The first event was a 9-hour race which took place in 1955, organized by the Southampton and District Motorcycle Club (SDMCC) at the Thruxton Circuit near Andover in Hampshire.
Similar events were the Bemsee-organised Hutchinson 100[4] at Silverstone and the 'Motor Cycle' 500 at Brands Hatch in 1966 where Mike Hailwood demonstrated a Honda CB450 Black Bomber fitted with a sports fairing.
An application was made in 1949 by the SDMCC to the Auto Cycle Union for approval of the circuit for motorcycle racing, with the result that an official track inspection took place on New Year's Day 1950.
9 Hour results Motorcycle racing continued on the bumpy wartime tarmac (which was slowly breaking) until 1965, when plans were agreed for a new track.
The new layout ignored the original runways and followed the perimeter road with an added chicane and three tight corners in succession (named Campbell, Cobb and Segrave) which became referred to as the complex.
The machines were supposed to be the same as could be bought, but most factories of the time invested in a racing team that invariably developed the motorcycles as much as possible.