Brooklands was the worlds first ever purpose built motor racing track, and the scene of the first British Grand Prix. During it’s time many land speed records were broken there, and Brooklands became a major centre for automotive technology and development.

Opened in 1907 with the remit to enable cars to drive at speeds of 100 miles per hour and above, one of it’s key features was that the track had to be banked. The total length of the track was 3.25 miles (including the finishing straight), and a significant proportion of the course consisted of concrete banking.

The final race took place in 1939, at the outset of the Second World War, as due to damage caused by bombing and trying to disguise the track from the air during the war, motor racing was never able to take place there again.

There has been significant redevelopment of the site since the war but a large amount of the banking still remains. The Spirit of Brooklands is a project undertaken by photographer Douglas Kurn, to document the remains of the circuit, and areas where the track has been removed but there has been an acknowledgment of its existence.

In its heyday Brooklands was a buzzing noisy place, with cars rattling over concrete at speeds of up to 143.44 mph (the course record), and as many as 287,000 spectators cheering on the drivers. To contrast with this Douglas chose to shoot the project at night during very still weather conditions to give a peaceful, surreal feel to the images. The
project took four years to complete and the resulting images can be seen on his web site
www.douglaskurn.com