Audlem plays at Grand Prix

VIPs at yesterday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone enjoyed a musical treat – thanks in part to local musicians from Audlem and area. Playing in a trackside marquee just after the race, local favourites Jim KIrkpatrick and John Gunstone played to the celebrity race-goers with Whitesnake legend Bernie Marsden.

Eagle-eyed TV viewers might even have spotted John Gunstone's van parked next to the track, if only they'd known where to look. "One wrong turn while I was parking up and I could've been in the race," reports John. Few in the audience at the gig had taken a similar risk: "Everyone else in the tent had come in by helicopter," John says, with only the slightest hint of envy.

It's clearly the north where the great Grand Prix musicians come from, it appears. Apart from Bernie Marsden, all were from Liverpool or that other cultural hub of fine music, Audlem.

The audience may have enjoyed the music but were unable to celebrate a British victory in the Grand Prix. After a season of almost unbroken success, Jenson Button was 6th while reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was a disappointing 16th as Germany's Sebastian Vettel took the flag

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