title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)

text: Principal photography for the first season took place in 2021 in Wilmington, North Carolina, locations included Carolina Beach, Fort Fisher, and Wave Transit's Padgett Station on N. 3rd Street. Filming of the second season began in July 2022 and concluded in November 2022.


title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 22 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, ""The Summer I Turned Pretty" doesn't need more time to become a swan, coming out of the gate a solidly charming and sweet rom-com with appeal across generations." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)

text: Angie Han of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "As a coming-of-age story, Amazon’s "The Summer I Turned Pretty" is a cut above. Tenderly written and endearingly acted, it’s sensitive to the subtle but irreversible shifts in self-perception that come with late adolescence — and at the same time clear-eyed enough to understand that teenagers, up to and including its own blushing heroine, sure can act like clueless jerks while they’re figuring out how to wield their newfound powers." Delia Cai of "Vanity Fair" also gave a positive review, commenting that "the specificity of Laurel’s fantasy summer is ultimately what rescues "The Summer I Turned Pretty" from being too sticky sweet."


title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)

text: Writing for "The Playlist", Marya E. Gates wrote, "Although the voiceover in which [Belly] shares [her] feelings is unevenly deployed, it’s refreshing to see a story that puts the girl in the driver’s seat and gives her the room to work through the contradictions of adolescence and sexual coming-of-age on her own terms." Joyce Slaton of Common Sense Media said the series is "as sweet, light, and refreshing as a soda on ice by the swimming pool...[and] tackles the confusion and loveliness of an awkward coming-of-age."


title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)

text: Abby Cavenaugh of "Collider" noted "though at some points, the love triangle — or quadrangle, with Cam included — can feel a bit forced, overall this story works on many levels. You grow to really care about these characters and want to see them happy," adding "Belly is the star of the show, and Tung sells every moment of it with her luminous performance."


title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series)

text: Following the series' debut, all three "The Summer I Turned Pretty" books skyrocketed into the top three spots on Amazon Best Sellers list, with the second book, "It's Not Summer Without You", at number one. The artists whose music is used in the show have also seen an increase in streams, sales and followers, with some experiencing up to a 6,000% increase in song sales. Taylor Swift's seventh studio album, "Lover", resurged in sales and streaming, and re-entered the top 40 region of the "Billboard" 200 chart as well, after three of its songs—"Cruel Summer", "Lover" and "False God"—were featured in the series. The series also had a massive social media reach, with the hashtag #TheSummerITurnedPretty accumulating over 1.3 billion views on TikTok. It generated over 107,000 global posts over launch weekend and 725 million potential impressions across platforms, according to social analytics agency DMS.


title: Jenga

text: Jenga is a game of physical skill created by British board game designer and author Leslie Scott and marketed by Hasbro. Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on top of the tower, creating a progressively more unstable structure.


title: Jenga

text: Jenga is played with 54 wooden blocks. Each block is three times as long as it is wide, and one fifth as thick as its length – . Blocks have small, random variations from these dimensions so as to create imperfections in the stacking process and make the game more challenging. To begin the game, the blocks are stacked into a solid rectangular tower of 18 layers, with three blocks per layer. The blocks within each layer are oriented in the same direction, with their long sides touching, and are perpendicular to the ones in the layer immediately below. A plastic tray provided with the game can be used to assist in setup.


title: Jenga

text: Starting with the one who built the tower, players take turns removing one block from any level below the highest completed one and placing it horizontally atop the tower, perpendicular to any blocks on which it is to rest. Each player may use only one hand to touch the tower or move a block at any given time, but may switch hands whenever desired. Once a level contains three blocks, it is complete and may not have any more blocks added to it. A block may be touched or nudged to determine whether it is loose enough to remove without disturbing the rest of the tower, but it must be returned to its original position if the player decides to move a different one. A turn ends when the next player in sequence touches the tower or when 10 seconds have elapsed since the placement of a block, whichever occurs first.


title: Jenga

text: The game ends when any portion of the tower collapses, caused by either the removal of a block or its new placement. The last player to complete a turn before the collapse is the winner.


title: Jenga

text: Jenga was created by Leslie Scott, the co-founder of Oxford Games Ltd, based on a game that evolved within her family in the early 1970s using children's wooden building blocks the family purchased from a sawmill in Takoradi, Ghana. The name "jenga" is derived from "kujenga", a Swahili word which means 'to build'. A British national, Scott was born in Tanganyika, now Tanzania, where she was raised speaking English and Swahili, before moving to live in Ghana, West Africa. Scott launched the game she named and trademarked as "Jenga" at the London Toy Fair in January 1983 and sold it through her own company, Leslie Scott Associates. The blocks of the first sets of Jenga were manufactured for Scott by the Camphill Village Trust in Botton, Yorkshire. The V&A Museum of Childhood has exhibited one of the original sets of Jenga since 1982.


title: Jenga

text: In 1984, Robert Grebler, an entrepreneur from California who was the brother of a close friend of Scott, contacted her and expressed interest in importing and distributing Jenga in Canada. In April 1985, Grebler acquired from Scott the exclusive rights to Jenga for the United States and Canada, and then in October of that year, Scott assigned the worldwide rights in Jenga to Grebler, which he in turn assigned to Pokonobe Associates. Convinced of Jenga's potential, Grebler had invited two cousins to form Pokonobe Associates with him in 1985 to increase distribution of Jenga. Pokonobe then licensed Irwin Toy to sell Jenga in Canada and to be master licensee worldwide. Irwin Toy licensed Jenga to Schaper in the United States and when that company was bought by Hasbro, Jenga was launched under the Milton Bradley banner in 1987. Eventually, Hasbro became licensee in most countries around the world.


title: Jenga

text: By 2019, according to Pokonobe Associates, owners of the Jenga brand, over 80 million Jenga games, equivalent to more than 4.3 billion Jenga blocks, had been sold worldwide.


title: Jenga

text: The packaging copy of one edition of the Jenga game claims that Robert Grebler may have built the tallest Jenga tower ever at 40 levels. Grebler built the tower in 1985 while playing with an original Jenga set produced by Leslie Scott in the early 1980s.


title: Jenga

text: Throw 'n Go Jenga is a variant originally marketed by Hasbro. It consists of blocks that are in various colors plus a six-sided die. It is marketed by Art's Ideas.


title: Jenga

text: Jenga Truth or Dare was a variation of Jenga also marketed by Hasbro. This version looked like regular Jenga except there were three colors of blocks instead of just the natural color of Jenga.


title: Jenga

text: Casino Jenga: Las Vegas Edition employed roulette-style game play, featuring a felt game board, betting chips, and additional rules.


title: Jenga

text: In addition, there have been a number of collector edition Jenga games, featuring the colors and logos of the Boston Red Sox, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Yankees, and John Deere, among others. "Hello Kitty" Jenga, "Transformers" Jenga, "Tarzan" Jenga, Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" Jenga, "Donkey Kong" Jenga, "Bob's Burgers" Jenga, National Parks Jenga, Jenga Ocean, "The Walking Dead" Jenga, "Super Mario" Jenga, "Fortnite" Jenga, "Godzilla" Jenga, "Rick and Morty" Jenga, and "Harry Potter" Jenga are some of the licensed variations of Jenga.


title: Jenga

text: Jenga XXL and Jenga Giant are licensed giant Jenga games manufactured and distributed by Art's Ideas. There are Jenga Giant variations which can reach or higher in play, with very similar rules. Jenga XXL starts at over high and can reach or higher in play. Rules are the same as in classic Jenga, except that players may use two hands to move the eighteen-inch-long blocks.


title: Jenga

text: Jenga Pass Challenge includes a handheld platform that the game is played on. Players remove a block while holding the platform, then pass the platform to the next player. This variant includes only half the number of blocks (27), which means the tower starts at nine levels high instead of eighteen.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 to 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at the 2004 Paris Motor Show. The F430 was succeeded by the 458 which was unveiled on 28 July 2009.


title: Ferrari F430

text: Designed by Pininfarina in collaboration with Frank Stephenson (Director of Ferrari-Maserati Concept Design and Development), the body styling of the F430 was revised from its predecessor, the 360, to improve its aerodynamic efficiency. Although the drag coefficient remained the same, the downforce was greatly enhanced. Despite sharing the same basic Alcoa Aluminium chassis, roofline, doors, and glass, the car looked significantly different from the 360. A great extent of Ferrari heritage was included in the exterior design. At the rear, the Enzo's tail lights and engine cover vents were added. The car's name was etched on the Testarossa-styled driver's side mirror. The large oval openings in the front bumper are reminiscent of Ferrari racing models from the 60s, specifically the 156 "shark nose" Formula One car.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The F430 features a V8 engine of the "Ferrari-Maserati" F136 family. This new power plant was a significant change for Ferrari, as all previous Ferrari V8's were descendants of the Dino racing program of the 1950s. This fifty-year development cycle came to an end with the entirely new engine used in the F430, the architecture of which replaced the Dino-derived V12 in most other Ferrari cars. The engine's output specifications are: , at 8,500 rpm and of torque at 5,250 rpm, 80% of which is available below 3,500 rpm. Despite a 20% increase in displacement, engine weight grew by only along with a decrease in diameter for easier packaging. The connecting rods, pistons and crankshaft were all entirely new, while the 4-valve cylinder head, valves and intake trumpets were directly retained from Formula 1 engines, for ideal volumetric efficiency. The F430 has a top speed in excess of and can accelerate from 0 to in 3.6 seconds, 0.6 seconds quicker than the old model.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The brakes on the F430 were developed in close cooperation with Brembo and Bosch, resulting in a new cast-iron alloy for the discs. The new alloy includes molybdenum which has a better heat dissipation performance. The F430 was also available with the optional Carbon fibre-reinforced Silicon Carbide (C/SiC) ceramic composite brake package. Ferrari claimed the carbon ceramic brakes will not fade even after 300-360 laps at their test track.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The F430 featured the "E-Diff", a computer-controlled limited slip active differential which can vary the distribution of torque based on inputs such as steering angle and lateral acceleration.


