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When Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) president Pierre Fillon visited Silverstone for the 2024 British Grand Prix, it was at the personal invitation of British Racing Drivers' Club chairman Peter Digby.
This is a visit Digby believes contributed to re-building the relationship between the ACO, the BRDC, owners of the 'home of British motor racing', and Silverstone's circuit management.
Two years later, Silverstone was announced as returning to the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar, overseen by Fillon's ACO, for 2027.
'Pierre came to the [British] Grand Prix as my guest, and just saw what had happened at Silverstone in the last six or seven years since he'd been there,' said Digby, when I spoke to him about Silverstone's return to the WEC schedule.
'It really allowed Pierre to see Silverstone for what it was in 2024. He was pretty much knocked out when he saw the improvements we've made to the track, with the hotel, the bridge, Escapade. So he realised that it would be great.
'Pierre was also made an honorary member of the BRDC, which he was and is very proud of.'
The BRDC chairman was emphatic about the historic circuit's return to the world championship calendar, with a new four-year deal, starting in 2027, to run until 2030.
'We're all incredibly excited about [Silverstone's return to WEC], I must say,' he said.
'I follow [Le Mans and WEC] very closely, I've been going for the last 20 to 25 years. I've become quite close to the ACO, mainly via the technical division, but you come across Fillon via that.'
WEC, too, wanted the circuit to return to its calendar, as did fans on social media.
'Each time I go on the socials, on the WEC posts, every time I see some comments, "maybe you should return to Silverstone". So it was a dream for us, and I think it was kind of a dream for the UK fans,' said FIA WEC CEO Frederic Lequien to On The Apex after the announcement at Le Mans.
Silverstone's sportscar history
Silverstone was on the first ever WEC calendar when the series was brought back in 2012, after the original World Sportscar Championship's demise prior to the 1993 season.
It hosted 6 hour races from 2012 until 2018, which by all accounts were successful in both sporting and commercial terms for the series and circuit.
With WEC going through a lull or fallow period with the departure of Audi and Porsche from the manufacturer LMP1 class, in 2019 race was shortened to 4 hours.
Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle, who I spoke to at Le Mans for this On The Apex article, told me this was a series decision, and not Silverstone's.
'That's what they [the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and WEC] wanted,' he said when I asked why the race was shorter that year.
'To be honest, I'm pretty sure the contract allows them to set whatever they want. Or that contract did. I don't think we had a right to six hours.'
The ACO's relationship with Silverstone and the circuit's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), goes back almost a century, with Le Mans forming a very important part of the club's creation.
'Silverstone is owned by the British Racing Drivers' Club. The BRDC was essentially was formed out of the success of the British drivers at Le Mans in the 1920s,' said Pringle.
'The BRDC's relationship with the ACO goes back years. It'll be 100 years in the course of this contract,' he added.
For the BRDC, having a sportscar race at Silverstone is key as well, Digby told me.
'I think there's going to be quite an audience that really wants to come and see some good long distance, pure motorsport where you can wander around the track and see the cars in action at one minute at Copse and then going through Maggotts and Becketts,' said the BRDC chairman.
However, Pringle said that the only reason the circuit dropped off in the first place was unlucky timing and the global pandemic.
'We only dropped off the calendar because of COVID,' he said.
'Our contract was going to expire in 2020 or 21, and actually when we ran the last one in 2019, COVID stopped [things]. Then they were looking to slim down, and we've been really trying to find our way back onto the calendar ever since.'
'When the championship came back [after COVID], it was significantly smaller. They needed to thin down from eight to six, and we dropped off. If they had a contract with other people, then they can bump us, it was as simple as that.'
The long-term aim for a ninth round
As Pringle alluded to, then, ever since the Silverstone round of WEC dropped off the calendar, the circuit has been trying to get back on the schedule.
It's taken some time, though, with the championship focusing on sustainable growth and a consistent calendar year-on-year, with an identical eight-race calendar for three years running.
But, amongst the ACO and WEC management, there was still a desire to have Silverstone on the calendar, as a ninth round, even as far back as 2024.
'At the moment, let's say that we are happy with this calendar and I know that the paddock is happy too. The consensus is clear, eight is enough,' Lequien said in 2024, after that year's ACO press conference the day before the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
But he hinted at the time that 2027 could see calendar expansion.
'I do not believe that in 2026, we have more races,' he said in response to my question about calendar expansion post-2025.
'Maybe in 2027; it depends on many different parameters. Once again, we have to pay attention to the budget side and when we will stabilise everything. Then we'll have a discussion with the paddock. If the paddock agrees to add the ninth round, we'll do it.'
