The Brooklands Podcast

Brooklands volunteer and bomber command researcher Ian Hunt talks with the author Michael Napier about the writing of the book in Barnes Wallis office at Brooklands Museum.

The most famous and successful heavy bomber flown by the RAF during World War 2, the Avro Lancaster remains one of the most enduring symbols of RAF, and indeed British, history.

This book presents a completely new and original perspective on the iconic Avro Lancaster by covering the 24-hour cycle of a Lancaster squadron. Using over 200 first-hand accounts and illustrated with numerous photographs, it describes the activities and life of aircrew, ground maintenance personnel, mission planners and the plethora of support personnel each of whom played a vital role in the operation of a Lancaster bomber squadron. Starting with the ground activities on a typical wartime Lancaster airfield and the preparations for a night raid, the book then takes the reader with the aircrews on a night bombing mission over Germany, to discover the many dangers and hazards facing the crews throughout the flight, in their own words. In the thought-provoking and deeply poignant epilogue, the aircrew review their achievements against the sacrifices they made.

Lella Lombardi is best remembered as the only woman (to date) to have finished in a point scoring position in a Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix. But there was so much more to Lella than this groundbreaking, but career-defining statistic. A gutsy and gritty competitor, Lella won Italian National Championships in both single seaters and saloons, before going on to be a front runner in Formula 5000. At international level she won races in the World Cup Sportscar Championship and later she was the mainstay of the Alfa Romeo European touring car squad, where she was a regular class winner. Lella went on to set up her own racing team, before sadly succumbing to breast cancer at the tragically young age of 50.

Many racing enthusiasts know of Lella but few know very much about her. Five decades after her landmark Formula One result, author Jon Saltinstall meticulously researched Lella's life, with the support of her family, and wrote the first complete biography of this enigmatic and pioneering racing driver. Jon's presentation includes many previously unpublished photographs of Lella's life and career.

Britain's 1st Grand Prix took place at Brooklands in August 1926. To mark the centenary, the Brooklands Museum Talks Team head Harry Sherrard collaborates with one of the world's leading motorsport journalists, Maurice Hamilton.

The presentation covers the first century of British Grands Prix, including highlights such as Campbell v Seagrave at Brooklands, Moss v Fangio at Aintree, Hunt v Lauda at Brands Hatch and Hamilton v Verstappen at Silverstone.

On 25th October 2016 Simon Taylor compered a Brooklands Members Talk in the Napier Room at Brooklands Museum on the motorsport life of James Hunt, in particular 1976. Simon talks with Maurice Hamilton, Tony Dron and Freddie Hunt about their memories of the great man.

As the final rung below Formula 1 on motor racing’s ladder to the top, the International Formula 3000 Championship ran from 1985 to 2004 and nurtured numerous drivers who went on to become future stars. Jean Alesi, Christian Fittipaldi, Juan Pablo Montoya and Nick Heidfeld all became International F3000 champions on the way to Formula 1. Brooklands Members president Damon Hill impressed in F3000 before securing the Williams testing role, which led to a full-time drive and ultimately the championship. Notables who established themselves in team ownership and management included Eddie Jordan, Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and David Sears.

Our speaker is James Newbold, author of "Formula 3000 – Where Legends Earned Their Stripes" whose meticulous research into F3000’s 20-year history included interviews with over 100 key figures from the era. James is joined by prominent F3000 drivers, engineers and team owners, including former Lotus Formula One driver Martin Donnelly, who was a consultant on the 2025 Brad Pitt blockbuster film, F1, and whose Jerez accident features in the movie.

Recorded in 2012 at Sir Stirling's Mayfair home by Phil Sampson/Albany Communications, this is a wonderful conversation between Murray Walker and Sir Stirling Moss. Both, in their own way, are national Treasures; Murray Walker, the voice of motorsport, and Sir Stirling Moss, Mr Motor Racing (as Murray eloquently puts it). When it comes to greatness, there is no test greater than that of time – and despite the fact that both Murray and Sir Stirling had been retired for many years, their popularity, fame, and the memories each created, unquestionably live on.

Matt talks candidly with Mark Jarman about his multifaceted career in F1 and writing the novel "The Boy Made the Difference".

A Reliability Engineer is one of those vital trackside roles, well understood within the confines of the F1 paddock, but perhaps its existence is lesser known outside of the travelling F1 circus. It’s always been a vital cog, linking trackside and factory operations, but the greater the calendar congestion, the more critical it becomes.

Abbie Robison is one of McLaren's Reliability Engineers, splitting her time between weeks working trackside and the race bays at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC).

“A reliability engineer, in a nutshell, is a problem-solver,” says Abbie. “It’s about dealing with any problem we have as quickly as possible, and ensuring the car stays on track – but there is also an element of thinking ahead. I like to break it down into the reactive element of dealing with issues as they appear, and then a proactive element of thinking about how to stop those issues from happening in the first place.”

Nadine Lewis is an experienced marshal and the first female Chair of the British Motorsport Marshals Club (BMMC). She talks with Mark Jarman about her involvement in BMMC and the importance of volunteers as marshals in all forms of motorsport.

Millie talks with Mark Jarman about her work as an aerodynamicist at Aston Martin and her progression through school and university that inspired her.