Racing, music, no mud - the perfect event? © Jakob Ebrey Photography

It’s generally a sign of a good weekend when Monday morning arrives and you find yourself struggling to summon up the energy to get out of bed. The daunting prospect of having to trundle your way through the foothills of averageness once again, counting down the days until the next exciting occasion comes along and lifts you out of humdrum.

A similar thought process went through my mind earlier on this week, after spending a thoroughly enjoyable weekend at this year’s Silverstone Classic event. Three days gorging on an impressive roster of great marques and machinery from yesteryear, all racing around the Home of British Motor Racing.

This year’s Classic featured 800 legendary cars spanning seven decades of motor racing heritage and provided some evocative entertainment for the large crowds who were in attendance (up 10% to 73,000 this year). The highlight of the weekend being the three classic F1 races which commemorated the 60th anniversary of the first World Championship Grand Prix held at Silverstone in 1950.

The special birthday celebrations pitted more than 120 of the world’s most iconic and famous F1 cars into real racing action. None of this timid, touchy-feely, racing you will see at other historic events. Proper racing. Cars being driven in anger and not out of fear of possibly incurring a hefty repair bill.

Each of the grids showcased the development of the sport, with 75-year-old Alfa Romeos and ERAs navigating their way around Copse at full opposite lock, rear engined BRMs and Lotuses going wheel to wheel in the pre-1966 event, and fans of latter day Formula 1 drooling upon sight of iconic cars like the Williams FW07 and Lotus 87, all fighting for glory.

This year’s event also marked the comeback of Sir Stirling Moss – just 20 weeks after falling three storeys down a lift shaft – who drove his OSCA sports car in Saturday’s RAC Woodcote Trophy race, which featured a myriad of rare and valuable vehicles worth almost £70m. Unfortunately Moss was forced to pull up with ten minutes to go due to a stuck gear, leaving musician Chris Rea to take the class win instead.

Groundshaking start to the WSCM race. ©Jakob Ebrey Photography

Equally unforgettable was Sunday’s World Sports Car Masters (Le Mans car) race. The likes of Red Bull Racing’s design guru Adrian Newey and Le Mans racer Chris Buncombe taking on the hordes of rumbling Lola T70s in their Ford GT40s was fantastic to watch. Hurtling down the Hangar Straight at a blistering pace, weaving in and out for position. A sensational spectacle, matched by a stellar drive by Steve Tandy who took the outright win.

Other track highlights over the three days included the evening race for the Italian Historic Car Cup, touring car action courtesy of the Masters Mini series, the U2TC series and the HSCC ‘Big Beasts’ – featuring American V8 racers alongside big-engined Jaguar and Mercedes saloons - all were a nostalgic treat.

Which sums up this year’s Silverstone Classic rather nicely. It is quite possibly the biggest UK club-race meeting of the year. Where else can you see such a collection of mouthwatering cars, all driven to the limit? Where else can you see acres of working paddocks and over 5,000 classic car owners on their social outing of the season?

As historic events go, Silverstone Classic is easily one of the best that I have attended and should find pride of place on every racing enthusiast’s calendar. Stepping foot through the circuit's gates each day was like walking through a time portal. But unlike, say, Gary Sparrow in 90s sitcom 'Goodnight Sweetheart', I got my kicks from being able to get up close to the cars that have made the headlines in years gone by, rather than frolicking with some lady from fifty years ago.

A provisional date of 22nd to 24th July has been set aside for next year’s Silverstone Classic, so make a note in your diaries, or whatever fangled electronic devices some of you modern folk use these days.

With a running time close to 60 minutes, Rally Champions of the 80s features plenty of archive footage from famous events like the RAC, Monte-Carlo and 1000 Lakes rallies, and charts the road to victory of the seven men who would reign supreme in the 1980s – showcasing their impressive skills, rivalries and fierce competition which made this possibly the greatest decade of the WRC.

Each title battle is covered in great detail, with plenty of footage from the special stages of the world showing rallying greats such as Walter Rohrl, Stig Blomqvist, Timo Salonen and Juha Kankkunen at their best. Rally Champions of the 80s does an impressive job of displaying how these legends overcame the odds to claim championship glory.

In this golden era of rallying, it wasn’t just the drivers who were the stars, and Rally Champions of the 80s shows you why. The archive footage features numerous iconic vehicles, including the Audi Quattro, Toyota Celica and the rather delicious Lancia Delta, plus Group B monsters like the Peugeot 205 T16 and Ford RS200, all popping and banging out of your TV speakers.

Whilst Rally Champions of the 80s is a feast for the eyes, the narration does leave a lot to be desired. Voiced by Richard Nichols, it is a times a relentless, monotone, bombardment of facts and statistics that make one of the most exciting periods of rallying sound rather dull.

