The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the

British Racing Drivers' Club The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...

to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. For many years it formed the premier non-championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

event in Britain, alongside the

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

. The event was instituted by the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) in August 1949, sponsored by the Daily Express newspaper, for cars meeting contemporary Grand Prix motor racing regulations. The BRDC drew the name from that of an extinct event formerly held at the

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

circuit in the early 1930s. The first Silverstone event was noteworthy as it was the first to use the former airfield's perimeter roadways rather than the main runways; a circuit layout that persisted for over forty years. With the introduction of the new

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, in 1950 the International Trophy became a non-championship race held to Formula One rules. The 1950 event was again held in August, but from 1951 onwards – apart from 1957 – the International Trophy was contested in April or May, near the beginning of the World Championship season. The timing of the event often attracted many top teams and drivers, allowing them to practise in racing conditions before the season became too serious. From 1952 the trophy was also sporadically opened to drivers in the

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...

category, as well as being run to F2 regulations in those years that the World Championship was also. 1978 saw the 30th running of the International Trophy, and the last under these rules; with the increasing complexity of F1 cars it simply became too expensive for teams to contest non-championship events. From 1979, the trophy continued as a Formula Two-only event. When F2 was replaced at the end of 1984, the trophy switched to the new

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

rules from 1985. In turn, it was replacement of F3000 by GP2 in 2005 that ended the International Trophy as an event for cutting-edge racing cars. Since 2005 the trophy has been awarded to the winner of a race for historic F1 cars at the annual

Silverstone Classic The Silverstone Classic is an annual three-day car and race event at the Silverstone Circuit, home of the British Grand Prix. The event features hundreds of historic race cars in circa 20 races over the weekend, displays from over 100 car clubs w ...

race meeting.

Winners of the International Trophy

1949–1980: Formula One years

''Note that in 1952 and 1953, the race was run to

, while the 1961 race was held for the short lived

Intercontinental Formula Intercontinental Formula was an open wheel, single seater motor-racing formula introduced in 1961 as an alternative to Formula One. As its name implies it was hoped to encourage participation from the United States and Europe, but ultimately the ...

. The 1980 event formed a round of the

1980 British Formula One Championship The 1980 British Formula One Championship (formally the 1980 Aurora AFX F1 Championship) was the third season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 4 April 1980 and ended on 5 October after twelve races. The Drivers' Championshi ...

.''

1977–1984: Formula Two years

1985–2004: Formula 3000 years

2005 onward: Historic F1 years

2005: ''

Thoroughbred Grand Prix The Historic Formula One Championship, previously known as the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship, was a championship for Formula One cars from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s which is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ...

'' 2006–2007, 2012:
Masters Series
'
2008: '' FIA Historic F1''

References

* (F3000 Results.) * (F2 Results.) * (Complete F1 Results.) {{BRDC International Trophy