ENGLAND'S ONLY LEGAL STREET RACE! The Story of the Birmingham Super Prix (1986-1990)

[@AidanMillward]

Why the hell does that say Denise Richards? Denise Lewis. That’s the heptathlete. Birchfield Harriers REPRESENT.

[@edwardburek1717]

She'd make a better Bond Girl than Denise Richards 😆

[@danesorensen1775]

The Superprix was also where Tom Walkinshaw had his first drive in the new TWR Commodore in 1988. Qualified 5th, which wasn't too bad considering he was up against Sierras and had no special Q tyres... and was missing fourth gear. However, having qualified the car, he never got to race it: David Hunt lost control of his Formula 3000 Lola at Loctite Corner and punched a hole in the brick wall of a wholesaler, shutting down the session. Hunt was basically fine, but he remembered nothing of the day before arriving in hospital, and the car was taken away on two recovery vehicles. That, and another shunt that triggered delays, meant the end of the day came before the BTCC round could kick off, so it was scrubbed. A couple of months later, Tom and his car were at Bathurst for his final start at the Mountain... and the less said about that, the better...

[@78lagwagon]

Oh man, I remember both of the rear ends collapsed on the Commodores at Bathurst that year. Very unfortunate

[@captainnutnut6077]

@@78lagwagon I was born in Brum and now live about a mile or so from Labbatts Corner. I have driven and walked some sections of the course, and it fascinates me to see just how much has changed since then. However, I am unfortunately too young to remember any of it first hand, having been born at Birmingham Women's Hospital in 1985. My dad, however, does remember it and I learned of it from him and his recollections.

[@tingewickmax]

Back in 1968 I remember an article in Autosport, with a well detailed map, for a proposed "Hyde Park" GP. Now if you know the roads there the speeds would have been insane. The thought of F1 cars blasting down the road to the bridge over the Serpentine are mind boggling. It was not published on April 1st.

[@danbradley7176]

Really enjoyed the video, would love to see more city races in England. I also live near Birmingham, but it's in Alabama. The locals talk funny over here too.

[@AidanMillward]

BirmingHAM

[@danbradley7176]

@@AidanMillward You got that right. We like ham with everything

[@AidanMillward]

@@danbradley7176 and cheese.

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

@@danbradley7176 no one speaks as funny as brummies and yamyams

[@frictionstreaker]

I remember watching the Birmingham super prix, loved the Metro 6R4 race, being that I was into rallying at the time.

[@WEJeppo]

Olivers mount (Scarborough) had held road races since 1946 and still does ro this day, although that is for motorbikes and not cars

[@virtualstatman]

I was there in 1987 and 1989. As a kid it was incredibly exciting and exotic to have International F3000 racing locally, especially when Jean Alesi won in ‘89 having already made his F1 debut. I don’t think we fully appreciated it at the time and I still find it disappointing that the existence of the race has been rather swept under the carpet. It was something that gave the city of Birmingham international notoriety at a time when things like that didn’t really happen in the UK, and especially in the West Midlands.

[@timdgoodwin]

I was a paddock marshal at 4 of the 5 events, and a spectator at the first (was too young to be a marshal), sat in the rain, watching the pit crews playing football on the pit lane during the rain delays. Fun fact.. at the first event, they spent a large part of the Saturday with no track action, as they discovered that large sections of the armco barrier had been bolted incorrectly (the overlap was the wrong way, maybe because they were going the wrong direction down the road LOL) Trying to remember who crashed at the end of Pershore street... apparently his engine block ended up through the wall of a building... might have been the David Hunt crash?

[@minibus9]

awesome video, would be great to see similar events happen again in the UK, same for tarmac rally stages on clsoed public roads, i'm in Devon and there are some great roads here for the tarmac rally stages in particular

[@jakdawscreech]

Agreed. A Devon rally, especially if you got clearance for Dartmoor, would be great

[@neblolthecarnerd]

Yes. As a fellow south westerner I agree. In fact I once made a fake map for a Plymouth street circuit.

[@AidanMillward]

Some epic roads in Northumberland and the Lake District too.

[@jakdawscreech]

@@AidanMillward now all I can think of is a UK rally where they tour the different national parks

[@mattwhorlow9900]

@@jakdawscreech The Dartmoor National Park authority would NEVER permit a motor race - either on or off road.

[@agesanderas3250]

Just showed this to my dad (who grew up near Kings Heath/Moseley) and he can't stop smiling.

[@AidanMillward]

Just round the corner!

[@agesanderas3250]

Yes, and annoyingly right in the flight path as well!

