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      Abandoned race track is haunted by ghost of motorsport icon who died on Halloween trying to regain his land speed record

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      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.
      Parts of Brooklands Motor Course are still there todayCredit: Colin Smith CC BY-SA 2.0
      Bits of the straight and banking can be seenCredit: Alan Hunt (Creative Commons)
      It is a legendary British race track located in SurreyCredit: Getty
      Percy Lambert died attempting to set a new speed record in 1913Credit: Getty
      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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      The race track hosted two editions of the British Grand Prix in 1926 and 1927Credit: Getty
      Racing stopped at Brooklands after the Second World WarCredit: Getty
      Some iconic cars and racers competed at BrooklandsCredit: Getty
      It is now said to be haunted following Lambert’s death more than 100 years agoCredit: John Chapman CC BY-SA 3.0
      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.
      Fans can still visit parts of the track more than a century on from Lambert’s deathCredit: Mike Smith CC BY-SA 2.0 More

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      We’re brothers with 10 MotoGP world champion titles, countless crashes and broken bones between us – but we won’t retire

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      OVER the years, tennis fans have witnessed some of the biggest sibling rivalries of all time, including Serena and Venus Williams as well as Andy and Jamie Murray.And the MotoGP world has one of the most exciting brotherly battles too.
      Alex and Marc Marquez have spoken exclusively to The Sun about their sibling rivalryCredit: Getty
      8-time world champ Marc has become known as the “Senna of the MotoGP world”Credit: Estrella Galicia
      8-time world champion Marc Marquez, 30, has been called the “Senna of the MotoGP world” and became the youngest ever rider to win the MotoGP title in 2013, at the age of 20.
      He went on to win the world championship every year following, until 2020, when he came crashing into the air at around 100mph, suffering a fractured humerus, leading to surgery.
      Marc returned the following year, only gaining 7th place, followed by 13th in 2022.
      And, as he prepares for the 12th competition in San Morino this Sunday, he’s placing at 19th.
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      Meanwhile, his younger brother, Alex Marquez, 27, won the Moto2 Motorcycling World Championship in 2019 with Team Estrella Galicia, and has been coming up behind him, hot on his (w)heels.
      ‘Jealous’ of older brother
      For the first time in the boys’ careers, throughout this year’s world championship, Alex has been much higher up the league table than Marc, currently in 9th place in the GP.
      And, as we sit down with him at Estrella Galicia’s bar at Silverstone, Alex admits his success is down to the competition he’s had with his brother.
      “I look up to him quite a lot, I’m quite jealous of him,” he tells us. “I’ve achieved much more than what I imagined when I was young, and I think it’s because I’ve been fighting him. 
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      “When I was younger, I was comparing myself to him quite a lot.
      “Later, I started to actually follow him.”
      Marc and Alex were both in Honda until this year, as Alex has moved to Ducati – and he feels much more relaxed racing against him now.
      He says: “Competing against each other is really nice, but it’s something that, if you can avoid it, it’s better, because when you see your brother crashing or something like that, it’s hard to not take it with you. 
      “But I love being in a different team to him. I feel more relaxed. 
      “In the same team, we’re on the same bike, we’re fighting, it’s something that in the first moment is nice, but later on, it gets hard.”
      And Marc has loved having his brother around him as they’ve travelled the world together every year for each Grand Prix.
      “Having my brother there is one of the coolest things I have in my career and in my life because it’s become a lifestyle,” he says. 
      “To spend your profession with your brother, race the same racetracks, it’s something very special and very nice. And yeah, we’re travelling around the world together. 
      “We are competing against each other, but also I try to help him, and he tries to help me. So this is very nice.”
      Horror crash
      Marc had a horror crash in 2020 and then had many more in the following yearsCredit: Estrella Galicia
      Since Marc’s 2020 crash, he’s suffered complications with the metal plate in his arm, and has been back for surgery twice more, and he’s no longer able to extend his right arm out fully, meaning he finds controlling the bike on corners more difficult.
      A later crash in 2022, during a warm-up session for the Indonesian GP, saw Marc flung from his bike while travelling at 115mph after his rear tyre gave way.
      He suffered concussion and damaged a nerve in his eye after being flung 15 feet in the air, leading him to be diagnosed with diplopia, meaning he was seeing double.
      At the time, BT Sport commentator Gavin Emmett said: “That’s a shocking crash for Marc Marquez. That’s one of the biggest high-sides I’ve seen in 25 years covering this sport.
      “He must have been 12 to 15 feet in the air, the Repsol Honda man.”
      Thought about retiring
      Marc did think about retiring after losing confidence in his abilitiesCredit: Instagram/@marcmarquez93
      And when we spoke to him, he confessed he was starting to lose confidence prior to this year’s GP, and he did think about retiring.
      He says: “I never feel scared but it’s true that sometimes you lose confidence and, in the last races, I crashed many times and then I started to lose more and more confidence, and then, when you lose confidence, you are slower and even more unsafe.
      “These last three years, with the four different injuries, four different situations on the arm, with a lot of injuries, I was thinking about stopping, and saying ‘okay, why am I doing this?’ 
      “But it’s my passion, and I can not imagine, right now, a life without riding a bike, without riding in MotoGP. 
      “So at the moment, it’s my passion and I still feel competitive.”
      Marc and Alex have been sponsored by Estrella Galicia, since 2012, and both tell us how important the relationship with the Spanish, family-run beer brand is to them.
      Marc says: “It’s been such a long relationship, so it’s been very nice to see us grow together. 
      We’ve got bigger and bigger, step by step, and we’ve helped each other a lot.
      “It looks like a very big company, but it’s a family company, and you can feel it.”
      Alex adds: “We’ve had many years together, and they’ve invested in me.
      “It’s really important, especially when you start, in smaller championships, and have less visibility to have help, because you need the money and to pay, because it costs a lot. 
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      “So to have them on your side is important.”
      Estrella Galicia 0,0 is the Global Official Beer Partner of MotoGP™.
      Alex and Marc have been sponsored by Estrella Galicia since 2012Credit: Estrella Galicia More

