Brooklands

Brooklands stands on the edge of Weybridge in Surrey, a flat stretch of land chosen in 1906 by Hugh Fortescue Locke King. The site became the world’s first purpose-built banked motor racing circuit, a 4.453-kilometre oval with banking up to nine metres high. Concrete, not tarmac, formed the track surface, giving it a rough ride later on. A dotted black line ran down the middle so drivers could hug the banking without steering. The track opened in June 1907 with a procession of 43 cars led by Charles Rolls. The circuit quickly set records and drew crowds of up to 287,000. In 1907 Selwyn Edge drove a Napier for 24 hours, covering 2,545 kilometres at an average of 106 kilometres per hour. George Stanley broke the motorcycle one-hour record in 1912, and Percy Lambert covered 167 kilometres in 60 minutes in 1913. Violette Cordery twice won the Dewar Trophy by driving 30,000 miles in 20 days. Today part of the old track lies inside the Brooklands Museum. Visitors walk the concrete banking and the finishing straight, where Grand Prix races were held in the 1920s. Exhibits include the Napier-Railton that holds the all-time lap record at 230.84 kilometres per hour. The museum also shows how Brooklands became a major airfield, building Wellington bombers and Viscount airliners during the 1918 war years.