Silverstone BRDC Classic

[stevemcs]

The classic is currently being shown on YouTube, although some of the camera work looks a little wobbly

[Mark_Blanchard]

Went today. Seems like half the show it used to be. Was expecting to see many more race cars and display cars. But I guess the entrance tickets is half the cost so can’t expect much. Maybe it will grow over the coming years.

[bergclimber34]

Honestly you can see where SIlverstone put their efforts, and it is not into meetings like this.

This was a great meeting for me, but it was little more than a bumped up Masters meeting really.

It is Pringles way, minimum risk and expenditure.

Be fascinating to see what happens with MotoGP in a couple of weeks

[stevemcs]

bergclimber34 said:

Honestly you can see where SIlverstone put their efforts, and it is not into meetings like this.

This was a great meeting for me, but it was little more than a bumped up Masters meeting really.

It is Pringles way, minimum risk and expenditure.

Be fascinating to see what happens with MotoGP in a couple of weeks

I’ll let you know ….. not expecting much, we usually sit in either vale or village a, I don’t think vale is open this time

For the classic everything was in the centre and silverstone is far to big for the event, I’m not sure why the used the full gp circuit and had nothing open

[coppice]

I very much enjoyed it, with one big caveat.

- I liked the Goodwood style 'garaging' and it was nice to see all the cars in one area,rather than a big walk or a crowded bus to the Wing

- The entry was mainly good , although the 2 litre sports car entry was woeful,. and laughably poor for a one hour race . Gorgeous cars which deserve more support

- Derek Bell entry was so so , but when I can stand next to a F5000 as it starts up, any criticism tends to evaporate

- Misty eyed when I saw and heard the P153 Yardley BRM - the first F1 car I'd ever seen in action , a very long time ago

- the USP is pit and paddock access,and standing near mid race pit stops in GT 3 was a spectacle I enjoyed.

- Car Club tickets were amateur hour. I was only told I needed to print a pass on Thusday evening - I had left my printer at home and my AirBnB ddint seem to have one...Pantomime getting in on Friday and Saturday without it .

- And grrrr - the fact that Village stand was shut is outrageous . It's a poor track to watch anything but at least at Village you're in the same time zone as the cars and there's plenty of overtakes. One of the Racemakers also told me that Vale stand was shut . A good spot to watch fast stuff

So..promising , but some improvements and tweaks needed

Edited by coppice on Monday 27th July 10:16

[bergclimber34]

I am confused as to why they have to have security at every open stand, other venues do not do this why here, it clearly is why they open so few of them.

I normally walk the lap, but I gather parts of the venue up top were closed, again, why?

I have no issue condensing the crowds into areas, but to do it without telling people is a bit poor customer service wise.

And on Saturday the car park guys just all quit. The place can ge a maze, very few signs.

It does seem everything there is done at the bare minimum of outlay, which again leaves a slightly sour taste,

[Accidentalhero]

I think the issue is the number of promoters and the finite number of cars. Both Masters Historic and MRL appear to offer pretty much the same thing to competitors and then you throw in Peter Auto and a few others, and the grids are inevitably going to be small. The grids at the Monza Revival this weekend were very low and they were all cars eligible for the BRDC event and vice versa.

Chatting to drivers at Le Mans Classic this year who were driving fairly "standard" stuff, 70s 911 Carreras etc, and they said it was easily a £15k weekend when all is said and done. So if you think We've already had the Donington Historic, Goodwood MM, Le Mans Classic, Hockenheim classic, Monaco Historique, Paul Ricard Classic, Dijon Classic, some cars are already broken and out for the year, drivers are possibly feeling the pinch, others are saving cars for blue riband events such as Spa 6h or the Revival, grids will always be small if the promoters offer the same thing.

Purely from a spectator point of view, it feels like the promoters are just trying to push each other out of business rather than maintaining a healthy historic motorsport calendar.

I couldn't make the BRDC event as I was away but I am.watching it back on YouTube today, it looks good, attendance is down clearly but that's as a result of the Festival/Carfest thing and if this event becomes similar to the older "Coys" meetings of the 90s, it could be nice for the keen spectators but i guess the bigger question is are there enough cars and drivers to support another major historic motorport event in Europe right now

[bergclimber34]

Its a market easy to fleece because it is rich in money, most races had the same people in them one after another, there is a lot of money rolling around, but it is finite

[Accidentalhero]

That's the point, a small number of people have a few cars and can afford multiple entries at each event but they're not going to sustain all UK events singlehandedly hence the small grids.

I missed Zandvoort historic from the list in June which was fantastic and well worth a visit.

[ChevronB19]

bergclimber34 said:

Its a market easy to fleece because it is rich in money, most races had the same people in them one after another, there is a lot of money rolling around, but it is finite

The market as it exists now is entirely the organisers fault. They want cash, and they want people who have that cash to race with them. We’ve raced at multiple Coys, Revivals, MM’s, Spa etc on a budget of 5k pa (roughly) in historic saloons. The money has got in (probably about 30 years ago) and it has ruined it. I’m sick of seeing huge transporters with drivers paying teams to run them even in basic cars (or 4 cars in the same meeting), Winnebagos etc when I was still sleeping in a tent.

Anecdote: we went to a high profile meeting once (none of those mentioned above, but the series might start with an ‘M’). They put a sign up saying no mechanics allowed in hospitality, ignoring the fact that in our series most of the drivers *were* the mechanics as well, and didn’t even want to in essence pay via entry fees for ‘free’ hospitality.

Yes, I do sound bitter!

[bergclimber34]

Quite rightly chap and is also does not really mirror what happened in period.

I enjoyed the racing this weekend, car quality was good, drivers really pushing in all classes.

But there are issues, an hour long race for 15 2 litre sports, nah.

[ChrisJ.]

With hardly any grandstands open, I wonder if that perceived lack of spectators mattered to the people racing at the BRDC Classic?

[geordiecraig101]

Really enjoyed the whole weekend from start to finish. As pretty much others comments, the re-set of the event was needed and the racing great to watch. Had a trip down to the wing on Saturday and found they were still taking down everything from the GP so the place was a building site which might explain why there were no viewing areas open down there.

The new layout with everything together in one place worked brilliant, made it so much easier to see all cars and teams.

The only down side, the lack of stands open, if Woodcote A and Club were open then it would have been perfect.

Anyway, heres my trackside vids of the 3 days for anyone who interested:

Friday - https://youtu.be/RDjsh1umWRM
Saturday - https://youtu.be/ofx2RinqALU
Sunday - https://youtu.be/acoWIktufEk

[bergclimber34]

Don't think the lack of punters matters if you are driving.

The event has clearly been dropped to B list by Pringle and his money pinchers, they are only really that fussed about F1 and this Carfest nonsense, understandably as it is new. Be interested to see bikes crowd soon as that has been dropping steadily and now he has WEC, I could see it being dropped.

There are a lot of similar events likethe Classic, and the pull of Silverstone is perhaps not the sane as Spa, Ricard etc for drivers.

I thought they got most of it right, grids in most races were good, but a few were very weak.

But most issues are the place itself, not what you are watching

[paulguitar]

I have done a thread about my weekend at the Classic, staying at Escapade. Hopefully some might find it useful if considering staying there:


https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...