Brooklands Relived and Double Twelve Review 17/18 th June 2023

Brooklands, the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit, was constructed at Weybridge, Surrey in 1907 and was the birthplace of British motorsport. As such, it’s always a buzz to be invited by Brooklands Museum to come and help celebrate the incredible heritage of the site.

The Double Twelve has traditionally been run on the nearest weekend to the 17 th June, the date the track was opened. The original event was due to be a 24 hour endurance race, but had to be run in two 12 hour stints due to noise restrictions. This year’s event consisted of sprint races run on the Mercedes Benz World track on the Saturday, and then a concours along with display drives on the famous start-finish straight and attempts up Test Hill on the Sunday.

CKGB turned out in force, with 10 cyclekarts on display. It was great to welcome Tim and Romilly who travelled untold miles to display their part-built ERA. The bare-bones cyclekart drew a lot of interest from potential cyclekarters and from Capt Jim Tannering, who had it up on bricks in no time, so he could nick the wheels because his own were knackered from the weekend before at the Star & Garter.

The events team at Brooklands had once again given us a prime spot and provided gazebos to shelter us, which the Brooklands Car Rides volunteers supplemented with an extra gazebo. With all the cyclekarts lined up and gleaming in the sun, some period accessories setting the mood, and plenty of vintage clothing, the CKGB display looked brilliant. The new CKGB flyer that Andy Boulton had created was very popular and loads were handed out.

On the Saturday, thanks to the efforts of Steve Castle and Motorsport UK and with the kind agreement of Mercedes Benz World, we were given the opportunity to do a display drive on the 1500m sprint track. We snaked through the Museum, past Concorde towards the track, where marshals guided us across the road, around the skid pan and we queued, waiting for our turn. There was a good amount of interest by this stage and plenty of appreciative smiles from the race officials. We were sent off one at a time, heading down the long (very long for a cyclekart) straight into a complex of tight bends before the long right hander back to the straight for the second half of the 1500m. All got around without mishaps, a little mischief and plenty of grins, so a successful display.

Sunday saw the focus shift much more to cars of the Brooklands era and a fantastic array of vehicles descended on the museum. A good number of the cars in the museum’s collection were also rolled out for display drives including the incredible Napier Railton; a car that could probably swallow a cyclekart whole and barely notice.

The cars also drew the crowds and the CKGB stand attracted a steady stream of people intrigued, delighted or inspired by the idea of cyclekarts. Sir Gerald Archer, Chairman of the Brooklands Museum Trust, sportingly agreed to act as judge of the cyclekarts on display, with Graham Appleyard’s Hefling Special taking first place, followed by Private Chris “Walker” Loader’s Campbell Austin and Lance Corporal Andy “Clive” Dunn in third.

It wasn’t long before we were called to the start-finish straight to do some exhibition laps in front of the now sizeable crowd. We were sent out in groups of two or three and some exuberant driving ensured the spectators loved us. Commentary was provided in his usual enthusiastic style by Brooklands volunteer Keith wearing his trademark pith helmet. The concrete at Brooklands is far from smooth, and Chris’ Campbell Austin managed to get some air over one particularly chewy bit of track.

Following the display drive, our stand was mobbed and if even half the cyclekarts that were dreamt about get built, club numbers will be swelling soon. It was great to be offered some potential new venues too.

The final challenge of the weekend was an attempt at Test Hill. Test Hill was built in 1909 as another facility to encourage use of the track for development and test work. It is 352 feet long and divided into three sections, starting with a gradient of 1 in 8, then 1 in 5 and the top third has a gradient of 1 in 4. It was used by manufacturers to test both the ability of cars to climb steep hills and also of their brakes to stop them coming down. Of course, Test Hill quickly attracted competitions with Archie Frazer Nash, the patron saint of cyclekarts, famously taking off as he crested the hill.

It’s not unusual for cars attempting Test Hill to have to perform the ignominious reverse down the hill if they fail to reach the summit. Knowing that, sitting at the bottom of the hill in a cyclekart, waiting for your first attempt is a daunting prospect. The public line the barriers on either side of the narrow strip of concrete and the steep grass banks on either side of the track seem to accentuate the gradient. Fortunately, when the flag drops and your foot pushes the accelerator down to “full on”, cyclekarts show their colours and reach the peak in no time, even having to ease off at the top. Possibly as much fun as Test Hill, is the route back to the bottom, which winds through some woodland and then drops you out onto a section of the banked track and along under Members’ Bridge before turning down back onto the start-finish straight. Whilst time has taken its toll on some of the concrete on the track, you still get a sense of how physical and dangerous lapping the track at average speeds in excess of 100mph must have been.

Thanks to everyone who came along and to the team at Brooklands for their hospitality.

Please check out the full Brooklands weekend Photo Album here
Stefan

Words: Stefan Nahaski
Pictures: Andy Boulton