Brooklands Centenary Festival attracts Drivers’ Hall of Fame

Three of the greatest all-round racing drivers of all time, Sir Stirling Moss OBE, John Surtees MBE and Jochen Mass, will be taking part in this weekend’s Brooklands Centenary Festival celebrations, in Weybridge, Surrey.

Sir Stirling Moss will be flying in from Le Mans especially to be part of this momentous occasion. He will be driving in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, the car which dominated sports car racing in 1955, and like the one in which he won the Miglia Mille 1000 mile road race in 1955. The exact car at the Festival is “658”, which Juan Manuel Fangio drove to second place (behind Stirling) in the race. John Surtees, the only World Champion on both two and four wheels, will drive the 1930s W125 “Silver Arrow” Grand Prix car. And Jochen Mass, World Sportscar Champion, Le Mans winner and former Formula 1 driver will be driving the W196.

These legends from the motorsports hall of fame will be joined over the weekend by Sam Bird, who took his first British F3 victory at the Romanian round of the championship in May this year; and Susie Stoddart, the only female driver in the DTM championship for Mercedes-Benz and one of the highest performing racing drivers in Europe. Susie will drive the 300 SLR and its modern road-going equivalent, the awesome Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

Largest collection of Brooklands cars and motorcycles

More than 300 of the cars and motorcycles which raced at Brooklands before 1939 will return to Weybridge for the Festival - gathering the largest collection of Brooklands cars and motorcycles since the circuit closed nearly 70 years ago.

Saturday’s highlights will include re-creations of the starting grid races such as the 1935 BRDC 500 mile race by the surviving cars, an awesome line up of 10-litre plus cars worth tens of millions of pounds, further pre-WWII car and motorcycle race grids and Brooklands’ fastest cars including the land speed record Delage.

The V12 Delage was bought by Sam Clutton and Jack Williamson during the War. Clutton crashed the car at Silverstone in 1950 and Williamson re-built it. This weekend, Williamson’s son and grandson will be driving the Delage at the Centenary Festival.

On Sunday, Brooklands official 100 th Birthday will see a re-creation of the original 1907 opening cavalcade featuring 50 veteran motor cars from 1907 and earlier, a side-by-side ride by three 1930s Grindlay Peerless motorcycles, a re-creation of the 1929 Double 12 race grids, a special appearance by the 1000hp Sunbeam land speed record car and further 1920s motorcar and motorcycle race grids.

Other legendary speed machines at the Festival will include the Pat Driscoll and Bert Denly Norton motorcycle (winner of 11 consecutive world records), the famous outer-circuit cars the Napier–Railton and ‘Babs’, a 1925 Salmson, the Malcolm Campbell-owned Mercedes-Benz 36/220 SS ‘GP10’ and even an original 1939 Merryweather Fire & Crash Engine which served with the Vickers aircraft company.

While the genuine Brooklands vehicles venture out on circuit parades, hundreds of spectating veteran and vintage cars will be proudly displayed next to the historic 1907 Paddock and Motoring Village, just as they would have been in the period.

Continuing in the spirit of those early pioneers of speed and performance, a Formula 1 display will provide a fitting tribute to the celebrations. Visitors will experience the thrill of Formula 1 legends including an ex-Jim Russell 1958 Cooper Climax and the 2006 Team McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 Formula 1 car.

Visitors will also enjoy displays from the 1990 GT World Championship-winning Sauber-Mercedes C11, the unparalleled Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and the latest supercars from Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley and Invicta.

For further information and to book tickets, please call 0870 850 6639 or visit brooklandsfestival.co.uk, Adults £35.00, Children (5 to 12 years) £20.00 while children under 5 years are free.