After five fantastic years at Donington Park, taking Secret Meet to Silverstone was a big move into the unknown, but holding such a celebration of motoring at the home of British Motorsport felt right, and what a celebration it was.
Before you even walked through the gates into the paddock, the car park was a motor show in itself with hundreds of supercars like a sea of Skittles, and in the event itself, it was a case of where to look first. Our partners pulled out all the stops to line the paddock and pit garages with some of the world’s most incredible cars, far too many to name including the Singer DLS Turbo, McLaren Senna GTR XP02, Bugatti Centodieci, GMA T.50, the global dynamic debut of the AGTZ Twin Tail and an encyclopaedia of motorsport greats from Le Mans to Formula 1.
All the while, Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit was alive with the sound of horsepower, with sessions for members to enjoy their cars as intended and ear-piercing motorsport demos to let us all remember how racing cars used to sound with vintage Le Mans, GT1 and Formula 1 cars — heaven on Earth for any motorsport fan! A sight unlikely to be repeated was a celebration of the iconic Jaguar XJR-15, with 10 of the 53 ever produced coming together at the very circuit they raced at in 1991 with period drivers such as Admin Hahne, David Brabham and Ian Flux at the wheel.
Despite a different venue, the all-important lunchtime hypercar parade and photoshoot returned for another year, with over £150 million of the world’s most elusive machines packed onto the grid at once, headed up by the Bugatti Centodieci, Chiron Supersport 300+, the Nurburgring record holding McLaren P1 LM and Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, with 16 rows of rarities backing them up including a McLaren Senna GTR, more World Record Edition Bugattis, Jaguar XJ220 and XJ13, multiple Paganis and Koenigseggs, and of course several legendary Ferrari ‘F Cars’.
Later in the day, some of these hypercars had their very own session where their owners had the scarce opportunity to push them to their limits, and everyone on the pit wall had the equally scarce opportunity to see and hear such special cars being driven in anger, with an aural symphony from the screaming V12s of the GMA T.50 at 12,000rpm, several Aston Martin Valkyries, Ferrari F40 LM, Jaguar XJR-15, Lamborghini Diablo SV-R and Murci SV, and Aston Martin One-77, the barking V10 of the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento and the turbocharged V8 McLaren Senna GTR which sounded like a fighter jet flying past the pit wall.
With such an assault on the senses all day, it’s difficult to choose highlights, but here’s what Founder and Managing Director of Supercar Driver, Adam Thorby, has to say:
“What were my highlights? Where do you start really? It is like the ultimate game of Top Trumps isn't it? There are so many epic and notable cars, it is hard to pick out highlights when you have things like the Bugatti Veyron prototype XP5.5 that did 254mph in 2005, to the three WRE Bugattis — the only three in private ownership — the Ferrari 288 GTO prototype, Carol Shelby's Cobra, the '76 Le Mans Porsche 936, Mansell's Ferrari 639 F1 or the Lamborghini Diablo GT1 that hasn't been back in the UK for 30 years!
“For me though, this isn't what it is all about. It is the collective coming together of epic cars and passionate petrolheads in a private space where we can all share and indulge our passion for all things four-wheeled. What I loved most was seeing all the cars throughout the day being driven and enjoyed as intended on track, from 40 hypercars thrashing around in their own session, to members all enjoying themselves and icons from the motorsport world at full chat. It is a huge privilege to be responsible for creating such a spectacle and we have no plans to slow down on our pursuit to push boundaries for our 15 year anniversary in 2025.”
It is that sharing of passion that makes Secret Meet so special. Keeping the event within our community means it is like having an event with 2,000 of your mates! There is so much socialising and catching up, all the while surrounded by the most epic road and racing cars you’ve ever seen.
Famous faces from the motorsport world joined us again including Zak Brown and Adrian Newey. Just those guys being there, giving up their time to attend is great enough, but to see Adrian in his Valkyrie was very cool, never mind when he took to the track in his Leyton House F1 car and the biblically loud GT40, staying beyond the very end of the day.. Where else does that happen?!
Adrian’s son Harry also took to the track with an incredible V12 soundtrack to conclude the day in the Ferrari F1 Tipo 639. The car, chassis 106, is the only Tipo 639 in private hands and was used as a test bed for Ferrari’s V12 engine and semi-automatic paddle-shift transmission. Lia Block, daughter of Ken Block, also took to the track with Williams Heritage and promises to be back next year with more cars! Or Zak Brown taking time out of his super busy schedule to bring his Lotus 79T or give his new Jaguar XJR8 it’s first run out. Then there was the Ferrari 333SP, a car we have longed to have at the event!
So, what about next year? Well, 2025 will mark 15 years of Supercar Driver and rest assured, plans are already afoot. Will we be back at Donington in 2025? It is too early to tell, but we feel like we have unfinished business at Silverstone, so watch this space...
