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.
Brooklands: the history
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).
Brooklands today – the legacy
Only isolated fragments of the original Brooklands track survive, a charming museum remains, but until Mercedes-Benz became interested in the site six years ago the most likely takeover was from John Prescott giving the green light to 5000 new houses to be built on the site. The opening of the Mercedes-Benz World super-dealership last year maintained the motor racing heritage, brought the site up to date and secured its future. Handling circuits, a 10-acre off-road course, an exhibition hall and a restaurant are among the attractions available with free admission, seven days a week. It brand experience centre will be used extensively throughout the centenary celebrations.
Star cars at the centenary festival
Saturday’s highlights include recreations of the starting grid races, such as the 1935 BRDC 500-mile race with the surviving cars. Greats such as the V12 land speed record Delage will be driven by the man who lovingly restored it, Jack Williamson with his grandson alongside. A 1000bhp Sunbeam land speed record car from the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu will make an appearance, alongside cars which have formed some of the most romantic images of Brooklands. None more so than the Napier Railton, with its 24-litre engine and the 1909 Lightning Benz squeezing a nowadays paltry 184bhp from its 21.5-litre straight four.
Driver’s hall of fame
With some of the most evocative machinery from the last century on display, it’s only right that some of the greatest drivers of all time will be heading up a list of those driving them. Sir Stirling Moss will race a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, the exact car that Juan Manuel Fangio drove to second place behind Stirling in the 1955 Mille Miglia; John Surtees, the only man to win world championships on both two wheels and four, will pilot a 1930s W125 ‘Silver Arrow’ Grand Prix car. Susie Stoddart, the only female driver in the DTM championship for Mercedes-Benz will try her best to show Sir Stirling up in the 300 SLR, and demonstrate the more modern talents of the new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, developed and built in nearby Woking.
Brooklands’ Formula 1 Display
Brooklands was always a mecca for those who wanted to push the boundaries of speed and technology – countless motor racing records have been made and broken on the renowned banking. Continuing in the spirit of those racing pioneers, a Formula 1 display will form a part of celebrations. Amongst the cars gracing the Mercedes-Benz World handling track will be a 1958 Cooper Climax (driven by Jim Russel and sure to evoke images of the Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham era) and the 2006 McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 (above).
The Opening Cavalcade
Brooklands was designed for speed. The track was 100ft wide in places, two huge banked sections almost 30ft high dominated the vista with two long straights completing the loop. The ravages of time have taken their toll on the circuit, though, and today the surviving pieces have been preserved to stop the fragile banking falling into further decay. The re-enactment of the Official Opening Cavalcade will begin at 2pm on Sunday, exactly 100 years to the hour since the original cavalcade began in 1907. The parade is planned to incorporate more of the track than has been possible since its closure in 1939. Of the 50 cars taking part many date back to before 1907 and some of the cars actually ran in the original parade.
Getting there
Brooklands is located about 20 miles south-west of London, near Weybridge, Surrey. Exit at junctions 10 or 11 of the M25, although unless your motor is pre-war it’s a compulsory park-and-ride to the festival. Adults will have to cough up £35 for a day ticket; ages 5-12 cost £20; and classic car fans under five can waltz in for free. Gates open at 7.30am and track action kicks off at around 10am on both Saturday and Sunday. If you can’t make Brookland’s weekend, its centenary will be one of the themes of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed on 22-24 June.
The Opening Cavalcade
Brooklands was designed for speed. The track was 100ft wide in places, two huge banked sections almost 30ft high dominated the vista with two long straights completing the loop. The ravages of time have taken their toll on the circuit, though, and today the surviving pieces have been preserved to stop the fragile banking falling into further decay. The re-enactment of the Official Opening Cavalcade will begin at 2pm on Sunday, exactly 100 years to the hour since the original cavalcade began in 1907. The parade is planned to incorporate more of the track than has been possible since its closure in 1939. Of the 50 cars taking part many date back to before 1907 and some of the cars actually ran in the original parade.
Getting there
Brooklands is located about 20 miles south-west of London, near Weybridge, Surrey. Exit at junctions 10 or 11 of the M25, although unless your motor is pre-war it’s a compulsory park-and-ride to the festival. Adults will have to cough up £35 for a day ticket; ages 5-12 cost £20; and classic car fans under five can waltz in for free. Gates open at 7.30am and track action kicks off at around 10am on both Saturday and Sunday. If you can’t make Brookland’s weekend, its centenary will be one of the themes of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed on 22-24 June.