[@AidanMillward]

@@agesanderas3250 they turn over my flat so I get landing lights shone into the bedroom. 🤣

[@liamrobbins4470]

Birmingham is still a race track. Just three weeks ago, I had BMWs cutting to the front of traffic lights, everyone launching from the reds, average speeds of 60 in a 40, 4 wide in every tunnel. And on track crashes and spectators diving for cover

[@weslittlereptilefamily3418]

Your historical videos are the best. I tell anyone who mentions they are getting in to F1 to watch you videos. Especially the storytime/history videos. I've learned so much. Thank you.

[@78lagwagon]

Really cool video! This reminds me a lot of the Wellington street races in NZ. They were around a similar time,, struggled to make money and unfortunately unlikely to make a return. It's a reminder to make the effort to go to these events when they do occur because they may only last a short time.

[@volrath__]

As a local growing up mad on motor racing I always remember my Dad talking of this event and how insane it was to see these cars blast around the city. I know I went to the last event, sadly I was only 3 at the time so have absolutely no memory of it! Would love to see racing return to Brum!

[@Evaunit98]

I’d love to see a series of street races in British cities, places like Liverpool and Manchester have some brilliant roads to race on and (bias incoming) my home city of Leeds has a ring road that would be brilliant for racing on

[@jackrex7817]

Grand Prix - Silverstone Super Prix - Street race around Brum Ultra Prix - Street race around Buckingham Palace Omega Prix - Street race around the streets that surround Silverstone

[@dansmith6909]

Cor, Brum must have changed since i was last there (2007) it was a singularly depressing AF place back then, probably the second most depressing place i've been to more than once in England behind Burton-On-Trent. I'm also biased because hated relatives live there i guess, too

[@CrunchyMotorsport]

Please do a video on Jan Magnussen who was a driver who should have rivalled Senna but never reached his potential

[@HandsUpforThePanther]

I would agree, he did. Went to become a legend and brilliant driver for Corvette Racing in ALMS and Le Mans etc.

[@RazorSharp75426]

@@HandsUpforThePanther famous for the Laguna Seca duel vs Jorg Bergmeister as well

[@MFKAKTUS]

I don’t have much to say other then, yes. He never gets the attention he deserves/deserved

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

That took me back! I remember more about the controversies over holding the events than the events themselves. As an aside, Bristol Street Motors is the sponsor for F1 on Channel 4. Some connections are just meant to be!

[@CountyLineFilms]

I remember watching the 1989 running while compiling footage for a documentary about First Racing (The team whos unused chassis was then used by Life) and was fascinated by having never heard of the race before.

[@mr_pennason5329]

I was on turn1 for the 1990 saturday practice. The Martin Donnelley crash/pile up happened rigyt infront of me, i was 7, i was then hooked on motorsport fir life!

[@jimm4867]

In gratitude to the Irish they painted the car green.... and called it British racing green... Thanks lads.

[@gemwilz]

I remember going in 1990 with my Dad. I was 4 years old, but it started my love for cars and racing.

[@Snufflegrunt]

I walked out of Birmingham bus station a few weeks back. Not a great first impression. A couple of derelict buildings, an alcoholic on the pavement, random JCBs hanging about doing nothing, everything was grey or looked like it hadn't been looked after for about 30 years. Thankfully I was out of there pretty fast.

[@billysipe5040]

I'm American, what's a jcb?

[@rhodriedwardwilliams]

@@billysipe5040 JCB’s are big yellow diggers

[@billysipe5040]

@@rhodriedwardwilliams I feel really dumb now, I should've known that 😂

[@rhodriedwardwilliams]

@@billysipe5040 Nothing to feel dumb about Anthony Bamford should stick his logo's in more prominent positions on racecar's 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@metal7216]

Great video fella. Nice bit of history once again. Cool to know you're pretty local to me also.

[@alexwalker67]

My Granddad worked as a courier for a company who overlooked the circuit and managed to get us in the office for a couple of years. I don't remember much, I'd have been 8 at the oldest, but the noise was epic! Good video. Thanks.

[@grrfy]

I loved watching these back in the day and the Lombard Rac through Sutton Park.

[@edwardburek1717]

Coventry does have a street race circuit - well, mostly for sprint runs. That serves as the centrepiece for the MotoFest. Speaking of which, it's on next week.

[@ZER0value]

was coming here to write this! motofest runs a portion of the Coventry ring road as a sprint circuit :)

[@millennialchicken]

we need street races back in the UK... I nominate Leeds as a candidate.

