Brooklands

The circuit was conceived by Hugh Fortescue Locke King, on whose estate it was built. Following the Motor Car Act 1903, Britain imposed a 20 mph speed limit on public roads, and concern grew that the inability to conduct sustained high-speed testing would hamper the British motor industry at a time when nearly 50 per cent of the world's new cars were being produced in France. Locke King commissioned Colonel Capel Lofft Holden of the Royal Artillery to design the facility, and construction began in 1906.

The track was engineered as a 100 ft (30 m) wide banked oval, 2.767 miles long. Banking reached nearly 30 feet (9.1 m) in height. Because of the difficulties of laying tarmacadam on banking, and the expense of asphalt, the circuit was built in uncoated concrete — a decision that produced a progressively bumpier surface as the material settled over time. A bisecting Finishing Straight extended the usable track length to 3.369 miles, of which 1.250 miles was banked. Along the centre of the track ran a dotted black line called the Fifty Foot Line; a driver holding that line could theoretically take the banked corners without using the steering wheel. The circuit could accommodate up to 287,000 spectators in its heyday.

The track opened on 17 June 1907 with a luncheon attended by most of Britain's motor manufacturers. Locke King named Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Hugh Owen, Julian Walter Orde, and Colonel Holden as the people principally responsible for making the project possible. An informal inaugural procession of 43 cars followed, one driven by Charles Rolls. The first competitive event was held on 28–29 June 1907.

In 1930, a shorter configuration called the Mountain Circuit was created using movable barriers. It measured 1.168 miles and ran from the Fork to the rear of Members' Hill and back.

The track's opening event was a 24-hour distance record attempt on 28–29 June 1907. Selwyn Edge led three specially converted Napier cars around the circuit, driving his own car for the full duration. Over 300 red railway lamps lit the track at night; flares marked the upper boundary. Edge covered 1,581.74 miles at an average speed of 65.91 mph — surpassing the existing record of 1,096.187 miles set at Indianapolis in 1905. The record stood for 17 years. Edge's leading driver, Dorothy Levitt, was refused entry despite being the first Englishwoman to compete in a motor race.

In 1912, George E. Stanley became the first rider of a 350 cc motorcycle to cover over 60 miles in one hour, riding a Singer at Brooklands. On 15 February 1913, Percy Lambert became the first person to cover 100 miles in a single hour, driving a 4.5-litre sidevalve Talbot; he actually covered 103 miles, 1,470 yards in 60 minutes.

In July and August 1929, Violette Cordery and her sister Evelyn drove a 4.5-litre four-seater Invicta for 30,000 miles in less than 30,000 minutes, averaging 61.57 mph. Violette was awarded her second Dewar Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club for the achievement.

Grand Prix motor racing was established at Brooklands in 1926 by Henry Segrave, following his victories in the 1923 French Grand Prix and the San Sebastián Grand Prix, both in Sunbeam racing cars. The inaugural British Grand Prix that year was won by Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal sharing a Delage 155B. The second British Grand Prix was staged at Brooklands in 1927, and both events resulted in improved facilities at the circuit.

In 1930, the Daily Herald offered a trophy for the fastest driver at a Brooklands event. That year, Tim Birkin and Kaye Don contested it, Birkin in a Bentley Blower tourer and Don in the Sunbeam Tigress 4-litre; Don won at 137.58 mph. In 1932, Birkin won driving his red Monoposto Bentley Blower No. 1 at 137.96 mph. The lap record was subsequently broken by John Cobb driving the 24-litre Napier-Railton, which still holds the all-time Brooklands lap record at 143.44 mph.

In 1932, the Junior Car Club organised the British 1000 Miles Race, held over 3–4 June. The race was won by Mrs E. Wisdom and Miss Joan Richmond in a Riley Brooklands 9.

Racing stopped upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939 and never resumed. The circuit was sold to Vickers-Armstrongs in 1946. The construction of a hard runway in 1951 required removal of a section of the Byfleet Banking. In 1987, the Brooklands Museum Trust was formed to preserve the site. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, apparently drawing inspiration from Brooklands, was built soon after the Surrey circuit opened and held its inaugural race in August 1909.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.