Silverstone classic

[havoc]

Zippee said:

Weather certainly put a lot of people off and this was noticeable both with crowds and also car clubs.
However, the club's are smaller these days. Ferrari for example had an area a 3rd of the size they did a few years back, same for Aston.
Racing grids are not as full or varied as they used to be, especially noticeable wandering round the paddocks which were a lot bigger and more bustling.
Whilst the weather played a big part there event is not at its hey day, and given the ticket prices I feel this will continue to get worse.

Car clubs / some brands shrinking - one thing I've noticed for probably 3 years now is Porsche...not sure how much they're paying the organisers but their presence seems to keep growing and frankly after the 30th silver Boxster and 20th silver 996 Carrera you get a bit bored...

Grids - I didn't think it was that bad. Sure a few were a bit light (think this is why super-touring and Group-C aren't there now), but some were absolutely rammed - Masters GT / pre-90 touring cars / Pre-66 GP all had big grids, and the turnout for the Endurance Masters was really good for the first year of competition - loved seeing those boys flying through Copse! Trouble is classic racing is a very expensive business*, and with a lot of rich people getting nervous about the future of the markets / their investments, maybe tough decisions are being made?!?

Hey-day - true, I guess, but Lord March still manages to put on a good show every June...the issue with the FOS now is overcrowding.
I think the SSC issue is more that there's now a LOT of different events for owners of classic racing cars to choose from (e.g. Donington have set-up their own quasi-SSC recently and it looks like a lower-level knock-off of the SSC in concept. Plus at least 3 different events in France, Spa Classic, N'ring Old-Timer, a few in Italy, plus all the exhibition- and concours-style events like the Goodwood FOS), at a time when owners are probably looking to trim costs and race-series promoters are trying to keep everyone happy. Tough gig right now.



* Interesting that the proposed 'Aston Martin' race failed to materialise this year...apparently this was because the SSC organisers were trying to charge a rather exorbitant fee and got hardly any takers...so much so they slashed the fee and still didn't get much interest.

[Engelberger]

havoc said:

Car clubs / some brands shrinking - one thing I've noticed for probably 3 years now is Porsche...not sure how much they're paying the organisers but their presence seems to keep growing and frankly after the 30th silver Boxster and 20th silver 996 Carrera you get a bit bored...

Agree about Porsche. Was by far the biggest presence and even though I love the brand even I was a bit overwhelmed. Seemed much bigger than last year and the year before. I don't care for Ferrari but the Aston line up was smaller than I recall.

Someone brought a cracking 996 C4S though which made it all worth it *wink*

[anonymous-user]

Not too many pictures, it was cold!

Hope you guys like these. I think e-types in race spec are stunning. I could have looked at the LMP cars all day.


https://flic.kr/s/aHsmFBHLTk

[Engelberger]

yonex said:

Not too many pictures, it was cold!

Hope you guys like these. I think e-types in race spec are stunning. I could have looked at the LMP cars all day.


https://flic.kr/s/aHsmFBHLTk

Nice pics. That TVR was a row away from my tent. Lovely thing. I have some cracking shots of the LeMans stuff but don't want to give my identity away.

[scampbird]

Engelberger said:

havoc said:

Car clubs / some brands shrinking - one thing I've noticed for probably 3 years now is Porsche...not sure how much they're paying the organisers but their presence seems to keep growing and frankly after the 30th silver Boxster and 20th silver 996 Carrera you get a bit bored...

Agree about Porsche. Was by far the biggest presence and even though I love the brand even I was a bit overwhelmed. Seemed much bigger than last year and the year before. I don't care for Ferrari but the Aston line up was smaller than I recall.

Glad it wasn't just me. I saw the infield display and thought "that's quite a few Porsche", then walked over the bridge near the main gate and realised the display went on .. and on ... and on ... I mean they're nice cars and all but maybe at some point they need to limit the modern ones?

[Digga]

yonex said:

Not too many pictures, it was cold!

Hope you guys like these. I think e-types in race spec are stunning. I could have looked at the LMP cars all day.


https://flic.kr/s/aHsmFBHLTk

Great pictures. The access to the cars is what really makes these events IMHO.

[Pericoloso]

I used to go to Ford Fair at Silverstone ,they pack in more cars than the classic did ,although I only went on Friday

and have never been before in previous years.

Friday got the best weather this year I believe ,so some may have had tickets for weekend but didn't travel when they saw

the rain and gloom.

I don't go to Ford fair any more ,partly due to it now is chock full of modern cars ,dozens of STs all the same and my Ford interest

slumped after the sale of my Cosworth.

[anonymous-user]

scampbird said:

Glad it wasn't just me. I saw the infield display and thought "that's quite a few Porsche", then walked over the bridge near the main gate and realised the display went on .. and on ... and on ... I mean they're nice cars and all but maybe at some point they need to limit the modern ones?

There was an independent Porsche club as well. Never seen them before?

[Pericoloso]

yonex said:

scampbird said:

Glad it wasn't just me. I saw the infield display and thought "that's quite a few Porsche", then walked over the bridge near the main gate and realised the display went on .. and on ... and on ... I mean they're nice cars and all but maybe at some point they need to limit the modern ones?

There was an independent Porsche club as well. Never seen them before?

Largest Porsche club ,PCGB were one side of the bridge and TIPEC were on the other side of it.

[Lynchie999]

... anyone know the outcome (hopefully everyone was OK) of the accident on the A43 on Saturday morning ? it shut the road and looked a bit sketchy with fire trucks and stuff...

