[WEC Race] WEC / ELMS Silverstone - Who Went/Who's Going?

[rdjones]

Just on other thing from yesterday - The Tornado flypast, I was sat in the pit's grandstand and we were told to look skywards which we did as it flew over, sadly we only heard it and didn't see it....it either went over our heads or over the car park....

[Aysedasi]

We only saw it because they'd taken the roof off our grandstand......

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

We only saw it because they'd taken the roof off our grandstand......

yes i was worried about the missing roof when we looked over from the wing on Friday but club was open on sunday and yes we all saw the tornado as it flew over

[Badlands99]

Have to agree ..... a pretty good weekend all round, with Silverstone appearing to try just a little bit harder than in years gone by.

Went all three days and managed to dodge the worst of the rain (and snow!) - in fact the changeable weather really helped in providing almost constantly changing lighting conditions for photography and I came away with a pleasing and extremely varied selection.

Good points: The Wing being open to help with the warming up process, bus service much better than in previous years with little or no waiting around, vastly improved food and drink selection - even if a little on the expensive side, pretty packed programme with something happening most of the time, RLM commentary, pit walks on Saturday, keeping The Wing and food vendors open on Sunday evening to try to alleviate the car park issues.

Not so good Points: Very limited opening of grandstands - Copse, Stowe, Abbey & Woodcote all closed.......... for a four/six hour race it would have been nice to have a few more photographic options than constantly having to shoot through the fence, the pre race 'festivities', a lack of merchandising from manufacturers - real missed opportunity here I feel, the usual issues exiting the car park for some - we were fortunate as we legged it back to the car just as Audi 7 crossed the line - back home in Northants by 18.40.

From the racing point of view, I thought the ELMS race was excellent, a great first stint by Harry Tinknell in the G Drive/Jota entry, LMP3 numbers added to the spectacle, Stuart Hall's first stint in the ROFGO Aston was inspired - really going at the LMP3 cars. In the WEC field, the Ford GTs looked and sounded superb, great come back drive by Bruni and co, some good driving by Lieb in traffic after the FCY and other than the obvious incident some great driving by all concerned over the whole weekend, especially Fri & Sat, considering the conditions.

Overall, a great weekend - excellent racing, a huge number of images to process, a bit of sun/wind burn to survive but really enjoyed the whole three days.

[Mikelancs]

Anyone camp in woodlands? Might attend next year as I'm the best man at a wedding over the weekend of LeMans otherwise I'd be there! So looking to do this and Spa and miss Lemans much to my disgruntled self!
Last time I went we got bumped into Whittlebury which is miles from the track! And on a hill !
Any thoughts on what the camp was like!

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

[Hawkwood]

I had an excellent weekend.
Only at Silverstone in April can you need to zip up the coat and don a woolly hat, and also eat an iced cream and get sunburn - all at the same time.

I loved the ELMS race, the LMP3 cars still sound great, especially in a massive group!
I enjoyed the WEC race too. Carrying on from some of the recent posts above and on the previous page, regarding the Ford GT, me and my brother disagreed about it.
I'm not a fan of the look, or the sound (though I appreciate Bella's comment above about Silverstone not being the best place to hear it), but my brother loved it both to look at and to hear.

And about the jet fly past on Sunday, I was walking up towards Woodcote, and didn't hear it coming behind me, promptly **** myself as it shot by overhead!

[Sodemo]

I thought the jet flypast was all too brief! I thought it was going to come and do a few loops etc. However it just did one fly past then vanished! Not that I go to these events for the aircraft show, however I thought they could have done at least 2 passes. Oh well. I enjoyed the whole day, however I will echo Bella's comments about the ticket price. £40 is too much for race day. £30 would have been about right in my view.

