The words ‘Aintree racecourse’ are synonymous with horseracing. But the course was once home to racing of a different kind. For eleven years it played host to the cream of British motor racing, on a circuit that ran alongside the horse racing course.
Mention the words ‘Aintree racecourse’ and the first thing that is likely to come to mind is horseracing. But the course also boasts fame as host to another form of horsepower – motor racing! Not just any old motor racing; but the very pinnacle of the sport itself – the British Grand Prix.
From 1955 until 1964 the venue staged four British and one European Grand Prix with the best drivers in the world competing around its circuit.
Stirling Moss made history there in 1957 by being the first British driver to win a Grand Prix in a British car. The ‘Vanwall’ carried him to victory with a little help from his team mate Tony Brooks, who handed over his car when Moss’s own hit trouble. Imagine that happening today.
As well as a handful of Grand Prix many other international races took place during this period.
The motor racing circuit ran alongside the main stands and enclosures before following the layout of the horse racing course out towards Bechers Brook. It then tracked along the back straight towards Tatts Corner, crossing the course at the Melling Road and Anchor Bridge.
But how did this horse race venue become a car racing circuit?
That first horse race meeting in 1829 was organised by the owners of the Waterloo Hotel in Liverpool; William Lynn, who had leased a plot of land owned by Lord Sefton. In 1839 the first ‘Grand Liverpool Steeplechase’ took place, and this race still survives today in the form of the ‘Grand National’.
The land was taken over in 1848 by a Yorkshire breeder and handicapper Edward Topham. Members of the Topham family continued to run the estate until Mirabel Topham, a reputed actress of the time, and wife of Edward Topham’s Grandson, decided to revive Aintree after the Second World War. After a long battle she finally managed to purchase the venue in 1945.
In 1948 motor racing and horse racing came together at Goodwood; another famous name racing circles. It was through connections with the Duke of Richmond - who owned Goodwood - that Mrs Topham got the idea to make Aintree a car racing circuit.
The plans didn’t go smoothly though, and years of discussion with various parties followed. One of the biggest obstacles was the re-routing of a public footpath on the course. Public inquiries followed, and finally in 1954 a licence to stage a motor race was obtained.
For ten years Liverpool hosted the best international races of the period with star names and teams visiting the city. Mercedes Jaguar and Ferrari teams raced here, with drivers like Moss, Hawthorn, Fangio, Clark and Hill competing in an era when Britain ruled the sport.
Aintree continued as a club race circuit into the 1980s using a loop to take the cars away from the main complex, and still hosts car sprints and motorcycle races. The fifty year anniversary of when cars fist used the full circuit, was held in November 2004. Another celebration is planned for later this year to commemorate the anniversary of the first Grand Prix at Aintree.
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