The AMOC were at the Silverstone Festival for 3 days (23rd-25th August 2024).
On Friday, there was a display of 45 Aston Martins in front of the Club marquee. On Saturday, there were 60, which was amazing considering the weather was awful. On Sunday there were 60 Aston Martins.
John Lynch had arranged a display of DB7's for each day, to celebrate their 30th anniversary.
This year the Club marquee was bigger and better than before, with hot drinks and pastries/cakes a welcome sight as we walked through the door. The marquee was a hive of activity on all 3 days, with Members bringing their picnics in so they could socialise with other Members. On Sunday, a glass of Pommery Champagne was available for Members to enjoy. The Club Shop was well laid out and busy.
On track, Aston Martins featured in 3 races:
Masters GT Trophy: Peter Montague and Stuart Hall competed in a Vantage GT4. Qualifying in 28th and finishing in 33rd, 4th in their Class. In the same race, Martin Addison had a better race, in his GT4, qualifying in 38th but finishing in 17th, 2nd in his Class.
The RAC Historic Tourist Trophy had just one Aston Martin, that of George Miller, sharing his DB4with Les Goble. They qualified 27th but failed to finish 6 minutes from the end of the 50 minute race, with a head gasket failure.
The BRDC 500 for MRL Pre-War Sports Cars had 6 Aston Martins competing. In Class PW4, Alan Middleton and Nigel Armstrong, in the Red Dragon Speed Model, finished 8th. Rob Blakemore and Simon Boreham (Speed Model) came 12th. David and Thomas Ozanne were 29th. Edward Bradley was in Class PW3, coming 17th, 3rd in Class, in his Ulster. In Class PW1, Jonathan Lupton and Darren Turner came 27th, 4th in Class, in the Team Car. Marian Stoch and Bartosz Balicki came 31st in the AM International.
The Ozanne Speed Model alongside another pre-war car.
Off track - The Wheeler Dealers Mike Brewer and Mark 'Elvis' Priestley had an interview with Club Member Roy, talking about his DB2/4 Mk III that he has restored.
It was good to see Member M Bishop, who was over from New Zealand. While he was in the Club marquee, a non Member, also from New Zealand came in, what perfect timing to be able to introduce them.
Our thanks to our HQ team of Kerry, Lisa, Linda and Michelle, who left HQ at noon on Thursday to set up, then spent from 7.30am - 6pm assisting Members, before packing everything up and getting back to HQ at 9pm on Sunday evening.
Club volunteers are a huge assistance to the HQ team. This year we had Barry France and Charlie Hunniford help guide cars into the display area, Chris Wyatt and John Banbury helping in the shop, Jill Bland and Alastair Lawson filling the champagne glasses, along withTerry Bird and Anne Reed covering tea and coffee. Volunteering gives a great opportunity to chat to Members and adds an interesting extra element to an event, do consider giving it a go.
Report by Anne Reed
Photos by John Lynch (DB7 display) and Anne Reed. Track photos by Nick Edwards.