THE ghost of a dead motorsport icon is said to haunt Brooklands Motor Course in Surrey.
The track, located in Weybridge, was opened way back in 1907 and hosted the first ever British Grand Prix 19 years later.
But the circuit is perhaps best known for witnessing the death of British driver Percy Lambert in 1913.
The iconic racer became the first ever driver to cover 100 miles in an hour.
But when Frenchman Jean Chassagne set a new benchmark of 107.95 mph, Lambert set himself the task of reclaiming the record.
However, tragedy ensued as he took to the Brooklands track to try and beat Chassagne’s distance.
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One of Lambert’s tyres burst and his car veered off course.
He was found lying face down halfway up the banking by Members’ Bridge, unconscious but breathing.
Lambert was whisked off to Weybridge Cottage Hospital but died on the way there.
The spot where he died remains there to this day, although the track has been left abandoned.
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Racing stopped there following the outbreak of World War II, with the final meeting held less than a month before the war started in 1939.
Bombs also fell on the track during the conflict.
But the haunted aspect of the circuit stems from one evening in the 1970s when a British Aircraft Corporation security officer was looking towards the hill and saw a large spot of “blackness” floating above.
He claims to have then heard the sound of “crashing, splintering metal or wood”.
He went on to say: “Test Hill was still overgrown at that time, but two days later, when I plucked up courage to investigate, not a blade of grass, nor a branch of a tree had been broken.
“There is definitely something strange in that area, and I’m a level headed chap who doesn’t imagine things.”
The “haunting” of the area has been attributed to Lambert’s tragic death.
Parts of the banking where he died remain standing.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