title: Ferrari F430

text: Other notable features include the first application of Ferrari's manettino steering wheel-mounted control knob. Drivers can select from five different settings which modify the vehicle's ESC system, "Skyhook" electronic suspension, transmission behavior, throttle response, and E-Diff. The feature is similar to Land Rover's "Terrain Response" system.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The Ferrari F430 was available with exclusive Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 EMT tires, which have a V-shaped tread design, run-flat capability, and OneTRED technology.


title: Ferrari F430

text: In the US, the company requested an exemption from the airbag design requirements, which was eventually granted, allowing the car to continue to be sold in the US.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The F430 Spider is the convertible version of the F430. It was unveiled at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, making it Ferrari's 21st road-going convertible.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The conversion from a closed top to an open-air convertible is a two-stage folding-action; the roof panel automatically folds away inside a space above the engine bay. The interior and performance of the Spider are identical to that of the coupé with an increase in the weight and decrease in the top speed by .


title: Ferrari F430

text: Serving as the successor to the 360 Challenge Stradale, the 430 Scuderia ("scuderia" meaning "stable", but also used in the context of motor racing teams, including Ferrari's own) was unveiled by Michael Schumacher at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. Aimed to compete with cars like the Porsche 911 GT2 and the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera ("superleggera" meaning super light weight), it is lighter (by ) and more powerful ( at 8,500 rpm and of torque at 5,250 rpm) than the standard F430. Increased power comes from a revised intake, exhaust, and an ion-sensing knock-detection system that allows for a higher compression ratio in the engine. Thus the weight-to-power ratio is reduced from 2.96 kg/hp to 2.5 kg/hp.


title: Ferrari F430

text: In addition to the weight saving measures, the Scuderia's single-clutch automated manual gained improved "Superfast" software, known as "Superfast2", for faster 60 millisecond shift times. A new traction control system combined the F1-Trac traction from the 599 GTB and stability control with the E-Diff electronic differential. The Ferrari 430 Scuderia accelerates from 0- in 3.6 seconds, with a top speed of .


title: Ferrari F430

text: To commemorate Ferrari's 16th victory in the Formula 1 Constructor's World Championship in 2008, Ferrari unveiled the Scuderia Spider 16M at World Finals in Mugello. It is a convertible version of the 430 Scuderia.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The engine is rated at at 8,500 rpm and of torque at 5,250 rpm. The car has a dry weight of ( lighter than the F430 Spider) and a kerb weight of . The chassis was stiffened to cope with the extra performance available and the car featured many carbon fibre parts and weight saving measures as standard such as lightened front and rear bumpers. Unique 5-spoke forged wheels were specifically produced for the 16M and helped to considerably reduce unsprung weight with larger front brakes and calipers added for extra stopping power (also featured on 430 Scuderia). It accelerates from 0- in 3.7 seconds, with a top speed of .<ref name="italiaspeed.com/2008/cars"></ref>


title: Ferrari F430

text: A version of the F430 Spider that runs on ethanol, called the F430 Spider Bio Fuel, was on display at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. It had the same 4.3 litre V8 engine as the standard car, producing , with a 4% increase in torque and with 5% less carbon dioxide emissions than the standard F430 Spider.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The F430-based Ferrari SP1 (Special Project Number 1), was the first one-off special produced by the Ferrari Portfolio Coachbuilding Programme, also known as the Special Projects Programme (SP). The body was designed by former Pininfarina designer Leonardo Fioravanti, at the behest of Junichiro Hiramatsu, a Japanese businessman who was the former president of the Ferrari Club of Japan and an avid collector; he had admired Fioravanti's 1998 F100 prototype.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The F430 Challenge is the track version of the F430, designed for the Ferrari Challenge. The engine remained untouched but the vehicle's weight was reduced, resulting in a top speed of . The production model was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January 2005.


title: Ferrari F430

text: Built since 2006 by "Ferrari Corse Clienti" department in collaboration with Michelotto Automobili, the F430 GTC is a racing car designed to compete in international GT2 class competition, such as in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and FIA GT Championship. F430 GTCs also compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The GTC was the fastest and most developed racing version of the F430.


title: Ferrari F430

text: In FIA GT2 championship, in order to render the car performances more uniform, the cars are forced to run with a specific minimum weight and with an engine restrictor that depends on the engine displacement. Hence Ferrari destroked the 4.3 L V8 engine to 4.0 L in order to compete in the 3.8–4.0 L class in GT2 class racing, which is allowed to race with a minimum weight of . In this race configuration, the engine produces somewhat less power () and by using the 4.0 L engine, the minimum weight of the F430 would increase by . but this is compensated by the reduced weight of the car, which yields a better power-to-weight ratio.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The F430 GTCs won their class championships in the ALMS and FIA GT, as well as scoring class wins at the 2007, 2009 and 2010 12 Hours of Sebring, at the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans and at the 2008 and 2009 Petit Le Mans.


title: Ferrari F430

text: Originally based on the F430 Challenge, the F430 GT3 is a specialised racing car developed in 2006 by JMB Racing for the FIA GT3 European Championship and other national GT championships such as British GT and FFSA GT. It is mechanically similar to the F430 Challenge but has better-developed aerodynamics and more power.


title: Ferrari F430

text: The car uses the same 4.3 L V8 engine, tuned to produce , making the GT3 more powerful than its GT2 counterpart. However, due to the GT3 regulations stating that the car must have a power-to-weight ratio of around 2.6 kg/hp, the car weighs in race trim (driver and fuel excluded), which is roughly more than the GT2 spec car. Despite the higher power, it is significantly slower than the GT2 version; for example, in the 2007 Spa 24 Hours endurance race, in which both models were entered, the GT3 spec vehicles' best qualification time was around 8 seconds slower per lap than that set by the GT2 spec vehicle.


title: Ferrari F430

text: Developed by Kessel Racing for the 2009 season, the 430 GT3 Scuderia is the successor of the previous F430 GT3.


title: Ferrari F430

text: In February 2009, Ferrari recalled about 2,000 (2005–2007) F430 Spiders in the U.S., due to the risk that heat from the engine could cause the convertible top's hydraulic hoses to fracture and leak flammable fluid onto the engine, resulting in a fire.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Aladdin Sane is the sixth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 20April 1973 through RCA Records. The follow-up to his breakthrough "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (1972), it was the first album he wrote and released from a position of stardom. It was produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features contributions from Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars — Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey — as well as pianist Mike Garson, two saxophonists and three backing vocalists. Recorded at Trident Studios in London and RCA Studios in New York City between legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, the record was Bowie's final album with the full Spiders lineup.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Bowie wrote most of the tracks on the road in the US between shows. Because of this, many of the tracks are greatly influenced by America and Bowie's perceptions of the country. Due to the American influence and the fast-paced songwriting, the record features a tougher and raunchier glam rock sound than its predecessor. The lyrics reflect the pros of Bowie's newfound stardom and the cons of touring and paint pictures of urban decay, drugs, sex, violence and death. Some of the songs are influenced by the Rolling Stones, and a cover of their song "Let's Spend the Night Together" is included. The album features a new character called Aladdin Sane, a pun on "A Lad Insane", whom Bowie described as "Ziggy Stardust goes to America". The cover artwork, shot by Brian Duffy and featuring a lightning bolt across Bowie's face, was the most expensive cover ever made at the time and represents the split personality of the Aladdin Sane character and Bowie's mixed feelings of the tour and stardom. It is regarded as one of his most iconic images.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Preceded by the singles "The Jean Genie" and "Drive-In Saturday", "Aladdin Sane" was Bowie's most commercially successful record up to that point, topping the UK Albums Chart and helped garner immense popularity for the artist there. It also received positive reviews from music critics, although many found it inferior to its predecessor. The popularity continued throughout the latter half of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, which featured various setlist and stage production changes. In later decades, "Aladdin Sane" has appeared on several best-of lists and is viewed by Bowie's biographers as one of his essential releases. It has been reissued several times and was remastered in 2013 for its 40th anniversary, which was included on the 2015 box set "Five Years (1969–1973)".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: David Bowie was launched to stardom through the release of "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" and his performance of "Starman" on the BBC television programme "Top of the Pops" in early July 1972. The television performance helped propel "Ziggy Stardust" to No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, remaining on the chart for two years. Although not as successful in the United States, peaking at only No. 75 on the "Billboard" Top LPs & Tape chart, Bowie nevertheless became one of the most important glam rock artists. To promote the record, Bowie undertook the Ziggy Stardust Tour in both the UK and the US, the latter ultimately becoming a major influence for his next album.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Aladdin Sane" was the first album Bowie wrote and released from a position of stardom. He composed most of the tracks on the road during the US tour in late 1972. Because of this, many of the tracks were influenced by America and his perceptions of the country. Biographer Christopher Sandford believes the album showed that Bowie "was simultaneously appalled and fixated by America". The tour also took a toll on Bowie's mental health, which further influenced his writing; it marked the beginning of his longtime cocaine addiction. He co-produced Lou Reed's "Transformer" and mixed the Stooges' "Raw Power" the same year, adding to his exhaustion. His mixed feelings about the journey stemmed, in Bowie's words, from "wanting to be up on the stage performing my songs, but on the other hand not really wanting to be on those buses with all those strange people ... So "Aladdin Sane" was split down the middle." Bowie would later say that due to being on the road, he was unsure of the direction to take for the record. While he felt that he had said as much as he wanted to say about Ziggy Stardust, he knew he'd "end up doing...'Ziggy Part 2'". He stated: "There was a point in '73 where I knew it was all over. I didn't want to be trapped in this Ziggy character all my life. And I guess what I was doing on "Aladdin Sane", I was trying to move into the next area – but using a rather pale imitation of Ziggy as a secondary device. In my mind, it was Ziggy Goes to Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America."


