This year marks 110 years since the world's first purpose-built, paved race track was open. The opening of the banked circuit at Brooklands was a motorsport milestone, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will celebrate it this year.
JUN 13th 2017
Video: Prepare for FOS with some incredible 89 year‑old Brooklands battle footage
Cars and motorcycles from that pioneering era will feature heavily, and to get you in the spirit what better than this wonderful piece of footage from British Pathé? Recorded in 1928, this silent film captures those early motorsport days, complete with a Le Mans-style start that required drivers to raise the roofs of their cars before driving off. They could be lowered at the first pitstop.
The 'pitlane' was nothing of the sort; cars simply stopped on the side of the track for repairs, while fuel was poured in from open containers. The sport has come a long way in the 89 years, and it's fascinating to look back – just as it will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
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