Silverstone Festival née Classic

[Peter Mallett]

I obviously misheard the commentary.

[Speedy norm]

Vic Lee often pops up in Wheeler Dealers. And 3 hours of Jerry Mahoney here if you have the patience for the BS
https://www.youtube.com/live/TDdzxL9...c_LZYKx_u1Ymu3

[flatlandsman]

Lol no thanks the less time those two crooks spend on my screen the better!

I recall many moons ago I was at Brafield raceway covering stock cars, Lee was there as a "guest" I was introduced to him by the track owner and refused to shake his hand!! Much to the disgust of the fellow reporters I was with, I later told the track owner why and he said if I had known I would have done the same!!

[coppice]

Originally Posted by Derwent

Agreed re PBE but it was quick in a straight line as well. Some of the 30s cars should be a lot quicker.
As it's cold and wet here I've been watching on line. IN most raced the cars get very spread out with sometimes only the top ten finishing on the same lap. I suspect this is more down to the drivers than the cars. A bunch of rich old guys driving fast cars quite slowly.

Well, it's not compulsory to watch it. Of course some cars and drivers are faster than others and in this age of spec formulae with identical cars driven by karting kids we can't expect everything else to be a close 'battle'.

But historics aren't like that, and as not everyone is a driving god and it is not a sin to be older or better off, of course fields are spread out . I was there three days and loved it , as usual - it is about seeing old racing cars in action far more than it's about racing per se. That said, Formula Junior was a close fought delight with a huge field .

Some fabulous cars to enjoy and as I couldn't hear the commentary most of the time , no sleep lost .

[flatlandsman]

I think that is the thing with historics you can either accept the immense disparity between drivers or you can not.

I struggle with it so tend to not attend stuff like this anymore, primarily for this but also cost.

It is like art or music, I love some bands but hate the singers voice or something, I spent a long time trying, seeing cars I really wanted to see driven worse than I could drive them, and that was just too much!!

I think this is the joy of the Revival, again not a meeting I would ever spend silly money on (too far away and usually something better for me on), but you can see very old, desirable and valuable cars being driven harder than you might expect, you can see that at the Classic, but in my experience of maybe 5 or 6 years going every year it became less of a thing.

Let me try and explain, too many times I see a guy with a 2 grand painted helmet and a team of paid helpers getting into a very expensive race car, he can't heel and toe he is ruining the thing every time he drives it, but he doesn't care because he is rich, these are things I cannot abide and although you possibly not see this at an event like this, that would taint my enjoyment, silly I know, but these things really do grate! This is also not a jealousy thing, I realise there are very rich people in the world who can do what they want but I dont want to see it thanks!!

If it was 40 quid a day would I be there, probably at least once, that is another factor. I have no desire to be there all weekend but the odd day would be nice, if it were not dearer than MotoGP

[brands]

Enjoyed the three days dispite the terrible weather, especially as we were camping.
So happy to see the garages open on Friday and we spent ages wandering around the cars. Being able to get close up to all the Senna cars was a treat.
Crowds and car club numbers seemed down to us as did the catering units.
Highlights were the garage being open, several cracking races including the final 4-5 laps of closing race and the sight of seeing a 250F winning the HGPCA.
We will be back next year.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by flatlandsman

I think that is the thing with historics you can either accept the immense disparity between drivers or you can not.

I struggle with it so tend to not attend stuff like this anymore, primarily for this but also cost.

It is like art or music, I love some bands but hate the singers voice or something, I spent a long time trying, seeing cars I really wanted to see driven worse than I could drive them, and that was just too much!!

I think this is the joy of the Revival, again not a meeting I would ever spend silly money on (too far away and usually something better for me on), but you can see very old, desirable and valuable cars being driven harder than you might expect, you can see that at the Classic, but in my experience of maybe 5 or 6 years going every year it became less of a thing.

Let me try and explain, too many times I see a guy with a 2 grand painted helmet and a team of paid helpers getting into a very expensive race car, he can't heel and toe he is ruining the thing every time he drives it, but he doesn't care because he is rich, these are things I cannot abide and although you possibly not see this at an event like this, that would taint my enjoyment, silly I know, but these things really do grate! This is also not a jealousy thing, I realise there are very rich people in the world who can do what they want but I dont want to see it thanks!!

