Noise restrictions and the proximity of the Grand Prix loop to local residents mean that the number of race meetings held on the extended circuit is limited to just a few per year (usually for higher-profile series such as the BTCC and the BSB).

[citation needed] The full Grand Prix circuit begins on the Brabham Straight, an off-camber, slightly curved stretch, before plunging into the right-hander at Paddock Hill Bend, with gradients of 8%.

The track then curves around the south bank spectator area into the downhill, off-camber Graham Hill Bend, and another, slightly bent stretch at the Cooper Straight, which runs parallel to the pit lane.

Although the site was originally used as a military training ground, the fields belonging to Brands Farm were first used as a circuit by a group of Gravesend cyclists led by Ron Argent,[2][unreliable source?]

Brands Hatch remained in operation during the 1930s, but after being used as a military vehicle park and being subject to many bombing raids during World War II, it needed much work before it could become a professional racing circuit.

Cooper T39s and Lotus Mk.9s dominated sports car racing while Archie Scott Brown had a stranglehold on the over 1,900 cc class, driving either the works Lister-Bristol or Louis Manduca's Jaguar C-Type.

As a result of Suez affair, forecasts for 1957 season were gloomy, but the programme ran as planned, the two feature meeting of the year being run for the new Formula Two on Whit Sunday and August Bank Holiday.

Jim Clark made his Brands Hatch debut at the Boxing Day event, when he drove the Border Reivers-entered Lotus Elite into second place behind Colin Chapman.

At the Boxing Day meeting, Hulme won the Formula Junior race driving the prototype Brabham BT6-Ford, setting a new outright lap record of 54.8secs at an average speed of 82.06 mph (132.06 km/h).

The date was 11 July, a cool and dry day which saw Jim Clark at his best in the Lotus 25 winning by 2.8secs from Graham Hill in the BRM P261, who was followed home by John Surtees in the V8 Ferrari 158; fourth and one lap down was Jack Brabham driving a car bearing his own name.

The other great American victory was to come when the be-winged 7-litre Chaparral 2F-Chevrolet driven by Phil Hill and Mike Spence won the BOAC 500 run over 211 laps of the Grand Prix Circuit at an average speed of 93.08 mph (149.80 km/h), from the Ferrari 330-P4 of Chris Amon and Jackie Stewart.

The former race gave the McLaren marque its maiden Formula One victory when Bruce, driving his own car, led home the field ahead of Pedro Rodríguez in the BRM P133 and his new team-mate, Denny Hulme.

The BOAC 1000 saw Alfa Romeo take their first major success in 20 years, with the chequered flag being taken by the 33TT3 of Andrea de Adamich and Henri Pescarolo, who completed the 235 laps at a speed of 97.17 mph (156.38 km/h).

The winner was Jody Scheckter in a Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 who covered the 199.75 mi (321.47 km) race at an average pace of 115.73 mph (186.25 km/h), from Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Cosworth M23B), Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Cosworth 72E), Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda (Ferrari 312B3) with Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Cosworth BT44) in sixth.

It was again Grand Prix year in 1976, and notwithstanding the money already spent, another £100,000 was expended on the track and safety work; the major change was a realignment of Paddock Bend, which resulted in a slight shortening of the circuit to 2.614 mi (4.207 km).

This year's Race of Champions winner and national hero, James Hunt was involved so he took over the spare McLaren M23D, which he won, but was later disqualified by the FIA, as it was deemed that he had not completed the first lap.

[8] Ayrton Senna da Silva's European car racing debut, 1 March 1981 was impressive, but not sensational, finishing fifth during a P&O Ferries Championship (Formula Ford 1600), driving a Van Diemen RF80.

This was Alan Jones's World Championship year and on his way to the crown he won the Marlboro British Grand Prix on 13 July, in a Williams-Cosworth FW07B from Nelson Piquet and Carlos Reutemann.

The full circus arrived in Kent and Elio de Angelis placed his Lotus-Renault 94T on pole position; the race was 76 laps/199 miles long which Nelson Piquet in the Brabham-BMW BT52B won at 124.411 mph (200.220 km/h).

In October that year, rumours started to circulate regarding the future of Motor Circuit Developments; at the time the property of Eagle Star Holdings which had been sold to British American Tobacco.

Race day saw a major first lap accident at Paddock Bend where Jacques Laffite (Ligier-Renault JS27) broke both legs after going head-on into the wall on the right side of the track, which spelt the end of his F1 career and Brands Hatch as a Formula One circuit.

Second home was Joest Racing's 956 of Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig, with the Brun Motorsport 956 of Thierry Boutsen and Frank Jelinski third, four and five laps down respectively.

Allan McNish won the 125 mi (201 km) race at 108.26 mph (174.23 km/h) in a Lola T90/50 with a Mugen engine, followed by Damon Hill in an identical car, with a Cosworth power plant.

The motorcycle racing governing body (FIM) requested the change ahead of the World Superbike Championship visit in August, but it also allowed the installation of extra gravel traps should the CART be switched from the Indy Circuit to the Grand Prix configuration.

A perfect pit stop strategy, great overtaking manoeuvres and a vast experience enabled Bernd Schneider (AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse) to take the DTM victory when the series visited in 2007.

31 August 2008 saw unstable weather conditions, and Timo Scheider (Audi Team Abt Sportline) defended an extremely narrow lead against the Mercedes driver, Paul di Resta.

The Sprint podium was completed by Team India's Narain Karthikeyan and Mexico's Salvador Durán, with Holland's Jeroen Bleekemolen and Swiss driver Neel Jani doing the same in the Main race.

[28] Once again Alain Menu proved to be one of the men to beat when the WTCC revisited Brands in 2009; the Swiss overtook his teammate Robert Huff in the early stages of Race 1 and added another victory to his impressive tally on this track.

Paul di Resta delivered a timely victory for HWA Team and Mercedes-Benz, after he made a good start from pole position, as he fended off the first corner challenge of Timp Scheider's Audi, to claim Mercedes' 150th DTM win.

This led to an appealing race with eclectic mix of cars and drivers, most notably Denis Marcel's in a Matra Murena, Stig Blomqvist in his own Audi Quattro, and Cor Euser in a MG Metro 6R4.