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      Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were close to being TEAM-MATES says Mercedes boss as he reveals what blocked move

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      TOTO WOLFF says he missed out on signing Max Verstappen as a youngster – because he could not offer the Dutchman a guaranteed seat at Mercedes.Verstappen is poised to win his 11th race in a row at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix as he closes in on his third successive title.
      Toto Wolff says he missed out on signing Verstappen as a youngsterCredit: Rex
      The F1 stars could have been team-matesCredit: Getty
      However, it could have been a different story had Mercedes boss Wolff managed to sign him up to the Silver Arrows before he joined Red Bull’s junior team in 2014.
      Wolff says that back then, Mercedes were happy with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and without having a second team on the grid, could not promise Verstappen a space.
      “Max was very good in karting, was good in F3, and it was clear that there’s a big one that’s growing,” Wolff told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
      “We talked to them in the initial phases, and it was a nice discussion with [dad] Jos and with Max involved as well.
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      “But it was clear that we couldn’t give him a seat because we had Nico and we had Lewis.
      “We offered the support in F2 but, since Red Bull was able to offer them the AlphaTauri seat, or Toro Rosso back in the day, it got Max into the seat.”
      Verstappen was offered a drive at Toro Rosso in 2015 while Rosberg unexpectedly quit racing the following year after winning the title.
      And Wolff says he can’t be certain if Verstappen would have picked Mercedes had he not already joined Red Bull.
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      He added: “Maybe but, you know, if I knew where the stock market is next year, I would decide to invest in it or not.
      “We would be very happy and rich people if we would know what happens 12 months on.”
      Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo will be in Singapore for this weekend’s GP despite his broken hand.
      The Australian underwent an operation after breaking bones in his left hand 20 days ago after crashing at the Dutch GP.
      He is now undergoing rehab while helping the team with engineering duties while Red Bull’s reserve driver Liam Lawson fills in at AlphaTauri. More

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      I’m a former F1 star – now I’m an artist with a collection called ‘Friends, Heroes and W***ers’

