A plan to help preserve the heritage of the historic racing circuit at Brooklands Museum in Surrey is banking on public support – and the first person to respond was none other than Top Gear presenter James May.
The museum trust has launched a new website, called Banking on Brooklands, which will help donors to become custodians of 2,000 square yards of the remaining track and to raise £250,000 in the process.
It says individual squares from the most famous Member’s Banking section can be bought from £95 rising to £150 at the top of the circuit’s bank.
May, who was the first person to race on the circuit in 70 years last August during his record-breaking attempt to build a slot car-racing track, was at the front of the queue to use the website and buy custody of a track section.
Richard Noble, the previous holder of the World Land Speed Record, already has his own square.
The site will allows visitors to find their ideal section and learn about more than a century of track and driver history as they do it.
Purchasers can personalise the name of their square as well as upload a personal message and image to create a virtual piece of British racing history.
The museum is hoping that, as more people buy squares, an online community of owners will develop and breathe life back into the track.