Racing lines: Bringing back Brooklands

Brooklands museum celebrates 95 years since the very first British Grand Prix

On 7 August 1926, an exhausted Louis Wagner crossed the finish line at Brooklands after four gruelling hours of racing in the Delage that he had taken over from Robert Sénéchal to take victory in the Grand Prix of the Royal Automobile Club – better known as the very first British Grand Prix.

Ninety-five years later to the very day, grand prix cars and appreciative enthusiasts gathered once again at the carefully preserved and cherished remnants of the famous old Surrey speed bowl to pay a nod of respect to a pioneering landmark in British motorsport history.

The weather threatened a dispiriting washout early on – but, as if to order, the taps turned off for long enough to ensure a pleasant day of warm nostalgia that gently reinforced just how lucky we are to still have Brooklands, the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit.

*Quite a feet*

There was nothing gentle about that grand prix back in 1926, especially for Wagner and his poor feet, which were badly burnt by the heat from the exhaust of his Delage – a design fault that had plagued its drivers all year. He had been forced to stop regularly to plunge his feet into cold water as mechanics wrapped the exhaust in asbestos. But his lead was enough to claim the win from Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bugatti, which had taken over second place from future French Resistance hero Robert Benoist, who had pitted his flaming Delage. It returned to the track, now in the hands of André Dubonnet, who hadn’t been expecting to drive. He nursed the car to the flag, wearing a natty blue lounge suit as flames belched from the bonnet.

It was another world away from Lewis Hamilton versus Max Verstappen, but a grand tradition of British GP drama had been well and truly established.

*Brooklands relived*

The highlight of the recent celebratory event, dubbed Brooklands Relived, was a session of semi-competitive ‘race starts’ on the bumpy, crumbling concrete of what’s left of the Finishing Straight, where the action had begun and ended 95 years earlier.

The circuit, opened in 1907 just a year after the running of the inaugural grand prix at Le Mans, was too often overlooked by the European elite both pre- and post-World War I; and by the 1920s, Brooklands was considered to be archaic and dangerous (even by the lethal standards of the day). So for the RAC GP, the full Outer Circuit was eschewed in favour of a layout that cut out most of the Members’ Banking and the famous Fork. As the cars swept off the monstrous Byfleet Banking, they charged along the Finishing Straight in front of the clubhouse, then slowed for a pair of sanitising sandbank chicanes before joining the end of Members’ Banking and accelerating down the Railway Straight and back on to Byfleet.

It was fitting, then, that a pair of chicanes were included in the short course at Brooklands Relived, and it was a dash to reach them first. The wonderful NapierRailton, the 24-litre W12 aero-engined behemoth that claimed the Outer Circuit record at an unbelievable 143.44mph in John Cobb’s hands in 1935, rumbled again, facing off against a Bentley 4½ Litre in a pair of runs. The score was one-all.

Ivan Dutton inspired wide grins with gloriously unruly skids in his black-and-red Bugatti, and the sight of a 1970 Tyrrell 001 added welcome incongruity. This car was driven by Adam Tyrrell, the proud grandson of late marque founder Ken, who relishes any chance he can get to drive the only F1 car that has been kept in the family. Understandably on such a surface, he took it very gently to avoid the fat rear tyres spraying stones into the crowd or damaging the underbelly of Jackie Stewart’s old mount. But still, it was a treat to hear a Cosworth DFV V8 burbling away at Brooklands.

*More than just a relic*

A visit to Brooklands is always a treat, and it was my first for a few years. It’s a proper time warp, but what was really pleasing this time was to see the hard work that has gone in on an expansion of exhibits and how the precious cars, motorcycles, bicycles, remarkable collection of aeroplanes (including a Concorde) and even buses are presented with such care. The museum, which is marking its 40th anniversary this year, has never looked better and offers a fantastic family day out – genuinely for all ages. And there’s more to come.

A programme named The Brooklands Masterplan is designed to further transform the place in the next 10 to 20 years, telling the story of trailblazing innovation on land and sea as it always has done but in ways that perhaps appeal more to younger generations. The addition of a McLaren Automotive ‘Driven by Design’ display is a new example, featuring Senna GTRs and, most strikingly, a full-size 720S made entirely from Lego. There are new workshops, created of course with a period look, and the original aircraft factory is thriving in its new location beside, rather than on, the Finishing Straight.

That move has opened up space for more car events, and there’s something on almost every weekend for the next few months, including a tribute to Stirling Moss on Sunday 12 September.

That Brooklands existed at all is hard to fathom; that so much of the banking is still left and the clubhouse and surrounding ‘motor village’ remain so beautifully preserved in prime Surrey greenbelt even more so. The challenge now is to ensure it transcends its status as a relic to a glorious but distant past and appeals directly to the next generations of engineers and innovators. Linking those pioneering days to what’s happening now and, more vitally, what’s coming next, is the best and only way to ensure that we never let one of our greatest national treasures slip away.

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