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Rather than continue the Ziggy Stardust character directly, Bowie decided he would create a new persona, Aladdin Sane. The character reflected the theme of "Ziggy goes to America" and, according to Bowie, was less defined and "clear cut" than Ziggy Stardust, and "pretty ephemeral". According to biographer David Buckley, the character was a "schizoid amalgamation" that was reflected in the music.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Aladdin Sane" was mainly recorded between December 1972 and January 1973, between legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour. Like his two previous records, it was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and featured Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars – comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Also in the lineup was American pianist Mike Garson, who was hired by Bowie at the suggestion of RCA executive Ken Glancey and singer-songwriter Annette Peacock. The pianist came from a jazz and blues background, which biographer Nicholas Pegg believes veered the album from pure rock 'n' roll and expanded Bowie's experimental horizons. Buckley called "Aladdin Sane" the beginning of Bowie's "experimental phase" and cited Garson's presence as "revolutionary". Scott noted that Garson added elements to the arrangements that were not there before, including more keyboards and synthesisers. Garson later said that Scott as producer "got the best piano sound out of any of his performances for Bowie." Garson remembered being given a lot of attention from Bowie in the studio, who mainly wanted to see what Garson could do. He remained with Bowie's entourage for the next three years. Along with Garson, others added to the lineup for the album and tour included saxophonists Ken Fordham and Brian "Bux" Wilshaw and backing vocalists Juanita Franklin, Linda Lewis and longtime friend Geoffrey MacCormack (later known as Warren Peace); MacCormack would subsequently appear on numerous records by Bowie throughout the remainder of the 1970s.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "The Jean Genie" was the first song recorded on 6October 1972 at RCA Studios in New York City; it was mixed at RCA Studios in Nashville a week later. With Bowie producing himself, the song was recorded rather quickly, in about 90 minutes and in only one take, other than a few overdubs, according to Bolder. After the session, the band and crew left New York to continue the tour in Chicago. Bowie's manager Tony Defries originally wanted to enlist Phil Spector to produce the album, but after receiving no response from Spector, Bowie invited Scott back to co-produce. Two months later on 9December, the band reconvened in New York with Scott and recorded "Drive-In Saturday" and the Bowie-penned Mott the Hoople-track "All the Young Dudes". The American tour concluded later that month, after which the band returned overseas to perform a series of Christmas concerts in England and Scotland. Following these concerts, the band regrouped at Trident Studios in London on 19January 1973 to record the remainder of the album. On this day, the band recorded "1984", which, while left off "Aladdin Sane", became an important track thematically for Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" (1974). The following day, the band taped the backing tracks for "Panic in Detroit", the title track and the "sax version" of the non-album single "John, I'm Only Dancing". A provisional running order was compiled the same day, including "John, I'm Only Dancing" and an unknown track titled "Zion". Vocals were added to "Panic in Detroit" and the title track four days later, marking the end of the sessions. O'Leary and author Peter Doggett state that the remaining songs were recorded during the Trident sessions in January.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Like its predecessor "Ziggy Stardust", "Aladdin Sane" is predominantly glam rock, with elements of hard rock. "Aladdin Sane"s American influence and the album's fast-paced development helped add a tougher, rawer and edgier rock sound. Some of the songs, including "Watch That Man", "Drive-In Saturday" and "Lady Grinning Soul" are influenced by the English rock band the Rolling Stones; a cover of their song "Let's Spend the Night Together" is included. Each track was ascribed a location on the LP label to indicate where it was written or took its inspiration: New York ("Watch That Man"), Seattle–Phoenix ("Drive-In Saturday"), Detroit ("Panic in Detroit"), Los Angeles ("Cracked Actor"), New Orleans ("Time"), Detroit and New York again ("The Jean Genie"), RHMS "Ellinis", the vessel that had carried Bowie home in December 1972 ("Aladdin Sane"), London ("Lady Grinning Soul") and Gloucester Road ("The Prettiest Star"). According to Pegg, the lyrics of "Aladdin Sane" paint pictures of urban decay, degenerate lives, drug addiction, violence and death. He notes that some of the themes presented on Bowie's previous works are reflected in "Aladdin Sane": "notions of religion shattered by science, extraterrestrial encounters posing as messianic visitations, the impact on society of different kinds of 'star', and the degradation of human life in a spiritual void." Author James Perone states that thematically, the album deals with "the concept and definition of sanity", while Ric Albano of "Classic Rock Review" wrote that the music reflects the pros of newfound stardom and the cons of the perils of touring.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: The opening track, "Watch That Man", was written in response to seeing two concerts by the American rock band New York Dolls. According to Doggett, the Dolls' first two albums were important in representing the American response to the British glam rock movement. Bowie was impressed with their sound and wanted to emulate it on a song. "Watch That Man" is described by Pegg as "a sleazy garage rocker" heavily influenced by the Rolling Stones, specifically their song "Brown Sugar". The mix, in which Bowie's lead vocal is buried beneath the instrumental sections, has been heavily criticised by critics and fans. Biographers compare it to the contemporaneous sound of Elton John and the Stones' "Exile on Main St." (1972). The label and Bowie's publisher MainMan initially requested a new mix with Bowie's vocal more upfront, but after Bowie and Scott complied, it was deemed inferior to the original.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: The title track "Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?)", often shortened to just "Aladdin Sane", was inspired by Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel "Vile Bodies", which Bowie read during his trip on the RHMS "Ellinis" back to the UK. Described by Buckley as the album's "pivotal" song, it saw Bowie exploring more experimental genres, rather than strict rock 'n' roll. It features a piano solo by Garson that is described by Pegg as the track's "defining feature". Garson had originally attempted a blues solo and Latin solo, which were politely rejected by Bowie, who asked him to play something more akin to the avant-garde jazz genre that Garson had come from. Improvised and recorded in one take, Buckley considers the solo a "landmark" recording. Doggett similarly believes that the track's landscape belongs to Garson.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Drive-In Saturday" was written following an overnight train ride between Seattle and Phoenix in early November 1972. He witnessed a row of silver domes in the distance and assumed they were secret government facilities used for a post-nuclear fallout. In the track, the radiation has affected people's minds and bodies to the point that they need to watch films in order to learn to have sex again. According to Perone, it continues the style Bowie wrote for the Spiders during the sessions for "Ziggy". It is heavily influenced by 1950s doo-wop music, and presents a contemporary update to the 1950s drive-in culture. Pegg considers "Drive-In Saturday" "arguably the finest track" on the album. As Bowie was influenced by Jungian ideas around creativity and madness, artist Tanja Stark suggests the song's lyrical reference to Jung "crashing out with sylvian" allude to Jung's Red Book hallucinations possibly originating from the Sylvian fissure in the brain.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Panic in Detroit" was inspired by Iggy Pop's stories of the Detroit riots in 1967 and the rise of the White Panther Party, specifically their leader John Sinclair. Bowie compared the ideas of Sinclair to the rebel martyr Che Guevara for the narrator in "Panic in Detroit". The lyrics are very dark, featuring images of urban decay, violence, drugs, emotional isolation and suicide, adding to the album's overarching theme of alienation. Doggett finds a thematic link between the song and Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", which "used a similar three-chord riff to underpin its apocalypse". Musically, the song itself is built around a Bo Diddley beat; Pegg considers Ronson's guitar part very "bluesy".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Cracked Actor" was written following Bowie's stay at Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, where he witnessed prostitutes, drug use and sex. The song's narrator is an aging film star whose life is beginning to decline; he is "stiff on his legend" and encounters a prostitute, whom he despises. There are numerous double entendres regarding film stardom and sex: "show me you're real/reel", "smack, baby, smack" and "you've made a bad connection". Doggett describes the song as predominantly hard rock, with only a hint of glam, while Pegg describes Ronson's guitar as "dirty blues".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Time" was originally written as "We Should Be On By Now" for Bowie's friend George Underwood, with vastly different lyrics. According to Pegg, a demo featuring Underwood, Bowie and Ronson was recorded in mid-1971 around the same time as Underwood's demo of "Song for Bob Dylan" (1971). The song was then rewritten, influenced by the death of New York Dolls drummer Billy Murcia and the concepts of relativity and mortality. The song's use of the word "wanking" led to it being banned by the BBC from radio stations. Garson's stride and Brechtian cabaret-style piano dominates the track while Ronson plays a similar line on guitar.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "The Prettiest Star" was originally recorded by Bowie in 1970 as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity" (1969). It was written for his first wife Angela Barnett, whom he married shortly after the original's release. The original was produced by Tony Visconti and featured Marc Bolan on guitar, with whom Bowie would spend the next few years as a rival for the crown of the king of glam rock. Despite positive reviews, the original recording flopped. The subsequent rerecording on "Aladdin Sane" was glam-influenced, and featured Bolan's guitar part mimicked almost note-for-note by Ronson. Buckley calls the rerecording a "revamped and much improved" version. Doggett argues that the song appeared out of place on "Aladdin Sane", while Pegg finds that the references to "screen starlets" and "the movies in the past" mesh with its other nostalgic references.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Let's Spend the Night Together" is the only cover song on the album. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1967, the song's appearance blatantly acknowledges the influence of the Stones on the entire record. While the original was psychedelic, Bowie's rendition is faster, raunchier and more glam-influenced. It features synthesisers that Pegg believes give the track a "fresh, futuristic sheen". Several critics also consider it a gay appropriation of a heterosexual song. The cover has been criticised in the ensuing decades as camp and unsatisfying.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "The Jean Genie" began as an impromptu jam titled "Bussin'" on the charter bus when travelling between Cleveland and Memphis. The Bo Diddley-inspired guitar riff is a variation of the Yardbirds' "I'm a Man" and "Smokestack Lightning". Bowie called it "a smorgasbord of imagined Americana" and his "first New York song", he wrote the lyrics to "entertain" Warhol associate Cyrinda Foxe, who appeared in the song's accompanied music video. The music is heavily blues-influenced, leading Perone to contest: "This piece exudes the British blues spirit like no previous Bowie song." The lyrics were also an ode to Iggy Pop, Bowie calling the song's character a "white-trash, kind of trailer-park kid thing – the closet intellectual who wouldn’t want the world to know that he reads".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Lady Grinning Soul" was one of the final songs written for the album. It was also a last-minute addition, replacing the "sax version" of "John, I'm Only Dancing" as the closing track. A possible inspiration for the song is American soul singer Claudia Lennear, whom Bowie met during the US tour and also inspired the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar", although O'Leary argues that the inspiration was French singer Amanda Lear, a sometime girlfriend of Bowie's. Unlike other tracks on the album, "Lady Grinning Soul" has a sexual ambiance, lushness and serenity, and features flamenco-style guitar from Ronson and a Latin-style piano part from Garson. The track has been described as a lost James Bond theme.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: The title is a pun on "A Lad Insane", which at one point was expected to be the title. When writing the album during the tour, it was under the working title "Love Aladdin Vein", which Bowie said at the time felt right, but decided to change it partly due to its drug connotations.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: The cover artwork features a shirtless Bowie with red hair and a red-and-blue lightning bolt splitting his face in two while a teardrop runs down his collarbone. It was shot in January 1973 by Brian Duffy in his north London studio. Duffy would later photograph the sleeves for "Lodger" (1979) and "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" (1980). In an effort to ensure RCA promoted the album extensively, Defries was determined to make the cover as costly as possible. He insisted on an unprecedented seven-colour system, rather than the usual four. The image was the most expensive cover art ever made at the time. The make-up designer for the shoot was artist Pierre Laroche, who remained Bowie's make-up artist for the remainder of the 1973 tour and the "Pin Ups" cover shoot. Cann writes that Duffy and Laroche copied the lightning bolt from a National Panasonic rice-cooker in the studio. The make-up was completed with a "deathly purple wash", which Cann believes, together with Bowie's closed eyes, evoke a "death mask". The final photo was selected from a group featuring Bowie looking directly at the camera. These photos later became a signature image of the V&A's "David Bowie Is" exhibition. The shoot was the only time Bowie wore the design on his face, but it was later used for hanging backdrops at live performances.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Duffy believed that Bowie's inspiration for the "flash" design came from a ring once worn by Elvis Presley; it featured the letters TCB (an acronym for Taking Care of Business) with a lightning flash. Pegg believes the cover has a deeper meaning, representing the "split down the middle" personality of the Aladdin Sane character and reflecting Bowie's split feelings regarding the US tour and his newfound stardom. The teardrop on his chest was Duffy's idea; Bowie said the photographer "just popped it in there. I thought it was rather sweet." It was airbrushed by Philip Castle, who also helped create the silvery effect on Bowie's body on the sleeve. Regarded as one of the most iconic images of Bowie, it was called "the Mona Lisa of album covers" by "The Guardian"s Mick McCann and one of the 50 greatest album covers of all time by "Billboard" in 2022. Pegg calls it "perhaps the most celebrated image of Bowie's long career".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Upon release, the cover was polarising. According to Cann, some were offended and bewildered at Bowie's appearance, while others found it daring. Henry Edwards of "The New York Times" initially described the image as "the most cunning representation to date of this angel‐faced, 25‐year‐old, English composer‐performer as a disembodied spirit of the Space Age". In retrospect, Cann writes that a cover like "Aladdin Sane"s can be a risky move for artists whose success is relatively recent.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: RCA issued "The Jean Genie" as the lead single on 24November 1972. In its advertising, the label stated: "Written in New York. Recorded in New York. Mixed in Nashville. The first single to come from Bowie's triumphant American tour." The song charted at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, spending 13 weeks on the chart, making it Bowie's biggest hit to date. The single fared worse in the US, peaking at No. 71 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. It was promoted with a music video shot by Mick Rock, featuring bits of concert footage shot in San Francisco on 27 and 28October 1972, interspersed with shots of Bowie posing around the Mars Hotel and actress Cyrinda Foxe. The second single, "Drive-In Saturday", was released in the UK on 6April 1973. Like the previous single, it was a commercial success, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. "Time" was later issued as a single in the US and Japan, and "Let's Spend the Night Together" in the US and Europe. In 1974, Lulu released a version of "Watch That Man" as the B-side to her single "The Man Who Sold the World", produced by Bowie and Ronson.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: "Aladdin Sane" was released through RCA on 20April 1973. With a purported 100,000 copies ordered in advance, the LP debuted at the top of the UK charts, where it remained for five weeks. In the US, where Bowie already had three albums on the charts, "Aladdin Sane" peaked at No. 17, making it Bowie's most successful record commercially in both countries to that date. According to Pegg, this feat was unheard of at the time and guaranteed "Aladdin Sane"s status as Britain's best-selling album since "the days of the Beatles". Elsewhere, the album reached the top five in France, the Netherlands and Sweden, and the top ten in Australia. "Aladdin Sane" is estimated to have sold 4.6 million copies worldwide, making it one of Bowie's highest-selling LPs. "The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums" notes that Bowie "ruled the [British] album chart, accumulating an unprecedented 182 weeks on the list in 1973 with six different titles." Following Bowie's death in 2016, "Aladdin Sane" reentered the US charts, peaking at No. 16 on the "Billboard" Top Pop Catalog Albums chart the week of 29January 2016, where it remained for three weeks. It also peaked at No. 6 on the "Billboard" Vinyl Albums the week of 18 March 2016, remaining on the chart for four weeks.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Critical reaction to "Aladdin Sane" was generally laudatory, if more enthusiastic in the US than in the UK. Ben Gerson of "Rolling Stone" remarked on "Bowie's provocative melodies, audacious lyrics, masterful arrangements (with Mick Ronson) and production (with Ken Scott)", and pronounced it "less manic than "The Man Who Sold The World", and less intimate than "Hunky Dory", with none of its attacks of self-doubt." "Billboard" called it a combination of "raw energy with explosive rock". In "The New York Times", Edwards described "Aladdin Sane" as "the most expressive, if still uneven, album of his recording career". In the British music press, letters columns accused Bowie of 'selling out' and "Let It Rock" magazine found the album to be more style than substance, considering that he had "nothing to say and everything to say it with". Similarly, Kim Fowley of "Phonograph Record" considered the record bad, save for "Time" and "The Prettiest Star". Fowley found the record's flaws to be "over-verbalised multi-symbolistic lyrics", not enough collaboration with Ronson when making it and the presence of Garson on piano.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Other British writers gave more positive assessments, with Val Mabbs of "Record Mirror" citing it as Bowie's best work up to that point. Also writing for "Phonograph Record", Ron Ross stated that with the record, Bowie has proven himself to be "one of the most consistent and fast-moving artists since the Beatles". Ross considered side one "the tightest, and probably the best, work Bowie has ever recorded". Writer Charles Shaar Murray of the "NME" felt "Aladdin Sane" was a strong contender for album of the year, further calling it "a worthy contribution to the most important body of musical work produced in this decade." "The Village Voice" critic Robert Christgau wrote a few years later that his favorite Bowie album had been "Aladdin Sane", "the fragmented, rather second-hand collection of elegant hard rock songs (plus one Jacques Brel-style clinker) that fell between the "Ziggy Stardust" and "Diamond Dogs" concepts. That Bowie improved his music by imitating the Rolling Stones rather than by expressing himself is obviously a tribute to the Stones, but it also underlines how expedient Bowie's relationship to rock and roll has always been."


