When the WEC last went racing at Silverstone

Hamir Thapar takes a look back at the last time the WEC went racing at Silverstone

With the 24 Hours of Le Mans now behind us and two weeks to go before the next event in São Paulo, attention has turned to 2027, specifically the return of Silverstone to the World Endurance Championship calendar.

Britain’s most famous motorsport venue will play host to the third round of the 2027 after an absence of eight years. And while the most recent running of the event lasted four hours instead of the usual six, it was nevertheless a gripping instalment of that year’s world championship.

The 2019 4 Hours of Silverstone marked the beginning of the 2019-20 season. With the absence of Porsche and Audi from LMP1, Toyota dominated the previous campaign with seven wins out of a possible eight, including that long-awaited maiden Le Mans triumph.

Even so, the reigning world champions arrived at Silverstone the following year with a point to prove, as it was the only blot on their 2018 copybook. Excessive plank wear led to the post-race disqualification of both Toyotas and handed Rebellion Racing a one-two.

Toyota was keen to put that right and duly locked out the front row in qualifying. At the start, the two Toyotas got away cleanly with the No.7 car leading the way. Around 90 minutes in, the rain began to fall.

Both cars attempted to brave the conditions on slicks but were eventually forced to pit as they were losing up to 15 seconds a lap to the No.3 Rebellion Racing car in third.

Despite the lengthy stop, the team retained its one-two, and the No.7 car being driven by Kamui Kobayashi began hustling Brendon Hartley in the sister No.8 car, which had also been struggling with a malfunctioning windscreen wiper.

The No.7 car took the lead around the halfway mark as the pair continued to jostle for position.

With less than two hours to go, the track began to dry. A well-timed stop for the No.3 Rebellion allowed it to briefly take the lead; however, there was nothing Pipo Derani could do to keep the Toyotas at bay, both of which were past with an hour and 34 minutes remaining.

The pair ran largely untroubled from that point on, and it was the No.7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez that took the win just 1.9 seconds ahead of the No.8 car. Toyota had avenged its 2018 loss in some style.

The No.3 Rebellion’s valiant effort was rewarded with a podium. The No.42 Cool Racing Oreca of Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga took the spoils in LMP2, while the Porsche GT Team secured a one-two in LMGT Pro.

AF Corse had a mixed afternoon as the No.71 GTE Pro car collided with the No.6 LNT Ginetta at half distance.

The incident forced the Ferrari out of the race while the Ginetta eventually limped home 28th, 17 laps down. However, the No.83 GTE Am car of Emmanuelle Collard, Nicklas Nielsen and Francois Perrodo managed a class win, narrowly outpacing the No.98 Aston Martin.

For 2027, the event will once again take place over six hours, and while it remains to be seen whether or not the race will generate sufficient interest, what is certain is Silverstone’s propensity for enticing competition and unpredictable weather. Two factors that were on full display in 2019.