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Brooklands - a racing legend |
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© Daimler Chrysler UK Ltd
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Construction started in October 1906 and after only eight months the two and three quarter mile track was opened on 17 June 1907 - ready for racing. It had cost Locke King some £150,000 of his own money, a price equal to millions of pounds today. Colonel Holden was the key mastermind behind the construction. To ensure the safety of the cars travelling at high speed, the track had to be banked - in places it was constructed up to 50ft high. This design feature was another first for Britain.
Tracks throughout Europe and America were to follow the innovative construction with the American Indianapolis and Italian Monza tracks still using their banking.
The track was constructed of high quality concrete down to a depth of 6 - 8 inches. It was 110ft wide, and cut through a central hill to a level straight. The gigantic 50ft bank, 700yds long, was formed, crossed by a concrete bridge over the River Wey. But not all the construction plans were perfect. With hindsight, the concrete on the banking should have been set in slabs - then laid. Unfortunately it was poured on to the slope, with the water in the concrete mix doing what water does best - drain down.
This left the concrete at the top of the track's banking to dry out and crack. These minor fractures resulted in the track shedding lumps of dry concrete, and with cars hurtling around at speeds in excess of 100mph, it was driving on a wing and a prayer.
The entire track straight of three quarter mile as well as an acre of buildings and car paddock were all raised 5ft above the flood level of the River Wey, which was diverted in two places to make room for the track.
You can see the layout of the Brooklands race track here.
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