The 'groundbreaking' first British Grand Prix

On a warm summer's day, race car engines are revving, the smell of petrol fumes fills the air, and drivers are gearing up for the British Grand Prix - but this is not Formula 1, nor is it Silverstone.

In August 1926, nine drivers lined up for the start of the very first British Grand Prix, held at the Brooklands circuit in Surrey.

While the sport has come a long way in the following 100 years, its roots on the banked corners at Brooklands still remain as a testament to what it has done for the nation.

Alex Patterson, chief executive of Brooklands, told Secret Surrey: "This was groundbreaking for the country."

He added: "Continental Europe was racing on open roads, but Britain wasn't in that place.

"The landscape would have been very, very different to now. We would have been literally in the middle of nowhere."

The 1926 grand prix was an event of firsts - not only was it the first race of its kind in the UK, it was also on the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, using mass produced concrete for the first time when it was built in 1907, Patterson said.

Despite only having nine starters, the race was one of attrition - just three cars finished the inaugural race, and one driver became so warm that he needed to put his feet in cold water after getting out of the car.

Brooklands is famous for its two banked sections nearly 30 ft (9 m) high, and its starting straight measured 100 ft (30.4 m) wide.

"It encouraged the technology to be able to be tested and go as fast as possible", Patterson said.

While motor racing has moved on a long way since, and the racing has moved out of Surrey, Brooklands' pedigree remains clear.

It's banks may now be being reclaimed by nature, through the cracks in the concrete, but the historic roar of engines on the circuit will always represent the start of a revolution in British car racing.

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