Amazing feast of racing at Silverstone Classic

With the track drying rapidly, the damp conditions weren't enough to break the Lotus Cortinas' stranglehold in the Under 2-litres Touring Cars class. Jackie Oliver and Richard Shaw may have qualified the BMW 1800 TISA on pole with an impressive 2 mins 36 secs, but come the race, the white and sherwood green steam train dominated the field again. Leo Voyazides and the busy Simon Hadfield came home first in 51 mins 56 for 19 laps (including a best of 2 mins 33 secs, almost 2 secs quicker than anyone else), five seconds ahead of Howard Redhouse and Mike Jordan in another Lotus Cortina. Shaw and Oliver were third a further two seconds back with Alex Furiani and David Fitzsimmons the first Alfa Romeo GTA home in 52:19.

John Bennett and Andrew Smith Alfa spins at Copse

Howard Redhouse and Mike Jordan Lotus Cortina was second

The first pole not to get upset was the runaway victory of Carlos Monteverde and Gary Pearson with the Jaguar D-type in the Woodcote Trophy. Having put the superquick Jaguar on pole with a 2 mins 32 secs lap, the pair completed their 19 laps in just 50 mins 24 secs, a full 1 min 22 secs ahead of Derek Hood and Andrew Smith in the Cooper T33. Fred Wakeman and Ludovic Lindsay were third in another D-type, but the race also featured some fascinating and quirky machinery including Stephen Bond putting in an impressive performance in the Lister Bristol Flat Iron, Tony and Barry Wood in the RGS Atalanta and Adam and Joe Singer in the Kurtis 500S.

Pearson and Monteverde were utterly dominant in D-type

Derek Hood and Andrew Smith were a distant second in Cooper mk3

Swiss Arlette Müller drove intriguing Aston Martin DB3 Coupé

Patrick Watts was second in the Big Engined Touring Car Race despite renewed controversy over his driving, but Jason Dodd took the win as Mustangs took the top five places, from a pair of Falcons in a Blue Oval-wash.

Race 5 was the Grand Prix Masters boasting a host of evocative machinery from March, McLaren, Hesketh et al. There was a fair attrition rate, but the chequer was taken by pole-sitter Andy Meyrick (March 761) from Bill Coombs' Tyrrell 009 and the Arrows A4 of Steve Hartley.

Richard Barber's Fittipaldi F5A

Philip Hall's Arrows A3-3

The weekend's busiest driver, Roger Wills, took his first victory in the following raceme the HGPCA pre-'66 Grand Prix Cars event. Starting from second on the grid – to Alasdair McCaig's Cooper T53 which had problems close to the end – Wills pedalled his T51 impressively to win from Enrico Sapggiari's T53 and the Lola Mk4 of Mark Piercy.

Roger Wills dashed to victory in the Cooper T51

Malcolm Ricketts' Lotus 18 

Nick Eden (Cooper T45) holds off Richard Parnell (Walker Special GP T10)

A win that proved extremely popular with spectators came in the Gentleman Drivers Pre-'66 GT car showdown, when the McInerneys (Michael and Sean) took their TVR Griffith from fourth on the grid behind a trio of hot Jaguar E-types to a well-deserved triumph for the underdog, finishing ahead of a trio of another habitual winner, the AC Cobra.

McInerneys enjoyed a popular win in the giant-killing TVR Griffith

Simon Orebi Gann drove Morgan SLR

Philip Walker's mastery of the pre-'61 GP car class continued when he took his familiar Lotus 16 from pole to chequer, setting fastest lap in the process and, virtually unchallenged after Eddie McGuire retired his Lotus 16, finishing 10 secs ahead of second-placed Rod Jolley in the Lister-Jaguar Monzanapolis.

Similarly dominant in the Italian Historic and GT Sports Car Cup was Nathan Kinch in the awesome Ferrari 512M, keeping Bobby Verdon-Roe's 412P safely behind him in the race just as he did in practice. The race was almost as movable for the delectable cars lapping the track as it was for the action itself. With everything from Iso Grifos to Abarth-Osella, the wow factor of the 57-car grid was overwhelming.

After the diversion of the "celebrity" race – won easily by the son of Status Quo's Rick Parfitt from chef Heston Blumenthal – the astonishing sight of more than 50 Jaguar E-types in a single grid started to bring the evening's events to a close. In the E-type Challenge, the cars were setting some unfeasibly fast times, not least Jon Minshaw's car which set a sizzling 2 mins 26 secs qualifying time. After some pit-lane heroics and a two-hour gearbox change, Minshaw scorched to part one victory in the E-type Challenge from Desire Wilson and Graeme Dodd (er, also in E-types).

Group C winner Katsu Kubota in the Nissan R90C

Alex Buncombe was second in the Jaguar XJR-9

Despite the music being underway on the stage, it was clear how pleased spectators were to have the Group C racers back by the huge numbers who stayed to watch the late-starting (8.35pm) half-hour thrash. The timing and weather were perfect for the spectacle as the sun dipped over the horizon and eerily lit the cockpits as the ground-hugging beats blasted their way down the new pit-straight lights ablaze. The racing was tight, too, with nine of the 25-strong grid completing 15 laps, headed by Katsu Kubota (Nissan R90C), Alex Buncombe (Jaguar XJR-9) and Gareth Evans (Mercedes-Benz C11). Kubota also set fastest lap with a searing 1 min 54 secs, an 114mph average around the new circuit.

Nick Chester uses all the track in the Spice SE88P