24 July 2011

Silverstone Classic 2011

As I'm typing this I still can't get over that we are nearing the end of July. It feels like only a short time ago I was spending hours going through my photos from the 2010 Classic. Anyway, the day began with an early start and my buddy picking me up in his Fiesta ST ready to set off for Silverstone. The journey was clear right up until the point where we hit the A43, I can't complain about the view though.....
When we got into the circuit my friends girlfriend went to find her parents as her dad was racing his Jaguar XK120. I thought it would be a perfect photo opportunity so here are the photographs I took,
We spent the rest of the day going around all the car stands and both paddocks. I was hugely impressed with the new pits and paddock. A free bus service was in operation all day so it was a breeze going from one part of the circuit to another. Here are the rest of the photographs from the day,
This Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa drove passed us on the way into the circuit. We heard the pops and bangs of the exhausts before we caught a glimpse of the red paintwork. I was glad I had the opportunity to get up close to it and have a good look around it.
If you follow this blog you may remember a post some time ago looking at the lesser well know group B rally cars. Here is a Ferrari 308 GTB rally car,
Among the Ferrari owners club was this immaculate 275GTB,
Two 355s in close proximity,
The Ferrari 512 was pretty impressive in the flesh. It was the first time I had seen one up close,
The Ferrari F40 is still the iconic supercar. Seeing two together both with a registration featuring 'F40' is always a sight.
250 GTO in the corner, the mechanics looked nervous as a lots of people were looking around the car,
Steam engines were on display and the stage was set for the live acts for the Saturday evening,
Although I'm unsure as to what car this is I was interested in where the spare wheel was positioned in full view,
Well used slicks on one of the group C GT cars,
This set of wheels were for sale for £1500. A Cosworth DFV block was for sale at £1500 as well.
The next few photos were taken on the new pit lane. I was able to walk straight across the pit lane whilst the race was on and take some photos from a higher vantage point.
I had a good look around the MX5 Owners Club stand on the day and this black NA caught my eye. I spotted the RS Watanabes and then I was in awe of the super rare and desirable Nakamae bucket seats. The car had some other JDM bits and pieces from Zoom, Runabout, and Nardi. I had a look around some other MX5s whilst I was there but I was quite disappointed with some of them as they were very tatty and not show worthy in my opinion. 
On the subject of Japanese cars this Nissan 240Z was spotless,
Group C Nissan V8 turbo,
For those of you that watch Top Gear in the UK you will have recently seen Jeremy Clarkson present a feature on the Jaguar E Type as this year is 50 years since the car was launched. The Silverstone Classic had a huge E Type gathering to celebrate the birthday of the model as well. E Types from all over Europe had come to this event and it was great to see such a huge following.
My mate caught me off guard whist I was admiring the sea of E Type Jaguars,
Last year I bought a Cosworth poster that I never got round to having framed but as I now have a house with a garage I thought it be fitting to buy some memorabilia so I can make my garage actually look like a proper garage. These will be put in the garage when I finally have it ready,
All in all it was an awesome day. Last year this event was the highlight of the year and so far this year it is the best I have been to. I missed Goodwood this year so I was really glad I went to the Classic. Awesomefest at Mallory is next weekend so expect to see loads of photographs on here in a weeks time.

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