Brands Hatch Memories

[John Turner]

Yep, works for me, now! Those Supersaloons are just magnificnt aren't they? As I 've said before, if there were enough of them left, they would make a great historic series.

[Andrew Kitson]

John, as mod, can you go in the post above and remove the links that don't work? - leave the GP one at top.

[John Turner]

No sooner said than done .... well almost!

[jump]

Cheers for the history lesson mate. Very eye opening for me.

[Aysedasi]

For me, I think it was 1985. It was a Lotus Day at Brands. One of the rare occasions that I took my late father with me. It was the day I saw Ayrton Senna for the first time - he did some demonstration laps in the F1 car. Awesome. Peter Warr drove a much older single seater. I think it might have ben combined with a Thundersports meeting, not sure.......

[MikeHoyer]

Not till the BTCC in 2002 for me I'm afraid, but I rememeber walking down the track till you could see Paddock Hill bend, and going "Whoa!", it looked so much steeper and more impressive than it did on TV!

Had some great times at Brands in that short time, particularly the HSCC earlier this year (despite the weather!). Only chance I've had so far this year sadly, fortunately I'll be there all this weekend, and for the Festival in 3 weeks.

[Tim Wilkinson]

The 1989 May Bank Holiday (I think) "race camp". I'd been brought up on bangers and speedway and was 10 before Dad decided to take us all to Brands for the weekend. Arrived on friday night, camped in a packed field past where the exhibition halls used to be. The circuit was opened up on friday night to walk round - my first lap of Brands was on a skateboard! Paddock seems only slightly less scary now
I don't remember much of what ran that weekend - a mixture of bikes, sidecars, singles-seaters and saloons.
We did the race camp every year for 3 or 4, and a couple of other events such as F3 (Philippe Adams romping it in '89 completely out of the blue) BTCC or F3000/F2. The Thundersaloons were awesome, the Starlets and the Morris Brother's 309 were great value, as were the Special Saloons on the GP - I couldn't understand at the time how a Reliant Kitten could be that fast! May just be the pangs for the past but Brands seems to have lost something in the intervening years.
The first race I ever saw was a round of the Slick 50 championship - IIRC Salvador Valiente won in a Golf, but I was more taken by the Mk2 Astra in the field - I now own an ex-slick 50 Astra and from it's past results sheets I have a sneaky suspicion it's the same car!

[jump]

Originally Posted by MikeHoyer

I rememeber walking down the track till you could see Paddock Hill bend, and going "Whoa!", it looked so much steeper and more impressive than it did on TV!

You're definately not alone

[Aysedasi]

Lovely place. Some of my fondest memories come from the mid-80s, watching anything and everything from over on the South Bank.

[David Lawson]

Hello everyone this is my very first post on 10 Tenths so please be gentle with me.

I've chosen this thread as Brands Hatch is dear to my heart and it was the first circuit I ever visited when I went to the 1970 British Grand Prix.

I can remember to this day hearing the first car driving out of the paddock along the service road to the pit road, it was Henri Pescarola in the Matra - I don't need to say anymore about the glorious sound and how it set the stage for that day's event for me, the heart breaking finish for Brabham but the win for the wonderful Lotus 72 and it was my only opportunity ever to see Dan Gurney racing.

I have been a regular spectator at Brands ever since and can clearly remember the circuit being lined by earth banking with almost no armco barriers or run off areas in my first season there and although they have re-aligned Paddock Hill Bend, Westfield and Dingle Dell and there are obviously gravel traps and debris fencing everywhere it still retains it's magic for me.

Whenever a meeting is held on the full circuit with it's scenic backdrop of woodland and the wonderful changing gradients I just have to walk at least one complete lap of the track to see the cars at work on this great circuit and to feel the atmosphere and history of the place.

Over the years I have seen just about every form of motor racing at Brands; F1, F2, F3, F5000, F/At, Group 5 and 6 sports cars, FIA GT, Champ Cars, British Saloon Car Championship, BTCC, F/Ford, Rallycross and literally hundreds of clubbies and I've seen most of the great drivers in the history of the sport from Graham Hill, Stewart, Rindt, Ickx, Siffert through Prost, Senna, Mansell and more recently Hakkinnen, Montoya etc etc.

Highlights for me are the first GP, the famously wet 1974 Race of Champions, Ickx and Reggazoni in the fabulous 1971 Ferrari 312P sports car, all the Special Saloon battles between Nick Whiting and Gerry Marshall, Senna sideways out of South Bank onto the main straight on a qualifying lap in the Turbo Lotus, Tom Pryce sideways in Formula Atlantic and his Race of Champions win, Tony Brise winning everything in the Modus before reaching F1, there are just too many to list.

Just writing this has brought into my mind so many long forgotten racing moments and made me realise just how much motor racing history I have witnessed over the last 35 years at this great track which for me has to be the best circuit in Britain. I'm looking forward to many more years there.

David

[PeterM]

Two most vivid memories were, firstly marshalling on the grid for the 1976 GP ( all those wonderful fans protesting at the exclusion of James Hunt) and being tapped on the shoulder by Jackie Stewart who said " Could Prince Michael borrow your grid sheet".
Secondly, flagging just after Surtees in a very wet Group C race when the Ford DFLs were in the lead side by side. Then they touched........! We then spent the next 2 hours trying to put the Armco back together.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by David Lawson

Hello everyone this is my very first post on 10 Tenths so please be gentle with me.

I've chosen this thread as Brands Hatch is dear to my heart and it was the first circuit I ever visited when I went to the 1970 British Grand Prix.

David

Very warm welcome to you David; obviously great memories for you at Brands.

[jump]

Yeah, good reading!

[jonbryant]

Welcome to Ten-Tenths David

[Gerry Taylor]

1963. I drove my road mini 850 from Lichfield in Staffordshire, to Brands Hatch in Kent. I remember standing on Paddock and watching as a Formula Ford type car stuffed itself big time into the banking (no big run-off's in those days mate!) I just stood there, and watched as the race was stopped, and the poor sid was extricated from the tangled mess. This was my first sight of the dreaded Paddock Bend. I remember making my way to the Clerk of The Course's office, and telling him I wanted to withdraw from the meeting. He sat me down, and asked me why? I told him what had happened, and he talked me round to staying, and just driving round the track, to see if this sport was for me? I remember the day as if it was yesterday. I even have a photograph of me in the mini, coming round Clearways, complete with number plates FRE 664B and with two white bands up the bonnet. I was lapped by the leaders, but enjoyed my day. The only problem was, that I enjoyed it too much, as I then had to get something better, and faster, and I had to learn my craft. I raced again in 1964 with a better prepared mini, then I started to build the 1760cc Anglia's and so it went. The rest is history as they say. After ten years of racing, I was an "overnight success" But if it hadn't been for that Clerk Of The Course at Brands Hatch that day, I may have never sat in a racing saloon ever again. Who was that man I wonder? If I knew how to get the photo of the mini onto this site I would. Thank you Brands. Gerry Taylor Swish Anglia.