11:30-ish. We had the usual debate this morning: what to wear on a typical English spring day? We have both settled on four layers - vest, T shirt, hooded ganzie, and hooded waterproof jacket. Of course, when we get out of the car, we are not warm enough. We calculate that David has been coming here for 40 years and Vicky for 29 (Howard for 10), yet the first visit of the season always takes us by surprise. Let's drive home and get our winter coats!
There's only one thing for it: get walking briskly to Brooklands corner. So, after a third of a mile walk, via the programme kiosk, a tea and a wee, and a bit of panning action, we are now just about feeling 'almost warm' under the hazy sunshine.
11:50-ish: Some fellow camera enthusiasts at Luffield. David is feeling inadequate - his is definitely not long enough.
12:30-ish: We are now sat in one of Silverstone's wind tunnels - also euphemistically called Grandstands. It is drizzling. This is the Toyota, driven by Nicolas Lapierre (and Alexander Wurtz), that set the fastest time for the grid of tomorrow's WEC 6 Hours of Silverstone.
12:45-ish: Still drizzling. This is the Audi, driven by Tom Kristensen (and Allan McNish), that will go on to win tomorrow's 6 Hours.
1:15-ish: We are in the National Paddock now. The Signatech Team drivers, Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici, also supplement their wages by doing some male modelling on the side. Clearly.
1:45-ish: thawing out nicely in the Paddock Cafe thanks to sausages, mash, onion rings (Vicky did not have any sausages), and gravy, washed down by a cuppa tea.
Food Police can rest assured that our minimum-of-5-a-day-requirements were met by the flecks of herb-like-material in the mash.
3:15-ish: we have wandered around the National Paddock, watched the F3 race at Copse and watched them being post-race checked in Scrutineering, and we are now at Village on our way to The Wing. It is raining consistently now. Our umbrella got ripped apart by the 'breeze' at Maggotts and has been slung in a bin. The ELMS race has started now.
We are wimps and would quite like some shelter please but these guys marshall in all weathers and are dead 'ard. Our hats go off to them.
3:45-ish: we have made it to The Wing but most of the teams are shut away out of the rain (who can blame them?). We'll have a look at the Fan Zone and then get the Shuttle Bus back to the outside of the circuit. We've walked about two miles or more now, so a sit down on a bus in wet clothes would be nice.
4:15-ish: the view from The International Pits Straight 'wind tunnel'. Rest assured that ELMS cars were speeding past. It's just that our new Sony compact camera 'panorama function' hasn't 'stitched' those bits in.
4:30-ish: the ELMS 3 Hours of Silverstone is about half-way through and the winning Jota Sport Zytech Nissan splashes its way up the International Straight past two people who are definitely ready to walk the third of a mile back to the car park and go home now thank you very much.
All-in-all, despite the rain in the afternoon, it's been another great day out at Silverstone. Roll-on the next one (Historic Sports Cars in May). It'll be fabulously sunny and warm by then, bound to be. Oh yes.
