Description
By: Chas Parker .
Brands Hatch is Britain's best-loved motor racing circuit. Nestling in a natural valley in the Kent countryside, its undulating track provides a real challenge for drivers and unrivalled viewing opportunities for spectators.
This definitive history of Brands Hatch has been written using extensive interviews with people who have worked, raced and marshalled there over the years. With an emphasis on the circuit and the people who helped to make it one of the world's greatest motor racing venues, the engaging text, complemented by glorious archive photographs, also details the breadth of racing that has taken place at Brands Hatch, including the early off-road motorcycling events, club racing, Formula Ford and Formula 5000 (both innovations of John Webb, who ran the circuit for nearly 40 years), truck racing, rallycross and, of course, international Formula One and sports car racing events.
Here is a fascinating story, charting the transition of what was originally a steeply sloping mushroom field, first used by cyclists in 1926, through its growth as a motorcycle grass track and subsequent motor racing road course, to its heyday as a fully-fledged international Grand Prix circuit. Changes of ownership and a period of decline have been followed by the recent re-emergence of Brands Hatch as a major motorsport venue.
With contributions from riders and drivers such as Bernie Ecclestone, Sir Stirling Moss, Nigel Mansell, John Surtees, Jody Scheckter and Johnny Herbert, along with the people who operated and ran the circuit, from John Webb, through Nicola Foulston to the current owner, Jonathan Palmer, the story of each decade of the circuit's history is told — not only the great races that took place at the track, but also the politics and intrigue behind the scenes.
Chas Parker began his working life in the field of astronomy, eventually becoming press officer for the Royal Greenwich Observatory. He left the scientific community to pursue a writing career, particularly in the field of motorsport, for which he has had a passion since his teens. In recent years he has worked as a freelance sub-editor and occasional contributor on publications such as Autosport and Motorsport News.
