Silverstone Raceway – site of England’s first Formula One race, home of the British Grand Prix, and now the proverbial field of dreams for a group of young men who hope to take their racing skills from virtual to reality on the famed tarmac. But it wasn’t always that way…

It was known as Silverstone Airfield during World War Two. Training crews of the sub-hunting Vickers Wellington bomber learned their trade and called this place home. Silverstone, like many other airfields across Great Britain, was abandoned to the weeds at the conflict’s conclusion.

Unlike the other airfields, however, Silverstone would soon take on a new life. The decaying runways, byways and service roads of the airfield proved irresistible to a rowdy crowd of local leadfoots, and the fabled base soon reverberated again, now with the sound of a different kind of roaring engine.

Silverstone’s first “official” race took place in September of 1947 and was, according to accounts of the day, a shambling affair of murky legality that counted 12 eager participants. Following the unfortunate meeting of a wayward sheep and the business end of a participating automobile, the event was named “The Mutton Grand Prix”.

The following year, The Royal Automobile Club leased the airfield and, in a move that no doubt delighted area livestock, laid out a formal racing circuit.