[blueb10]

Agree with the points made about the number of Porsche cars, too many moderns/brand new cars but, this could be said about other marques (MX5 etc).
I have been going for a few years now and still enjoy it but, the format is getting a bit jaded, it could do with an update, they seem to have lost some of the big sponsors?
I mainly now go for the racing which is still very good. The Masters formula 1 is fantastic but, can someone tell me why on earth Judy Lyons is allowed to be on track? It really is not safe to have her trundling round on a jolly when the others are competing at such a level. I see that she got black flagged on Saturday, I assume that this was due to her being so slow in the bad conditions? I get that the Lyons family contribute a lot to the series and Michael is brilliant but it is stupid and dangerous for his mum to be allowed to continue. She does exactly the same at other circuits( Brands Hatch).

[Mattygooner]

It was Porsche Club GB both sides of the bridge, near the entrance was post 2000 cars and across the bridge was pre 2000 cars.

It's not really a display, it's for Porsche club GB members to park infield, it's just that there are alot of them who turn up. It keeps the classics infield and the more modern stuff away from it. You don't have to go and look at them all if you don't want to!

[havoc]

Mattygooner said:

You don't have to go and look at them all if you don't want to!

But it takes infield space away from other clubs. Although clearly others feel the same way about SSC 'losing its way', as attendance from many clubs was down this year (apparently not just because of the rain), so maybe PCGB members were 'taking up the slack'.

[Digga]

havoc said:

Mattygooner said:

You don't have to go and look at them all if you don't want to!

But it takes infield space away from other clubs. Although clearly others feel the same way about SSC 'losing its way', as attendance from many clubs was down this year (apparently not just because of the rain), so maybe PCGB members were 'taking up the slack'.

Yes, it's a bit chicken and egg and I do not know the truth of it, although suffice to say Pistonheads themselves managed generate a reasonably large and diverse, except for the tt who bought the 911 on Saturday (that would be me) collection of enthusiast's cars.

[tonymor]

Personally I didn't consider the Porsche attendance was a problem. I m o it just indicated how fewer cars there were on site generally with other clubs . Other years I recall the display everywhere took a considerable time to view but sadly not the case on Sunday.
I suspect I'll give it a year or two before I go again

[AllezWasps]

blueb10 said:

Agree with the points made about the number of Porsche cars, too many moderns/brand new cars but, this could be said about other marques (MX5 etc).
I have been going for a few years now and still enjoy it but, the format is getting a bit jaded, it could do with an update, they seem to have lost some of the big sponsors?
I mainly now go for the racing which is still very good. The Masters formula 1 is fantastic but, can someone tell me why on earth Judy Lyons is allowed to be on track? It really is not safe to have her trundling round on a jolly when the others are competing at such a level. I see that she got black flagged on Saturday, I assume that this was due to her being so slow in the bad conditions? I get that the Lyons family contribute a lot to the series and Michael is brilliant but it is stupid and dangerous for his mum to be allowed to continue. She does exactly the same at other circuits( Brands Hatch).

Glad it’s not just me who thinks the same re Judy Lyons- she is normally lapped by half the field on lap two and surely she is nothing but a nuisance not to mention a danger to those who are actually racing. As you say, it’s the same every year and at every track- frankly it’s about time they removed her licence.

[Mattygooner]

havoc said:

But it takes infield space away from other clubs. Although clearly others feel the same way about SSC 'losing its way', as attendance from many clubs was down this year (apparently not just because of the rain), so maybe PCGB members were 'taking up the slack'.

There were a lot more Porsche's there last year for the 70th Anniversary than this year, certainly the weather played a part. I don't think it keeps other car clubs away as there is enough space for everyone, but all clubs i could see were down on last year and were in the same spots, Ferrari, Lambo, Alfa etc all down on last year, admittedly it was on Sunday but i think i saw 3 cars in the classic Lotus register pen.

They do keep the modern Porsches outside the infield part, but it is probably the main PCGB meeting of the year so they always have a large group, they also have their own coffee, grandstand a loo in their area which is nice.

Weather i suspect was the biggest reason for the lower numbers. Camping prices also seemed to go up.

[Engelberger]

yonex said:

There was an independent Porsche club as well. Never seen them before?

Do you mean the 928 owners club?

They were there last year as well.

EDIT - I think the problem with Lotus is that you have 3 clubs competing with each other. Friday was the busiest day for the clubs i think.

Edited by Engelberger on Tuesday 30th July 17:24

[anonymous-user]

It was TIPEC.

[jimbo bott]

Hello all, this was my 12th Silverstone classic (been coming since it was known as the coys historic) and first with pistonheads. Even though it's my favourite classic event of the year I must admit that its turning into a motor festival rather than a classic event. In my opinion they need to start vetting or limiting numbers of non classics or clubs. I dont want to see a sea of mgfs, mx5s, boxters, clks, fiat 500s etc after spending alot of money on a ticket. They could have different eras or zones maybe. Its definitely thinning out on content which is a shame. No pre war f1 cars this year for instance. Also - many pre 60s sports cars had packed up and gone home after lunchtime on sunday. Didn't see any lightweight e types, c types or d types. Good job there is still growing events like bicester heritage, donnington historic, chateau impney to name a few. On a lighter note - who owns the red 850r Volvo? Any chance of seeing the video your passenger was recording on the parade lap?