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      MANY sports stars have been known to venture down a new path once their sporting days are over. And former Formula One driver Stefan Johansson is among them.
      Stefan Johansson competed in F1 between 1983 and 1991Credit: Getty
      After his racing career finished he became became a painterCredit: stefanjohansson.art / Stefan Johansson
      Johansson, right, competed against F1 greats such as Alain Prost, middleCredit: AFP
      The Swede competed in F1 between 1983 and 1991, racing against titans of the sport such as Aryton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost to name a few.
      Johansson, 67, achieved 12 podiums throughout his career while racing with the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Tyrell.
      But during the 1986 season Johansson started to explore his artistic side, picking up a brush in honour of close friend Elio de Angelis, who died in testing at the start of the season.
      After his F1 career concluded, Johansson continued to have success in motorsport, notably winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche in 1997 alongside Michele Alboreto and Tom Kristensen.
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      However, from the tragic embers which kickstarted his dive into painting, Johansson soon created an impressive portfolio of work.
      The name of one of his collections: “Friends, Heroes and W***ers,” feature famous faces on canvas with text over the top of them, including Senna and Enzo Ferrari among a host of well-known people.
      According to his website: “The paintings project the philosophy and attitudes of my various subjects, and the goal is to bring new perspectives to these individuals that have become known through their own intellect and accomplishments.
      “In this particular case it was the primary inspiration for me applying paint to canvas.
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      “The quotes painted on the portraits were chosen to reflect this inspiration but not necessarily as a means to communicate or convince others of their meaning.”
      His painting also draws on his F1 career, with a collection called “Urban Pointillism” displaying a number of drivers and their cars.
      Meanwhile his “Memories of a past life” collection bear a number of striking images and patterns and are suitably named after corner or a section of various race circuits around the world.
      These fine art pieces can be brought from anywhere between £102 to £265 on his website.
      Painting is not the only way Johansson has shown his artistic side, with scented candles, designer watches, skateboards and hats also among the ex-F1 driver’s range.
      Johansson scored 12 podiums throughout his careerCredit: Getty

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      Inside Red Bull’s plan for future F1 domination with new education centre to train next generation of engineering talent

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      RED BULL RACING are out to catch the next Adrian Newey – after planning a new education centre at the team’s factory.In an F1 first, the facility will be based at their Milton Keynes HQ and will welcome students between nine and 14.
      It will aim to attract them to careers in engineering and follow design whizz Newey, who has won eleven Constructors’ Championships with three different F1 teams.
      Design whizz Adrian Newey has been the mastermind behind much of Red Bull’s successCredit: Alamy
      In association with the MK College Group, Red Bull want to use the popularity of the sport to encourage kids to study STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] subjects at school.
      The programme will have its own curriculum, making it a fun way of attracting students to STEM subjects beyond GCSE level.
      Zoe Mills, Red Bull Racing’s Head of Employee Experience, said: “The utopia for us is where we have someone come to an interview and we ask them why they want to work for us and they say ‘it is because I went to the education centre and that is what inspired me to continue with my STEM subjects’.
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      “That’s when we know we will really have made a difference.
      “All the engineers are keen to get involved. For instance, if you look at our aerodynamics department, they will work with Milton Keynes College, who will break it down into a language that is easy to understand for nine-year-olds.”
      MK College Group CEO and Group Principal, Sally Alexander, added: “It is about how you make those subjects relatable and exciting.
      “Pupils might think they are dry subjects and not understand what engineering is, but if you come in and think you could be on the pitwall and that looks great, but in order to do that I have got to get my maths GCSE, then your motivation is high.
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      “It is about engaging young people and what that can mean to them in the future.”
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      The new talent pipeline fits in with F1’s goal to increase diversity and inclusion within the sport. More

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      Felipe Massa’s lawyers ‘hoping for support from LEWIS HAMILTON’ in bid to strip Brit of 2008 F1 world championship

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      FELIPE MASSA’S lawyers are hopeful of support from Lewis Hamilton in the Brazilian’s bid to strip the Brit of his 2008 F1 title.Former driving star Massa has launched a legal challenge over the result of that year’s championship.
      Felipe Massa hopes Lewis Hamilton backs the Brazilian’s bid to lose his own titleCredit: Corbis
      He lost out to Hamilton by one single point in the standings.
      And Massa wants the crown to be his following the Singapore GP’s “Crashgate” incident, where Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashed to help teammate Fernando Alonso.
      The race delay saw Massa go from first place to 13th.
      And he feels the race should have been cancelled, with F1 chiefs missing a deadline to respond to his legal bid last week.
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      Massa has already acquired a legal team featuring a barrister who worked on Newcastle’s takeover in 2021.
      And his lawyer Bernardo Viana is now hoping that seven-time world champ Hamilton will throw his weight behind Massa’s challenge – despite victory meaning he would lose one of his titles.
      Viana told Reuters: “Hamilton is an honorary Brazilian citizen and very well-liked by Brazilians, so I hope he will support us.
      “He is an important ambassador for the sport and has always defended sporting integrity.
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      “We have absolutely nothing against Hamilton.”
      Viana also reckons there is more evidence to come regarding F1’s failure to cancel the 2008 Singapore GP.
      He added: “The objective is to bring the trophy home. It’s not financial.
      “To get there, several measures will be taken with different aims, some to obtain information and others to obtain statements.
      “We want everything that happened in 2008/09 to come to light.
      “We understand that there is even more information that has not been made public.
      “Felipe has nothing against Hamilton, absolutely nothing. This case is against what was done by the previous leadership at FOM and FIA.” More

