The Bentley Boys are back at the Silverstone Classic

Next summer's Silverstone Classic will feature more than eight decades of glittering motorsport history, with confirmation that the acclaimed Kidston Trophy for Pre-War Sports Cars is returning to the packed on-track programme in 2017.

The inaugural Kidston Trophy was a real crowd-pleaser when introduced for the event's special Silver Jubilee celebrations in 2015.

A captivating grid of more than 50 eye-catching entries dating right back to the dawn of circuit racing took to the world-famous Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for a dazzling 40-minute showdown, complete with a mandatory pit stop and optional driver change.

It was an enthralling spectacle featuring legendary marques such as Alvis, Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Frazer Nash, Invicta and Lagonda that - by popular demand - will be repeated at the 2017 Classic.

Though victory went to the Frazer Nash Super Sports shared by experienced racers Fred Wakeman and Pat Blakeney-Edwards, it was the sight of a dozen iconic Bentleys that really caught the imagination of the 100,000 festival-goers. Rightly so, as the Kidston Trophy was named in honour of one of the famed 'Bentley Boys' of the late 1920s.

Glen Kidston was a real life Boy's Own hero. Back in 1914, he survived being torpedoed twice in the same morning when serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy. By the mid-1920s, he was a submarine Commander himself and when not at sea he set records as an aviator, hill climbed, conducted motorcycle speed trials on sand and raced cars, winning the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hours in the Bentley Speed Six he shared with Woolf Barnato.

Full information about the 2017 Silverstone Classic entertainment programme - including more exciting new races, special car club celebrations and live music performers - will be announced in the coming weeks.