title: Aladdin Sane

text: In February 1973, shortly after "Aladdin Sane" was completed, Bowie and the band returned to the road for the final portion of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, which Pegg refers to as the "Aladdin Sane Tour". The same personnel from the album returned for the tour, with the addition of guitarist John Hutchinson, who had previously performed with Bowie in various projects throughout the late 1960s. With the exception of "Lady Grinning Soul", all tracks from "Aladdin Sane" were added to the setlist. Bowie drastically increased his stage demeanor for this portion of the tour, becoming more open and ambiguous compared to the shy persona of previous performances. He also underwent numerous costume changes during the shows, even representing the Aladdin Sane character through the use of mime and masks.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: This portion of the tour commenced in the United States before continuing to Japan in April. Bowie's stage presence was praised by Japanese audiences and reviewers, with "The Japan Times" hailing him as theatrically "perhaps the most interesting performer ever in the pop music genre". On his arrival back to the UK in early May, where "Aladdin Sane" had just topped the chart, Bowie's popularity had sourced in his home country; the final UK leg of the tour sold out completely. The UK leg made small setlist changes and introduced backdrop banners containing the blue and red lightning bolt Bowie donned on the "Aladdin Sane" cover artwork. Despite a disastrous first show at London's Earls Court Arena, the remaining dates were successful, receiving acclaim from reviewers and audiences.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: The final date of the tour was 3July 1973, which was performed at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The performance was documented by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker in a documentary and concert film, which premiered in 1979 and commercially released in 1983 as "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", with an accompanying soundtrack album titled "". At this show, Bowie made the sudden surprise announcement that the show would be "the last show that we'll ever do", later understood to mean that he was retiring his Ziggy Stardust persona. Although Ronson was told in advance, Bolder and Woodmansey were not, which led to rising tensions between the two and Bowie. Additional conflicts regarding compensation led to Woodmansey's dismissal from the Spiders in July. Bowie's next album. "Pin Ups"—a covers album devised as a "stop-gap" record to appease RCA—was recorded during the summer of 1973, released in October, and was Bowie's final album recorded with the Spiders, by then comprising only Ronson and Bolder.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Retrospectively, "Aladdin Sane" has received positive reviews from music critics but most reviewers have unfavorably compared it to its predecessor. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic believed that "Aladdin Sane" followed the same pattern as "Ziggy Stardust", but for "both better and worse". While he praised the album for presenting unusual genres and being lyrically different, he criticised Bowie's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together", calling it "oddly clueless", and contended that "there's no distinctive sound or theme to make [a cohesive record]; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's a wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic". "Pitchfork"s Douglas Wolk also found it too similar to its predecessor, calling it "effectively "Ziggy Stardust II", a harder-rocking if less original variation on the hit album". He writes that while "Ziggy Stardust" ended with a "vision of outreach to the front row" in the lyrics of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide", "Aladdin Sane" is "all alienation and self-conscious artifice, parodic gestures of intimacy directed to the theater balcony". "NME" editors Roy Carr and Murray called the album "oddly unsatisfying, considerably less than the sum of the parts". In a 2013 readers' poll for "Rolling Stone", "Aladdin Sane" was voted Bowie's sixth best record. The magazine argued that it proved Bowie was not a "one-album wonder".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Like music critics, Bowie's biographers have mostly compared "Aladdin Sane" to its predecessor unfavourably. Pegg writes that it feels more rushed than "Ziggy". Carr and Murray contend that "It was all too obvious that the heat was on... The songs were written too fast, recorded too fast and mixed too fast." Marc Spitz states that Bowie might have moved on from the Ziggy persona sooner had it not been for the pressure from his music publisher MainMan. Despite the record being critically viewed as inferior to its predecessor, Spitz calls it one of Bowie's classics and the songs "top-notch", and felt it ultimately showed that at the time Bowie was "still way ahead of the game". Pegg calls it "one of the most urgent, compelling and essential of Bowie's albums".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: Biographer Paul Trynka describes it as both "slicker and sketchier" than "Ziggy", and argues that "[it] is in some ways a more convincing document on the nature of fame and show business than [its predecessor]". Doggett similarly describes "Aladdin Sane" as arguably a more "real" and "rewarding" album than its predecessor, with a "Stones-inspired, vivid production" outdoing the "somewhat flat sonic canvas" of "Ziggy", but concludes that while "Ziggy" is more than the sum of its parts and has a long-lasting legacy, "Aladdin Sane" is "its songs, its sleeve, and nothing more". Perone finds the record not as accessible as its predecessor, deducing that with less "melodic and harmonic hooks" and lyrics that are "darker and more inwardly focused and analytical", the result is an that is "not as well remembered" as "Ziggy". Nevertheless, "Billboard"s Joe Lynch considered "Aladdin Sane" just as influential on glam rock as a whole as its predecessor. He states that both records "ensured [Bowie's] long-term career and infamy" and argues that both "transcended" the genre, are "works of art", and are not just "glam classics", but "rock classics".


