britains first circuit race?

[ss_collins]

where and when?

Kelvingrove in 1901?

Perhaps not... anybody know?

[Cameron Winton]

See Bill Boddy's column (WB) in this month's Motorsport.
Point of interest - The site is now Glasgow University land and has lecture theatres and labs on it.It is of interest to me in that I had Physics lectures there 1984/85 while studying Aeronautical Engineering - misguided youth believing he could be the next Colin Chapman etc

[ss_collins]

I have reason to believe that info is wrong, I know of another event that took place earlier in 1901

[strad]

I don't know about first, but the Shelsey Walsh run from 1905 is the longest running event in motorracing...or so they tell me.

[ascarracinguk]

thats the first sprint....but its not classed as a circuit as such i dont think

[Big AL 50]

Don't know what the race was but if it had been run by one of the modern clubs they would only just be ready for race two.

[Rob29]

Depends I supose on what you define as a 'circuit race' 2 at a time at Kelvingrove sounds more like the origins of Drag racing-about 40 years before that term was invented!Brighton Speed Trials also started in 1905.I remember Autosport celebrating 50th aniversary of Brighton & Shelsey Walsh in sucessive issues.
Brooklands was first proper race in 1907.

[Vitesse]

Er, Rob ... as Ireland was still part of the UK in 1903, I'd dispute that - at least on terminology!

Similar match races to what WB describes, often on trotting or cinder horse racing tracks, existed in the USA in the 1890s: they were the origins of midget racing, after all.

The first Brooklands meeting was the first in Britain on a purpose-built track, at a time when even short road circuits were still very unusual: the only one which comes to mind is the meeting in the Oberforsthaus Park in Hamburg, first run in 1900.

[ss_collins]

right well the first speed event was in 1901 I think - Not the Bexhill speed trials either.

There was a circuit race in 1901

[strad]

Was wandering around and happened across this......

Today the trail-blazing motor racing drivers of 1902 seem as remote in the minds of those connected with the present day sport as the Casablanca Grand Prix. For 363 days of the year, the East Sussex seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea enjoys a tranquil existence and is reputedly one of the more select South Coast Towns with its clean, wide Edwardian promenades and elegant buildings.

In the May of 1902, the 8th Earl De La Warr worked, in conjunction with the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, subsequently the Royal Automobile Club, to organise the very first automobile racing on British soil. Such was the occasion that thousands flocked to Bexhill to witness the unique spectacle. The very atmosphere reeked with the smell of paraffin with throbbing, puffing and snorting motors everywhere. Away up Galley Hill at the far end of the course one could see a puff of smoke and a fair-sized speck emerge from it. A few seconds later a monster dashes past, causing the very earth to tremble.
Nothing could be seen of the drivers except a crouching figure with streaming hair, whose hands had a death-like grip of the steering wheel. Not only were straight sprint races run from east to west against the clock but cars raced side by side in the opposite direction, very much resembling the start of the Grand Prix races today.

Distinguished names appeared on the entry list. There was Lord Northcliffe, the founder of the Daily Mail Newspaper in his Mercedes. Monsieur Leon Serpollet, the Frenchman, in his steam driven "Easter Egg" with the fastest speed of 54mph and the first French victory on British soil. The indefatigable Mr S F Edge, who ran his Napier against a large entry of French owned Darracqs, and many more well known personalities of the day.
More than 200 entries competed in that inaugural meeting in 1902 and the local hotels and boarding houses were packed with the curious who had come to witness, for the first time on British soil, the spectacle of motor cars racing at speeds in excess of 50mph when the speed limit of the day was a mere 12mph.
The huge success of the meeting encourages Earl De La Warr to make Bexhill the motoring centre for British racing drivers of the day. By 1906 plans were drawn up for a circuit almost reaching Beachy Head, with garages, restaurants and hotel accommodation. The course unfortunately never saw the light of day and the motoring set moved to the new Brooklands circuit in 1907. A few attempts were made to resurrect the races and the last competition was held in 1925 after which the Royal Automobile Club withdrew permits on public highways.


The entire history of Bexhill as the Birthplace of British Motoring is available in the book "The First Motor Racing in Britain" from Bookmarque Publishing.

[ss_collins]

Ah but it is wrong!! Crystal Palace has been holding events since 1899, petersham hill, westerham hill and richmond hill all held speed trials before bexhill. Bexhill is not in any sense the birthplace of any motorsport...

[David McKinney]

I think this whole argument hangs on the defintion of "motor racing" (which in my book rules out hillclimbs and speed trials where cars compete separately)
But this thread is supposed to establish Britain's first circuit race - which also rules out hillclimbs and speed trials, even with two cars competing against each other

[ss_collins]

Indeed but crystal palace still stands in 1899.

[Anuauto]

And as for hill climbs, maybe this was actually the first....?

[ss_collins]

where is that?

[Rob29]

Originally posted by ss_collins
Indeed but crystal palace still stands in 1899.

What happened in 1899,Sam? Book by Phillip Paffitt only mentions motorcycles around this time.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by ss_collins
Indeed but crystal palace still stands in 1899.

Phillip Parfitt's book says April 1902. Or are you now including motorbikes in your definition of "motor racing"?

[ss_collins]

nope cars - the Phillip Parfitt book has a fair few errors in it. Which is why there is a new version in the making - due out around November. It will cover crystal palace 1899 - 2005

C. S. Rolls won a speed trial in his Mors, but there were also circuit races 2 meetings in '99. Have to wait for the book to find out more though....

[Anuauto]

(Picture above) White Hill Wood (mentioned in the Chris Mason book as Bridehead and as occurring later. Just that I picked up on a local reference I cannot research further in the obvious place as the current natives are somewhat less than friendly. Its unlikely, given the small population density then and even now but it is near a county town....)

[strad]

I just thought I would throw that in...what I found odd was that just after seeing this topic, I accidently ran across that looking for something else.......

Silly me, I always thought Brooklands was the first purpose built racetrack in Britian, and that prior to that that the first race track was the one cobbled together for the Gordon Bennett in Ireland in 1903..last of the open road epics and the first closed course motor race. ..but that Britian had the "Thousnad Miles Trial in 1900...
Partly I guess it all down to definitions......