[GT6]

Well we paid £40 for the whole weekend, so i think that is amazing value for money, compare that to the other motor race held there and it is even better. I would also say food prices in the wing were very reasonable and a great choice, what exactly are some people expecting to get for £7 i do think that the improvements at silverstone and particularly the wing have been done pretty well IMHO

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by rdjones

Just on other thing from yesterday - The Tornado flypast, I was sat in the pit's grandstand and we were told to look skywards which we did as it flew over, sadly we only heard it and didn't see it....it either went over our heads or over the car park....

This amused me, as the 'announcer' (once they'd inexplicably turned off RLM) kept urging everyone to cram into the main grandstand for the start. So when the Tornado flew over and the announcer told everyone to look upwards, all we saw was a roof...

[Truckosaurus]

My favourite part of the pre-race build up was when they played The Rolling Stones in the midst of the National Anthem.

[Adam43]

An absolutely fantastic event and it is great to hear everyone enjoyed it so much. I make no apology for saying this, but there is a clear difference in the enjoyment people get from a sport between those that actually watch it and those that don't! Effort in adds to enjoyment out. I don't say this to put down, but to encourage.

I also like how we can still discuss any issues with the event. It also gives the opinions about prices, grandstands and anything else more credibility as it comes from a balanced point of view rather than, well, rather than the other.

Enjoy life and contribute. Then we can have fun and have more chance of changing things.

[Adam43]

I had a top time, as did those with me. I was with two friends who like their cars, but aren't die hard sportscar fans. Their normal motorsport involvement is pushing me when I breakdown!

Prices. Well the lack of decent pre-sale package seems odd. A few pound saving didn't encourage me to buy before I went. My friends would rather pay a couple of quid more and have the flexibility. The only real benefit was to save five minutes of queuing for a ticket on the day. Overall the price is comparable or better than other events in sport or out of sport.

Food. It's OK. Nothing too bad, nothing amazing, but there is variety. We made a tactical error in walking anti-clockwise from the start line through the race. You don't have many options from Club round to Luffield that way. Food prices are a rip off like any other event you may go to. The beer choice is rubbish apart from the one Hobgoblin stall. Which, for reference is cheaper than when it is also at Wembley.

Grandstands. There weren't that many people there so I think they didn't need to open all the grandstands. I guess this saves on having to have one person just looking after each one (?), or the checks before the event (?). The best ones were open. Stowe closed was a disappointment, but the banking nearby wasn't too bad.

Taking photographs. As with all circuits, it is pants. However I managed to find a few (purposeful) gaps in the fence.

By the way my friends are now up for Spa.

[GT6]

They will love spa, few tips food can be both good and bad avoid the large hot dog type things unless you have a strong digestive system, prices are reasonable and if you walk to the other end of the track the karting area has a little cafe that is very cheap for everything. Great views in most places and eau rouge will take your breath away but pictures can never show it in the same way that being there can. A must place to go for all petrol heads

[Aysedasi]

I've seen a number of comments, both here and on FB about the Stowe grandstands not being open Adam, but to my memory, the Stowe grandstands haven't been opened for this event for a number of years..... (Not that I wouldn't have liked them to be).

On the food front, compared to 4-5 years ago when all you could get was a 'Divine' burger, i.e. a pre-burnt burger of unclear origin within a completely stale bun), there was a reasonable choice for a race circuit from a perfectly decent burger, to fish and chips, freshly cooked pizza, curry and a bewildering variety of pasties, just to name a few. Quite apart from the decently priced hot food in the Wing that Simon has already mentioned. They certainly could do with something at Stowe or along the Hangar straight though. For several years in the past, I used to stock up with grub at Tesco before heading to the circuit, but didn't feel the need to bother this year.

[GT6]

This year all of Club was open, unlike last year when half of it was closed, plenty of people there at the start including a fair chunk of ten tenthers

[88racing]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Taking photographs. As with all circuits, it is pants. However I managed to find a few (purposeful) gaps in the fence.

These taken through the fence:

[BG76]

I thoroughly enjoyed the FIA WEC at Silverstone again this year. Silverstone do seem to be improving the spectator experience at this event year on year, with more choices for grandstands to view from as well as more food stalls compared to not too long ago. The race day weather was a vast improvement on recent years too!

