THE famous Aintree race track in Liverpool has sprung back into life now that renovations to the circuit have been completed.
The Aintree circuit is one of the most famous in the country, having hosted the Formula One British Grand Prix on five occasions between 1955 and 1962. Drivers such as Jim Clark, Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham triumphed at Aintree, and the circuit even played host to a shared win between Tony Brooks and the aforementioned Moss in 1957.
Since its time as a Grand Prix track, the Aintree circuit has become a club track, with the Aintree Motorcycle Racing Club (AMRC) helping to start the careers of the likes of John McGuinness, who has gone on to become the second-most-successful rider at the Isle of Man TT, with his 23 wins bettered only by Joey Dunlop’s 26.
After a crash in 2018, the Aintree circuit was closed a year later to allow for improvements to be made, Soy Motero reports. The arrival of the pandemic delayed the planned renovations, but now the circuit has opened again, with the first meeting of 2022 taking place last weekend.
While Aintree may not be the most prominent thing when people think of Liverpool, it has become a window into the past perhaps more strongly than any other British track. While circuits like Cadwell Park and Oulton Park retain their historic and traditional characteristics, and remain circuits which follow the land rather than the brain of a person sat at a desk behind a computer, the lack of retention of top level racing at Aintree makes it impossible to think about without quite quickly completing a mental teleportation back to the 1950s and 1960s, when F1 cars would be lapping.
Of course, it is hard to envisage a return of Grand Prix racing to Aintree, but the continuation of the AMRC’s legacy after three years away is a positive for British motorsport, and especially motorcycle racing.
To register to join the Aintree Motorcycle Racing Club, you can do so via their website, here.
