The annual race meeting of the Bentley Driver’s Club (BDC) was held at Silverstone last weekend with a fine turnout of many marques in addition to the eponymous Bentleys you would expect to find.
On the race card were also “one make” competitions for Aston Martin and Morgan.
The final race was the most eclectic described as open to “Bentleys and Allcomers”. And come they did. For me at least seeing for the first time a race that included a Lola T70 and Ford Anglia was a source of joy.
Following the old adage that “to finish first, first you must finish” the latter was classified ahead of the beautiful ex Graham Hill car.
I can remember this T70 racing back in the 60’s and fell in love with its gorgeous curves. To me it was the epitome of of what a great car should be – great flowing styling, plenty of grunt and noise from a big American V8 and, to my mind, the logical successor to the AC Cobra.
Those elements are also featured in Tony Bianchi’s gorgeous looking (and sounding) Farrallac, another, though much, much rarer “Alllcomer”.
Naturally there were also plenty of Bentley racers on the track ranging from the traditional to Pre War cars through various types and styles of “specials” usually from the post war era, to a trio of 21st Century Continental GTs.
The first race for prewar Bentley’s involved a mandatory pit stop and a driver change for many. Always good to watch as they are not the easiest of cars to enter and exit. The preferred method seems to be to enter from the passenger side to avoid the risk of putting a leg through the steering wheel spokes.
Bentley owners also have the opportunity to drive their road cars round the circuit during the lunch interval.
Naturally the paddock is awash with beautiful old Bentleys some of which have been restored to an incredibly high standard.
Silverstone is increasingly becoming a multi tracked venue so in addition to the BDC meeting there were also events for go karts and open wheeled racers that could be seen just yards from the national circuit.
