The Brighton Speed Trials, in full The Brighton National Speed Trials, is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held 19–22 July 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface of the road adjacent to the beach between the Palace Pier and Black Rock to hold motor racing events. This stretch was renamed Madeira Drive in 1909 and the event is still held there, normally on the second Saturday of September each year. In 1936 Motor Sport described the event as: "undoubtedly the most important speed-trials on the British Calendar."
The event is currently run as a quarter mile sprint for both cars and motorcycles, held under the auspices of the Motor Sports Association. The event is organised by the Brighton and Hove Motor Club, with the Sprint Section of the Vintage Motorcycle Club in charge of the Motorcycles.
Following a fatal motorcycle combination crash in 2012 Brighton & Hove City Council considered banning the event. However, on 23 January 2014 the Economic Development and Culture Committee voted in favour of the event continuing.
History
The Brighton National Speed Trials is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held 19–22 July 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface of the road adjacent to the beach between the Palace Pier and Black Rock to hold motor racing events. This stretch was renamed Madeira Drive in 1909 and the event is still held there, normally on the second Saturday of September each year. In 1936 Motor Sport described the event as: "undoubtedly the most important speed-trials on the British Calendar."
Interruptions
The first speed trial, called the "Brighton Motor Trials", was held in July 1905, but because of the cost and opposition from ratepayers, it was not held again until 1923.
A police ban of racing on public roads interrupted activity from 1925–1931, but because Madeira Drive was a private road owned by the council it was eventually exempt from the ban.
The Speed Trials were not run between 1939–1945 due to World War II. The 1939 event had been scheduled for 23 September.
In 1969 the fuel crisis led to the cancellation of this year's event. Autocar reported in 1970: "Last year this traditional event did not take place because the condition of the road surface was thought unsuitable for the more powerful sprint cars."
In 2013 the council declined the club's application to run the event following a fatal accident in 2012. Following a Save Brighton Speed Trails campaign the event was reinstated in 2014.
Notable people
George Abecassis
Sydney Allard
Prince Bira
Bill Boddy
John Cobb
Peter Collins
John Cooper
S. F. Edge
Archie Frazer Nash
Jack Fairman
Joe Fry
Bob Gerard
Mike Hawthorn
Earl Howe
Alec Issigonis
Denis Jenkinson
Roy Lane
Dorothy Levitt
Tony Marsh
Dean Moon
Stirling Moss
Reg Parnell
Kay Petre
Mike Pilbeam
David Piper
Dennis Poore
Ian Raby
Jack Sears
Geoffrey Taylor
Mickey Thompson
Ken Tyrrell
Peter Walker
Rob Walker
Peter Westbury
Ken Wharton
The Dragster Era
The first announcement that a dragster would race in Brighton came from Wally Parks, in an editorial in Hot Rod Magazine in August 1958. Parks had nominated Calvin Rice to travel from the USA to England with the Hot Rod Magazine Special for the speed trials. In the event the trip was aborted.
In 1961 Sydney Allard built the Allard dragster in the UK and its first competitive appearance was at the Brighton Speed Trials on 2 September 1961. A new track record over the kilometre was anticipated but a fuel line ruptured caused a misfire and a time of 37.91 secs. Hot Rod Magazine reported: "During warmup it backfired and blew off one set of blower pipes and never got going." The reputation of the car never fully recovered, and Bill Boddy, editor of Motor Sport, called it a fiasco, saying the mechanical problems had also occurred in testing at Boreham. The Autocar described the Allard dragster as a "gallant failure."