Behind the scenes, however, pandemonium reigns. A better question right now might be, ‘What will happen to the Silverstone Classic?’

A friend writes from France, ‘What has happened to the Silverstone Classic?’ Good question, but the first response is this: don’t worry, mon ami, it should be alright on the night.

That’s my guess. Behind the scenes, however, pandemonium reigns. A better question right now might be, ‘What will happen to the Silverstone Classic?’ There’s no reliable answer yet – but don’t blame the recession this time. There are deeper problems with this much-loved event, including a lack of stability in its objectives.

Despite Silverstone’s inevitable focus on the British GP, the Classic grew into something very special. Then, trying to hang on to the GP, Silverstone did let the Classic fade away for some years but the thinking behind it has always been muddled. Is it about serious racing or is it a show? Did it ever have a long-term business plan which made sense; did it even have one at all?

Anyway, recognising that the in-house staff couldn’t cope with two major events so close together, last year the Classic was delegated to outside investors and an outside agency.

They put on a magnificent show. The club stands and other attractions were so good that many visitors never bothered with anything else. Those who did watch the racing were not disappointed. With the old spirit seemingly restored, everybody looked forward to an even better Classic in 2009.

Then things unravelled. The event lost money, we heard, and many suppliers and providers of services apparently weren’t paid. If that is so, it’s embarrassing. People need to be paid. It’s a small world and we must retain our friends.

The outside agency has gone but, with talk of matters going to court, we must not apportion blame for any business errors. Meanwhile the event is under new management and the first thing to emerge is that the trusted organisations which bring the actual races to this meeting have been asked to pay gigantically increased charges for the privilege of being there. Their mood appears to be one of disbelief that anybody could contemplate such a thing in the current financial climate. A huge row has begun behind closed doors.

What a mess. At least last year we saw an inspiring and largely successful effort to put a real buzz back into the Classic. The investors surely did not expect to make money straight away. It takes years to achieve that happy state of affairs but the grapevine suggests it lost so much in 2008 that nerves started to crack.

Quite rightly, the Classic does not try to compete with other major historic events in terms of spectator entertainment. Silverstone has its own unique advantages ready and waiting to be exploited. That said, it doesn’t need any of the wacky ideas for innovative historic races that I’ve heard rumoured recently – serious racing with grids of relatively recent Super Touring Cars is one such. That would be costly and time-consuming to set up as well as being unlikely to attract new spectators. The Classic thrives on a fabulous if familiar show of superb old cars being raced well by drivers out to enjoy themselves.

Some people at Silverstone don’t seem to grasp the difference between modern racing and historic events. Paying spectators were well provided for at last year’s Classic and they obviously enjoyed it. This was not exactly the case for competitors. Their own organisations, such as Masters and Motor Racing Legends, laid on good hospitality independently and that made up for a lot. Otherwise, the competitors were not that well cared for. Somebody bringing two or three valuable cars, and paying a few hundred pounds to enter each one, finds himself tearing about all over the place and there’s not even a proper drivers’ club for him to relax in.

This chap will put up with a lot in the cause of his sport but he needs to be decently looked after. The lack of a grand party probably doesn’t matter but if he gets messed about and is then told that entry fees are going through the roof his language might well become colourful. The Silverstone Classic is very nearly a beautiful and successful event but to get there it needs one almighty reality check. Urgent talks continue behind those closed doors.