The End of Motor Racing at Brooklands

The BARC held its last ever meeting at Brooklands on 7th August 1939.

With the outbreak of World War Two the aerodrome was requisitioned by the Government and devoted to the production of Vickers and Hawker aircraft including Hurricane fighters and Wellington bombers.

When peace returned everyone lived in high hopes of the Track’s eventual recovery but the anticipated costs were too high. Temporary hangars had been erected on the Track, German bombs had exploded on various parts of the Track in 1940 and camouflage was used heavily in the form of tree planting and canvas houses to obscure Brooklands’ distinctive shape which made it an easy target for the Luftwaffe. The government could not see its way to releasing Brooklands until 1949 and consequently the shareholders of Brooklands (Weybridge) Ltd voted in favour of selling the track to Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd in 1946 and motor racing at Brooklands gradually became no more than a memory.