D’you know Tivoli Gardens, in the centre of Copenhagen?” Tom Kristensen casts a quizzical glance across the table and perceives a slight shortfall in Motor Sport’s grasp of Danish culture. “It’s almost as old as the city itself,” he continues, “a park with amusement rides and restaurants, fully pedestrianised. I never thought anybody would be allowed to take a car in there, not even our royal family, until we were waved through the gate in a vintage Bentley…”

That was August 2003, part of a promotional tour to celebrate Bentley’s sixth outright Le Mans victory and its first for 73 years. It was also the fifth of nine such conquests for Kristensen, a man who won Formula 3 titles, challenged to do likewise in F3000 and tested several F1 cars, yet never graced a grand prix grid. Instead, a chance to contest the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours – a winning debut alongside Stefan Johansson and Michele Alboreto in a Joest-run TWR Porsche – defined the shape of his future career. Seven of his subsequent victories came in assorted Audi prototypes, while the other added him to a roster that includes Barnato, Birkin and Benjafield: he became a Bentley Boy of the modern age.

Kristensen joined us to connect past with present. It was the Silverstone Classic media day and he was there to take a stint at the wheel of a 4½ Litre Bentley, not an original Le Mans car, but one with an interesting competition pedigree. First registered in January 1930, it was owned for a time by Archie Butterworth – designer of the flat-four engine that powered the Aston Butterworth F2 car, which appeared occasionally in world championship grands prix during 1952. Butterworth raced the Bentley extensively in the late 1940s – taking part in Britain’s first post-war race meeting, the one and only fixture staged at Gransden Lodge. Current owner Eddie McGuire acquired the car in 2007, had it fully restored and added a supercharger that hadn’t been there originally. It still carries the British Racing Drivers’ Club and Bentley DC badges that once belonged to Butterworth.