[@1000sofusernames]

Only if it's like Death Race 2000

[@egg9301]

use the trinity centre as the paddock or something

[@MsZeeZed]

God The fckin Loop, no thanku

[@declanthomas7159]

To be fair something around the docks could work. Hell there's already a karting track there

[@paulnutter1713]

not been to the moor recently???

[@BOABModels]

This happened when I was far too young to remember but I will talk to my family who still live in Sheldon to see what they remember of it all.

[@knowlesy3915]

It's my first memories of Motorsport and have moved to Brum and coincidentally work near it.

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: This was fascinating. Thank you.

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

8:15 - I was in a Preston pub on Saturday, and some guy came up to the bar and asked about "cobs". I had to explain to the bar staff what they actually were (I grew up in the other side of Staffordshire in Newcastle Under Lyme, but I am aware of what cobs are). Bet that dude was expecting Holden's and Batham's on the handpumps too.

[@adrianwheatley]

Two excellent pints of ale. I could just drink a few now.

[@chrishowells3097]

Ermmmm.. if you're ever in America- they're called Dutch Crunch rolls.. and good luck getting cheese and Branston Roll....

[@edwardburek1717]

In Coventry and most of Warwickshire, bread rolls are called Batches.

[@JohnSmithShields]

I didn't expect a memelord reference in this one. Thank you Aidan.

[@zanemurcha9742]

Was waiting for this one. It could've held an F1 race if it wanted to. Birmingham Grand Prix.

[@robdavies82]

The first proposal in the 60’s was to run the main straight along Edgbaston street…never been there myself but a quick Google earth shows it’s now a pedestrian only shopping street 🤣

[@bensteward8937]

I'm a truck driver from Lichfield, I drive around Birmingham almost daily. And I've always thought the NEC would be good, the roads around the complex are wide and the roads aren't exactly the busiest. Yes maybe a bit of the car park could be used. But it's a great location next to Birmingham Airport, M42 and M6. I'd love to see BTCC around there. If ExCeL can do it then surely the NEC can

[@Mishima505]

The NEC has a lot of advantages including being private land, having a nice big indoor paddock area and being right next door to the airport and railway station.

[@112chapters3]

I’m so happy I was able to attend this at least a couple of times, I was 4max. Def remember being in a pub in digbeth

[@markusjuenemann]

Simply the best history lessons, I've ever had!

[@M_TCL24]

I propose a new UK street circuit in Binley, with the parking lot of Binley Mega Chippy as a chicane

[@1029jarjar]

Never heard of the bike racing around Oliver's Mount in Scarborough? That's been going a very long time and yes it is a public road open to two way traffic throughout the year that gets closed for racing

[@cosidolyang4215]

Excuse me? Have you not heard of the Cataclean promenade stages rally? That's on the local streets in New Brighton on the Wirral, hosted by Wallasey Motor Club. Check it out as it's happening next weekend on 9&10 September 2022 on its 40th anniversary, after first being run in 1981.

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

There was a idea for a race on Cov inner ring road some years ago. It would have been interesting to see how F1 cars handled the reverse camber between the Holyhead and Foleshill Roads, especially in the wet, and to predict where they might land.

[@sirbeepboop2101]

Omg finally a vid about this, I been waiting for a vid about this a for while glad to see it

[@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303]

Justin Broadrick (of Napalm Death, Godflesh and Jesu fame) is from Birmingham too

[@BrumKid]

I was on the security team from 1988-1989 and both years was in the same place and the same venders were there so got to have free meals and drinks. I was by Great Colmore st and Bristol road by the gate that went to Great Colmore st to the school which was where the Pollice and First aiders were.

[@moleyballin2270]

The closest thing to a birmingham street race this year was the commonwealth games marathon. It came very close to where I live and I got a feeling of what could have been as I watched it come through

[@danieldravot341]

I attended one of the races in Birmingham between gigs in F1 and my only memories are of torrential rain, and a young driver who propped a funny stuffed animal up on his roll-over hoop when the car was in the garage . . .

[@williamross2579]

Ahhh.. The tales of cost cutting by only painting buildings facing the cameras, the Millions of quidsworth of armco, was flogged off to a local scrappy for 55k iirc... and yeah, the flowers.. they lasted waaaay into the 90s from what I heard. That first race was a washout, and the weather dented things sadly as it was REALLY pushed in the press. Speaking of dents, David Hunts wheel and wishbones took a chunk out a warehouse wall in Gay Village iirc, and the dent can still be seen (Filled) by a different coloured brick, and a billboard covers about 90% of it.

