Racing History
Sold-out Brooklands centenary to gather A to Z of grand prix cars
More than 100 cars, from Alfa Romeo to Zakspeed are set to celebrate the centenary of Britain’s first grand prix at Brooklands
100 years of the British Grand Prix: how it all began
One hundred years ago, the flag dropped on the very first British Grand Prix at Brooklands and nine cars roared onto the banking; their drivers chasing a first prize of £1000 and the glory of winning in front of a crowd of thousands.
Motor Sport was there in 1926 and will be there this weekend as the circuit celebrates the centenary of this landmark race, having assembled more than 100 grand prix cars that represent a century of racing in Britain.
The event is sold out, but you can relive the earliest days of GP racing in this country below:
• Video and Motor Sport‘s original report of the 1926 race
• Brooklands’ centenary celebrations
• How Brooklands became the world’s first purpose-built racing circuit
“Segrave’s Talbot exhaust pipe belched wicked yellow flames in the most ominous manner without apparently affecting his speed”
THE ORIGINAL 1926 BRITISH GP REPORT
FROM MOTOR SPORT
Brooklands
Centenary celebration of Britain’s first grand prix
This weekend, Brooklands will echo to the roar of grand prix cars past and present, as more than 100 machines are gathered for the 100th anniversary of the first British Grand Prix.
The surviving sections of the Brooklands banking, and the start-finish straight, will host runs from cars of earlier eras, with more modern F1 machinery taking to the test track at Mercedes-Benz World – situated on the infield of the historic course.
Below are just a selection of the cars that will be at the historic site for the sold-out event.
1926 Delage 15-S-8 Both the 1926 and 1927 Brooklands Grands Prix were won by Delage and, fittingly, the celebration will feature two cars, bringing the evocative sound of 1920s racing back to the circuit.
Jonathan Bushell
1926 Halford Special Major Frank Halford’s Aston Martin-based car, completed 82 of the 110 laps of the first British GP at which point the advanced turbocharged car retired with transmission failure.
Jonathan Bushell
1938 Alfa Romeo 158 The car that dominated the opening years of the F1 world championship, winning 47 of its 54 GP starts and powering the first two championship-winners.
Alfa Romeo
1950 BRM V16 Perhaps the most thunderous engine that the world championship has ever seen will roar into life at Brooklands.
National Motor Museum
1976 Tyrrell P34 The only six-wheeled car to win a grand prix, the Tyrrell P34 is a rolling reminder of racing’s creativity.
Grand Prix Photo
1991 McLaren-Honda MP4/6 V12 The only V12 car to win a world championship, this will be one of two McLarens at Goodwood, along with a modern hybrid machine.
Grand Prix Photo
2010 Mercedes W01 Raced by Michael Schumacher in 2010 – the year of Mercedes’ return to F1, which led it to a run of titles with Lewis Hamilton, who equalled Schumacher’s record of seven championships.
Grand Prix Photo
100 years of the British GP
Racing History
Back to the start: Motor Sport joins Brooklands to celebrate centenary of first British grand prix
One hundred years ago, Brooklands hosted the first British Grand Prix, a race faithfully reported in the pages of Motor Sport, which began life two years earlier as the Brooklands Gazette. Now, we have joined forces to mark the momentous centenary
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Archive
Looking ahead to the 100th anniversary of the RAC Grand Prix
Whisper it. We are just passing the centenary of the so familiar Brooklands silencer, largely a product of post-WW1 middle-class incomers complaining about the noise from Weybridge’s Brooklands Motor Course.…
Brooklands: how it began
A passion project of its backer, Hugh Locke King, Brooklands rose from the Surrey countryside; built using cutting-edge technology to become the world’s first purpose-built racing circuit.
This is the inspirational story of its creation and early years of competition, as told by the late Gordon Cruickshank.
Building Brooklands
Motor Sport revisited Brooklands in 2002, exploring the remaining track while imagining the spectacle of racing there in its heyday.
The ‘furious’ female driver who helped bring Brooklands to life
Hugh Locke King is rightly credited for bringing Brooklands to life, but his wife, Dame Ethel, also played an influential role.
Brooklands’ early stars
To mark Motor Sport‘s own 100th anniversary in 2024, we went back to Brooklands to compare what we wrote in the 1920s and 1930s with the actual cars today.
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