Silverstone; more than a circuit.

On the 26th of August, the FIA World Endurance Championship will visit the UK for the 6 Hours of Silverstone, the fourth round of the 2012 season. The circuit, which is familiar to all lovers of motor sport, is named after the nearby small town of about 2,000 inhabitants, that dates back to the time of William the Conqueror, having been recorded in Domesday Book.

The circuit does not date back quite that far, but it was the scene of the first ever F1 Grand Prix, held in 1948. The track was easy to learn, as it was just long straights connected by hairpins, but not surprising as the circuit used the perimeter road of a World War II RAF bomber base. Does it reminds you of somewhere else? Sebring perhaps, which hosted the first round of the championship last March, also on a former military air base.

The Silverstone circuit which straddles the border between Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, and has has become the epicentre of what has become known as "Motorsport Valley", with (for example) Red Bull Racing at Milton Keynes, Mercedes F1 at Brackley and Prodrive at Banbury, names that are not unknown to racing fans. This has somewhat replaced the traditional shoemaking industry of the Northampton area, home to the famous Church's shoe makers, while in the Middle Ages, the county was known for woodwork.

The Northants area is quite wooded and is nicknamed the 'Rose of the Shires'. Proud of its aristocratic traditions, the county is home to, among others, the Spencer family, maiden name of Lady Diana. Buckinghamshire is no less important and although the south has become a London commuter belt, the rest of the county is given over to farming, much of the land having belonged to the Rothschild family.

The circuit is owned by the BRDC (British Racing Drivers' Club), whose President, elected in 2011, is the former driver Derek Warwick. A very special club, but that's another story ...

Dave Davies.