Neil Hack couldn’t believe his luck after winning tickets through our competition to the Silverstone Classic. He tells Motor Sport why it’s a weekend not to be missed
Having entered yet another competition I was sure I would not win, I’d set about booking my holiday. So imagine the problem I faced when a set of four tickets for the Silverstone Classic in July turned up randomly on my desk. At first I thought it was a mistake, but I quickly realised I’d won a Motor Sport competition.
I had not been to the Silverstone Classics before due work commitments, so I wasn’t about to miss this one. A bit of reshuffling of the holiday plans and we were sorted to visit the event on the Sunday. I even managed to get an infield pass for my old 944.
Silverstone as a track is fantastic from a spectator’s point of view. I started off at Bridge Corner, which gives you a great view of the cars speeding round into the complex. This was followed by a picnic in the Porsche area and a little sunbathing in the unusually hot Silverstone sunshine.
After lunch I took a walk around the paddock to have a closer look at some of the amazing cars. It’s great to be able to get up close to them and nose around – as long as you don’t get in people’s way they don’t seem to mind at all.
The most striking car for me was a fine-looking D-type Jaguar. The car’s lines make it look fast even when it’s stationary. It has to be an all-time dream machine.
I then headed through the tunnel to Copse Corner. As I exited the other side a fine old GT40 was just entering the tunnel. Everyone stopped for a moment – even at idle the car sounded like Beelzebub on a bad day. Sure enough, as he entered the tunnel the driver blipped the throttle a few times to everyone’s delight. What a noise!
After that I headed to Woodcote and then on to Luffield. The views at both these locations is excellent and well worth a visit. You can really see the drivers fighting with the cars to keep them on track, and it’s amazing to watch them powering down to the pit straight with the tail hanging out wide.
The best noise of the day was a close tie between the world sports cars and the 1966-85 Formula 1 cars. Sight of the day had to be the Sir Stirling Moss Trophy for ’50s sports cars. I have never seen so many cars going sideways at such speed for so long.
Watching and seeing professionals racing modern cars is an amazing sight and, apart from the odd diesel car, the noise is great too. But there’s just something special about seeing the old cars really going for it. These guys don’t mess about and the racing is excellent. The event was helped by the warm weather but I think it would be a great day out in any conditions. And, dare I say, in the wet the racing could be even better.
Thanks so much for the tickets – this is a brilliant day out and anyone with an interest in cars should attend. If not, they’re missing out.
