The world�s largest classic motor racing festival has been launched in spectacular style. In front of 250 journalists, photographers and film crews, the 2011 Silverstone Classic burst into life yesterday (4 May) as some of the 800 cars expected at the event took to the famous track in glorious spring sunshine.
Event Director Nick Wigley revealed that this year�s event � marking the 21st anniversary of the first classic racing festival at Silverstone � will be the biggest and best yet.
�The numbers are astonishing. We will have more than 1,000 competitors racing more than 800 cars spanning the full spectrum of motor racing history right up the nineties. We are promised a number of exciting cars that are seldom seen racing in the UK including a newly restored black and gold JPS Lotus 72 grand prix car while an awesome Lancia Martini LC2 Group C sports car is due to star in an atmospheric dusk race on the Saturday.
The Silverstone Classic (22-24 July, 2011) is firmly established as the world�s biggest classic motor racing festival and is celebrating its 21st anniversary this summer. The spectacular three-day event is staged at the famous Silverstone circuit, birthplace of the FIA Formula One World Championship and home of the 2011 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix. More info.
By Chas Parker
This book charts the progress of what became classic events, the Silverstone 6-hour and 1000km races, year-by-year from 1976, through the era of the Group C cars, up to the end of the eighties, with previously unpublished accounts and photographs of each event. More info.