Precisely 110 years after the grand opening of the banked racing circuit of Brooklands, the famous Finishing Straight is due to be re-opened to motorsport as part of the venue’s Double Twelve event this weekend.
After decades of hotly contested racing and record-setting, the 2 ¾ mile circuit in Weybridge closed to motorsport after a Bellman Hangar was constructed across the circuit’s Finishing Straight in-order to facilitate increased aircraft production on site. Thanks to these activities during WW2, Brooklands suffered a bombing raid in September of the same year.
Having acted as home to several rare aircraft, including a Wellington Bomber recovered from Loch Ness, which made up the aircraft collection at Brooklands Museum, the Bellman Hangar has recently been relocated elsewhere on site to unveil the Finishing Straight which hasn’t seen use in over seventy-six years.
The work is part of a multi-million restorative plan, known as the Brooklands Aircraft and Race Track Revival Project, which has been partly subsidised by the UK Heritage Lottery Fund. In recent weeks, substantial areas of the Finishing Straight have been uncovered in remarkably good condition, with painted floor markings and wartime modifications to the sloped surface of the track revealed.
Photos: Brooklands Museum
Text: Gillian Carmoodie
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Brooklands finishing straight re-opens for the first time since 1940
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