If it was 40 quid a day would I be there, probably at least once, that is another factor. I have no desire to be there all weekend but the odd day would be nice, if it were not dearer than MotoGP

Some of the racing was epic. The Greensall/Ward battle in the Cobras and Thomas v Hart battle, close, hard but fair racing you rarely see, and yes the rich guys facilitate this, but also fair play to them to allow very expensive machinery to be raced HARD.

Sent from my SM-T736B using Tapatalk

[flatlandsman]

Am glad the garage situation was not as bad as initially perceived, it would be a loss to the event.

And I will add I did not attend so cannot vouch for the racing, of course some of it will be great the law of averages says this, but over my time going it was not enough to convince me to part with that sort of dough every year!! That is 4 or 5 hillclimbs which for me are far better!!

[Peter Mallett]

A few pics from the weekend.

[Peter Mallett]

It was certainly a different atmosphere to last year which was, I suppose, the switchover event from racing to family.

I got to chat to a few folks with children and without exception they said thay'd had, or were having, a great time. So, it's just us old farts who get grumpy about things. I do have loads of pictures to upload and I'll also be writing a report for my site (and others) this week.

Did I enjoy it? I have to say yes. And when I checked the times in the Gent Drivers, I'd have finished around the middle in my MGB so it was a shame that there weren't any examples of that car there.

Will post links to pictures for those interested, later.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

It was certainly a different atmosphere to last year which was, I suppose, the switchover event from racing to family.

I got to chat to a few folks with children and without exception they said thay'd had, or were having, a great time. So, it's just us old farts who get grumpy about things. I do have loads of pictures to upload and I'll also be writing a report for my site (and others) this week.

Did I enjoy it? I have to say yes. And when I checked the times in the Gent Drivers, I'd have finished around the middle in my MGB so it was a shame that there weren't any examples of that car there.

Will post links to pictures for those interested, later.

I have heard that it was more of festival this time and for the first time probably, which is a good thing. Big events are expensive to stage and need a broad audience to buy tickets, which in turns adds to the commerical income that can be generated. You can't rely on a shrinking amount of diehard enthusiasts to sustain big events, whether we like it or not and there are less family focused ( in other words where they are catered for), where you can still see some great cars and racing.

[percy]

Just a few from the many photos I took over the 3 days. Pity about the Saturday races being affected by the weather. Still some good racing on show.
I only really concentrate on the track action, so the infield 'festival' stuff passed me by!

[flatlandsman]

OK can I ask what they did that made it more suitable for families and kids?

[eigger]

i thought it was a great event and worth the 3-day ticket price. I didnt notice that the off-track stuff was much different to previous years but i spent nearly all of my time in the paddocks or watching the racing. The racing was excellent and race controllers did a good job keeping things going given the weather.
I hope the saturday weather doesnt deter competitors from attending in future. The size of grids were good and I thought they was a good mix compared to previous years - the highlight for me was the MRL Touring cars - i really hope MRL can tempt some of these competitors out for their other events which have been a bit thin of late.
I dont know who (silverstone or the promoter/organiser) decides which grandstands are open but i wish they would open more of them

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by flatlandsman

OK can I ask what they did that made it more suitable for families and kids?

Haven't a clue, I just couldn't find a negative response. There were hot rod demos, loads of food and drink stands, a stage where the compere got the crowd, and it was a crowd, jumping. Admittedly the cost of a burger was a bit excessive, but as an emersive experience I think it works.

[flatlandsman]

I am presuming the music choices were perhaps[s more aimed at "normal people""

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by percy

Just a few from the many photos I took over the 3 days. Pity about the Saturday races being affected by the weather. Still some good racing on show.
I only really concentrate on the track action, so the infield 'festival' stuff passed me by!

Great set of shots there, Percy. I particularly like the one of the two Healeys nose to tail. Great that you could just take the mudguards off a clubman Mallock and it's instantly a front engined FJ.
Don't know what to think of the hotrod XK120.

[zefarelly]

Originally Posted by flatlandsman

OK can I ask what they did that made it more suitable for families and kids?

Skimpily dressed Dolly birds handing out free fags?

Oh. Sorry, that was the first time my Dad took me to Silverstone.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

A few pics from the weekend.

The Lotus driver of the HGPCA grid cant hyde he has fun. Great pic thank you.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by morninggents

Great set of shots there, Percy. I particularly like the one of the two Healeys nose to tail. Great that you could just take the mudguards off a clubman Mallock and it's instantly a front engined FJ.
Don't know what to think of the hotrod XK120.

Pretty sure that Mallock was built specifically for F Junior.