 | |
| FIA World Endurance Championship | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Silverstone Circuit |
| Corporatesponsor | Autosport |
| First race | 1976 |
| First FIA WEC race | 2012 |
| Duration | 4 Hours |
| Previous names | 1000 Kilometres of Silverstone 6 Hours of Silverstone |
| Most wins (driver) |
|
| Most wins (team) |  Silk CutJaguar (5) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Porsche (7) |
The4 Hours of Silverstone (formerly the1000 km of Silverstone and6 Hours of Silverstone) is anendurancesports car race held atSilverstone Circuit near theNorthamptonshirevillages ofSilverstone andWhittlebury. First run in 1976 as part of theWorld Sportscar Championship, the race was a part of theFIA World Endurance Championship between 2012 and 2019, but the 2020 race was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the race didn't return for 2021. TheRAC Tourist Trophy has been awarded to the winners of the event.
In 1975, a round of theWorld Championship of Makes was not held in Britain for one of the first times since 1966. The1000 km Brands Hatch which had been run almost consecutively during that period went under hiatus while track upgrades were carried out. Following upgrades of its own in 1975, plans were made for sportscars to return to Britain by using Silverstone instead of Brands Hatch. The event was a six-hour endurance, part of theGroup 5 World Championship.
The first running consisted of a small field as some season competitors chose not to compete. British drivers John Fitzpatrick andTom Walkinshaw managed to upset the factory teams by scoring the inaugural victory in aBMW. The following year, competition grew as the factoryPorsche team, under the guise ofMartini Racing, earned their first of two consecutive victories for driversJochen Mass andJacky Ickx. The Porsche factory team was not able to continue their streak into 1979 when their lead car crashed, leaving the privateerGelo Racing Porsche to a dominant win.
1980 saw the first victory by asports-prototype.Alain de Cadenet managed to win the home event as a driver, team owner, as well as a constructor when he andDesiré Wilson won by 18 seconds in a car of his own design. A Group 5 car took its final victory in 1981 with the all-German Velga Racing Team before the class was phased out.
1982 was the first year of theGroup C category in the World Championship, although the race that year was actually won by an older Group 6Lancia. The first Group C victory came in 1983 as Porsche returned to their factory dominance of the event, going on to win the 1984 and 1985 events as well.Jacky Ickx andJochen Mass still hold record of most wins, having won the race four times in 1977, 1978, 1984 and 1985. In 1986 British success returned as theJaguar factory team was able to upset Porsche for the first time since the company had returned to racing. Jaguar then began to dominate in a fashion similar to Porsche, as they too won the next two years. AmericanEddie Cheever co-drove in each of the three victories.
No race was held in 1989 asDonington temporarily replaced Silverstone on the schedule, but sportscars returned in 1990 for a shorter 480 km event. Jaguar returned to their winning ways straight away before going on to earn a fifth straight victory in a 430 km event in 1991. Only after Jaguar officially retired from the World Championship was another manufacturer able to once again earn victory at Silverstone, this time beingPeugeot. A lack of entrants however lead to the cancellation of the World Championship, temporarily ending endurance racing at the circuit. The race did make a one-year comeback in 2000 as part of theAmerican Le Mans Series. The race served as a precursor to theEuropean Le Mans Series that followed in 2001.
In 2004, the newLe Mans Endurance Series was created to resurrect several 1000 km endurance races in a modern era. Among these was Silverstone, running at its original distance. Once again, British success started off the return of the event asAllan McNish and the BritishAudi team won the event. Audi and McNish won again the following year, this time under the control of the FrenchOreca team, although the race was heavily hampered by rain. Silverstone took a brief hiatus in 2006 asDonington replaced the event once again, only to return once again in 2007. Peugeot earned their second victory, this time with adiesel-poweredLe Mans prototype. The 2010 edition was the inaugural race of theLe Mans Intercontinental Cup, as well as the first time the race used the new 5.901 km (3.667 mi) "Arena" configuration. The race continued in 2012 as a part of theFIA World Endurance Championship.
On 2 October 2024, it was announced that theEuropean Le Mans Series will return to Silverstone with a 4-hour race after 6 years.[1]
† - Race went under a 6-hour time limit. Only 776 km of the 1000 km scheduled were covered.
FIA World Endurance Championship races (2012–present) | |
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| Current (2025) | |
| Former | |
