This is the mid week event for British week and we are taking you to the greatest touring car circuit in the UK! Brands Hatch is a classic and quick circuit testing your ability to hang it on the very edge and stay on the track! Trying to accomplish this while piloting the Saleen SE Cup Mustang is no small feat!
Brands Hatch is a
motor racing circuit near
Swanley in
Kent,
England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the
British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events. The name of the circuit may derive from the Gaelic
Brondehach (
bron meaning "wooded slope" and
hach meaning "forest entrance").
[1]
Originally used as a military training ground, the field belonging to Brands farm was first used as a circuit by a group of Gravesend
cyclists led by Ron Argent,
[1] with the permission of the local farmer and landowner, Harry Write. Using the natural contours of the land, many cyclists from around
London practiced, raced and ran time trials on the dirt roads carved out by farm machinery. The first actual race on the circuit was held in 1928, over 4 miles (6.4 km) between cyclists and
cross-country runners. Within a few years,
motorcyclists were using the circuit, laying out a three-quarter mile
anti-clockwise track in the valley. Brands Hatch remained in operation during the 1930s, but after being used as a military vehicle park and being subject to many bombing raids during
World War II, it needed much work before it could become a professional racing circuit.
Brands Hatch offers two layout configurations: the shorter 'Indy' layout (1.198 miles) is located entirely within a natural amphitheatre offering spectators views of almost all of the shorter configuration from wherever they watch. The longer 'Grand Prix' layout (2.301 miles) played host to some spectacular Formula One racing over the years; events such as
Jo Siffert's duel with
Chris Amon in
1968 and future World Champion
Nigel Mansell's first win in
1985. Noise restrictions and the proximity of local residents to the Grand Prix loop mean that the number of race meetings held on the extended circuit are limited to just a few per year (usually for higher-profile series such as
A1 Grand Prix and the
WTCC).
View of Brabham Straight and the pits from above Clark Curve.
Formula Locost racing down the Cooper Straight.
The full Grand Prix circuit begins on the
Brabham Straight, an off-camber, slightly curved stretch, before plunging into the right-hander at Paddock Hill Bend. Despite the difficulty of the curve, due to the straight that precedes it, it is one of the track's few overtaking spots. The next corner, Druids, is a hairpin bend, negotiated after an uphill braking zone at
Hailwood Hill. The track then curves around the south bank spectator area into the downhill, off-camber
Graham Hill Bend, and another, slightly bent stretch at the
Cooper Straight, which runs parallel to the pit lane. After the straight, the circuit climbs uphill though the decreasing-radius
Surtees turn, before moving onto the back straight where the track's top speeds can be reached. The most significant elevation changes on the circuit occur here at Pilgrim's Drop and
Hawthorn Hill, which leads into Hawthorn Bend. The track then loops around the woodland with a series of mid-speed corners, most notably the dip at Westfield and the blind
Sheene's curve. The track then emerges from the woods at Clearways and rejoins the 'Indy' circuit for
Clark Curve with its uphill off-camber approach to the pit straight and the start/finish line.