I enjoyed wandering round the circuit for 6 hours on Sunday, here are a few images from the race, I hope you like them!

https://flic.kr/s/aHskxLNsVU

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by GT6

They will love spa, few tips food can be both good and bad avoid the large hot dog type things unless you have a strong digestive system, prices are reasonable and if you walk to the other end of the track the karting area has a little cafe that is very cheap for everything. Great views in most places and eau rouge will take your breath away but pictures can never show it in the same way that being there can. A must place to go for all petrol heads

Oh yes - it is excellent. I've been there for a few club events and also to watch the GP a couple of times many years ago. One year, in free practice, I was heading up Kemmel in the pouring rain and fog - you could hardly see the marker boards and a Nissan Group C came blasting past me like I was standing still. Brilliant!

I also got to see Hakkinen's overtake of Zonta and Schumacher in 2000.

It is also a great place to be surprised about the weather. I liked the calls to move the date of Silverstone for the weather - so should we move away from Spa on any date

88racing - good shots

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

My favourite part of the pre-race build up was when they played The Rolling Stones in the midst of the National Anthem.

Should have played it all the way through. Goodness, she was dreadful. Perhaps we should remind them this isn't America. We like our anthem banged out by a military band, not warbled by a Karaoke Queen.

[Adam43]

I like the Star Spangled Banner to be sang like that, I like God Save the Queen to be not.

I also like the Rolling Stones, but I prefer to listen to the build up rather than the PA drowning it out. Let the cars and the crowd make noise. It's a bit like at the Rugby - why play all those loud tunes - let the crowd make the noise and define the atmosphere.

[Mike Hedlund]

Silverstone has the most awesome fans I have ever seen/met. Marco and I drove into the track Saturday morning and were basically freaking out because it was snowing. Then we get to the main gate at around 7:15AM, and there's a line of like 100 people waiting out in the snow trying to get into the track... so damn hardcore!

My weekend sucked. I was so slow, still not sure exactly why. Probably a combination of lack of laps and time to learn the track and the crazy weather. I was much better in the full wet than the dry. At least the car is in one piece!

-mike

[mattt]

Was anyone else disappointed by the pre race pyrotechnics. We were told to clear the wall of all marshals etc because of them and they were pathetic IMO. Just puffs of grey smoke from the tyre barriers in front of the grandstand.

Sent from my Lenovo YT3-850F using Tapatalk

[Mike Hedlund]

Originally Posted by 88racing

These taken through the fence:

Sweet picture! Can I steal that to post on facebook? I see you're from Milton Keynes, did we meet on Saturday? Was fortunate enough to meet a couple tenthers which was great!

-mike

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I like the Star Spangled Banner to be sang like that, I like God Save the Queen to be not.

Absolutely. So we can smirk at the Americans for allowing their anthem to be murdered on a regular basis. And could have done without the over-the-top 2 hour build up. Another decent race would have been far preferable.

Silverstone fans are definitely hardcore. There was me, 5 layers on the top, 3 at the bottom watching people walk past in shorts. And apparently paying £40 for the privilege? Don't feel as if my petrol costs (offset by free breakfast) were so bad compared with the price of a ticket.

[Artur]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Really enjoyed the WEC race (although disappointed with the aftermath). It made the (admittedly highlights) of the F1 race look sad and contrived.

I only watched the first few minutes of the WEC race(I was checking deggis' stream). Curiously, the chat(his broadcast was on youtube) there had a few people saying the WEC race was boring and that they would rewatch F1, instead, because that was great and bla bla bla

I didn't watch F1 at all, but I'm sure any WEC race is better than any current F1 race with it's fake DRS and cheese tires farces.

Just goes to show how WEC is, sadly, not for the crowd who needs constant "things" happening even if they don't really mean anything like artificial and easy position swapping and etc.