Brooklands Centenary

By Jack Rix

Motor Shows

12 June 2007 10:10

Brooklands Centenary Festival: the lowdown

The world’s first purpose-built race track will celebrate 100 years of motorsport this weekend - 100 years to the day after opening its banked turns in 1907. A spectacular recreation of The Grand Opening Parade will see some of the track’s most famous racers taking to the old circuit for the first time in almost 50 years. And Brooklands' impossibly modern neighbour Mercedes-Benz World will embrace the past, too, displaying pre-war cars and motorcycles with Brooklands history. If pre-war racers don’t float your boat, fear not: more modern machinery, such as the Mercedes McLaren SLR, a myriad of drivers and aerial displays will be on hand to keep you entertained.

Completed on 17 June 1907, Brooklands lays claim to being the first purpose-built motorsport circuit; it's widely considered one of the most famous racing tracks in the world, along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Italy’s Autodroma di Monza. The 2.75-mile circuit cost the original owner Hugh Fortescue Locke-King £150,000 of his personal fortune. For that, the track, 5000 spectator seats, 75 paddock stalls and the palatial clubhouse were built in a staggering eight months. Other firsts attributed to Brooklands include the first British world land speed record in 1909 and the first motor race to be referred to as a Grand Prix in 1926. Brooklands was also instrumental in the development of the aviation industry; it was home to Vickers, Sopwith and Hawker and hit the headlines in 1919 on completion of the first non-stop transatlantic flight, in the Brooklands built Vickers Vimy (above).

By Jack Rix