Ferrari milestone to be honoured at Silverstone and brands

British Ferrari fans have a great summer ahead as both Silverstone and Brands Hatch celebrate the 50th anniversary of the marque’s first world championship win. Jose Froilan Gonzalez’s Ferrari 375 beat the Alfa Romeo of Juan Manuel Fangio at Silverstone on July 14, 1951, starting a tally of almost 140 GP victories for the Prancing Horse. Silverstone’s Historic Festival over the weekend of August 25-27 will feature Ferraris in three of the races, under the banner ‘Italy vs the rest of the world’; these will be for pre-74 Le Mans cars, ’50s drum-braked cars and pre-67 endurance cars.

For the first time, motorcycles also feature in the Silverstone festival, with the Mike Hailwood Memorial Trophy, which commemorates one of Britain’s motorsport legends. The 75th anniversary of Brands Hatch and the 50th anniversary of Gonzalez’s win will each be celebrated in a joint event at the Kent track over the weekend ofJuly 20-22; the circuit first hosted motorcycle grasstrack racing in 1926.

The event, dubbed Sig Red’, is set to feature the largest-ever gathering of racing Ferraris, with three double-header encounters for the Shell Historic Ferrari Challenge and more modem Ferraris. There will also be races for the Thoroughbred GP F1 cars and the Force Formula 5000 series.