The rather disastrous opening day failed to prevent Brooklands from earning fame for all the right reasons. Time and again race meetings at the circuit would pull in huge crowds. With celebrations for one new record still in full flow, new figures would be set to raise the bar – and the crowd’s fervour – still further. Brooklands attracted countless different brands, cars and drivers, establishing itself firmly as a major venue in European motor sport and attracting protagonists from Britain and beyond.

For cars such as the legendary 120 hp Benz (‘Lightning Benz’), Brooklands was the perfect track. Initially the full potential of the car could only be fully explored on circuits like this. Works driver Victor Hémery arrived at Brooklands with the Lightning on November 8, 1909 and promptly set a new land-speed record. Hémery reached an average speed of 205.666 km/h over the half mile with flying start, becoming the first man to break the magical 200-km/h barrier in Europe and above all showing that the car was capable of fulfilling its ambitious design brief. A record-breaking car was born. The 200 hp went on to set further best times, including one for the kilometre from a standing start (31.326 seconds) and for the mile (41.268 seconds), wiping from the record books the times previously set by Darracq.

L. G. ‘Cupid’ Hornsted broke Hémery’s record at Brooklands on 22 December, 1913, his 118.4 km/h representing new figures for the standing kilometre. On 14 January, 1914, Hornsted set seven new records, including the highest two-way average speed (199.3 km/h) for a half-mile with flying start. A week earlier he was forced to demonstrate the full scope of his driving ability, when he suffered a tyre blow-out at
190 km/h. After spinning several times, he somehow managed to wrestle the 120 hp Benz back under control. These examples also illustrated the stature of the British race track at the time. For drivers looking to explore their limits and push back the boundaries of speed, Brooklands was the place to be.

Hornsted made a successful return to the circuit on June 24, 1914. With the world record for the mile with flying start now standing at 199.71 km/h (124.10 mph), Hornsted’s top speed of 206.25 km/h (128.16 mph) not only set a new class record, it was also the highest speed ever recorded at Brooklands. These records were set in the nick of time, with the First World War putting all further racing activities on ice. During the war years, Brooklands was used for aviation purposes.

It was several years after the war before Brooklands was back up to full working capacity. The war effort had left the track surface battered and bruised, and fuel rationing would be an everyday reality for some time yet. The first post-war race took place in 1920 – and there was no shortage of cars lining up to take part, with most having been lovingly preserved through the war years.

One particularly special car rose to prominence in 1921, Count Louis Vorow Zborowski bringing his ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ to the Brooklands circuit. Zborowski had a Maybach aero engine with around 23-litre displacement and developing in the region of 221 kW fitted in a pre-war Mercedes chassis. The exhaust consisted essentially of a thick, round pipe which gave the car an unexpected full-throated roar. A series of modifications were carried out on Chitty I, as it was also known, before it completed its fastest lap of the circuit – at 182.58 km/h (113.45 mph) – in 1922.

Chitty I was the first aero-engine-powered car to blast its way onto the Brooklands track, but it was followed by a number of others in subsequent years. One such car was the Napier-Railton, fitted with a 12-cylinder Napier-Lion engine with displacement nudging 24 litres and developing around 373 kW. This was the car that John Cobb drove during Easter 1934, first to a lap record at 216.79 km/h (134.71 mph), then later to an even quicker 230.84 km/h (143.44 mph), a mark which has since remained unbeaten at the Brooklands circuit. The Napier-Railton, with its magnificent body designed in polished aluminium, can today be admired at the Brooklands-Museum.

Although we haven’t explored performances on two wheels in detail here, motorcycles also made their mark at Brooklands over the course of the circuit’s history with some notable success and a string of new records.

Built in 1937, the Campbell Circuit had a major effect on racing at Brooklands and on the development of vehicle technology in general. Indeed, the twists and turns of the new circuit demanded much more of the immensely powerful cars than speed alone. The series of corners presented cars and drivers with a quite different set of challenges. For example, the chassis settings had to be totally
re-thought and the steering adjusted to allow the car to negotiate the varying characteristics of the track as quickly and safely as possible. The distribution of weight between the front and rear axle also became an important factor. The cars of the time called on the drivers to demonstrate high skill levels and impressive technical awareness in order to achieve the high cornering speeds required.

Changes were also afoot outside the Brooklands circuit in the months and years after it opened. The small town of Weybridge experienced rapid growth, with residences popping up just the other side of the circuit’s perimeter fencing. This, in turn, whipped up a wave of protests, with residents complaining about the noise caused by the racing cars. This eventually prompted the introduction of a directive in 1924, which stipulated the use of a silencer of prescribed design on all cars or motorcycles involved in either races or record attempts on the track. The tailor-made component described in this new regulation became known as the ‘Brooklands silencer’.

1938 proved to be the last full season of racing at Brooklands. With war imminent, the final race at the circuit took place on 7 August 1939. Thirteen cars embarked on an exciting battle, with a Graham-Paige machine eventually taking the race win.

During the Second World War, Brooklands was again asked to devote all its energies to the war effort. The two aircraft manufacturers Vickers-Armstrong and Hawker took over sole usage of the entire site for the production of military aircraft and equipment. The runway was extended and the race track itself had to undergo significant alterations. A section of the Members Banking near Members Bridge was used to build a workshop, while hangers were erected on the start-finish straight and Railway Straight. A segment of the Byfleet Banking, meanwhile, was removed to make way for a new access road, while another area was cleared to allow more space for the aircraft during take-off and landing. In addition, trees were planted to disguise the Members Banking. All in all, this was now a very different Brooklands – there was no way back for the racing and record attempts of old. With bomb damage inflicting further scars, the historic race track emerged from the war in a truly sorry state.

Despite the ravages of war, there was still hope of rekindling competitive racing at the track after the end of the war. However, it was not to be and in January 1946 the decision was taken to sell the site to aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrong for £ 330,000 sterling. A memorial was put up with the inscription: “Brooklands 1907 – 1939”. Brooklands wrote the first chapter in the history of the world’s race tracks and provided the venue for 32 years of racing history.

However, it wasn’t just outside events which sounded the death knell for Brooklands – in fact the writing was on the wall long before the outbreak of war. Unintentional it may have been, but the 1937-built Campbell Circuit effectively closed the book on Brooklands’ celebrated past as a high-speed track – and in so doing heralded the beginning of the end for this pioneering circuit. Indeed, a high-speed track and a multi-turn circuit are like chalk and cheese in the world of motor sport, and almost impossible to combine. That had been the aim with the Campbell Circuit, but it wasn’t enough to maintain Brooklands’ appeal in the long term. Nothing short of extensive re-building would do, but then Brooklands would have lost its distinctive identity and soul. This crossroads in its history coincided with the outbreak of the Second World War and the development of the site hit the buffers.

The spirit of the old circuit lives on today, the Friends of Brooklands and the Brooklands Society see to that. These associations frequently organise events recalling Brooklands in its prime. And then there is the Brooklands Museum, of course, whose exhibits provide a fascinating insight into the mother of all race tracks. With its Brand Centre, Daimler makes its very own contribution to the activities at the old circuit and the preservation of its history.