Apart from that, and the lack of any additional features, Rally Champions of the 80s does a decent job of conveying what was a decade of massive change, monster machines, spectator madness, tragedy and some of the closest WRC battles ever seen. A must for rally fans.

Rating: ★★★★

Rally Champions of the 1980s is out now, priced £12.99 and is available from leading video outlets or direct from Duke Video: visit www.dukevideo.com online.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCya0MmyXpU

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Amazingly, not a single person was admitted to Brands Hatch’s medical centre following the accident. The only casualties were a rickety old fence and a trio of fold-out chairs which were quickly evacuated as Francisco Carvalho’s vehicle cartwheeled towards onlookers.

Thankfully the crowds at the Kent circuit had begun to thin out following the last WTCC race of the weekend, potentially averting a possible catastrophe. So what happens next?

Well anyone who has been to Brands Hatch recently will note that along the Cooper Straight they have erected some rather large, photographer unfriendly, catch fencing. Gone have the unrestricted views, with only Armco and wire fencing fending you away from straying onto the circuit.

These safety improvements don’t appear to have found their way along the Grand Prix section of the circuit yet, an area which typically doesn’t attract too many spectators given that it’s out in the relative wilderness. Remember also that this was the scene of Henry Surtees’ fatal accident (a year ago today in fact), with the wheel that caused the killer blow finding its way into a spectator area in this portion of the circuit.

It would be a great shame if a rare occurrence like the one we saw yesterday resulted in Brands Hatch being surrounded by high fencing, from what was really nothing more than a couple of dodgem drivers coming together.

It was an awful accident, but catch fencing in this instance probably would have made no difference what so ever, as the speed and momentum of the car as it travelled through the air would have carried it up and over any fencing anyway. It may have even worsened the situation, trapping the fleeing marshals.

If you watch the footage again, it appears that the posts supporting the Armco barriers may have caused a temporary ramp to appear, vaulting the car into the air – how else would the vehicle have become airborne from hitting a vertical barrier? Hopefully if track operators Motorsport Vision do conduct an investigation, they’ll look into better barrier maintenance and not install debris fencing as a consequence.

The beauty of the GP section at Brands Hatch is the lack of catch fencing as nearly all of the viewing areas are on the inside of the circuit. I sincerely hope there isn’t a knee jerk reaction to yesterday’s incident. I don’t need to be surrounded by cotton wool and be forced to stand a hundred yards away from the track, thanks very much.

We all know motor racing is dangerous, it says so on the ticket. So fingers-crossed that sense will prevail and they leave Brands Hatch alone.

Here was a man who clearly never wanted to retire and still had the racing-itch, desperately seeking an outlet to relieve the pain. That initially came in the form of motorcycling racing, which was met with limited success.

The seven-time F1 world champion was set to make a sensational return last year following Felipe Massa’s accident. That was until a nagging neck injury curtailed any chance of once again driving for the Prancing Horse.

But the seed was firmly planted, and with his dodgy neck given time to heal, it was fairly predictable that the 41-year-old would be courted by someone. Who better than the Ross Brawn led Mercedes GP outfit, the same Ross Brawn who masterminded Schumacher’s seven world titles?

Just as predictable perhaps was Kimi Raikkonen’s decision to ditch circuit racing altogether and head across to the WRC with the Red Bull-backed Citroen Junior Team.

With Fernando Alonso poised to jump in his grave, Raikkonen quickly discovered that there was no room at the inn that is F1, especially with what appeared to be a vastly over inflated view of his worth.

The Finn didn’t seem that particularly enthusiastic about F1 in the latter stages anyway, and dabbling in a few rally stages in a Fiat Punto mid-season helped decide how he wanted his immediate racing career to pan out.

Both Schumacher and Raikkonen have more than just an unsurprising change of job role in common. Neither has really lived up to the high expectations placed upon them at the start of the year.

If you believed the hordes of followers these two command, then by now Schumacher should have won every single race and Raikkonen should be giving Sebastien Loeb a run for his money. Stop sniggering.

Which begs the question: who is more likely to win first?

Kimi Raikkonen

There were mutterings just last weekend that the Finn would be making his return to grand prix racing with Renault, financed by MasterCard’s many millions upon the credit card giant becoming title sponsor for the Enstone-based team.

Well Vitaly Petrov can breathe a sigh of relief, because according to this week’s Autosport magazine, Raikkonen looks set to re-sign with Citroen for another year. Rumour has it that Raikkonen is keen to develop a long-term relationship with Red Bull, with the possibility of jumping behind the wheel of Red Bull Racing’s RB8 in 2012.

I can’t see this happening, especially if Dr Helmut Marko has anything to say about the team’s line up in a couple of years time. Red Bull’s racing adviser has made no qualms in suggesting that Sebastien Beumi, a product of the Red Bull junior team, could find himself in the Red Bull ‘A-Team’ sooner rather than later.

