The Silverstone Classic beat an impressive line-up of international events to scoop the prestigious ‘Motorsport Event of the Year’ at the third International Historic Motoring Awards.
Held at London’s St Pancras Rennaisance Hotel, the IMHA saw nominees travel from as far as Kuwait and the USA to see if they would had been chosen by the panel of judges as winners. The judges panel featured racing drivers Derek Bell and Jochen Mass, car designer Peter Stevens, Volkswagen Groups’ Dr Franz Josef Paefgen and historic racer, car collector and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
The coveted Motorsport of the Year trophy featured nominations from around the world, including Australia, California and Europe. The judges decided that the Silverstone Classic was worthy of the award, stating that ‘the Silverstone Classic this year really came of age and established itself in the top echelon of international historic motor sport events’.
“It’s a great honour for us to receive this illustrious award,” said Silverstone Classic event manager, Luke Wigley, who was on hand to collect the award. “We are all immensely proud of what the Silverstone Classic now has to offer both on and off the track. Last summer more than 90,000 visitors witnessed 23 fabulous races featuring more than 1100 of the world’s finest racing cars from past generations and were also treated to some stunning shows of classic road cars notably, of course, when in excess of 1200 Porsche 911s cavalcaded around the circuit to mark 50 years of what’s probably the most iconic of all sportscars. Winning this award is both recognition of what’s been achieved and an inspiration for even greater festivals ahead.”
The awards evening also presented a special Lifetime Achievement Award to Murray Walker OBE for his 60 years as the voice of motorsport.
