Last race - war stops play

In 1914 at Brooklands, on the outbreak of WWI, four entries failed to compete in the Sprint race which L G Nicolson in his Hispano-Suiza won, the last race before war closed the Track. Afterwards those who remained watched the flying, conscious perhaps of the part the RFC would take in the following years. Locke King having dedicated Brooklands to the conflict, the RFC took over the aerodrome for the duration of the war. The first aerodrome established in this country, it was the centre of three-quarters of the real work and effort behind British aviation.

The Track re-opened on April 11, 1920, having been patched up after its wartime service, but was never quite the same again, with increasingly lengthy winter closures for repairs. Even so, the roughness of the surface caused criticism and complaints.

The Track closed again in August 1939 for WWII, the last race won by Baker in his old Graham-Paige. There were 18 non-starters on the day, some presumably having volunteered for military duty. After the war the Track had again been so badly damaged by wartime vehicles that the Ministry of Aircraft Production (Ministry of Supply) would not release Brooklands for another three years, so the BRDC voted in favour of selling it to Vickers for £330,000.