Clubs shine at sunny Silverstone

By James Elliott

| 25 Jul 2011

Tens of thousands of enthusiasts enjoyed glorious sunshine for the third and final day of the Silverstone Classic.

With the traffic nightmares of Saturday considerably eased, and far less queuing time for the classic buses around the circuit there was a superb atmosphere throughout.

As with all days, the club stands are the stars of the off-track action with more than 7000 classics in show. Quite apart from the mind-boggling number of E-types, there were superb displays from more than 120 other clubs. Whether the clubs were displaying just a few rarities (Marcos) or a massed ranked of cars (Mazda MX-5) there was plenty for everyone to enjoy.

Stand-outs included the Historic BMW line-up of 328s – also in their anniversary year – which was the buzz of the grandstands. The hidden jewel though was the Allards (main image), a phenomenal display sadly wedged between the catch-fencing and row of trader marquees, but those who found it were left breathless.

Following Saturday's E-type record attempt, there was a Sunday parade of a brilliant mix of representatives from the classic car clubs.

The track action continued relentlessly on the Sunday, with many of Saturday's winners deposed for added interest.

Sam Wilson in the Formula Juniors wasn't one of them, however, and he repeated his drive to victory after some epic dicing with Jon Milicevic.

Another repeat winner was Jon Minshaw in the E-type Challenge, again leaving the field way behind him as he stormed to the top of the podium again.

There was a dramatic crash in the second-running of the 50-plus E-type grid when Manfredo Rossi and Desire Wilson tangled. The accident was a rare upset in a weekend of largely clean racing, though Luther Blissett's barrel-roll in Saturday's celebrity race certainly caught the eye. The former England footballer was unharmed.

The biggest upset of the day was the daytime running of the Group C monsters. Saturday's stars – Katsu Kubota and Alex Buncombe – and the rest of the field was left standing as Bob Berridge brilliantly drove the Sauber-Mercedes C11 to an impressive win. The silver missile was only briefly challenged by the Nissan of Hideki Yamamuchi.

The main attraction, however, was the Sunday-only running of the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy for Historic Cars endure. The pairing of motorcycle TT champ Stuart Graham and Le Mans winner Richard Attwood came through on the final lap to secure a dramatic win in their Aston Martin DB4 GT from the Ferrari 250GT of Hans Hugenholtz and David Hart which retired from the lead.

In the final race of the event – which featured a record 22 races and 1000-plus entrants – Italian Enrico Spaggiari overturned Kiwi Roger Wills' pre-'66 rear-engined GP car triumph of the previous day. Cooper T53 driving Spaggiari said: "This was the most beautiful race of my life.”

Sunday results

Stirling Moss Trophy: 1 Ewan McIntrye (Lotus 15), Jon Minshaw/Martin Stretton (Lister Jaguar), Philip Walker/Danny Wright (Lotus 15)

RAC Tourist Trophy: 1 Stuart Graham/Richard Attwood (Aston Martin DB4), 2 Carlo Vogele/Willie Green (Ferrari 330 GTO), 3 Wolfgang Friedrichs/David Clark (Aston Martin DP212)

Historic Formula Junior: 1 Sam Wilson (Cooper T59), 2 Jon Milicevic (Cooper T59), 3 James Murray (Lola Mk 5A)

Big Engine Touring Cars: 1 Leo Voyazides (Ford Falcon), 2 Patrick Watts (Ford Mustang), 3 John Young (Ford Falcon)

Group C Endurance: Bob Berridge (Mercedes C11), 2 Hideki Yamamuchi (Nissan R90C), Andy Meyrick (Spice SE89C)

E-Type Challenge: 1 Jon Minshaw, 2 Martin O’Connell, 3 Andrew Smith

GP Masters F1 1966-85: 1 Andy Meyrick (March 761), 2 Steve Hartley (Arrows A4), Bill Coombs (Tyrrell 009)

Front-engine GP pre-1961: 1 Philip Walker (Lotus 16), Rod Jolley (Lister Jaguar ‘Monzanapolis’), 3 Michael Steele (Connaught C type)

World Sports Car Masters: 1 Oliver Bryant (Lola T70 Mk3B), 2 Simon Hadfield/Leo Voyazides (Lola T70 Mk3B), 3 Manfredo Rossi di Montelera (Abarth Osella PA1)

Rear-engine GP pre-1966: 1 Enrico Spaggiari (Cooper T53), 2 Rod Jolley (Cooper T45/51), 3 Roger Wills (Cooper T51)