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      Newcastle takeover lawyer confident Lewis Hamilton WILL be stripped of 2008 F1 world title amid Massa’s legal fight

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      LAWYERS who worked on the Saudi takeover of Newcastle are confident Lewis Hamilton will be stripped of his 2008 F1 title in a legal bid by Felipe Massa.The Brazilian missed out on the world championship by a single point.
      Lawyers are confident Lewis Hamilton will be stripped of his 2008 F1 titleCredit: Getty
      Felipe Massa feels he was robbed of the win after Singapore’s ‘Crashgate’Credit: Reuters
      And he feels he was the victim of a deliberate crash earlier in the season by Nelson Piquet Jr, which saw Massa drop from first to 13th at the Singapore GP.
      Massa started his legal action in August over a “conspiracy” regarding what is now known as “Crashgate.”
      And a deadline for F1 chiefs to respond passed earlier this month.
      Massa believes the Singapore race should have been cancelled, especially when Piquet Jr admitted his crash was deliberate in 2009.
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      And Massa’s lawyer is feeling confident of success in court, claiming everything will come to light.
      Bernardo Viana is working with a legal team including Nick De Marco, a barrister specialising in sport.
      He assisted Newcastle’s legal battle with the Premier League following 2021’s takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
      And Viana’s team believe there is more undisclosed information over “Crashgate” to come, which will vindicate Massa’s claims and result in the 2008 F1 trophy being his.
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      Viana told Motorsport.com: “The objective is to bring the trophy home. It’s not financial.
      “To get there, several measures will be taken with different aims, some to obtain information and others to obtain statements.
      “We want everything that happened in 2008/09 to come to light.
      “We understand that there is even more information that has not been made public.
      “Felipe has nothing against Hamilton, absolutely nothing. This case is against what was done by the previous leadership at FOM and FIA.
      “We have nothing against Hamilton.” More

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      Lewis Hamilton and George Russell strip for ice bath but fans spot bizarre detail about F1 star’s tub

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      LEWIS HAMILTON and George Russell gave fans a sneak peek into their preparation for the Singapore Grand Prix.The Mercedes F1 duo, who both recently signed new deals with the constructor, treated fans to a photo of themselves enjoying an ice bath.
      Mercedes shared a photo of driver duo George Russell and Lewis HamiltonCredit: PA
      But fans spotted a bizarre detail on Russell’s ice tubCredit: Instagram / @mercedesamgf1
      Both Brits beamed with smiles while topless in the baths, with Russell also holding a Monster Energy water bottle for the soak.
      However, eagle-eyed fans spotted a peculiar detail on Russell’s tub which was missing from Hamilton’s… inscribed initials.
      The added detail left fans in hysterics, with one reacting: “George Russell is the type of guy to label his ice bath.”
      A second said: “George really had to label his tub to tell which one is his 😭.”
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      “I’m so not surprised that George has labelled his ice bucket, he definitely labelled all his stationary at school,” remarked a third.
      Another fan joked: “They look like 2 kids playing in the tub 😂.”
      A fifth commented: “Lewis Hamilton thirst traps are back 😏.”
      While a sixth typed: “With the heat in Singapore, they are going to need more ice!”
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      At the Italian GP, Russell and Hamilton finished P5 and P6 respectively.
      Their Mercedes W14 has struggled for pace against top dogs Red Bull for much of the season.
      But with Ferrari bolting out of the blocks after the summer break, Mercedes are far from secure in the race for P2 in the constructors standings.
      A new look Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore awaits the upcoming weekend, with current weather forecasts expecting temperatures on race day to reach as high as 31 degrees Celsius.
      Complete F1 2023 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix this year More