With the addition of Silverstone announced just a couple of weeks ago, though, this time Lequien was clear that 2027 presents an opportunity to add a ninth round.
'It's the time to add one more round, and one in Europe, in the UK,' said Lequien. It's the first option to return [to Silverstone]. There was no other second option.'
'If we have to choose one track, one circuit in the UK, it must be Silverstone. I mean the history is so deep, so strong with endurance racing.'
The teams, though, were concerned that nine races would push the limit of their budgets.
'[After COVID] they've [the ACO] been very steady at building back up,' said Pringle.
'This is a championship that's very conscious of its commitment to the OEMs and teams on costs and running mileage.
'Chuck another six hour race in there... the championship has had to get the buy-in from the teams to want to go from eight races to nine.
'I don't think they'd have done a ninth race anywhere. I think they've agreed to the ninth race because it's Silverstone.
'Because Silverstone is an important brand, it's a great track which will work well for it, but it's an important market and it's a historic race circuit that blends very proud history with modern facilities and a challenging track.'
In particular, the British teams competing in WEC were pushing for a return to their home circuit too.
'We've had some good support from the UK-based teams especially, such as JOTA and United Autosports,' said Digby.
'They've been right behind us and pushing the ACO as well, and McLaren of course as well.'
Phil Oakley
And in terms of ticket sales and fan numbers, Pringle said he hopes the draw of British manufacturers in Aston Martin and McLaren will help in that regard.
'Having Aston Martin and McLaren in this championship made a direct, material impact on our decision-making.
'It gives us confidence that we can build a crowd, because they're huge brands and they're willing to work with us. Silverstone's a big brand, but they're more emotional, aren't they?'
Communication and relationships
Digby had arrived at the BRDC in 2022 to find the post-COVID relationship still slightly sour between the two organisations.
'As soon as I joined the board and became chairman, I queried as to why we weren't hosting a sportscar race,' he said.
'I heard there were some post-COVID difficulties between the ACO and Silverstone, and I just said let's put that all behind us and get back to having a race at Silverstone'.
Fillon's July 2024 visit meant he saw the new additions in person, including the Escapade on-site accommodation, trackside Hilton hotel, and the museum, improvements all made since his last visit that had significantly upgraded the fan experience.
'Silverstone is somewhere people can come for a six hour race. We've got shelter from the weather. We understand about entertainment, we've got the assets that will keep people busy. We're going to be working with Le Mans Endurance Management to make sure there's plenty of entertainment,' said Pringle.
From the ACO's side, the project has been quite a long time in the making.
'I started to work on this project when I started in the company, five years ago,' Lequien said.
'It was just collaboration between bosses, with very good spirit during the two years of execution.'
ELMS: The test for Silverstone
So, with discussions under way about Silverstone's return to the WEC calendar, there needed to be some kind of test to see how well UK fans would respond to an international endurance or sportscar race at the circuit.
This took the form of a European Le Mans Series race, which returned to the UK after a six year absence in 2025.
'It was important,' Pringle said of ELMS's return to Silverstone in 2025.
'I think there's people involved in that organisation who weren't around when WEC was there before, to turn up and see that cracking racing.
'One of the great quirks of history is that, despite the fact it's just some pencil lines on an old airfield chart, and it's not designed by a German engineering company with CAD and everything, you still get some fantastic racing, because it's a fast track and it works really well with the aero.'
However, in the previous incarnation of the Silverstone WEC round, it was a double header, with a four-hour ELMS on the Saturday, and then the six-hour WEC race on the Sunday.
That won't be the case this time around, Pringle confirmed to On The Apex.
'No, they're separate weekends,' he said.
'ELMS is locked in September and this [WEC] is an April date. I would be very surprised if that changes within this first four-year contract period.
'This is just restarting our relationship with the [FIA] World Endurance Championship. I'm absolutely looking beyond this four-year deal, and we'll see how things evolve, but this is a genuine partnership with WEC.'
Finally, the previous WEC races at Silverstone, from WEC's second season in 2013 to 2019, were run as the RAC Tourist Trophy. This is the oldest global trophy in motorsport, having been first awarded in 1905 to John Napier in an Arrol-Johnston touring car, held on the Isle of Man Highlands Course.
I asked Pringle at Le Mans whether the historic trophy would be awarded again to the winners of the new race in 2027.
'You'll have to wait and see. ... it's not a no. It's definitely not a no,' said Pringle tantalisingly.
Yesterday WEC announced the trophy would be awarded again in 2027. So Pringle was right. At Le Mans, he told me, 'We've got this heritage. Let's play to it'. Awarding this trophy again is exactly the right way to do that. Bravo.
