The Best Britain Has To Offer (Silverstone Circuit)

Member Name: Modena

Product:	Silverstone Circuit
Date:	25/05/01 (280 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Britain’s Best, Great Track, Okay Facilities, Good Transport Routes

Disadvantages: A Bit Old, Rocky Car Parks, Long Walks, Expensive Experience

Silverstone is Britain’s most celebrated and international race track, the home of the British Grand Prix. This opinion aims to give some insight to you about a day out at Silverstone, I hope to leave no stone unturned…

I have a season Paddock pass for the FIA GT championships and May 11-13 hosted the fourth round of the Eurosport Super Racing Weekend at Silverstone, including action from the FIA GTs, FIA Super Touring cars, FIA SPC and Formula 2000 Renault. It would have been such a waste not to visit!

>>Driver’s Briefing
Silverstone is located in the centre of England, Northamptonshire to be more precise, around Milton Keynesish, I live in London and the best way to get there seems to be a dash down the M1 to junction 15A (a new junction that might not be on your map, it is between junction 15 and 16), then head off to Towcester and onto long winding roads and follow the signs to Silverstone, once you are on another narrow road, look closely, and you shall see mobile phone masts, grandstands, and helicopters.

There’s plenty of free parking, thank god it is free, I wouldn’t pay for my car to trundle through a road of rocks and then have to walk half an hour to get to the main entrance! Get there early (you might get to park on the grass) to avoid repeating this journey on the way back! You can’t sneak to the front during main events, there are people directing you where to go.

Once you make your journey to the track, the atmosphere is buzzing, there are lots of people walking in the same direction, and you can hear the screams of the engines getting louder and louder. Entry for the Eurosport SRW would have been £35 per person, I think that’s ludicrous, thankfully I had a free paddock pass.

>>Scruitineering
What are the first impressions? The first impressions are that you have entered a very large racing circuit, lots of grandstand dominating the skyline with a historic f
eel to it. There isn’t too much grass around, in fact lots of rocks, rocks and even more rocks, wear comfortable shoes that you don’t mind damaging! Bearing in mind the size of the track, be prepared to do a lot of walking to get around, we can’t all have scooters and quad-bikes.

>>Pole Position
On the day I was there, they were charging extra (£5) for you to access the grandstand on the pit straight and at the complex at the end of the track. The entrance I went through was at the start of the pit straight and the only way to access the paddock was either through the famous bridge that runs over the pit straight just at the pit exit, or under the track at Copse corner (a sweeping almost flat out right hander). I took the first option, the walk took around 5 minutes, past the karting facilities and the stalls selling merchandise, and I was really surprised by the wooden bridge I was walking on, it was so steady, but looked in need of replacement. The bridge had tiny spy holes so you can see the GT cars whiz past you as they scream flat out.

Once the bridge was crosses, I was in the paddock area, there was a great atmosphere here, to one side were people watching the race past the pit exit, a large TV showing the race and to the other side, all the team trucks and hospitality. The great bonus of being at this event was that being at the paddock, we could literally stand at the back entrance of the pits. We could touch Jamie Campbell-Walters tyres if no one was looking and peek into the pits and the team trucks too. On the other side were hospitality facilities for teams, where they had their own marquees for mechanics etc to dine at. At the other end was some hospitality areas for sponsors, I wasn’t allowed in but I took at the Eurosport one and the place wasn’t too good. You had a good view right next to the track, sure, and you could drink champagne too, but the décor was none existent and air conditioning was not
on the agenda, not what I would expect from an international circuit!

Making my way around the circuit, I cross back to the outside through the underground tunnel under Copse corner, and onto the minor grandstands, you couldn’t see much action there, but the seating is like an Italian football stadium if you know what I mean. The track has loudspeakers spread around it (sound quality is poor, just like in old movies) so if you can keep track with the race if you can hear it over all the engines, to be honest, I was only vaguely aware of what was happening in the race. I expected a little more form the UK’s top circuit to be honest.

>>Pit Stop and Refulling
Chances are, if you go you will be there all day, there are lots of burger/hot dog vans scattered around the place. So not too many problems there, and I spotted two restaurants at Copse and inside the Paddock. Public toilets are aplenty, but don’t expect Ron Dennis to be using any of them.

The food (naturally) is not reasonably priced, I had a hamburger and chips and it cost me £3.75, and the facilities were average, school cafeteria stuff. If you can, I ssuggest you prepare a picnic or something.

>>Podium
However at the end of the race, I went towards the Parc Ferme (where the winning cars go after the race) and I was allowed quite close and was able to get a good look. I was also allowed into the media centre, where on the way I passed the podium!

This, as expected was very impressive, on the second floor (the podium is on the first floor) there was a great view of the pit straight (where I caught the race afterwards; the FIA STC) as well as lots of press releases, and lines of televisions and lots of journalists typing away at their reports and sending them via the phone lines there and the internet.

>>The Chequered Flag
Overall, it was a good day’s out, albeit slightly expensive. My advice is of you get the chance, and
don’t live too far away, go! Don’t plan to do too much, it is tough to get from A to B around the track. 90% of the track is not 21st century, but that is expected to be honest, I was never expecting to enter the Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

You also have less access for the Formula 1 event, this is an important consideration to make when deciding whether to go. You’ll have a good days out, but you probably won’t know what happened precisely in the race, something I am so used to.

Given the chance to go again, I would wish for car-park pass, and maybe entry into one of the pits, oh well, there’s always next year. Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish anyone that is heading there a great spectacle, and just in case you are going to be racing there, have a great race!

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