The Brooklands event is completely sold out
Lou Johnson
Brooklands Museum will mark 100 years since Britain’s first grand prix with an A to Z of grand prix and Formula 1 cars that is thought to be the largest gathering of its kind ever assembled.
More than 100 cars from the likes of Alfa Romeo, Alvis, Aston Martin and Austin, all the way through to Zakspeed, will line up for the centenary celebration on August 8.
The event is timed almost exactly to the day the Royal Automobile Club’s Grand Prix was held at Brooklands on August 7, 1926 – a race that drew nine starters and was won by Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal in a Delage 15-S-8, with Malcolm Campbell‘s Bugatti 39A second.
Of the marques that lined up that day, only Aston Martin still competes in Formula 1.
The line-up of cars is made up of more than 50 marques, spanning from pioneers of the 1920s through to modern Formula 1 machinery, with earlier cars running on the surviving sections of Brooklands‘ banked circuit – the world’s first purpose-built motor racing track – and more recent cars demonstrated on the adjacent Mercedes-Benz World test track, which sits within the historic circuit’s footprint.
Between A and Z, organisers list an extensive roster of brands that will be represented, including Benetton, Bentley, BRM, Bugatti, Cooper, Delage, Ferrari, Force India, Frazer Nash, Honda, Jaguar, Jordan, Ligier, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes, Minardi, Tyrrell, Williams and Wolf, among others.
Cars associated with Tim Birkin, Henry Segrave, Dick Seaman, Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are also expected to feature.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Britain’s Grand Prix heritage and a fitting tribute to the circuit where it all began 100 years ago,” said Alex Patterson, chief executive of Brooklands Museum.
“To bring together more than 100 Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars representing more than 50 different marques is a truly extraordinary achievement. Brooklands has always been a place where history comes alive, and these centenary celebrations will honour not only the pioneering race held here in 1926 but also the remarkable people, engineering and innovation that have shaped Grand Prix racing over the last century.”
The event has already sold out and organisers say there will be no admission for non-ticket holders on the day.
Although Saturday’s tickets are gone, the museum’s Britain’s Grand Prix Story exhibition, which opened earlier this year and already features some of the cars arriving early for the centenary, remains open to visitors throughout the summer.
Brooklands Museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm, with advance admission priced at £25.70 for adults and £10.70 for children aged four to 17; annual membership starts at £68 and includes unlimited admission for the year.
Motor Sport, which began life as the Brooklands Gazette in 1924, two years before that first Grand Prix, is the event’s official media partner.
