare car and never used. It’s been stored since purchase and has covered only 38 miles.
For more on the Silverstone Festival, head here.