title: Aladdin Sane

text: In 2003, "Aladdin Sane" was ranked among six Bowie entries on "Rolling Stone"s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (at No. 277), and No. 279 in a 2012 revised list. It was later ranked No. 77 on "Pitchfork"s list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s. In 2013, "NME" ranked the album 230th in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was also included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Based on "Aladdin Sane"s appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists it as 20th most acclaimed album of 1973, the 159th most acclaimed album of the 1970s and the 569th most acclaimed album in history.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: The album has been reissued several times, initially being released on CD in 1984 by RCA. In 1990, Dr. Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southborough, Massachusetts, remastered "Aladdin Sane" from the original master tapes for Rykodisc, which released it with no bonus tracks. It was again remastered in 1999 by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios for EMI and Virgin Records, and once more released with no bonus tracks.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: In 2003, a 2-disc version was released by EMI/Virgin. The second in a series of "30th Anniversary 2CD Edition" sets (along with "Ziggy Stardust" and "Diamond Dogs"), this release includes a remastered version of the album on the first disc. The second disc contains ten tracks, a few of which had been previously released on the 1989 collection "Sound + Vision". A 40th anniversary edition, remastered by Ray Staff at London's AIR Studios, was released in CD and digital download formats in April 2013. This 2013 remaster of the album was included in the 2015 box set "Five Years 1969–1973" and rereleased separately, in 2015–2016, in CD, vinyl and digital formats. A 12" limited edition of the 2013 remaster, pressed in silver vinyl, was released in 2018 to mark the 45th anniversary of the album.


title: Aladdin Sane

text: All tracks are written by David Bowie, except "Let's Spend the Night Together", written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created World Championship of Drivers. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but settled permanently at the Silverstone track in 1987. The circuit also hosts the British round of the MotoGP series.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: On 30 September 2004, British Racing Drivers' Club president Jackie Stewart announced that the British Grand Prix would not be included on the 2005 provisional race calendar and, if it were, would probably not occur at Silverstone. However, on 9 December an agreement was reached with former Formula One rights holder Bernie Ecclestone ensuring that the track would host the British Grand Prix until 2009 after which Donington Park would become the new host. However, the Donington Park leaseholders, Donington Ventures Leisure, ran into severe financial problems and went into administration, resulting in the BRDC signing a 17-year deal with Ecclestone to hold the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The escalating costs of the British Grand Prix led to the BRDC triggering a break clause in their contract, meaning that the 2019 British Grand Prix would be the last at the Silverstone Circuit. Although there was speculation of a street race in London, lengthy negotiations with Liberty Media led to a new agreement for Silverstone to continue to host the British Grand Prix for a further five years after 2019.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The Silverstone circuit is on the site of a Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone, which was operational between 1943 and 1946. The station was the base for No. 17 Operational Training Unit. The airfield's three runways, in classic WWII triangle format, lie within the outline of the present track.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border and is accessed from the nearby A43. The Northamptonshire towns of Towcester () and Brackley () and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham () are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes, the homes of Aston Martin Racing and Oracle Red Bull Racing respectively. Many F1 teams have bases in the UK, but Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point (Force India Racing)) are the closest to the track, with a new base being built just under a kilometre from the famous race circuit, where F1 all began.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Silverstone was first used for motorsport by an 'ad hoc' group of friends who set up an impromptu race in September 1947. One of their members, Maurice Geoghegan, lived in nearby Silverstone village and was aware that the airfield was deserted. He and eleven other drivers raced over a circuit, during the course of which Geoghegan himself ran over a sheep that had wandered onto the airfield. The sheep was killed and the car written off, and in the aftermath of this event the informal race became known as the "Mutton Grand Prix".


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The next year the Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the airfield and set out a more formal racing circuit. Their first two races were held on the runways themselves, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track demarcated by hay bales. However, for the 1949 International Trophy meeting, it was decided to switch to the perimeter track. This arrangement was used for the 1950 and 1951 Grands Prix. In 1952 the start line was moved from the Farm Straight to the straight linking Woodcote and Copse corners, and this layout remained largely unaltered for the following 38 years. For the 1975 meeting a chicane was introduced to try to tame speeds through Woodcote Corner (although MotoGP would still use the circuit without the chicane up until 1986), and Bridge Corner was subtly rerouted in 1987.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The track underwent a major redesign between the 1990 and 1991 races, transforming the ultra-fast track (where in, its last years, fourth or fifth gear, depending on the transmission of the car, was used for every corner except the Bridge chicane which was usually taken in second gear) into a more technical track. The reshaped track's first Formula One race was won by Nigel Mansell in front of his home crowd. On his victory lap back to the pits Mansell picked up stranded rival Ayrton Senna to give him a lift on his side-pod after his McLaren had run out of fuel on the final lap of the race.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Following the deaths of Senna and fellow Grand Prix driver Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994, many Grand Prix circuits were modified in order to reduce speed and increase driver safety. As a consequence of this the entry from Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner was modified in 1995 to improve the run off area. In addition, the flat-out Abbey kink was modified to a chicane in just 19 days ready for the 1994 Grand Prix. Parts of the circuit, such as the starting grid, are wide, complying with the latest safety guidelines.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: With the termination of hostilities in Europe in 1945, the first motorsport event in the British Isles was held at Gransden Lodge in 1946 and the next on the Isle of Man, but there was nowhere permanent on the mainland which was suitable.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In 1948, Royal Automobile Club (RAC), under the chairmanship of Wilfred Andrews, set its mind upon running a Grand Prix and started to cast around public roads on the mainland. There was no possibility of closing the public highway as could happen on the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands; it was a time of austerity and there was no question of building a new circuit from scratch, so some viable alternative had to be found.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: A considerable number of ex-RAF airfields existed, and it was to these the RAC turned their attention to with particular interest being paid to two near the centre of England – Snitterfield near Stratford-upon-Avon and one behind the village of Silverstone. The latter was still under the control of the Air Ministry, but a lease was arranged in August 1948 and plans put into place to run the first British Grand Prix since the RAC last ran one at Brooklands in 1927 (those held at Donington Park in the late 1930s had the title of 'Donington Grand Prix').


