The last day of the 2023 Silverstone Festival continued from where it left off on Saturday, fast paced with lots of happy spectators taking in all the glorious festival activities. A mixed bag of weather to start the day but by mid afternoon the weather had turned rather nice to say the least.

Celebrating the glorious past and the circuit’s present as the home of the annual British Grand Prix, Silverstone Festival has put a special spotlight on 75 remarkable years right at the pinnacle of global motorsport.

It was back in October 1948 that Silverstone hosted its very first race meeting, staged on the runways and perimeter roads of a former RAF bomber station. With the country’s other race circuits such as Brooklands and Donington inoperable post-WWII, Silverstone swiftly established itself as the home of British Motor Racing – a status it has been proud to hold ever since.

That first race meeting back in 1948 was an International Grand Prix featuring all the sport’s top stars and fastest cars and, two years later, Silverstone had the further honour of hosting the very first round of the FIA World Championship for the newly inaugurated Formula One.

Formula 1 Demos

Further underlining Silverstone as the home of the Grand Prix, this year’s packed Festival race card included five races for illustrious F1 cars from past golden eras.

Adding to the excitement and aural entertainment, two of the sport’s best-sounding ‘screamers’ took part in unforgettable track demos. From the circuit’s formative years comes the fearsomely complex BRM Type 15 V16, a true British motor sport icon which made its debut at Silverstone in August 1950 and runs today on fossil-free P1 Fuel.

Another highlight was Adam Tyrrell’s, grandson of legendary F1 team owner Ken, demonstrating the very first Tyrrell 001 as raced by Jackie Stewart in 1970. From more recent times, Esteban Gutiérrez was seen to be putting the V8-propelled 2013 Mercedes F1 W04 through its paces bringing back memories of Lewis Hamilton’s pole-setting exploits in 2013.

“We are thrilled to have both Mercedes and Williams Racing Formula One teams teams joining us for the 75th anniversary celebrations at this month’s Silverstone Festival,” commented Event Director, Nick Wigley. “We have wonderful retro races covering much of the circuit’s early history dating back to its opening in 1948 and now we have its more recent F1 eras covered too, both on the Grand Prix track and in the Fan Zone. The exciting addition of W04 gives us the most modern Formula 1 car to have ever taken to the track as part of the Festival and, in this special year, enables us to truly illustrate Grand Prix racing through ALL the ages on track.”

Honouring 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Not only is Silverstone saluting its own 75th anniversary at the Festival but there’s also a nod to the centenary of the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. The star-studded bill included a number of awesome showdowns for GT and sportscars that raced in the Gallic classic, as well as two spectacular showdowns for record numbers of Masters Endurance Legends – superfast prototypes from more recent times. Head-turners lining-up include Aston Martins, Audis, Ferraris, HPD Hondas, Ligiers, Pescarolos, Porsches plus a pair of dazzling V12 diesel-engined Peugeots 908s.

Race results from the days action

Historic Formula Junior

1 53* E1 1 Sam WILSON Lotus 20/22
2 68 E1 2 Horatio FITZ-SIMON Lotus 22
3 88 E1 3 Alex AMES Brabham BT6
4 96 E1 4 Timothy DE SILVA Brabham BT2
5 194 E1 5 Clive RICHARDS Lotus 22

MRL Big Cat Challenge Trophy

1 27 E 1 PEARSON J / PEARSON G Jaguar E-type
2 23 E 2 PEARSON G / BRUNDLE Jaguar E-type
3 34 E 3 THORPE / QUAIFE Jaguar E-type
4 78 E 4 Danny WINSTANLEY Jaguar E-type
5 4 E 5 KENT / OSBORNE Jaguar E-type

The Derek Bell Trophy for HSCC Formula Libre

1 11 F 1 Henry CHART Trojan T101
2 51 F 2 Christian PITTARD Chevron B28
3 30 F 3 Paul CAMPFIELD Chevron B24
4 50 C 1 Clive WOOD Chevron B29
5 94 C 2 Martin WOOD March 782

MRL Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy

1 1 SMT5 1 Oliver BRYANT Lotus 15
2 24 SMT5 2 Roger WILLS Lotus 15
3 152 SMT6 1 SPIERS / GREENSALL Lister Knobbly
4 149 SMT5 3 Shane BRERETON Cooper Monaco
5 28 SMT5 4 KIRKALDY / LEWIS Lotus 15

Masters Racing Legends (Formula One ’66 – ’85)

1 11 Lau 1 Michael LYONS Lotus 92
2 44 Lau 2 Martin STRETTON Tyrrell 012
3 23 Hea 1 Ken TYRRELL Tyrrell 011
4 77 Hea 2 Steve HARTLEY McLaren MP4/1
5 7 Hea 3 Mike CANTILLON Williams FW07C

HGPCA Pre ’66 Grand Prix Cars

1 59 7b 1 Charlie MARTIN Cooper T53
2 76 12 1 Tim CHILD Brabham BT3/4
3 87 7b 2 Sam WILSON Cooper T53
4 29 11 1 Nick FENNELL Lotus 25
5 99 10a 1 Mark SHAW Lotus 21

75th Anniversary Trophy for HGPCA Front Engine Grand Prix Cars (’48 – ’60)

1 99 8 1 Mark SHAW Scarab Offenhauser
2 34 6 1 John SPIERS Maserati 250F
3 2 8 2 Rod JOLLEY Lister Jaguar Monza GP
4 5 7a 1 Tony SMITH Ferrari 246 Dino
5 8 6 2 Graham ADELMAN Maserati 250F

Adrian Flux Trophy for Transatlantic Pre ’66 Touring Cars

1 600 THA 1 Sam TORDOFF Ford Falcon Sprint
2 179 THA 2 GREENSALL / SPIERS Ford Mustang
3 7* THA 3 SOPER / MANN Ford Mustang
4 192 THA 4 THOMAS / LOCKIE Ford Falcon
5 99 THA 5 PRIAULX / TAYLOR Ford Mustang

Masters Endurance Legends

1 16 G2/P1 1 Steve BROOKS Peugeot 90X
2 6 G2/P1 2 Stuart WILTSHIRE Peugeot 90X
3 007 G1/P1 1 Christophe D’ANSEMBOURG Lola Aston DBR1-2 1
4 36 G2/P2 1 Maxwell LYNN BR 01
5 28 G2/P2 2 CUMMINGS / ELLIS Morgan Pescarolo 01

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