[@baccattack]

I remember watching the races on Grandstand?, Or was it itv back then. Either way it was a shame they stopped.

[@terryglover3215]

Is that's why Bristol St Motors sponsor the C4 Highlights?

[@FrancisMarcosGaming]

I once tried out a Birmingham Super Prix track mod for GTR2, thinking it was a good idea to do a Super GT race there. It was tight, i took a lot more effort to get around that roundabout than it was supposed to and the layout reminds me of Seoul Central in Gran Turismo 4 (even though that's not really a bad part about it).

[@eamonahern7495]

Surprisingly I have a vague recollection of that, in that I knew the race existed. I didn't realise it didn't go on into the mid 1990s.

[@jknelhams]

Is there a sim racing mod of the track? Would be great to see you hoon round it in an early 00s V10 F1 Monster…

[@AidanMillward]

There’s one in the original rFactor. I raced F3 there a few years ago.

[@IndiBrony]

I haven't heard the name Gordon Bennett in a LONG time. I always wondered who he was because his name was often used by my grandmother to mean "bloody hell!"

[@Alstevens83]

Not going to lie, would love to see this as a mod on AC or Rfactor 2. I think my mum and dad when to a street demo in Brum before I was born and she said it was incredible, the one thing that she remembered of it was the smell of the fuel.... and people standing around said fueling station lighting a cigarette.

[@taufiqutomo]

There is Oliver's Mount, albeit it is a motorcycle street race...

[@pi1794]

Great stuff m’lord

[@mrdog4529]

I remember racing this track on GP" back in the day :)

[@Sharpey187]

You’ve definitely been out to the Sunday night racing 😉👌🏻

[@jamiereynolds2798]

The best city joke nearly killed me 🤣🤣

[@pacman_birthmark]

Same. I mean, Birmingham is looking better over time, but there's very little to define it from other generic large cities.

[@mikehipperson]

When working as a delivery driver I used to drive (the right way) past Bristol Street Motors and the dual carriageway up to the mosque on my way out of the city. Unfortunately a 7.5 tonne truck was never going to reach any more than 55 mph (limited) so no chance of breaking any records!

[@darren2514fv]

The first race was August 24-25 1986 not July 25-26 1986 and was in 1988-90 shown on both BBC and ITV the F3000 race itself live on ITV and the BTCC race pre-recorded on BBC and these were the days when BTCC and F3 were racing on the same bill and both F3 and BTCC were on BBC so was surprised that the British F3 Championship wasn't on the Birmingham Superprix bill in that 1988-90 period and F3 was the rung below F3000 on the road/ladder to F1

[@mattwhorlow9900]

I do have to correct you Aidan.... Birmingham was not the 'only legal street racing event in England' about the same time (late 80's, early 90's) there was a Kart race held on the streets of Hull. Perhaps the lower speed of the Karts meant it was not subject to the same restrictions - but it was a thing which happened (at least twice) and it was good.

[@mpainter22]

wasn't it Robb Gravett that said the Sierra's were actually quicker down the straights than the formula cars, next time i'm in birmingham i'm going to look for parts of the circuit.

[@timdgoodwin]

most obvious bit is at halfords roundabout, last time i drove through still some faded stripy inside curbs

[@timdgoodwin]

Those Sierra RS500s were bonkers on the middleway, insane speeds

[@AidanMillward]

@@timdgoodwin yep, the stuff at Halfords corner is still there. It looks so weird.

[@kevinprior3549]

You should do a sim run in an F3000 car round the Birmingham street circuit

[@motorsportsfan]

I remember going to one of the "promotional runs for a grand prix" to be held in Birmingham before the superprix happened. There were only a few cars and I think I was at Broad Street with my dad. It was funny coz as you say they were "legally" only suppose to do 30 mph! So my dad positioned us about a quarter of the way up the straight to watch the police come round with their cars and bikes at 30 mph and when they got to the end of the straight the grand prix cars came round the corner and went full blast! So I had "full on sound" because my dad knew the grand prix cars needed speed to cool down 😁 😉👍

[@josephernest91]

I've always wondered where BRG came from. Cool!

[@davidjones5684]

I remember this from my childhood but for years I thought I'd got it wrong and imagined it lol.

[@ender8850]

There is a mod of the Track for rFactor if anyone wants to give it a go!

[@jggouvea]

You should use font kerning for the titling.

[@natel7382]

Leon Edward's deserves to be higher on that list after he just got the belt from the pound for pound best welterweight. Leon is a beast. Lol

[@Olivyay]

Me from now on: "Irish Racing Green" Has that track been designed for any racing sim?