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In August 1948, Andrews employed James Brown on a three-month contract to create the Grand Prix circuit in less than two months. Nearly 40 years later, Brown died while still employed by the circuit.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Despite possible concerns about the weather, the 1948 British Grand Prix began at Silverstone on Thursday 30 September 1948. The race took place on 2 October. The new circuit was marked out with oil drums and straw bales and consisted of the perimeter road and the runaways running into the centre of the airfield from two directions. Spectators were contained behind rope barriers and the officials were housed in tents. An estimated 100,000 spectators watched the race.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: There were no factory entries but Scuderia Ambrosiana sent two Maserati 4CLT/48s for Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari who finished in that order (notwithstanding having started from the back of the grid of 25 cars) ahead of Bob Gerard in his ERA R14B/C. The race was long and was run at an average speed of . Fourth place went to Louis Rosier's Talbot-Lago T26, followed home by 'Bira' in another Maserati 4CLT/48.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The second Grand Prix at Silverstone was scheduled for May 1949 and was officially designated the British Grand Prix. It was to use the full perimeter track with a chicane inserted at Club Corner. The length of the second circuit was exactly three miles and the race run over 100 laps, making it the longest post-war Grand Prix held in England. There were again 25 starters and victory went to a 'San Remo' Maserati 4CLT/48, this time in the hands of Toulo de Graffenried, from Bob Gerard in his familiar ERA and Louis Rosier in a 4½-litre Talbot-Lago. The race average speed had risen to . The attendance was estimated at anything up to 120,000.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Also in 1949, the first running took place of what was to become an institution at Silverstone, the International Trophy sponsored by the Daily Express and which become virtually a second Grand Prix. The first International Trophy was run on 20 August in two heats and a final. Victory in heat one went to Prince Birabongse ('Bira') and the second to Giuseppe Farina – both driving Maserati 4CLT/48s, but the final went to a Ferrari Tipo 125 driven by Alberto Ascari from Farina, with Luigi Villoresi third in another Ferrari. For this meeting, the chicane at Club Corner was dispensed with and the circuit took up a shape that was to last for 25 years.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1950 British Grand Prix was a significant occasion for two reasons: it was the first ever World Championship Grand Prix, carrying the title of the European Grand Prix; and the event was graced by the presence of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – the first and only time a reigning monarch has attended a motor race in Britain.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The year was the institution of the World Championship for Driver, and Silverstone witnessed the first time that Alfa Romeo 158 'Alfettas' had been seen in England, and they took the first three places in the hands of Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Reg Parnell, with the race average having increased to ; however the race distance had been reduced to .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1951 was memorable for it saw the defeat of the Alfas, with victory going to the popular Argentinian driver, Froilán González driving the Ferrari 375. His fellow countryman Juan Manuel Fangio was second in an Alfa Romeo 159B, and Luigi Villoresi in another Ferrari 375 was third. The race distance had increased to , and the race average speed was now .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1951 also saw the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) take over the lease from the RAC, and set about making the circuit into something more permanent.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The International Trophy attracted the cream of Formula One, including the seemingly invincible Alfas, driven by Fangio and Farina. However, the weather worsened for the final and visibility was almost nil, and in those conditions the Alfettas with their supercharged engines were at a distinct disadvantage. When the race was abandoned after only six laps, Reg Parnell was in the lead in the "Thinwall Special"; no official winner was declared.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In 1952, the RAC decided it no longer wished to run the circuit, and on 1 January the lease was taken on by the BRDC, with James Brown continuing as track manager. The lease covered only the perimeter track and other areas at specific times. The original pits between Abbey and Woodcote were demolished, and new pit facilities were constructed between Woodcote and Copse. Coinciding with the BRDC taking over the running of the Grand Prix, there was a little unrest within the sport which led to the downgrading of Grand Prix racing to Formula Two, which was won by Alberto Ascari at from his Ferrari teammate Piero Taruffi – both driving the Tipo 500. The podium was completed by Mike Hawthorn driving a Cooper-Bristol T12.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The International Trophy was notable in 1952, in that it saw a rare victory for Hersham and Walton Motors when Lance Macklin had a win.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The same situation continued into 1953 with the World Championship being run for Formula Two cars. The race was a straight fight between the Maserati and Ferrari teams, with victory going to Ascari at aboard a Ferrari Tipo 500, from the Maserati A6GCM of Fangio and another Tipo 500 of Farina. The racecard included a Formula Libre race which put the Grand Prix into perspective; Farina drove the Thinwall Special to victory at a higher speed than the actual GP, setting the first lap record at over , at .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1954 Grand Prix season was the new 2.5-litre Formula One and had attracted interest from some major players. Lancia had joined the fray with their D50, and Daimler-Benz were back; the appearance of Lancia meant that there were three Italian teams competing at the highest level, the others being Ferrari and Maserati. The British were catered for by the Owen Racing Organisation with their BRMs, the Vanwall of Tony Vandervell and Connaught still competing, while Cooper-Bristol were not to be forgotten. At the start of the season, Mercedes-Benz had swept all before them, but Silverstone was a débâcle for the team, which returned to Untertürkheim in defeat. The race was won by González from Hawthorn in the works 625s, with Onofre Marimón third in the works Maserati 250F. The best Mercedes driver was pole-man Fangio in his W196.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: From 1955, the Grand Prix was alternated between Aintree and Silverstone, until 1964 when Brands Hatch took over as the alternative venue.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: By the time the Grand Prix returned to Silverstone in 1956, Mercedes-Benz had gone, as had Lancia as an independent entrant, the cars having been handed to Scuderia Ferrari, who ran them as 'Lancia-Ferraris'. The great Fangio scored his only British Grand Prix win in one of these cars. Second was another Lancia-Ferrari which had started the race in the hands of Alfonso de Portago, but was taken over by Peter Collins at half-distance and third place was Jean Behra in a Maserati 250F.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Matters were somewhat happier for the British enthusiast at the International Trophy; a quality field had been attracted including Fangio and Collins in their Lancia-Ferraris, but the 13 laps of the race were led by the new BRM P25 driven by Hawthorn. When the engine of the BRM expired, Stirling Moss in the Vanwall took over, going on to win. With the Lancias broken by the Brit, the rest of the podium was taken by the Connaughts of Archie Scott Brown and Desmond Titterington.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: For 1958 drastic rule changes were introduced into Formula One, Fangio had retired and Maserati had withdrawn due to financial difficulties. Throughout the season the battle was between Ferrari and Vanwall and it was fervently hoped that Vandervell would success at home but it was not to be; the green cars fell apart, Stuart Lewis-Evans the best placed finisher in fourth. Victory went to Collins from Hawthorn, both driving Ferrari Dino 246s. The crowd of 120,000 witnessed a trio of British drivers on the podium with Roy Salvadori coming home third in one of John Cooper's Coventry-Climax rear-engined powered cars.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: At the British Grand Prix of 1960, the front-engined cars were completely outclassed, the podium going to the Coventry-Climax–powered cars, with victory going to Jack Brabham in the works Cooper T53 from John Surtees and Innes Ireland in their Lotus 18s. Although the race is remembered as the race lost by Graham Hill, rather than won by Brabham. Hill stalled his BRM on the grid, left the line in last place, then proceeded to carve through the whole field. Once in the lead, the BRM was troubled by fading brakes which led to Hill spinning off at Copse Corner.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1961 was the year of the new 1.5 litre Formula One introduced by the governing body on safety grounds – it met with strong opposition in Britain which gave birth to the short-lived Intercontinental Formula, which extended the life of the now-obsolete Formula One cars. The International Trophy was run to this Formula and produced a notable first and last – the first and only appearance of the American Scarab and the last appearance of the Vanwall, in the hands of Surtees. The race was wet and Moss demonstrated his supreme prowess in Rob Walker's Cooper by lapping all but Brabham twice.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In 1962, the second year of the Formula, the International Trophy was run for the 1.5 litre cars. This was the classic occasion when Hill in the BRM crossed the finishing line almost sideways to snatch victory from Jim Clark's Lotus 24; both drivers were credited with the same race time.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Clark was to win the British Grand Prix when it returned to Silverstone in 1963, driving the Lotus-Climax 25. By now, even Ferrari had succumbed to the rear-engined layout, but sent only one to Northamptonshire for Surtees (Ferrari 156). He finished second, ahead of three BRM P57's of Hill, Richie Ginther and Lorenzo Bandini.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: For the 1965 season, BRM had taken a chance and signed Jackie Stewart straight from Formula Three; the International Trophy was only his fourth Formula One race, but despite this he won handsomely from Surtees in the Ferrari. When the Formula One returned for the British Grand Prix later that year, Stewart finished a creditable fifth. Fellow Scot, Clark won the race in his Lotus-Climax 33 from the BRM P261 of Hill and the Ferrari of Surtees.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The following year, the new 3-litre Formula One was heralded as the ""Return of Power"", however the first Grand Prix under these regulations was held at Brands Hatch. It was not until 1967 that the big-engined cars came to Northamptonshire. The result remained unchanged, with Clark winning in the Lotus-Cosworth 49 at a race average speed of . Second was Kiwi Denny Hulme aboard the Brabham-Repco, from the Ferrari 312 of his fellow countrymen Chris Amon.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: There was a frightening increase in race average speed in 1969, for it rose by , to when Stewart won in his Matra-Cosworth MS80 from Jacky Ickx (Brabham-Cosworth BT26) and Bruce McLaren driving one of his own Cosworth-powered M7Cs.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: By 1971, the 3-litre era was now into its fifth season; it was also the year when sponsorship came to the fore. Ken Tyrrell became a constructor and Jackie Stewart won at Silverstone driving the Tyrrell 003 on his way to a second World Championship. Ronnie Peterson was second in March 711 from Emerson Fittipaldi in Lotus 72D; all were Cosworth-powered in what fast becoming Formula Super Ford; the race average was .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1973 was the year that Jody Scheckter lost control of his McLaren at the completion of the first lap, spinning into the pit wall and setting in motion the biggest accident ever seen on a British motor racing circuit. The race was stopped on lap two and the carnage cleared away; it speaks highly for the construction of the cars that only one driver was injured. The race was won Scheckter's teammate, Peter Revson (McLaren M23-Cosworth) from Peterson (Lotus 72E) and Denny Hulme (McLaren M23). The race average speed had risen again to .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1973 débâcle wrought changes upon Silverstone as it was deemed necessary to slow these cars through Woodcote, therefore a chicane was inserted. ""Formula Super Ford"" reached its peak in 1975, when 26 of the 28 entries were Cosworth-powered, there being just two Ferraris to challenge them. Tom Pryce placed his Shadow DN5 on pole for the 1975 Grand Prix, but an accident destroyed his chances as the race was run in appalling weather and it was stopped at two-thirds distance, following multiple cars crashing on the very wet circuit. Victory went to Fittipaldi (McLaren M23) from Carlos Pace (Brabham BT44B) and Scheckter (Tyrrell 007).


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: International motor racing at Silverstone is not concerned solely to Formula One, however, and 1976 saw one of the closest finished in endurance racing during the "Silverstone Six-Hour" race, which was a round of the World Championship for Makes. The series was almost a German benefit that season as the main contenders were the Porsche 935s and BMW 3-litre CSLs (common known as the 'Batmobiles'). Porsche had had the upper hand in the opening rounds of the series, but at Silverstone things were different. John Fitzpatrick and Tom Walkinshaw kept their BMW ahead to win by (1.18secs) from the Bob Wollek/Hans Heyer Porsche 935 Turbo. Third was a Porsche 934 Turbo in the hands of Leo Kinnunen and Egon Evertz.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1977 British Grand Prix saw the beginning of a revolution in Formula One, for towards the back of the grid was the product of Règie Renault which was exploiting a rule in F1 regulations that allowed the use of 1.5-litre turbocharged engines. The Renault RS01 expired early in the race. Ulsterman John Watson had an early battle with James Hunt, but the fuel system in Watson's Brabham-Alfa Romeo let him down and the winner Hunt (McLaren M26) won at a speed of , with Niki Lauda second for Ferrari from Gunnar Nilsson in a Lotus.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Once the most prestigious race of the motorcycle calendar, the Isle of Man TT had been increasingly boycotted by the top riders, and finally succumbed to pressure and was dropped, being replaced by the British Motorcycle Grand Prix. 1977 marked the beginning of this era, and Silverstone was the chosen venue. It took place on 14 August, with Pat Hennen riding a Suzuki RG500 to victory from Steve Baker (Yamaha).


