The History of BARC
Formed in 1912 as The Cyclecar Club, today the British Automobile Racing Club organises races at almost every venue in England, including meetings at Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Croft, Donington Park, Lydden Hill, Mallory Park, Oulton Park, Pembrey (Wales), Silverstone, Snetterton and of course the BARC's home circuit, Thruxton.
The Cyclecar Club - cyclecars incidentally, were light fragile looking devices powered by motorcycle engines - grew quickly and organised events at Brooklands as well as rallies and touring trials on the open road. In 1919, following World War One, with cyclecars on the decline, the name was changed to The Junior Car Club, this being for light cars defined as four seater weighing less than 15cwt or a two seater weighing less than 13cwt with an engine capacity of less than 1500cc (four stroke) or 1100cc (two stroke).
Membership grew quickly, a Secretary and Staff being appointed in 1921, and centres being formed in the North, South West, Yorkshire and North Wales.Others were to follow. In 1921 the JCC organised the first long distance race ever run in Britain, the 200 Mile Race at Brooklands, won by Henry Seagrave's Talbot-Darracq. The 200 was run at Brooklands until 1928, from 1925 chicanes were added to simulate a road course. From 1929 to 1931 the Double 12 Hour Race was the highlight of the JCC calendar. In 1932 a 1000 Mile Race, also organised at Brooklands, was won by Elsie Wisdom and Joan Richmond in a Riley. The JCC was one of the first clubs to allow women to compete against men.
From 1933 to 1939 a series of International Trophy Races was organised at Brooklands, while the 200 Mile Race was revived at Donington Park in 1936 and 1937, transferring back to Brooklands the following year. Rallies were also organised, including The British Rally to the United States and Canada held in 1936 and 1939.
After the Second World War, the Junior Car Club was amalgamated with the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club - Brooklands as a racing venue was gone forever. In conjunction with The Jersey Motorcycle & Light Car Club, the Jersey International Road Race was organised in 1947 and repeated in 1949,1950 and 1952. The home of the Club, it's title now changed to The British Automobile Racing Club, was now the newly opened Goodwood Circuit at Chichester in West Sussex.
Goodwood was the venue of many important BARC promotions, with at least one international fixture each year, until the circuit was closed on public safety grounds in 1966. Easter Monday Internationals more often than not featured a Formula One race. In 1952, 1953 and 1955 a Nine Hour Sportscar Race was run, the first after dark racing ever organised in Britain. The RAC's Classic Tourist Trophy Sportscar Race was revived by the BARC at Goodwood in 1958, the nail biting 1959 race saw Stirling Moss clinch the World Sportscar Championship for Aston Martin. He took over the car of Carroll Shelby and Jack Fairman after his own caught fire during a pit stop.
The BARC was in at the re-opening of Crystal Palace Circuit in 1953 and the opening of Aintree Circuit the following year. Indeed, when the British Grand Prix was run at Aintree in 1955, 1957,1959,1961 and 1962 the BARC was the organiser. The 1955 race witnessed Stirling Moss' first ever World Championship Grand Prix win and two years later, Moss took over team mate Tony Brooks' Vanwall to make another mark in the history books. It was the first World Championship Grand Prix win for a British car and the first Grand Epreuve victory for a British car since the 1920's.
Goodwood's closure was serious, the BARC had no 'home'. The 1967 Easter Monday International was switched temporarily to Silverstone, while its new circuit, Thruxton, was transformed from a bleak wartime airfield into a permanent motor racing facility. Over the years, the Hampshire circuit has developed into one of the major circuits in the country and since the mid 1970's, the BARC Headquarters have been at the circuit.
The current lap record at Thruxton is held by Belgium's Phillipe Adams in a Reynard 91D single seater racing car in a time of 1 Minute 2.75 Seconds (avg speed 135.16 miles per hour), set on 26th September 1993. The unofficial lap record is held by Damon Hill in the Williams Renault FW15C Formula One car. On 10th October 1993 he drove the car round the 2.356 mile circuit in 57.6 Seconds (avg speed 147.24 miles per hour) whilst doing a demonstration for the enjoyment of the crowd following his failed attempt to do the same at the circuit's Silver Jubilee Meeting in June of that year.
The British Automobile Racing Club Group of companies now includes Thruxton (BARC) Ltd which maintains and operates Thruxton Circuit, whilst BARC(Pembrey) Ltd does the same for Pembrey Circuit, near Llanelli in South Wales, which was aquired by the Club in 1989.
