This past weekend saw the return of ELMS to Silverstone, with 16 British drivers and seven British teams on the entry list, with the British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC) as the appointed organising club during the Silverstone championship round.

Luke Souch (BRSCC Head of Sporting & Operations) comments, “This past weekend marked the successful return of the European Le Mans Series to Silverstone, the first time since 2019, and what a weekend it was.

“On behalf of the BRSCC, it was a privilege to serve as the appointed organising club for the event, working alongside Silverstone and LMEM to deliver such a significant fixture on the international endurance calendar.

“A sincere thank you goes to the incredible team of volunteers and officials who gave their time, expertise and energy across the event. These events simply wouldn’t happen without your commitment.”

Behind the scenes…

During the weekend, Motorsport UK went behind the scenes with JMW Motorsport, boasting over 15 years of experience and winners 2017 24 Hours of Lemans GTE Am Championship. The team has a relationship with Ferrari and fields the newest Ferrari 296 GT3.

This past weekend saw Scott Noble as bronze driver, Jason Hart as Silver driver, Gianmaria Bruni as Platinum driver, as the team battled biblical downpours for a tough weekend of racing, which saw them place 33^rd in a packed grid.

Tim Sugden, Team Manager and racing driver with over 25 years experience in GT, Touring Cars and endurance racing, shared his thoughts on the weekend…

How does it feel for JMW Motorsport to be back competing on home soil?

“It feels really good, we used to come here every year all through my racing career, there was always a race at Silverstone and it’s the centre of everything we do here in the UK, but bizarrely we didn’t come here… so, it’s so nice to come back to Silverstone, it feels like home with the BRDC being here and it’s great to be able to have a home race so that team members can bring their family.”

You have an extensive career in GT and have competed in multiple Le Mans, how does it feel now that the shoe is on the other foot and you are team manager?

“It’s not as exciting as driving! I think when you are a driver you think it’s such hard work and you complain all the time, but as soon as you stop being a driver you realise it’s by far the easiest gig in the paddock, by far, and certainly the most exciting. I still enjoy it, you still get the same feeling and the same enjoyment, it’s just not quite as exciting.”

The car is prepped, conditions look mixed, what are your hopes for the weekend?

“As you know the level of this championship is that all the cars are well prepared, all the teams are well prepared, everybody is professional, it’s always really close. Scott is our bronze, he does a great job but he’s only been racing four years so there are so many things that are new for him, but I think the fact that they have brought the race forward is good because I think we will avoid the rain, but we’ve been quick and so far this year, up until qualifying, it’s been our best showing of the year.”

What advice do you have for anyone looking to get started in endurance racing?

“In the end it’s no different, I think the big misconception from drivers is that if they’ve come from sprint racing ten or 15 laps, they think that this is 95 percent for an hour and it’s not. It’s hard to get your head round how you push like that for an hour in the car, two hours in the car, three hours in the car…the days have long gone when you take it easy. I think always the biggest thing is just to be part of it, for a young driver they need to come here…. Drivers need to try harder, meet people, and put a face to a name.”