Billed as the World’s biggest Motor Racing Festival the Silverstone Classic was celebrating its 25th anniversary. There was much to keep us occupied; historic Grand Prix, Le Mans prototypes, sports, GTs and saloons covered 80 years of racing. If that was not enough there was live rock (Status Quo), Mike Brewer’s car clinic, a vintage fun fair with a giant wheel and a shopping village. 120 car clubs had their displays (including ours) and over 100,000 spectators were there to enjoy it.
THURSDAY This was build-up day, Edwin Faulkner and the A-Team (Keith Davies, Peter Wood and Dave Smith) plus Ken Lay assembled in the cold to help with the layout of the club stand. I have noticed Edwin and the A-Team being mentioned frequently recently (sometimes with Peter Watson) and I think we are missing a sponsorship opportunity. T-shirts with ‘The A-Team’ sponsored by (hopefully a brewery) would be a good earner for the club. Maserati Northern Europe were represented by Graham and Daniel of Tebays and the ever helpful Jo. What looked like a trailer was towed in to place and magically opened up to form a very smart hospitality unit, useful if it rained! (see later.) Profuse thanks must go to Edwin for his negotiating skills and Maserati Northern Europe for their generosity. I must admit to being greatly surprised when I found out this was for the clubs usage plus Graham was provided to dispense coffee and conversation.
FRIDAY I was lucky enough to stay at the Bell, Winslow and the usual ‘non-appearance’ by Smith on a Friday was a thing of the past. My notes on the weather just say ‘raining’ then ‘still raining’ which sums up the day perfectly. The club hospitality unit did a good trade as did Graham’s coffee making skills, plus the hospitality unit had an electric heater for members to dry out and keep warm. I was reliably informed that 22 Maseratis were expected but only 12 turned up, hardly surprising with the bad weather. This was practice day for all the cars racing and the wet conditions certainly made it interesting.
SATURDAY What a difference; a sunny start that continued throughout most of the day and 41 Maseratis were on display. Club member Tony Young brought along his ‘just restored’ Ghibli Spyder Targa – a unique car. Meeting up with some RASG (Real Ale Splinter Group) friends we had a pleasant bus ride to the Wing where we admired a large selection of racing cars including three 250Fs and a 6CM. The afternoon Maserati Trophy Race looked like it would be made more exciting with some rain, but I watched the rain clouds go – then come back – then go again and we were spared a shower.
SUNDAY A day to forget, pouring rain most of the day, with 28 Maseratis turning up with a lot leaving early – and I don’t blame them. A fascinating fact from Graham was that he served 240 coffees and 80 teas and used 18 litres of milk during the event. At the end of the day we realised that Graham was going to have to ‘fold up’ the hospitality unit on his own so Edwin, Keith and I took pity and helped. It was still raining when we packed up, so we all went home very wet!
THE RACING Usually my race reports involve just Maseratis, but for completeness I will include the De Tomaso Formula Junior cars. Both Saturday and Sunday Formula Junior races were won by Sam Wilson in a Lotus 20/22, Westie Mitchell, De Tomaso, had a great dice with Callum Grant in a Merlyn before coming home fourth on Saturday, Mike Gregory in the De Tomaso ISIS (not the best of names) retired on lap 4, conditions were bright and damp. Sunday’s race had to be restarted after a midfield spin and was only run for five laps due to the conditions, and both De Tomaso’s nonstarted. Race 7 on Saturday and Race 19 on Sunday was the ‘Maserati Trophy’ for HGPCA pre ’66 Grand Prix cars. Saturday’s race was bright and dry and was won by ex-saloon car champion Tim Harvey in the ex-Dan Gurney Cooper T51; this was Tim’s first outing in a single seater since a one-off at Donington in 1990. There were 3 x 250Fs racing; Simon Diffey in (CM5), Guillermo Fierro in (2522/2523) and Klaus Lehr in (motor 2533), the Urs Muller 6CM (1558) was also entered. Due to the wet conditions on Friday the grid was rather mixed-up which caused some interesting racing. Guillermo Fierro came home 14th with Klaus Lehr 23rd, the Diffey 250F and Muller 6CM did not finish. Sunday’s race was run in cloudy and wet conditions with Tim Harvey again victorious in a race reduced to five laps. Guillermo Fierro was 10th, Simon Diffey 13th and Klaus Lehr 23rd with Urs Muller non-starting. Race 12 on Sunday was the RAC Woodcote Trophy for pre ’56 sportscars. Martin Halusa had entered his 300SI (3082) for this event with conditions raining and obviously a wet track. This was a 21 lap race where the first four laps were run behind the safety car due to a downpour. The race was won by John Young and Chris Ward in a Jaguar C-Type second was Gary Pearson in a Jaguar D-Type, the Martin Halusa 300SI driven by brother Lukas only completed ten laps before retiring.
CONCLUSION Despite the weather there were plenty of club members present and it was great to meet up with them and they all seemed to have a good time. Thanks again to Edwin Faulkner and the A-Team plus Maserati Northern Europe, Tebays (Graham and Daniel) and Jo for their hard work and making it all run smoothly.