Brooklands

Opened on 17 June 1907, Brooklands was conceived by Hugh F. Locke King after the Motor Car Act 1903 imposed a 20mph speed limit on British public roads, threatening the nation's fledgling auto industry. Colonel Capel Lofft Holden designed the 100-foot-wide, 2.767-mile banked oval, built in uncoated concrete with banking nearly 30 feet high in places. The inaugural 24-hour event was held just eleven days after opening, with Selwyn Edge covering 1,581 miles at an average 65.91mph. Over the following decades, Brooklands became the centre of British motorsport, hosting the British Grand Prix, the Brooklands Mountain Circuit (from 1930), and countless record attempts. The circuit also pioneered aviation: A.V. Roe made the first powered flight by a British pilot in Britain there in 1908. Brooklands closed for racing in August 1939 and was turned over to Vickers-Armstrongs for military aircraft production during WWII. Much of the track was built over, but the surviving sections now form the Brooklands Museum.

Brooklands was the world's first purpose-built banked motor racing circuit, opening two years before Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A dotted black 'Fifty Foot Line' ran along the centre of the track - by driving over it, a driver could theoretically take the banked corners without using the steering wheel. The venue could hold 287,000 spectators, more than any modern stadium. In 1913, Percy E. Lambert became the first person to cover 100 miles in one hour at Brooklands. The circuit was also a major aviation site - the first powered flight by a British pilot in Britain took place there in 1908, and Vickers built over 2,500 Wellington bombers at the site during WWII.