F1 London Live

Another motorport event that I managed to attend in July despite the short notice provided that it was taking place, was F1 London Live. I was lucky enough to attend the running of F1 cars in central London back in 2004 along with my family and so when I heard about F1 cars potentially running again in central London, I knew i had to go.

The event turned out even better than expected as it presented the chance to even get close to a number of the current F1 drivers albeit one particular driver was clearly not present. The even was put on by F1's new owners, Liberty Media and was a great way of reaching fans such as myself who, despite loving F1 for decades, do not fork out the extortionate ticket/grandstand prices every year to attend the Silverstone GP. As such, this was a really successful event and if run again in 2018, is likely to be even more packed with people than this first attempt.

Hearing the sounds of the cars again was amazing and well worth the effort to attend. If this is any indication of how the new owners of F1 intend to run the show then I am already excited about the future of the sport I love. 

Silverstone Classic 2017

After having attended a number of Goodwood Revival events over the last 5 years, I wanted to see what another famous, classic car racing event would be like and so decided to attend the Silverstone Classic held at the end of July.

Overall, this was quite a different feel of event as compared to Goodwood Revival. Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised that the cost of your entry ticket gives you access to all areas (unlike Goodwood), which meant you could sit in any grandstand and you could access the very heart of the pits and stand next to cars that were being worked on and would shortly grace the circuit.

The other major difference, is of course the size of the two respective circuits. At Goodwood you can walk around the whole circuit if you so desire or hop on one of there slow trundling tractor trailers. With Silverstone's size, walking around the whole circuit is not practical but this is overcome through a dedicated bus service to various parts of the circuit and to the two paddocks. With over 100 different car clubs attending the event, there was plenty to see.

Ultimately a very enjoyable day out and well worth the price of the ticket, albeit, the event lacks the cache and atmosphere of Goodwood, which given the adoption of period dress by 90% of attendees, is really quite unique and special. Thankfully, I got to attend the Goodwood Revival again in September but more on that in a later post.

Some of the racing action...

An unlucky competitor... lost a wheel at just the 2nd corner!