Last summer’s announcement that the Silverstone Classic behemoth would take the August Bank Holiday weekend – long occupied by the Oulton Park Gold Cup event, also administrated by the Historic Sports Car Club – in 2022 stirred a hornets’ nest. In reality, the fixture swap that ensued, with circuit group owner MotorSport Vision “curating” the Gold Cup race programme, appeared to be on the right track.
Disappointingly, however, spectator attendance at the new-look Gold Cup event at the end of last month appeared to be down. Mixed weather in the north-west would have deterred ‘floating voters’ who decide on the day, but the date shift to the start of the UK’s school summer break – when COVID-19 and subsequent travel restrictions meant families had not had holidays for two years – and current sky-high fuel and domestic energy costs inevitably contributed. All are beyond organisers’ control.
