Gallery: Silverstone and Brands Hatch in the 1960s

A rare wet afternoon has given me a respite from the heat and humidity to do some more searching in my large and almost uncatalogued photo collection and I found these gems taken in the 60s at Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

They again set me reflecting on the sorry state of modern motor racing and how much we’ve lost . It’s not just the crass commercialism and the technology and the “whatever it takes ” attitude and the lack of access to the cars and drivers today.I t’s also the lack of variety in the cars and power units and the lack of races .Back then Formula One cars raced in non world championship races such as the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and of course the Tasman Series in Australia and New Zealand . There was a world championship for sports cars and even a European Hillclimb Championship in which works teams competed.Perhaps above all else it’s the loss of that real sense of enthusiasm . Those of us who followed motor racing during that era were really lucky, although we did not fully appreciate it at the time . And what a pity that we did not have digital photography back then. The shots would have at least stamped themselves with the date and time and I could have taken so many more!John Shingleton