Silverstone has always been a firm favourite with British teams and drivers, and the Home of British Motorsport has seen plenty of British success in the visits by the European Le Mans Series between 2013 and 2019.
Silverstone has also seen a number of ELMS ‘firsts’, including the first ever ELMS race in the current LMEM run era, the first 4-hour race and the first ever LMP3 race. Silverstone has hosted seven ELMS races, five of which were season openers, with 2025 marking the eighth time the European Le Mans Series has visited the Northamptonshire circuit.
It is also the first time that the ELMS has been the headline series at Silverstone as from 2013 to 2019 the ELMS ran alongside the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The 3-Hours of Silverstone was held on Saturday 13th April 2013 as the opening round of the newly revitalised European Le Mans Series. The 3-hour race was won by British drivers Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey in the all British no38 JOTA Sport Zytek-Nissan.
The LMGTE category was won by Proton Competition, the no77 Porsche 911 driven by Britain’s Nick Tandy, Germany's Christian Ried and Italian Gianluca Roda finishing a lap ahead of British team RAM Racing driven by Johnny Mowlem and his Irish teammate Matt Griffin. The Anglo-Irish duo went on to win that year’s LMGTE title.
The GTC class, for GT3 cars, was won by another British team, Ecurie Ecosse. Ollie Millroy, Andrew Smith and Alasdair McCaig won in the team’s BMW Z4.
In 2014 Silverstone once again hosted the open race of the ELMS season, this time with the first 4-hour ELMS race. The LMGTE class was won by the no55 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Britain’s Duncan Cameron, Ireland’s Matt Griffin and Italy’s Michele Rugolo. Cameron and Griffin will be racing in the 2025 event in the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari.
In 2015 Silverstone hosted the opening race for the third time and British success continued. The LMP2 category was won by British team Greaves Motorsport, with British driver Jon Lancaster, Sweden’s Bjorn Wirdheim and Swiss driver Gary Hirsch winning in the British built Gibson 015S-Nissan.
The 2015 race at Silverstone was also the debut for the brand new LMP3 category and the class was won by the Team LNT Ginetta driven by Chris Hoy and Charlie Robertson. LMGTE was also won by a British team, with Gulf Racing taking the win driven by British drivers Michael Wainwright, Adam Carroll and Phil Keen.
The 2016 race at Silverstone was, once again, the opening round and all three classes were won by British drivers, with two won by British teams. The overall win went to Simon Dolan for the second time, who stood on the top step of the podium with Harry Tincknell and Dutch driver Guido Van Der Garde.
The 2016 LMP3 class saw a 1-2 for United Autosports, with Alex Brundle and Christian England winning with their American teammate Mike Guasch. Current LMGT3 driver Wayne Boyd finished second for the Anglo-American team. The LMGTE victory was a home win for Aston Martin Racing with Andrew Howard, Darren Turner and Alex MacDowell driving the Beechdean Icecream sponsored Vantage.
British success continued at Silverstone in 2017 with United Autosports securing victory in both the LMP2 and LMP3 categories in the opening race of the ELMS season.
Aston Martin’s success on home soil continued when British team TF Sport won the LMGTE class with Britain’s Euan Hankey joining Turkish driver Salih Yoluc and Dane Nicky Thiim on the top step of the Silverstone podium.
In 2018 the 4 Hours of Silverstone moved to August and was Round 4 of that year’s ELMS.
Success for British teams and drivers continued with United Autosports securing another LMP3 win for British drivers Matt Bell and Tony Wells alongside their Canadian teammate Garrett Grist.
Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen finished second in LMP3 with Colin Noble and Alex Kapadia alongside their Danish teammate Christian Olsen.
JMW Motorsport added their name to the ever-growing list of British teams enjoying the winner’s champagne at Silverstone, with Liam Griffin and Alex MacDowell winning LMGTE alongside Spain’s Miguel Molina.
The 2019 4 Hours of Silverstone would be the seventh and final race before the ELMS return in 2025 and for the first time there were no British teams or drivers on the top step of any class podium at the end of the race held on the 31stAugust.
French team IDEC Sport won overall from G-Drive Racing and Graff. LMP3 was won by Eurointernational, with Inter Europol Competition taking second with Britain’s Nigel Moore and Martin Hippe from Germany. United Autosports took another LMP3 podium in third place, with Wayne Boyd standing alongside Canada’s Garrett Grist and Brazil’s Tommy Erdos.
Proton Competition secured another Silverstone LMGTE victory, finishing ahead of two Kessel Racing Ferraris.
The 2025 Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone will take place from the 12-14 September, with support races by the Michelin Le Mans Cup and the Ligier European Series.