So instead, I foresee Raikkonen’s long-term future in the WRC, becoming more involved, and with everything falling into place, realising his ambition with a win in rallying’s greatest contest.

His form this year has been so-so, but then, that’s to be expected as he takes his first few steps. He’s only participated in 10 rallies in his career to date, and only seven of those have been in a World Rally Car. His best result so far has been in the Rally of Turkey where he gave a solid performance to finish fifth overall.

His outright driving ability and speed is apparent and in the recent Rally Bulgaria he was running as high as fourth - that was until he crashed out in spectacular fashion.

So this year is one of learning for the 2007 F1 world champion. Yet there could well be a good chance for him to succeed next year when the WRC will experience a major shakeup, with the introduction of the new 1.6-turbo cars levelling the playing field.

Will he win as soon as next year? It’s difficult to say. Unless the usual frontrunners have an off-day, it’s unlikely. But, if Raikkonen does stay on for a third year then who knows? Surely Loeb can’t continue to muster up enthusiasm for a sport he wins merely by showing up?

Michael Schumacher

Herr Schumacher’s F1 comeback has yet to deliver the results most people were hoping for this season.

His readjustment to F1 appears to be taking longer than his loyal fans envisaged, and while there are fits and starts here and there, the German racer still appears to be a bit rusty after three years out of the sport.

Going against pre-season predictions, team-mate Nico Rosberg continues to look good against Schuey. Visiting the podium on three occasions already this season and netting 90 of the 109 points the Mercedes GP team have mustered up to this point in time.

Realistically, the expectations placed upon Schumacher were gigantic. Yes he is a world champion, but he now races in possibly one of the most competitive eras ever seen in F1,pitching himself up against drivers who are twenty years younger than him. No doubt he is a top ten driver, but that’s still some way off reaching the top spot of the podium.

With a contract lasting until the end of 2012, Schumacher still has time on his hands to achieve his first win since making his return. Will it happen this year? Not on your Nelly. Even he suggests it would be “very, very lucky” for him to win a grand prix with Mercedes before 2011.

Confusion also reigns about the car’s true potential. Just how is it possible that Rosberg, a driver who used to be fractionally quicker than Kazuki Nakijima, is suddenly much quicker than Schumacher? You have to wonder what a more ‘experienced’ driver might be able to do with it.

And therein lies the problem. We don’t know what level Schumacher’s operating at, and so, Mercedes GP cannot be certain that the maximum is being extracted from the machinery.

Until that little conundrum becomes clearer, it doesn’t look like either Schumacher or Rosberg will be winning a grand prix anytime soon. At least, not this year.

So who then?

So this is the bit where I put my neck on the line and suggest who I think will secure their first win since changing their trade.

No doubt Schumacher faces the most difficult prospect of them both. Driving against racers half his age, who don’t know what it’s like to fear Grandpa Schuey, in a car that’s yet to reach its potential (much like the man himself) means he’ll most certainly always be on the back foot.

But who knows? Maybe the team will stumble upon a sweet spot in the car (eventually) and we’ll see what Schumacher can actually do. No excuses.

Therefore, out of the two, it has to be Raikkonen who looks most likely to win something. He’s in a decent enough car as it is at the moment and should hopefully benefit from the regulation shakeup and experience next year.

Who knows, perhaps Raikkonen might even win a grand prix before Schumacher kicks in the bucket again for a second time. Stranger things have happened...

This year’s Silverstone Classic (23-25 July) looks like being the best one yet, and includes a line-up spanning seven decades of motor racing heritage. The highlight has to be the three classic F1 races which will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first World Championship Grand Prix held at Silverstone in 1950.

Silverstone Classic's special birthday celebrations will pit more than 120 of the world's most iconic and famous F1 cars into real racing action. Each of the grids will showcase the development of the sport, with early Alfa Romeos and Maseratis participating in the HGPCA pre-61 race, and then rear engined Coopers, BRMs and Lotuses in a pre-66 event. The trip down memory lane concludes with latter day cars, such as Aryton Senna's Toleman Hart, Michael Schumacher's Benetton and Damon Hill's championship winning Williams Renault all racing for glory.

Other track highlights include an evening race for the Italian Historic Car Cup and touring car action courtesy of the Masters Mini series, the U2TC series and the HSCC ‘Big Beasts’ – featuring American V8 racers alongside big-engined Jaguar and Mercedes saloons.

While I could quite happily sit here, merrily typing away about all the various activities planned for the three-day event, I'll let you head on over to the Silverstone Classic website instead and see just what's in store. Combining classic cars, historic racing, and live music (plus a funfair!) - it certainly looks like being a memorable weekend.

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