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The International Trophy attracted World Championship contenders for the last time in 1978 but the race witnessed the début of the epoch-making Lotus 79 in the hands of Mario Andretti. Such events as this gave the Formula One also-rans a chance to start, which they were normally denied in Grands Prix; two such were the Theodore and Fittipaldi. Keke Rosberg won the former in atrocious conditions from Fittipaldi in his namesake car.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 14 May witnessed the running of the Silverstone Six-Hours, a round of the World Championship for Makes. A 3.2-litre Porsche 935 won in the hands of Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass from a 3.0-litre version driven by Wollek and Henri Pescarolo; third and fourth were BMW 320s handled by Harald Grohs/Eddy Joosen and Freddy Kottulinsky/Markus Hotz. The race was run over 235 laps of the Grand Prix circuit to make a total of a little over 689 miles which the winning car covered at .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Come the 1979 Grand Prix and the passage of two years had made a great difference to the performance of the turbocharged Renaults; the car which qualified on the last row in 1977 was now on the front row beside Alan Jones in the Williams FW07. When Jones's Cosworth expired, his teammate Clay Regazzoni moved into the lead, going on to win from René Arnoux in the Renault RS10 with Jean-Pierre Jarier third in the Tyrrell 009. The winners average speed was .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1979 British Motorcycle Grand Prix was again held at Silverstone and would be one of the closest races in the history of Motorcycle Grand Prix racing. The 1978 winner Kenny Roberts and the pair of works Suzuki riders, Barry Sheene and Wil Hartog broke away from the rest of the field. After a few laps, Hartog fell off the pace as Sheene and Roberts continued to swap the lead throughout the 28-lap event, the American winning for the second time ahead of Sheene by a narrow margin of just three-hundreds of a second.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In May 1980, sports cars returned in the form of the Silverstone Six-Hours, which was won by Alain de Cadenet driving a car bearing his own name, partnered by Desiré Wilson; the 235 laps (687 miles) being completed at . The only other to complete the full race distance was the Siegfried Brunn/Jürgen Barth (Porsche 908/3), with a Porsche 935K Turbo driven by John Paul and Brian Redman third, a lap down.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1981 saw the arrival of the one-one-one grid, staggered in two rows. The turbocharged era saw Renault occupying the front row of the grid, and turbo-engined Ferraris fourth and eighth. The Renaults dominated the race, but total reliability was still lacking and the victory went to John Watson in a McLaren MP4/1. Second place went to Carlos Reutemann in the Williams FW07C from the Talbot-Ligier JS17 of Jacques Laffite, a lap down; the race speed was down a little at .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: For 1982, endurance sport car racing entered a rejuvenated phrase with the coming of Group C; the BRDC and l'Automobile Club de l'Ouest instituted a joint Silverstone/Le Mans Challenge Trophy. The trophy eventually went to Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell in a Porsche 956, but at Silverstone they could not make maximum use of the fuel allowance and victory went to the Lancia LC1 of Riccardo Patrese and Michele Alboreto. The winning car completed the 240 laps at a speed of , with the second-place car three laps adrift, that of Ickx/Bell. The final podium place went to the Joest Racing Porsche 936C Turbo of Bob Wollek/Jean-Michel Martin/Philippe Martin.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: May 1983 saw the running of the Silverstone 1000 kilometres, which was a round of the newly instigated World Endurance Championship. Porsche dominated the event, taking the first five places, with Derek Bell and Stefan Bellof bringing their 956 home ahead of Wollek and Stefan Johansson in an identical car.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In the 1983 British Grand Prix, the first Cosworth-powered car was in 13th place on the grid, all the cars ahead of it being powered by turbocharged engines. Fuel consumption of the turbos was heavy and refuelling mid-race had become necessary. With the ever-increasing power, speeds were continually on the up and in practice René Arnoux became the first person to lap the circuit in under 1:10.000 with a time of 1:09.462 in his Ferrari 126C3, a lap at over . In the race, the lap record was raised to over by Frenchman Alain Prost, who won the race in the Renault RE40 at an average speed of , from Nelson Piquet in the Brabham-BMW BT52B and Patrick Tambay in a Ferrari. Finishing fourth, also using Renault power, was the Lotus 94T of Nigel Mansell.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1985 International Trophy, run on 24 March, was the inaugural event under the regulations for the new International Formula 3000. New Zealand driver Mike Thackwell won the International Trophy for the third time, and the first F3000 race in the process, driving a Ralt RT20 from John Nielsen in a similar car. Third place went a March 85B driven by Michel Ferté.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Six weeks later, sports cars returned for the Silverstone 1000 km. Porsche cars took five of the top six placings in the shape of four 962Cs and a 956. The winners were the works pairing of Ickx/Mass from their teammates Bell and Hans-Joachim Stuck; third was the Lancia-Martini of Patrese and Alessandro Nannini.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1985 British Grand Prix saw Keke Rosberg in his Williams FW10-Honda set a qualifying lap at over . Three others clocked an average lap speed of over . Rosberg set his time despite a deflating rear tyre and the track still being slightly damp from earlier rain. The turbo era had reached its zenith, and while Prost put the lap record up to , like most races of the era it was something of an economy run as the FIA had limited fuel capacities (220 litres per car per race). Prost went on the win in the race, in the McLaren MP4/2B, at an average of from the Ferrari 156/85 of Alboreto and the Ligier JS25 of Laffite.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The International season opened on 13 April with the first round of the Intercontinental F3000 Championship. The first home was Pascal Fabré with a Lola T86/50 from Emanuele Pirro (March) and Nielsen (Ralt).


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In 1986, the Silverstone 1000 km run on 5 May was a round of the World Endurance Championship, which Silk Cut Jaguar (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) won. The Derek Warwick/Eddie Cheever XJR9 was the only car to complete the distance of 212 laps, at a speed of . The Stuck/Bell Porsche 962C was two laps down in second place, with a 962C a further three laps adrift in the hands of Jo Gartner and Tiff Needell.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Due to safety concerns over high speeds, by the time the Grand Prix returned in Silverstone in 1987, a new corner had been inserted before Woodcote. The first International meeting in 1987 was the initial round of the Intercontinental F3000 Championship on 12 April. The race was run at , the winner being Maurício Gugelmin in a Ralt from Michel Trollé in a Lola and Roberto Moreno aboard another Ralt.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: In 1987, Jaguar won the Silverstone 1000 km, their fourth successive win in the World Sports Car Championship. The XJR8s took a one-two finish, with the car of Cheever and Raul Boesel winning ahead of Jan Lammers and Watson, with the Porsche 962C of Stuck and Bell third; these three crews covered the whole lap distance of 210 laps of the full GP circuit, the winning Jaguar averaging .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: From the 1987 British Grand Prix onwards, the event was firmly established at Silverstone. The first two placings in 1987 were a repeat of the 1986 race at Brands Hatch, Mansell winning from his Williams-Honda teammate Piquet at and Ayrton Senna in the Lotus-Honda. Following a mid-race pit stop in a bid to cure a vibration in the car, Mansell found himself 29 seconds behind Piquet with 28 laps to go. He quickly cut Piquet's lead by more than a second per lap, until with five laps to go the gap was only 1.6 seconds. With two laps to go, Mansell slipstreamed Piquet down the Hangar Straight, jinked left and then dived right to pass Piquet into Stowe. To a tumultuous reception, Mansell went on to win the race.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1987 saw the inaugural World Touring Car Championship arrive at Silverstone. Luis Pérez-Sala led the race until the penultimate lap, with a lead of nearly one minute, but then his Bigazzi-entered BMW M3 retired. He had not been sure that the car would start the race after Olivier Grouillard rolled it in practice. However, the Munich marque still took victory when the CiBiEmme Sport's M3 finished first, in the hands of Enzo Calderari and Fabio Mancini. The Schnitzer M3 of Roberto Ravaglia, Roland Ratzenberger and Pirro managed to finished second, ahead of the Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo of Giorgio Francia and Nicola Larini.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1988 race was won at , the dramatic reduction in race speed being due to heavy rain. Senna took victory in his McLaren from Mansell (Williams) and Nannini (Benetton).