[@kevinprior3549]

Have an FE race in Coventry on the ring road

[@mrterp04]

Not to be confused with the legendary failure that was the Hawaiian Super Prix, aka the OTHER CART race that never happened.

[@AidanMillward]

Yeah. Easy to mix up Birmingham and Honolulu. Do it a lot.

[@derrickstorm6976]

@@AidanMillward must be the climate

[@CrunchyMotorsport]

Or the accent and the culture

[@JJJackson777]

isn't Mike Skinner of The Streets fame from Birmingham as well? edit: yeah he is, surprised he wasn't mentioned, Original Pirate Material is a phenomenal album

[@AidanMillward]

Wasn’t enough space or time to mention everyone.

[@markdavies3898]

Please can you do a video about when Donington tried to get the British Grand Prix back

[@Tacko14]

7:20 that formula car, whatever it is, looks mighty big. I know helmets are bigger now so looks may deceive on scale, but…

[@thatguyuk1]

Well well, learning with adrian. Who would have thought, lol. Mind blown and questions answered.

[@AidanMillward]

Who’s Adrian?

[@thatguyuk1]

@@AidanMillward that'll teach me to try multitasking 🤣

[@Kezmanisgod9]

Didn’t you do a sim race or something on this, or am I losing my mind??

[@mehmarcus1995]

Huh, Bristol Street Motors are the title sponsor of XLR8 in the BTCC.

[@DWestheim]

You had me at Enoch Powell. =)

[@stephenmurray-owens7037]

Forget the blimin f3000s, the only reason I know about that street race (and I suspect most people outside of the UK) is they ran the Metro 6R4 Trophy with the leftover homologation group B specials.

[@ruddgrandprix-speedrunraci8515]

6:33 Axe marks the race spot.

[@TheTotallyRealXiJinping]

‘The people talk funny’ caught me so off guard 😂

[@thescranstation2notbetter509]

Sorry to hear you have to live near birmingham😔😔

[@nendwr]

We need to see how a modern F1 car goes around the Birmingham Superprix track!

[@gchampi2]

Was at the 89 event. No real recollection of the racing, mainly due to a dodgy burger from one of the food vendors. 3 days emulating a toothpaste tube being run over by a bus...

[@AidanMillward]

Could easily be today as well.

[@Tom_Hadler]

Interesting. Also interesting(ish) is that around 10 years ago, the blue government made a new rule to allow people to apply for a street race. They also had similar for street parties. I've seen the latter, for the queen's jubilees. But I've not heard of anyone successfully hosting a street race. I guess there are enough track options generally in the UK, but I'd love a national hillclimb championship or something. But it'd probably not live up to the Italian roads, we just don't have enough cool roads that aren't too busy to be closed off.

[@NotALot-xm6gz]

Somebody doesn’t know about the motorcycle races on public roads in New Brighton that were organised by the Wirral 100 club.

[@GTAjedi]

Damon Hill was there in 1990 too

[@scrubsrc4084]

Birmingham, along with London the only city I refuse to be sent to when working away. The law is a wierd one, we can race on public roads but the speed limit could not be removed. This I think has been changed in the last decade or so.

[@99dndd]

It was also the 1st circuit in the world to have every corner named after a sponsor.

[@kevinprior3549]

Did they go thru them 2 tunnels ?

[@AidanMillward]

Up the slip roads.

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

So there were no pre-war street races?

[@ThatSB]

What is concrete taff? And why are they knocking it down?

[@AidanMillward]

Tat.

[@stelamo]

I went the 86 race :p

[@vorpalanvil]

Based Enoch Powell

[@CD-Gaming]

Yeah, Leeds always struck me as having the same problem! Where would you put the pit lane? And there would be a lot of flat-out racing as well... on hills... Ah, well, at least we have the Leeds Triathlon... If you watch it, you get to see the Headrow which embodies Leeds pretty well: hilly! There's one area; you go somewhere, you go up a hill, you go back, you go up a hill Of course, the Headrow's changed now, we don't have that stupid, ridiculous, useless, waste of space, ugly traffic island down the middle any more on a road deliberately built wide to ease the flow of traffic! And there are a LOT of famous people from Leeds too! A few England footballers, for example, one of whom went to the same Primary school 'r'late kid did!

[@neblolthecarnerd]

We technically still have street circuit ish with formula e however neither of the 2 tracks are really true street circuits since one was in a park and the other in a car park/warehouse