Today’s Grand National is arguably the most famous horse race in the world. Some 800 million television viewers are expected to tune in, although few studying the runners and riders will be aware of Aintree’s illustrious links to Formula 1.
An estimated 150,000 enthusiasts flocked to the new “Goodwood of the North” in July 1955 for the British Grand Prix, organised by the British Automobile Racing Club and sponsored by The Daily Telegraph, where fans basked in glorious sunshine as they watched the race.
The three-mile grand prix circuit had been completed in only four months at a cost of £100,000, dissecting the horse racecourse at the Anchor and Melling crossings, with excellent views from the main grandstand. Along with Silverstone, Aintree was the longest circuit in the country and, also being a former airfield, perfect flat.
The designers of Britain’s only purpose-built circuit had intended the grand prix to be run in an anti-clockwise direction, just like the Grand National, first raced at Aintree in 1839 with 17 horses in the field. Safety issues arising from that during the first of five grand prix’s held at the Merseyside venue ensured that subsequent events ran clockwise.
On the day, Stirling Moss won his first-ever Formula 1 race in sunny conditions ahead of Juan Fangio – the pair leading a Mercedes 1-2-3-4. Moss later believed his teammate had let him win in front of a home crowd, although the Argentinian later denied it. Fangio went on to win the 1955 World Championship of Drivers comfortably.
The new circuit had proved a success, and by 1957 the grand prix at Aintree was also named the European Grand Prix, attracting another massive crowd. Fans were thrilled to witness a first world championship victory for a British-built car when Moss and Surrey dentist Tony Brooks won the race in a shared Vanwall.
Aintree offered superb facilities for spectators but as car speeds increased, the “track within a track” lacked enough room for run-off areas. In some places, drivers had to steer past concrete pillars.
The circuit’s final grand prix was held in 1962, when Jim Clark won in a Lotus 25, before the event moved south to Brands Hatch.
Today, several landmark features of the old circuit that once hosted Formula 1 legends such as Fangio, Clark and Moss remain. Events are still held at Aintree on the shorter Club Circuit, although Village Corner, the intimidating Becher’s Bend and Valentine’s Way jockey for attention alongside a nine-hole golf course.
Aintree’s motorsport heritage lives on but not all historic circuits have been so fortunate:
Brooklands
Early motor racing was held on public roads and ...