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1988 Silverstone 1000 km saw Cheever take a hat-trick of victories for Jaguar, this time partnered by Martin Brundle. The XJR9 won at from the Sauber-Mercedes C9 driven by Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mass. The second Sauber driven by Mauro Baldi and James Weaver, was third, two laps down, while third on the road was the Porsche 962C of Bell and Needell which was disqualified for an oversize fuel tank.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: April 1989 saw the first round of the 1989 International F3000 Championship. Thomas Danielsson won at the wheel of a Reynard 89D, at a speed of . Second by 0.5secs was Philippe Favre in a Lola T89/50 from Mark Blundell and Jean Alesi in Reynards.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Mid-July is the traditional time for the British Grand Prix and on the 16th, over 90,000 spectators converged upon the circuit to see Prost score his 38th GP win in the McLaren-Honda MP4/5, at . Mansell brought the Ferrari 641 into second place from Nannini's Benetton.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The weekend of 19/20 May 1990 was a busy one at Silverstone, for on the Saturday, a round of the FIA F3000 Championship was run on the Grand Prix circuit, and on the Sunday the contenders in the World Sports-Prototype Championship had their turn. In the F3000 race, Scotland's Allan McNish led Érik Comas home from Marco Apicella. The first two were Lola-Mugen T90/50 mounted, while the third-placed car was a Reynard-Mugen 90D. The sports cars again ran over 300 miles, contesting the Shell BRDC Empire Trophy. The first three places went to British cars, with Jaguar first and second from a Spice-Cosworth in the hands of Fermín Vélez and Bruno Giacomelli. The winning Jaguar XJR11 of Martin Brundle and Michel Ferté was the only to run the full distance of 101 laps, lapping even the second-placed XJR11 of Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: And so to July, and the British Grand Prix. Once again, it was over and was won at . Alain Prost was now driving for Ferrari and his victory was rounded by Thierry Boutsen in the Williams in second, and Ayrton Senna's McLaren in third.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: After the Grand Prix, it had already been decided to extensively redesign Silverstone's layout. Nearly every part of Silverstone (except Copse, Abbey and all of the straights, save the Farm Straight) was redesigned. The ultra-high speed Club and Stowe corners were made slower and a chicane was placed before Club. Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel were re-designed as very fast snaky esses that proved to be even more challenging than the original series of corners – the considerable amount of lateral acceleration change from side to side became the highlighted challenge of the new circuit. A new twisty infield section called Luffield was created in place of the Farm straight and the Bridge chicane. Despite these alterations, the Grand Prix and World Sportscar circuses both very much approved of the new layout: Silverstone was still fast, which is what it has always been known for.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: When the Group C cars returned in 1991, they raced for the World Sports Car Championship, but the race distance was reduced to (83 laps of the GP circuit) and it was a straight battle between Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, with victory going to the Jaguar XJR14 of Teo Fabi and Derek Warwick at a speed of . In second place, four laps behind, came the Mercedes C291 of Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger, followed by the singleton driver XJR14 of Brundle.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: July came, and with it came, of course, the Grand Prix. The almost unbelievably popular victory was Nigel Mansell's 18th Grand Prix win, making him the most successful British driver ever. Only two other drivers completed the full race distance: Gerhard Berger for McLaren and Prost for Ferrari.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: 1992 was once more a very busy International season for Silverstone with a round of the International F3000 Championship, the World Sports Car Championship, and of course, the Grand Prix. The first two were run on the same day, 10 May. Although the practice was spoilt by hailstorm, the races were run in bright weather. The F3000 victor was Jordi Gené who completed the 37 laps at a speed of in a Reynard-Mugen 92D, from a similar Judd-engined example in the hands of Rubens Barrichello. Lola-Cosworth were third and fourth, driven by Olivier Panis and Emanuele Naspetti.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The sports car race was a sad affair, with but a handful of cars coming to the grid. There were 11 starters and just five finishers. The race was won by the Peugeot 905 of Warwick and Yannick Dalmas at , two laps ahead of the Maurizio Sandro Sala/Johnny Herbert Mazda MXR-01 which was four laps ahead of the Lola-Judd T92/10 driven by Jésus Pareja and Stefan Johansson. At the end of the season, the World Sports Car Championship was no more.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The Grand Prix was a happier affair with Williams-Renaults of Mansell and Riccardo Patrese taking top honours from the Benettons of Brundle and Schumacher. Mansell dominated practice and the race, winning at .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Six days after competing at Donington Park, the F3000 guys were at Silverstone for the second round of the 1993 International F3000 Championship. Gil de Ferran won at from David Coulthard and Michael Bartels – all were driving Cosworth powered Reynard 93Ds.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Despite back-to-back Grand Prix victories for Williams, Mansell would not be back in 1993 to try for a famous hat-trick as he was racing in the States. However, things looked good his replacement, Damon Hill after he set fastest time in practice, but Prost (now at Williams) pipped him to pole by just 0.128secs and he went on to win the race after Hill's engine exploded 18 laps from home. Second and third were the Benettons of Schumacher and Patrese.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: A year later, the Grand Prix was a race of controversy which rumbled on for most of the season: Hill was barely ahead of Schumacher on the grid and on the formation lap the young German sprinted ahead of him, which was not allowed under the rules (cars were required to maintain station during the formation lap). The race authorities informed Benetton that their man had been penalised 5 seconds for his transgression but they did not realise that it was a stop/go penalty and did not call Schumacher in, so he was black-flagged. Schumacher ignored the black flag for six laps, and for failing to respond to the black flag Schumacher was disqualified, having finished second on the road. Hill won the race from Jean Alesi in the Ferrari and Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1994 F3000 race was an all Reynard 94D affair. The 38-lap race was won by Franck Lagorce winning at , from Coulthard and de Ferran. The race distance for the following season had increased by two. Victorious on this occasion was Riccardo Rosset driving Super Nova's Reynard-Cosworth AC 95D. His teammate Vincenzo Sospiri finished second, while Allan McNish was third in a Zytek-Judd KV-engined 95D.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Hill and Schumacher were not having a happy 1995 and managed to take each other off after the final pit stops, leaving Coulthard in the lead which he lost when he had to take a 10 sec 'stop/go' penalty for speeding in the pit lane. All of this left Herbert to take his maiden Grand Prix win – he was euphoric and was held shoulder high on the podium by the second and third-placed men, Coulthard and Alesi.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: On 12 May 1996, the Northamptonshire circuit hosted a round of the International BPR series which was very a British affair. First was the McLaren F1 GTR of Andy Wallace and Olivier Grouillard followed by the Jan Lammers/Perry McCarthy Lotus Esprit and another McLaren in the hands of James Weaver and Ray Bellm.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: At the Grand Prix on 14 July, Damon Hill qualfied first. He spun out of contention when a front wheel nut became loose, and his teammate Jacques Villeneuve went on to win at a fraction over , from Berger's Benetton and the McLaren of Häkkinen.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 1997 Grand Prix was again won by Villeneuve at the wheel of a Williams-Renault at a speed of from the Benettons of Alesi and Alexander Wurz.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: From the start of 1998, the FIA decreed that all Formula One grids must be straight: in order to comply with this, the RAC moved the start line forward at Silverstone but not, significantly, the finish line. This led to some confusion at the end of the Grand Prix, which was scheduled for 60 laps, but was effectively 59.95 laps. With the timing being taken from the finish line and not the start line, the winning car was in the pits at the end of the race and the Ferrari pit was situated between the two lines. The chequered flag is supposed to be waved at the winning car and then showed to the other competitors, but it was waved at the second man who thought that he had won.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Victory went to Schumacher at the wheel of a Ferrari in appalling conditions. In addition to pit lane confusion, he was penalised 10 seconds for passing another racer under a yellow flag. The stewards failed to inform the teams of their decision in the proper manner so Schumacher took his stop go penalty in the pits, after the race was over. McLaren appealed to the FIA, but the appeal was rejected and the results were confirmed, with Häkkinen second in the McLaren and Eddie Irvine third in the second Ferrari.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Victory in the 1999 British Grand Prix went to Coulthard's McLaren-Mercedes with an average speed of .


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: For Silverstone's first Grand Prix of the 21st Century, the FIA decreed that the race should be moved to April, and the event took place over Easter, with the GP itself run on Easter Sunday. In hindsight this was a poor decision by the FIA, who failed to take into account the unpredictable weather in Britain at this time of year. It rained almost continually for the best part of three weeks before the event and most of Good Friday; by Easter Saturday the car parks had virtually collapsed and were completely closed. Although most of the race day itself was fine, the damage was done and many thousands of spectators were unable to get to Silverstone to witness David Coulthard win his second straight victory in the event, from his McLaren teammate Mika Häkkinen, with Michael Schumacher third for Ferrari.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: On 14 May, the FIA GT Championship came to Northants, in slightly more clement conditions and victory went to Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter driving a Lister Storm GT from no fewer than four Chrysler Viper GTS-Rs.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2000 Silverstone 500 USA Challenge was the first American Le Mans Series race to be held outside of North America. It served as a precursor to the creation of the European Le Mans Series by gauging the willingness of European teams from the FIA Sportscar Championship and FIA GT Championship to participate in a series identical to the American Le Mans Series. This event also shared the weekend at Silverstone with an FIA GT round, with some GT teams running both events. The race was won by the Schnitzer Motorsport's BMW V12 LMP of Jörg Müller and JJ Lehto.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Formula One returned for the 2001 British Grand Prix in July to see Häkkinen triumph having managing to overtake the driver in pole, Schumacher. Schumacher, driving for Ferrari finished second while teammate Barrichello gained the final spot in the podium.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: The 2002 British Grand Prix saw Ferrari return to the top two steps of the podium with Schumacher beating Barrichello, while pole-sitter and Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished in third. These three drivers, as well as gaining the top three qualifying places, were the only drivers to finish on the lead lap.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Although the 2003 Grand Prix was won by pole-sitter Barrichello for Ferrari, the race is probably most remember for a track invasion by the defrocked priest, Neil Horan, who ran along Hangar Straight, head-on to the train of cars, wearing a saffron kilt and waving religious banners. Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren) was pressured by Barrichello into losing the lead and an unforced error later on allowed Montoya to seize second.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Neil Hodgson had a brilliant World Superbike meeting in 2003. The Fila Ducati rider withstood the attention of James Toseland in the first race and then fellow Ducati pilot, Gregorio Lavilla in the second, just 0.493secs ahead of the Spaniard. Rubén Xaus claimed two third-place finishes.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: Schumacher celebrated his 80th Grand Prix victory of his career at the 2004 event after taking the lead from Räikkönen during the first round of pit stops. Barrichello completed the podium in third, and coming home in fourth was BAR's Jenson Button.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: A crowd of 68,000 saw Renegade Ducati's Noriyuki Haga and Ten Kate Honda's Chris Vermeulen take a win each in the 2004 World Superbike event. Haga pulled off a close finish in race one, just beating Vermeulen. In race two, the roles were reversed with the Honda beating the Ducati.


title: Silverstone Circuit

text: When the Le Mans Prototypes returned in 2004, they raced for the Le Mans Series over a distance of 1000 km. It was a straight battle between the pair of Audi R8's of Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx and Team Goh's singleton R8, with victory going to the Veloqx pair of Allan McNish and Pierre Kaffer. In second place, one lap behind was Rinaldo Capello and Seiji Ara for Team Goh, followed by the all British pair of Johnny Herbert and Jamie Davies for Veloqx.