I was back at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago for the opening round of the 2016 World Endurance Championship. I went along with a mate to watch the Friday practice sessions, and what an amazing experience to watch some of the most technologically advanced cars in the world pounding round this amazing circuit.

It was a great day for many reasons. Firstly, it didn’t rain at all which was a huge surprise as it was forecast to for the whole day, and it wasn’t windy either, so it was very pleasant viewing conditions!

We started off by watching the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) 1st practice session at the end of the International Pits Straight grandstand so we could see the cars coming through Stowe, Vale and Club. It was a really good place to sit as we saw a lot of spinners going into the gravel at Vale, and we could also see the drivers trying to ease the power on through Club in the wet conditions, desperately trying to stay of the treacherous kerbs.

There was then about an hour break before the WEC 1st practice, so we grabbed a hot chocolate and walked over to the Wing to see what was going on over there. It took us about 30 minutes to effectively cross the track as we had to go all the way over the old circuit, across the Wellington Straight bridge, around the inside of the circuit past Maggots and Becketts / Aintree and then to the Paddock. We briefly looked at the Fan Zone area but there wasn’t loads to do so we went for a walk through the WEC paddock and went into the Wing, right in time for the start of the session.

We watched the entire session from the long balcony of the Wing which overlooked the pit lane and main straight. The hour and a half flew by, and it was great as there were always cars going through the pits, so I managed to get some great photos of the cars, which you can see in this article. I deliberately made sure I got a spot directly overlooking the Porsche garage for the end of the session, so I had a great view of the two cars doing practice driver changes and pit stops. While I was up there also managed to spot a few drivers who were walking between the garage and the pit wall, including Toyota’s Sebastien Buemi, Rebellion’s Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber, the reigning champion for Porsche.

I noticed this when I went for the Qualifying last year but it was compounded again this time, and that is how quiet the LMP1 hybrids are, especially the Audi. In the braking zone for T1 you can hardly hear them! The loudest car was the new Ford GT. It looks mega, sounds mega. The Toyota was interesting to listen to as well, because when they come out the pits you can just hear the electric motor powering it, and then a couple of seconds later the petrol engine kicks in. The hybrids are like rockets out of the corners, they make the rest of the cars look pathetic, they are gone so quickly, just amazing to watch.

One thing which I’ve never seen before until that day is electronic pit boards. Some of the teams have these boards with screens which can automatically slide in and out of the pit wall, so the teams can essentially display any information they like on them. A really neat idea, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in Formula 1 some time soon.

Something else I noticed, not only in the WEC but also the ELMS and Porsche Carrera Cup GB championships, is how good the liveries are. There are some real masterpieces out there, and they make Formula 1 look so dreary in comparison. The Porsche LMP1, Corvettes, Fords, the Ferrari to name a few.

After the WEC finished we grabbed some lunch and walked to the National Pits Straight paddock where ELMS and Porsche Carrera Cup GB were based. We were right in the thick of it with the Porsches, and they were all based on one of the service roads by the paddock! We then watched the ELMS 2nd practice from Copse corner for about 30 minutes, where the Ferrari’s in particular were breathtaking. They are relatively quiet when approaching you, but when they get through the corner and back on the power, it’s a wall of sound that just hits you. Spectacular.

Finally we watched from Woodcote (overlooking the Wellington Straight, Brooklands, Luffield, Woodcote and the pit straight to Copse) for a bit and then that was the day over! For £10 we got so much out of the day, and once again, just amazing access to be in the paddock and pit building. Something you just wouldn’t get at a Formula 1 event. Bring on next year!